Song Roundup of 2015

Here’s a few great songs from the past year whose albums won’t make it to the year-end list.

Pentimento- “Sink or Swim”

Local band from Buffalo, NY (716 forever). Solid if unspectacular emo album, highlighted by this track.

Ryan Adams- “Style”                                     

-mostly forgettable cover album, but this one eschews the boring coffeeshop sound that dominates the rest of the album for a 70’s Bowie-disco romp.

Beyond the Black- “Songs of Love and Death”

Female-fronted Gothic rock/metal. I know, I know. But goddamn if this isn’t so catchy that I don’t care.

Nightwish- “Edema Ruh”

The new album (first featuring Floor Jansen) is fine, nothing special, though they killed it live. This one wasn’t played, but for me probably a top-5 career track.

Black Tongue- “L’appel du vide”

Monstrously heavy. There’s a lot of bad deathcore in the world, but this just works.

Gorgio Moroder- “74 Is the New 24”

Though the album was uneven, this song is fire.

Avatarium- “Girl With the Raven Mask”

This album drew big headlines for most of the year, and though I didn’t dig the whole thing, the title track absolutely rocks.