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McGill Intramurals mug
a, Sports

McGill 101: The lowdown on McGill intramurals

by Elie Waitzer on

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Getting into this school is not easy, and many figure they’ll have to hang up their skates and lock themselves in the library for good once they get here just to stay afloat in McGill’s intense academic environment. Committing to a varsity team is a valuable and life-changing experience, but for students who want to maintain high GPAs, make it to Café Campus on Tuesdays, and lack any semblance of athleticism, it may not be the best (or most feasible) option. If those sound like your priorities, then look no further than the intramural program offered by McGill Athletics.

The program is open to all full-time McGill students, and you can register online through McGillAthletics.ca before the start of each semester. During the regular season, games take place during the week after 5 p.m. and on weekends beginning at 9 a.m. Since playoffs usually coincide with the lead-up to each semester’s Final Exams, game times are flexible and league organizers will coordinate schedules with each team.

When you register, you have the option to either enroll a private team with a bunch of friends, or go solo to meet new people across campus. To join as a single player, head to one of the free agent meetings held in Tomlinson Hall (2nd floor of the Fieldhouse) at 5 p.m. to get connected with captains of existing teams that need players. Depending on the sport, these meetings are held on Sept. 8 (soccer, flag football, ultimate, hockey) or 10 (badminton, ball hockey, basketball, volleyball, dodgeball) for the Fall semester. Fees for a semester come in at around $25, with the exception of hockey ($50).

The majority of sports are divided into three categories: Open, women’s, and co-recreational. Then there are generally four divisions of play: Competitive, intermediate, beginner, and recreational. In all but the recreational divisions, fierce competition is guaranteed as your team competes for the prized, glass McGill intramural mug awarded to all eligible members of the championship team. This mug cannot be bought with money, and is the perfect weight for drinking mead or ale at a party while your opponents cast their eyes down in defeat.

In the Winter, make sure to register early before all the spots are taken for inner tube water polo. The wildly popular sport (on college campuses) is a variation of traditional water polo with all the players—excluding the goalie—floating in inner tubes. At the recreational level, it’s like a lazy river with teamwork and fancy caps. At the competitive level, it’s a gruelling full-body workout with complete with flipped tubes and dirty underwater tactics. If you’re already a seasoned intramural veteran, here are some pro tips.

If you’re in the heat of a post-season push and want to squeeze that extra two per cent out of your squad, dive into your team’s statistics at GOLNetwork.com. If you want to take your involvement to the next level, consider applying to become an intramural referee and make extra money on the side. With options for every level of skill and interest, intramurals can be a fun and relaxed way to stay active during the semester or a great outlet for your competitive side.

This article is a part of our McGill 101 issue, which aims to ease your transition and answer questions you have about McGill and Montreal.

Facebook Groups for Schools
a, Student Life

McGill 101: Navigating Facebook – McGill has sent you a friend request

by Karina Alibhai on

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Facebook is great for sharing photos, connecting with friends, and staying up to date on off and on-campus events. There are many McGill groups and pages on Facebook that offer an array of updates and services for students. Here are the most important ones to follow to ensure a current and useful newsfeed.

McGill Entering Class of 2015: This group is for all newly admitted students to McGill who will be commencing their studies in Fall 2015. This is usually the first group many McGill students join as it is a great space to ask questions and meet others before arriving on campus. Many groups on campus post about their club or event, as well making it a great resource for students who are looking to get involved.

Students' Society of McGill University (SSMU): This is the page for the undergraduate students' union at McGill. You'll find announcements for events occurring in the SSMU building, such as club fairs and workshops, and employment opportunities on campus. The building hours and address can also be found here.

McGill Inter-Residence Council (IRC): This student council organizes events for all students living in residence. Like this page to stay up to date on various events and opportunities offered by the IRC, such as on-campus games of capture the flag and themed parties.

