Sunday 3 January 2016

Remy's Best International Independent Music of 2015

The Pluto Moons - Photo: Jared Blake


I would have liked to have had this collection of great tracks from independent international acts that have featured on Remy's Film & Music up sooner, but look, it's here now. Originally I had planned to do a list of albums but settled on what I did last year and went for a playlist of sorts instead, to solely focus on albums would have eliminated too many great artists. I'm going for a straight-forward, no fuss trip back down through the last 12 months with bands from the U.S., Canada, the U.K., France, Germany, Australia, Sweden and elsewhere. 

All of these bands / songs provided me with great pleasure, each for their own reasons, for your perusal I've included a link under each track which will lead you to further tunes should you find something that tickles your fancy, I'm sure you will. Tracks are in order of when they were reviewed on this site with a link to my original review included also, and there's a Spotify playlist of nearly all of them at the very end too!

(Note: Whilst all the music below is amazing otherwise it wouldn't be here! I recommend dipping your toes in the following first - (1), (17-22) & (24).) 


1) The Pluto Moons - '$pooky' (from the EP E$pooky)


From: Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.A.
Genre: Post-punk



2) Summon the Octopi - 'It's Been Sick, So I Tried To Feed It Some More' (from the EP Nonversations)


From: Berlin, Germany
Genre: Math rock



3) Jennie Abrahamson - 'Wolf' (from the album Gemini Gemini)


From: Stockholm, Sweden
Genre: Indie pop



4) The Ricardos - 'Rock N Roll Animal' (from the EP Pest)


From: Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.A.
Genre: Garage rock



5) Alf Moon - 'Printemps' (from the EP Saisons)


From: Paris, France
Genre: Electronic



6) MNNQNS - 'Red Corvette' (from the album Worthless)


From: Rouen, France
Genre: Indie rock


7) Waterstrider - 'Nowhere Now' (from the album Nowhere Now)



From: California, U.S.A.
Genre: Alternative rock / indie

From: Madrid, Spain
Genre: Lo-fi indie rock


9) Trails and Ways - 'Skeletons' (from the album Pathology


From: California, U.S.A.
Genre: Indie-pop


10) Known to Collapse - 'Circulated Undercover Ground'


From: San Francisco, U.S,A
Genre: Lo-fi indie


11) Bells Atlas - 'Future Bones' (from the EP Hyperlust)


From: California, U.S.A.
Genre: R n' B / Soul


12) For Esmé - 'You' (from the album Sugar)


From: Toronto, Canada
Genre: Electropop


13) The Danes - 'Room Full of Liars' 


From: Los Angeles, U.S.A.
Genre: Indie-pop


14) High Elders - 'Legalize Murder' (feat. Traum Mega)


From: Delaware, U.S.A. / Carlow, Ireland
Genre: Hip-hop


15) Rayvon Pettis - 'Kermit Song for Sam' (from the album Insureda)



From: Alabama, U.S.A.
Genre: Country / Bluegrass


16) Why We Run - 'Ignites' 


From: Sydney, Australia
Genre: Indie rock


17) The Midwestern Bass Machine - 'Teenagers, Don't Quit' (from the album Don't Want To Live Here)


From: Wisconsin, U.S.A.
Genre: Dream pop


18) Kisses - 'A Groove' (from the album Rest in Paradise)


From: Los Angeles, U.S.A.
Genre: Electro-disco-funk


19) Dan Amor - 'Penwythnos Heulog'


From: Gwynedd, Wales
Genre: Folk rock


20) Running Red Lights - 'Mulberry Love' (from the album There's A Bluebird in My Heart)


From: Toronto, Canada
Genre: Alternative folk / indie


21) Mr Huw - 'Calonau Ni I Gyd' (from the EP Du Llun)


From: Porthmadog, Wales
Genre: Indie-pop


22) Freudia - 'Vanity Beach' (from the album Spirit Bear)


From: Wisconsin, U.S.A.
Genre: Indie / dreampop


23) Sam Brown - 'Get Up' (from the album Yellow Cake)


From: North Carolina, U.S.A.
Genre: Experimental rock, jazz, soul...


24) Fold - 'Two Past Midnight' (from the album Fold)


From: Leeds, U.K.
Genre: Experimental funk / rock / hip-hop


25) Black River Manifesto - 'Kingmaker' (from the album Kingmaker)


From: Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.A.
Genre: Punk / surf-rock


Where available, all of the above artists are on the below Spotify playlist;