Groovement favourite albums 2015
I contributed to Bonafide’s list of 2015’s best albums which you can read over on their site here, but I thought I’d put my individual list up (in no particular order!). I hope you find something new.
Find some tracks from the albums below on the final Groovement podcast of 2015:
Agent J: Nobody Move {Groovement Highlights 2015} by Jamie Groovement Aka Agent J on Mixcloud
Kamasi Washington – The Epic (Brainfeeder) BUY
In my mind, this 3LP set is the brightest star of a quadrilogy also encompassing Flying Lotus’ You’re Dead, Kendrick Lamar’s TPAB and Thundercat’s The Beyond/Where The Giants Roam – Kamasi featured on all of those works but explodes to the fore here, delivering soul music channeled through jazz instruments conceptualised with a punk ethic. The Epic is an album to lose yourself in over three courses, and come back to again and again.
Oddisee – The Good Fight (Mello Music Group) BUY
Woefully under-recognised in the kingdom of hip hop music despite being one of the hardest working cats in it (he’s done 120 live shows this year alone), rapper and producer Oddisee churned out one of the most heartfelt albums of 2015 with the backing of his live band, Good Compny. Opener That’s Love wears its heart on its sleeve, while Belong To The World acts as both a very personal piece and a validation of being the ‘odd’ one outside of the crowd.
Guilty Simpson – Detroit’s Son (Stones Throw) BUY
Ironically enough for an ode to the Motor City, every track here is produced by an Australian, Quakers co-founder Katalyst. His beats on here are some of the best of the year, rolling over your ears like heavy artillery. They’re perfect for Guilty, whose tales of Detroit reel you in and don’t let go, granting you a guest pass to the city – lead single The D is particularly addictive.
Matthew Halsall – Into Forever (Gondwana Records) BUY
Matthew’s modern jazz has always been pushed by the likes of Gilles Peterson, but this album marks a clear step into more blatantly soulful territory with the striking vocals of Josephine Oniyama taking centre stage. It’s as deep as Kamasi’s The Epic, but more immediate and memorable in places.
Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly (Top Dawg/Aftermath) BUY
Undeniably layered musically and lyrically, TPAB is both an ode to the past and a step out of the modern state of hip hop. Culturally hard-hitting, narratively relevant and reeking of funk and jazz, it will be one of the standouts of this decade. That relentless Knxwledge smack on Momma, the intro and hook to These Walls, the chant of Alright – there are moments too numerous to count as standout, with an amazing array of collaborators driving them forward.
Knxwledge – Hud Dreems (Stones Throw) BUY
Stones Throw brought Knx to a wider audience this year, confusing a whole new crowd with missing letters and spaces. Hud Dreems is a gorgeous collection of beats, each choice from the famously prolific producer leaving you thirst for more as tracks seem to collide as a result of all-too short running times. His collab with Mndsgn and Anderson Paak as NxWorries will be stellar in 2016.
Chairman Maf – Soup (self-released) BUY
The Cambridge-based producer’s third album shows off his ear for a great sample, but it’s his quirkiness and groove that make him stand out from the crowd. Soup’s an instrumental album which keeps you hooked in much the same way as Hud Dreems does: finding emotive melodies and flipping them to amplify that melancholia even more. Heroin Soup and Telegram are solid examples of his sonic grip.
The Mouse Outfit – Step Steadier (self-released) BUY
The Mice have gone through many incarnations but have settled around a core trio (Chini, Defty and Pitch) who have fine tuned their aesthetic to a T: old school approach, UK attitude. Step Steadier has some of the nation’s finest (who, with the exception of Verb T, just happened to be based around their home city of Manchester) sprinkling words around soulful boom bap made for dancing feet. Having also worked with Bam from The Jungle Brothers this year for a single, expect bigger and even better things in 2016.
Czarface – Every Hero Needs A Villain (Brick Records) BUY
When disappointments like the last Wu album are unfortunately all too expected, it’s always a nice surprise when partnerships produce rich fruit like this. Inspector Deck teams up with 7L and Esoteric to deliver a comic-fuelled, Doom-guesting powerhouse of an album which also features GZA, Meth, Large Pro and Mayhem Lauren. 7L might be mimicking a nineties sound in his production, but the whole package is as dynamic and immediate as you like.
Ghostface Killah & Adrian Younge – Twelve Reasons To Die II (Linear Labs) BUY
Ghostface makes the wise choice of once again teaming up with the inimitable Adrian Younge for a sequel to their supernatural gangster story and a strong accompaniment to the also-excellent Sour Soul with BADBADNOTGOOD. Slightly smoother and more thought-out than its predecessor yet no less cinematic in scope, the array of guests (Bilal, Vince Staples, Lyrics Born, Raekwon) compliment Ghost savagely throughout, although ultimately the music outshines the story.
Scor-Zay-Zee – Aeon: Peace To The Puzzle BUY
A triumphant, fan-funded goliath of a first album for the well-loved Nottingham lyricist, with great guest production and positivity throughout – reflective too, with the likes of Daudi Matsiko adding more layers to Scorz’s sound. Read an in-depth interview with Scorz here.