Undergraduate Society Pages: Each undergraduate society has a Facebook page which all students are encouraged to like. This page provides updates on what is happening with regards to that particular faculty, such as the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS), Science Undergraduate Society (SUS), or Management Undergraduate Society (MUS). Similar to the SSMU page, these pages regularly post opportunities for employment, faculty-specific events, and information about faculty councils, elections, and office hours.

Students’ Association Page: Each department usually has its own student association. By liking the page, students get notifications on events and important news related to the department. Examples of students’ association are the History Students' Association (HSA) and McGill Psychology Students' Association (MPSA). This is a great place to ask fellow students for advice on courses, textbooks and professors, as well as stay informed about talks, seminars and job fairs that pertain to that specific department.

Free Food on Campus and in Montreal: One of the most popular Facebook groups for McGill students, this group allows members to post about opportunities to find free food on campus and around Montreal. Living on a student budget is not always easy, but there are always events on campus offering free food, which helps to make life more affordable. A distant cousin of this group is the Samosa Sales group. There is usually one samosa sale a day and students who are selling or who are looking for samosas can post in this group. The typical price is $1 for one or $2 for three, meaning McGill students could live affordably off of only samosas if they really wanted to.

Textbook Exchange: Textbooks are expensive but necessary. Students in this group buy and sell used textbooks off each other for much cheaper prices than the bookstore. Posts in this group peak at the start of each semester, and popular textbooks can be sold within a couple minutes, so it is best to keep refreshing this page until you find the textbook you need.

Free and For Sale: This group is McGill’s version of Craigslist—students can buy and sell various items for reasonable prices.  As the group description says, you can “find fridges, futons, and tons of other stuff.” There is also a group called McGill Clothing Exchange which is specifically for buying and selling clothing.

Housing: This is a space for students to post about housing and other living opportunities. When looking for an apartment or a roommate, this is a great place to start the search. Students also frequently post here for advice about landlords or housing dilemmas that may arise.

Jobs and Internships: This group makes searching for a job much less daunting. Information on jobs and internships on campus, in Montreal, and beyond are posted on this group. Researchers looking for paid participants will also post here, as will event organizers looking for temporary staff.

This article is a part of our McGill 101 issue, which aims to ease your transition and answer questions you have about McGill and Montreal.

Seoul music
a, Arts & Entertainment, Music

Seoul steps out of the shadows

by Morgan Alexander on

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For any up-and-coming band, the first festival performance is a big deal—it solidifies their role in the music world and confirms that the effort they put into their music is worth it. This experience was no different for Montreal-based band Seoul, who cheerfully reiterated during their performance that playing at Osheaga was their first “big gig.” Seoul is one of many up-and-coming bands that Osheaga was originally created to host, allowing local artists to garner more attention. This type of exposure marks a welcome shift into maturity and visibility for a band that once prided itself on anonymity.

Seoul, comprised of Julian Flavin, Dexter Garcia, and Nigel Ward, has been together for five years. In 2011 the group completed their first album, I Become Shade, but decided to put off releasing the record until 2015. “

It took a while to release it because we wanted to find a label that we were happy with,” Garcia said. “We were in different places, different cities, and we had other goals than just releasing the album.”

As a result, the album sat unchanged for nearly four years, despite misconceptions that the album was in fact being worked on throughout those years.

“[Saying the album took so many years to create] makes it seem like this strange epic masterpiece, which it’s not,” Garcia reiterated. “There was this period of serious effort followed by a period of waiting.”

It’s an understandable misconception, but one that the group says is farlry typical of other artists, just to a lesser degree.

“People have made a lot out of the taking-a-while thing,” Flavin added. “I feel like really it was just a process that takes a while period, and everybody has that to a degree that isn’t immediately given to the public eye.”

While the long period in between production and release didn’t much affect the sound of the band, it did give the group a chance to define their image. Seoul is unique in the sense that they didn’t come up with a name prior to the release of their album.

