December 2015

• Clutch - Earth Rocker (2013,S) ★★★★☆
• Eagles of Death Metal - Zipper Down (2015,S) ★★★☆☆
• PTF - What is Constant (2015,S) ★★★☆☆
• Eric Johnson - Europe Live (2014,LP) ★★★★☆
• Herman's Hermits - Blaze (1967,S) ★★★★☆
• Deafhaven - New Bermuda (2015,S) ★★☆☆☆
• Jamie xx - In Colour (2015,S) ★★☆☆☆
• Jenny Hval - Apocolpyse, girl (2015,S) ★★☆☆☆
• Carpenters - Singles 1969-1973 (1973,SACD) ★★★★★
• Tony Joe White - The Train I'm On (1972,S) ★★★★★
• Clutch - Psychic Warfare (2015,S) ★★★★☆
• Deerhoof - La Isla Bonita (2014,S) ★★★☆☆
• Genesis - A Trick of the Tail (1976,Japan LP) ★★★★★
• Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest (2010,S) ★★★★☆
• Holly Herndon - Platforms (2015,S) ★★★☆☆
• Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002,S) ★★★★☆
• Linda Thompson - Won't Be Long Now (2013,S) ★★★☆☆
• Les Paul & Mary Ford - Christmas Cheer! (1955,2015 EP) ★★★☆☆
• Lana Del Rey - Honeymoon (2015,S) ★★★☆☆
• Kurt Vile - B'lieve I'm Goin Down... (2015,LP) ★★★★☆
• Maná - Sueños Líquidos (1997, LP) ★★★★☆
• Maná - ¿Dónde Jugarán los Niños? (1992,S) ★★★★☆
• Coldplay - A Head Full of Dreams (2015,S) ★★★☆☆
• Beardfish - 4626-Comfortzone (2015,S) ★★★☆☆
• Deerhunter - Fading Frontier (2015,S) ★★★★☆
• Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell (2015,LP) ★★★★☆
• Panda Bear - Meets the Grim Reaper (2015,S) ★★★☆☆
• Florence + The Machine - How Big... (2015,S) ★★★☆☆
• Muse - Drones (2015,S) ★★★☆☆
• Blur - The Magic Whip (2015,S) ★★★☆☆
• Sleater-Kinney - No Cities to Love (2015,S) ★★★☆☆
• Enya - Dark Sky Island (2015,LP) ★★★★☆
• Jeff Lynne - Alone in the Universe (2015,LP) ★★★★☆
• Grimes - Art Angels (2015,S) ★★★☆☆
• Leonard Cohen - Popular Problems (2014,S) ★★★☆☆
• Dr. John - In the Right Place (1973,S) ★★★☆☆
• Foo Fighters - Sonic Highways (2014,S) ★★☆☆☆
• David Lanz - Desert Vision (1987,S) ★★★☆☆
• The Black Crowes - The Southern Harmony... (1992, LP) ★★★★☆
• Alison Krauss - Forget About It (1999,S) ★★★★☆
• David Gray - White Ladder (1998,S) ★★★★☆
• Placebo - MTV Unplugged (Live) (2015,S) ★★★★☆
• Neko Case - The Worse Things Get... (2013,LP) ★★★☆☆
• David Crosby - If I Could Only Remember My Name (1971,S) ★★★★☆
• Lewis Baloue - L'Amour (1983,LP) ★★★☆☆
• Arctic Monkeys - AM (2013,LP) ★★★★☆
• Genesis - Duke (1980,S) ★★★☆☆
• ELO - A New World Record (1976,S) ★★★★☆
• Crash Test Dummies - A Worm's Life (1996,S) ★★★★☆
• Al Stewart - Year of the Cat (1976,S) ★★★★☆
• John Mellencamp - Big Daddy (1989,S) ★★★☆☆
• Boz Scaggs - A Fool to Care (2015,S) ★★☆☆☆
• Don Henley - Cass County (2015,S) ★★★☆☆
• James Taylor - Greatest Hits (1976,LP) ★★★★☆
• Johnny Cash - Sings the Songs... (1958,LP) ★★★★☆
• Enya - Dark Sky Island (2015,S) ★★★★☆
• John Lennon - Imagine (1971, Japan LP) ★★★★☆
• Genesis - Selling England By the Pound (1973,LP) ★★★★★
• Genesis - Wind & Wuthering (1976, Japan LP) ★★★★☆
• Chicago - Chicago IX Greatest Hits (1975,LP) ★★★★☆
• Broken Bells - Broken Bells (2010,S) ★★★☆☆
• Neko Case - Blacklisted (2002, LP) ★★★★☆
• B-52s - Live! 8.24.1979 (2015, RSD LP) ★★★★☆
• John Mellencamp - Scarecrow (1985, LP) ★★★★☆
• Jerry Lee Lewis - Rock and Roll Time (2014,LP) ★★★☆☆
• Arcs - Arcs vs. The Inventors Vol.1 (2015,10" EP) ★★★☆☆
• Sharon Jones - It's a Holiday Soul Party (2015,LP) ★★★☆☆
• Brandi Carlile - The Firewatcher's Daughter (2015,S) ★★☆☆☆
• Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense (1984,DVD) ★★★★★
• Cake - Fashion Nugget (2001,S) ★★★★☆
• Bob Marley - Uprising (1980,S) ★★★★☆
• The Arcs - Yours Dreamily (2015,S) ★★★☆☆

