2015

• Shamir – Ratchet (XL)
• Diet Cig – Over Easy (Father/Daughter)
• Say Lou Lou – Lucid Dreaming (Cosmos)
• Joywave – How Do You Feel Now? (CultCo)
• SOAK – Reckless Behavior (Rough Trade)
• GEMS – Kill The One You Love (Carpark)
• Seinabo Sey – Pretend (Universal)
• Natalie Prass – S/T (Spacebomb)
• Madeon – Adventure (Sony)
• Sports – Naked All The Time (S/R)
• In Tall Buildings – Driver (Western Vinyl)

Top 10 Local Releases

• Hot Flash Heat Wave – Neapolitan (S/R)
• The Dodos – Individ (Polyvinyl)
• Geographer – Ghost Modern (Roll Call)
• Bhi Bhiman – Rhythm & Reason (BooCoo Music)
• The Stone Foxes – Twelve Spells (S/R)
• Tiaras – S/T (Mt.St.Mtn.)
• Naytonrix – Mister Divine (City Slang)
• Waters – What’s Real (Vagrant)
• Toro y Moi – What For? (Capark)
• Sonny & the Sunsets – Talent Night at the Ashram (Polyvinyl)

• Top 10 Shows (not including festival sets) out of a grand total of 95

• Typhoon – Revolution Hall (Portland), 12/20
• The Decemberists – Greek Theatre, 5/1
• Rubble bucket – The Independent, 3/27
• Ezra Furman – Rickshaw Stop, 12/6
• Unconditional Arms – Santo Studios, 7/17
• Future Islands – Fox Theater, 9/25
• Alvvays – The Independent 11/17
• Interpol – The Warfield, 4/21
• The Wild Reeds – Hyde Street Studios,
• Noah Gunderson – The Battery, 3/25

