Best of 2015

Maybe I miss out some stuff especially on the music part but these are what my notebooks hold of what was good in 2015, based on some memories, this blog, Last.fm, and IMDb.

If I wanted to some up shortly, I would say this year quite sucked for movies but brought some unexpected and nice twists and turns for music.

Movies & TV

The movie and TV list speaks for itself: the year was full of mediocre shit and overrated mainstream blockbusters (or wannabes). The Martian was okayish, Sicario had some beautiful compositions, but as a whole I wouldn’t say flicks like this made any great difference in my inner movie universe. And please don’t tell me about Star Wars, just shut it.

Movies

  1. Whiplash
  2. Mad Max: Fury Road
  3. Ex Machina

TV

  1. Mr. Robot
  2. Killjoys
  3. Jessica Jones

Music & live performances

As for music, I didn’t stumble upon a new best band, but there were some notable releases from some old favourites. IAMX created a stunning new record, and I was similarly satisfied with what DJ Krush or The Black Dog had to offer in 2015, plus a complete out of nowhere experience came from Amon Tobin in the form of a sci-fi ambient composition.

My best pleasantries included the absolutely incredible album of the Killing Joke, the totally unexpected but stunning record of Karyn Crisis, and something completely new for me in the form of the Thy Catafalque release. And things that I didn’t see coming to this list: a surprisingly mature and powerful single track by Apocalyptica, and my re-found fandom of Cradle of Filth.

Last year was definitely ruled by techno for me, where I found quite some new territories and depths. This year was not on that level of novelty but it was quite eclectic instead as the musical range shows in this list of names.

I haven’t been to many festivals and parties in 2015 so my live performances list is quite narrow. Although I could make it to Sónar Barcelona for the second time, which was nice, and surprises dominated there as well: Squarepusher’s live act was by far the most satisfying live music experience that I heard this year.

Music

  1. Killing Joke – Pylon
  2. Karyn Crisis’ Gospel of the Witches – Salem’s Wounds
  3. IAMX – Metanoia
  4. Thy Catafalque – Sgùrr
  5. DJ Krush – Butterfly Effect
  6. The Black Dog – Neither/Neither
  7. Cradle Of Filth – Hammer of the Witches
  8. Amon Tobin – Dark Jovian
  9. Rival Consoles – Howl
  10. Apocalyptica – Shadowmaker (single)

Live

  1. Squarepusher @ Sónar Barcelona 2015
  2. Less Than Jake @ Budapest Park
  3. RGB|CMY Kinetic installation (ART+COM & Ólafur Arnalds) @ Sónar Barcelona 2015
  4. Atom TM @ Sónar Barcelona 2015
  5. The Gaslamp Killer – The Gaslamp Killer Experience: Live in Los Angeles (album)