Hey there. I’m Samuel Abram, professionally known as Iron Curtain who does chiptunes, or rather, music made on antiquated computers such as the Game Boy, Sega Genesis (or Mega Drive outside of North America) and Nintendo Entertainment System. I’ve played live with Hannibal Buress and Janeane Garofalo. My mother, Dorothy, made chiptune as far back as 1978 (which makes me a second-generation chip musician). I have an electronic music side project called Teepo Familiar. This is my first post: A summary of the best albums of 2015, in no particular order.
- Random/Mega Ran – RNDM
Raheem Jameel Jarbo, a.k.a. Random, a.k.a. Mega Ran, has put out his finest album to date (and this is something that I would say even if I didn’t contribute to the track “O.P.” on the album). There’s so much variety here, whether you want a track exposing the intrapersonal conflict between Random and Mega Ran (“The Meeting”), a catchy, nerdy track musically reminiscent of OutKast (“Infinite Lives”), a socially conscious track about how the winners write history (“Revisions”) and even a track with KOOL MOTHERFUCKING KEITH HIMSELF!!!!11oneone (“Space Defense Team”). The album ends with “Mighty”, where Mega Ran does to Mighty No. 9 what he did to Mega Man. The album has more to offer the listener the further they delve into it. I give this album my highest acclaim and it is definitely one of the best albums of the year. - Madeon – Adventure (Deluxe edition)
Hugo LeClercq, professionally known as Madeon, released his début album on April 1, 2015, and it did not disappoint at all like some horrible April Fool’s gag gone wrong. Quite the opposite: the listeners to Madeon were treated to lush, intricate, thoughtful, and warm production rather than just another album of EDM bangerz™. “Pay No Mind” with Passion Pit is a fun song, Icarus is potent and emotional, and Zephyr (my favorite of the B-sides) must be what it feels like to plunge deep underwater without drowning. This is an absolute enjoyable album and shows that Madeon is a true original. - Jack Ü – Skrillex & Diplo Present Jack Ü
Skrillex and Diplo teamed up this year to release their super-duo project Jack Ü, from which we heard the Justin-Bieber-voiced track “Where Are Ü Now”. Truth be told, it’s my favorite track on the album. However, it’s not the only track that stands out on this album: There’s the 2-chainz track “Febreze” (which contains the brilliant line “You ain’t from Kingston; you are Ja-fakin’!”), the track “Mind” with Kai and Sonny once again returning to vocals as in his time in From First To Last (but not in the same Screamo style), the energetic “Beats Knockin'”, and “Take Ü There” (both the original and the Missy Elliot remix). A fun, addictive and listenable album from start to finish. Sonny Moore (p.k.a. Skrillex) and Thomas Wesley Pentz (p.k.a. Diplo) should be proud of themselves for the masterpiece they created.
So, those are my choices for albums of the year. What say you, everyone else?