1. Lindi Ortega – “I Ain’t The Girl” – Faded Gloryville – (Last Gang)
2. Angela Easterling – “Arkansas Murder Ballad” – Common Law Wife” – (De L’Est Music)
3. Charflies – “Witch Of Sunoco” – Linoleum Angel – (Mule Fuel)
4. Wonky Tonk – “Washington Avenue” – Stuff We Leave Behind – (S/R)
5. Elle King – “Exs and Ohs” – Love Stuff – (RCA Victor)
6. Ben Rogers – “Wanted” – Bloodred Yonder – (Tonic)
7. Cracker – “King Of Bakersfield” – Berkeley To Bakersfield – (429 records)
8. Calexico – “Beneath The City Of Dreams” – Edge Of The Sun – (Anti-)
9. Talent Brothers – “Lately” – Back On The Old Stuff – (S/R)
10. 11 Acorn Lane – “Lucky Day” – Time For Tea – (Wooden Hat)
11. Liminanas – “La Fille De La Ligne” – I’ve Got Trouble In Mind – (Trouble In Mind)
12. John Schooley – “The Man Who Rode The Mule Around The World” – The Man Who Rode The Mule Around The World – (Voodoo Rhythm)
13. Bottle Rockets – “Dog” – South Broadway Athletic Club – (Bloodshot)
14. Dave Alvin and Phil Alvin – “Sit Down Baby” – Lost Time – (Yep Roc)
15. Dwight Yoakum – “Liar” – Second Hand Heart – (Reprise)
16. Quiet Life – “Skin And Bones” – Wild Pack – (Mama Bird)
17. Lonesome Heroes – “Steel” – Can’t Stand Still – (S/R)
18. Kacey Musgraves – “Biscuits” – Pagent Material – (Mercury)
19. Eleni Mandell – “I’m Old Fashioned” – Dark Lights Up – (Yep Roc!)
20. Steve Earle and the Dukes – “Baby Baby Baby (baby)” – Terraplane – (New West)
21. Stereophonics – “C’est La Vie” – Keep The Village Alive – (Stylus)
22. Lisa Leblanc – “You Look Like Trouble (But I Guess Do Too)” – Highways Heartaches And Time Well Wasted – (Bonsound)
23. Gangstagrass – “Barnburning” – American Music – (Rench Audio)
24. Sleepy Man Banjo Boys – “By My Side” – By My Side – (Dreamcatcher)
25. Natalia LaFourcade – “Hasta La Raiz” – Hasta La Raiz – (RCA)
26. Legendary Shack Shakers – “Cold” – The Southern Surreal” – (Alternative Tentacles)
27. Steelism – “Cat’s Eye Ring” – 615 To Fame – (Single Lock)
28. Whiskey Kiss – “Two-Timin’ Two Step” – Dangerous One – (S/R)
29. Ting Tings – “Only Love” – Super Critical – (Finca)
30. Yo La Tengo – “Friday Im In Love” – Stuff Like That There – (Matador)
31. Amy Blaschke – “Running Into The Fire” – Opaline – (Bird On A Lyre)
32. Corb Lund – “Alt Berliner Blues” – Things That Can’t Be Undone – (New West)
33. Las Cafeteras – “La Bamba Rebelde” – Las Cafeteras Remixed – (La Junta)
34. Timothy O’Neil Band – “The Saloon” – Timothy O’Neil Band – (S/R)
35. Grid Pickers – “29 Days” – Shack Wacky – (S/R)
36. Vivants – “By And By” – Bluegrass Special – (S/R)
37. Rose’s Pawn Shop – “What Were You Waiting For” – Gravity Well – (S/R)
38. Yawpers – “Beale Street Blues” – American Man – (Bloodshot)
39. Pokey La Farge And The South City 1 – “Something In The Water” – Something In The Water – (Rounder)
40. Caitlin Anne Webster – “Black Moon” – Black Moon – (S/R)
41. Secret Club – “Circle K” – Apocalypse Meow – (American Echo)
42. Neil Young + Promise Of The Real – “A Rock Star Bucks A Coffee Shop” – The Monsanto Years – (Reprise)
43. Nocona – “Long Gone Song” – Long Gone Song – (S/R)
44. Cedar Shakes – “Ramblin’ Lips” – The Western Road – (What Bang)
45. Russell Hoke – “Bewilthered” – Through The Hardship Of Seasons – (Unheard Of)
46. Bela Fleck and Chick Corea – “Mountain” – Two – (Stretch)
47. Joe Ely – “Cold Black Hammer” – Panhandle Rambler – (Rack ‘Em)
48. Raina Rose and Rebecca Loebe – “Dublin Blues” – Three Nights Live – (Goose Creek)
49. Mantles – “Undelivered” – Memory – (Slumberland)
50. Jessica Lee Wilkes – “Something’s Goin’ On” – Lone Wolf- (Free Dirt)

BEST COMPILATIONS OF 2015

• I’m Just Like You: Sly’s Stone Flower 1969-70 – (Light in the Attic)
• Native North America Vol. 1 – (Light in the Attic)

THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING WHO PLAYED LIVE WITH ME ON KALX IN 2015

• Annie Bacon And Her Oshen
• Crying Time
• Rene De La Prade
• Eight Belles
• Front Country
• Dave Ricketts (Gaucho)
• Hot Toddies
• Mountain Men Collective
• Octomutt
• Quiet Life
• Emily Bonn and the Vivants
• Whiskey And Women

• Imelda May – Mayhem (Decca)
• Barrence Whitfield And The Savages – Under the Savage Sky (Bloodshot)
• Deadly Orgone Radiation (w/ Weasel Walter) – Power Trips (Deadly Orgone)
• Juke Joint Pimps – Boogie Pimps (Voodoo Rhythm)
• Lydia Lunch Retrovirus – Urge to Kill (Widowspeak)
• Bomba Estereo – Amanecer (Soly)
• Eleventh Dream Day – Works for Tomorrow (Thrill Jockey)
• The Gravel Spreaders – Skidmarks (Hot In The Hole)
• Silvertron Youth Choir – Our God is a Possum God (Ten Dollar)
• Alex Carlin Band – Are You Better Than My Girlfriend? (S/R)
• Eleven Acorn Lane – Time for Tea (Wooden Hat)
• Meat Wave – Delusion Moon (Side One Dummy)
• Ragpicker String Band – The Ragpicker String Band (Yellow Dog)
• Michael Vlatkovich Septet – Ask 7 (Pfmentum)
• Terence Blanchard – Breathless (Blue Note)
• The Claudettes – No Hotel (Yellow Dog)
• Chick Corea & Bela Fleck – Two (Stretch)
• Ice (International Contemporary) – In the Light of Air (Sono Luminus)
• Mark Weber & Michael Vlatkovic – Elasticity (Pfmentum)