Chuck's Rating Scale

• Classic / Essential (Tops) 4.4 to 5.0 ★★★★★
• Must Listen (Great) 3.4 to 4.3 ★★★★☆
• Worthy Effort (Maybe to Good) 2.4 to 3.3 ★★★☆☆
• Below Expectations (Bad) 1.4 to 2.3 ★★☆☆☆
• Avoid (Awful) 0 to 1.3 ★☆☆☆☆

Note: Every December and January I like to peruse "best of the year" album lists. Although this has its rewards it can be an arduous task because the emphasis tends to be on teenage pop music, including rap and hip-hop, which are genres I typically find aurally offensive as a 53-year old male. Also, given the many thousands of new releases each year, it's annoying and somewhat laughable how many of these lists have nearly identical top tens. In my opinion, which of course is subject to bias like all other music list makers, many authors irresponsibly omit, or at least limit, important genres including (but not limited to) jazz, reggae, progressive rock, bluegrass, folk and various world music releases. As a result many lists quickly become boringly formulaic and repetitive due to their blatant similarities.

Steven Wilson's, "Hand.Cannot.Erase" album is considered one of the year's finest prog rock releases among listeners with a more sophisticated musical palette (just kidding! well, not really!), and I only found it on one of the over fifty lists I reviewed. Regardless of such omissions by supposed music aficionados and the "play it safe" top 40 crowd, there are a few under-the-radar gems to be discovered on some of the better lists, such as on RYM. I usually make a few discoveries each year, so overall the effort is definitely worthwhile and at the very least expands my knowledge of contemporary popular music. There's some interesting and original music out there if you dig, but it's frustrating how much mediocrity one must filter through to find it.

My initial impressions (and ratings) may change after repeated plays. I love albums that grab my attention on the first listen, but many others take several listens to truly appreciate and ratings may be updated accordingly.

Proviso: I tend to play albums I am familiar with and enjoy (imagine that!), so my ratings are typically at the mid to high end of the scale.

This list is chronological with the top album being the most recently played. Sound quality ratings are included for some releases, such as multichannel mixes and audiophile labels.

Vinyl is my preferred and typical method for playback, but I ocassionally listen to SACD, DVD-Audio, Blu-ray and (less likely) Redbook CD. For releases I don't own, esp. for music exploration and discovery, Spotify and YouTube are my favorite online resources for music streaming (noted with an 'S'). A new designation introduced this month is 'Road,' which is for music played in my car via Spotify, Amazon Music, or my iPhone.

Last month's listening log can be found below.

Older lists are saved in the archive folder.