• 11 Acorn Lane – Time for Tea (Wooden Hat)
• Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit and Think and Sometimes I Just Sit (Mom & Pop)
• Bomba Estereo – Amanecer (Sony Music Latin)
• Boss Moxi – Oddball (S/R)
• Caravan Palace – Robot Face (Le Plan)
• Empress Of – Me (Terrible)
• Fillamosta – Like It Is (aagoo)
• Flower & McLaren – One plus One (Little Cat)
• Ezra Furman – Perpetual Motion People (Bella Union)
• Girlpool – Before the World Was Big (Wichita)
• Jose Gonzalez – Vestiges and Claws (Mute)
• Grimes – Art Angels (4AD)
• Elle King – Love Stuff (RCA)
• La Luz – Weirdo Shrine (Hardly Art)
• Mass Bass – Movement Movin’ (S/R)
• Sleater-Kinney – No Cities to Love (Sub Pop)
• Taraf de Locos – S/T (S/R)
• The Twerps – Range Anxiety (Merge)

• Blur – The Magic Whip (Warner Bros.)
• Mikal Cronin – MCIII (Merge)
• Dungen – Allas Sak (Mexican Summer)
• Eleventh Dream Day – Works For Tomorrow (VBR)
• Jacco Gardner – Hypnophobia (Polyvinyl)
• Kurt Vile – B’lieve I’m Goin’ Down (Matador)
• Wand – 1000 Days (Drag City)

7 Splendid Songs of 2015

• Sarah Cracknell – “Nothing Left to Talk About (feat. Nicky Wire)” – Red Kite (Cherry Red)
• Eskimeaux – “Broken Necks” – O.K. (Double Double Whammy)
• Robert Pollard  – “Café of Elimination – Faulty Superheroes (GBV, Inc.)
• Sweet Baboo – “Got To Hang On To You” – The Boombox Ballads (Moshi Moshi)
• Warm Soda  – “I Wanna Know Her” – Symbolic Dream (Castle Face)
• Wire – “Blogging” – Wire (Pink Flag)
• Neil Young & Promise Of The Real – “People Want To Hear About Love” – The Monsanto Years (VBR)

7 (+3) Amazing Acts of 2015

• The Wombats – Rickshaw Stop, January 22
• Magma – Slim’s, April 8
• Sir Richard Bishop – Brick and Mortar, April 28
• Fuzz – Great American Music Hall, May 20
• Neutral Milk Hotel – Phoenix Theater, June 11
• Burger Boogaloo – Mosswood Park, July 4-5
• Mac McCaughan + The Non-Beleivers – Rickshaw Stop, September 17
• Neil Young & Promise Of The Real – Berkeley Greek Theater, October 17
• The Ex & Ken Vandermark, Surplus 1980 – Bottom of the Hill,  October 29
• An Acoustic Evening with Yo La Tengo featuring Dave Shramm -The Masonic, November 14

• Friendly Males – “Done It Again” – Nopalera (Lolipop)
• Girlpool – “Ideal World” – Before the World Was Big (Wichita Recordings) 
• Hop Along – “Powerful Man” – Painted Shut (Saddle Creek)
• Los Daddys – “Cumbia Sin Calzones” – 7” single (Disco Mas)
• MJ’s Brass Boppers – “Ya Know, Ya Know” – online single
• Olivia Cheney – “Too Social” – “The Longest River (Nonesuch)
• Purity Ring – “Begin Again” – “Another Eternity” (4AD)
• Seemway – “LED Marquee” – online single
• Willie Dunn – “I Pity the Country” – V/A Native North America (Light in the Attic)
• Worriers – “Plans” – Imaginary Life (Don Giovanni)