“Everything sort of stemmed from the aesthetic of the album,” Ward explained.

For the band’s first press photos, the images were in black and white and the groups faces were always distorted in some way. Combined with their relatively unknown status, the group was to tailor its image into something unique for university groups, giving them a more seemingly experienced edge.

“We thought it was more appropriate that certain images of other things that are not the band,” Flavin said. “The idea of having press photos where we’re not extremely visual was just a product of our thoughts on this album[….] We’re not against portraying ourselves as the people that we are, we just thought it was more apt musically.”

The ironic result of the group’s efforts to label themselves as the music, and not the band, is the resulting uncertainty as to what type of music they actually produce.

“You kinda have to do it [define your sound], it’s kind of a bummer always,” Flavin said. “For this album we’ve decided on ambient pop just because the music was written with a sort of pop song grafty kind of outlook, which is just something we’re really drawn to.”

The band’s ultimate goal is, in essence, to chill. Make more music, play more shows, and hopefully get an album out soon. But for now the band is happy to be recognized as a Quebec-based up-and-comer, even if they have been around for years.

“New is defined by when people start to realize that you’ve made music,” Ward said.

Video

2017 Mercedes-AMG C63 Coupe Makes its Debut

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Mercedes-AMG C 63 S Coupé (C 205) 2015; Exterieur: designo diamantweiß bright, Night Paket exterior: designo diamond white bright, night package
Mercedes-AMG C 63 S Coupé (C 205) 2015; Exterieur: designo diamantweiß bright, Night Paket
exterior: designo diamond white bright, night package

This is some dummy copy. You’re not really supposed to read this dummy copy, it is just a place holder for people who need some type to visualize what the actual copy might look like if it were real content.

If you want to read, I might suggest a good book, perhaps Hemingway or Melville. That’s why they call it, the dummy copy. This, of course, is not the real copy for this entry. Rest assured, the words will expand the concept. With clarity. Conviction. And a little wit.

Mercedes-AMG C 63 S Coupé (C 205) 2015; Exterieur: designo diamantweiß bright, Night Paket exterior: designo diamond white bright, night package
Mercedes-AMG C 63 S Coupé (C 205) 2015; Exterieur: designo diamantweiß bright, Night Paket
exterior: designo diamond white bright, night package

In today’s competitive market environment, the body copy of your entry must lead the reader through a series of disarmingly simple thoughts.

All your supporting arguments must be communicated with simplicity and charm. And in such a way that the reader will read on. (After all, that’s a reader’s job: to read, isn’t it?) And by the time your readers have reached this point in the finished copy, you will have convinced them that you not only respect their intelligence, but you also understand their needs as consumers.

Sport

Lisboa Triathlon 2015

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This is some dummy copy. You’re not really supposed to read this dummy copy, it is just a place holder for people who need some type to visualize what the actual copy might look like if it were real content.

If you want to read, I might suggest a good book, perhaps Hemingway or Melville. That’s why they call it, the dummy copy. This, of course, is not the real copy for this entry. Rest assured, the words will expand the concept. With clarity. Conviction. And a little wit.

In today’s competitive market environment, the body copy of your entry must lead the reader through a series of disarmingly simple thoughts.

All your supporting arguments must be communicated with simplicity and charm. And in such a way that the reader will read on. (After all, that’s a reader’s job: to read, isn’t it?) And by the time your readers have reached this point in the finished copy, you will have convinced them that you not only respect their intelligence, but you also understand their needs as consumers.

As a result of which, your entry will repay your efforts. Take your sales; simply put, they will rise. Likewise your credibility. There’s every chance your competitors will wish they’d placed this entry, not you. While your customers will have probably forgotten that your competitors even exist. Which brings us, by a somewhat circuitous route, to another small point, but one which we feel should be raised.

Long copy or short – You decide

As a marketer, you probably don’t even believe in body copy. Let alone long body copy. (Unless you have a long body yourself.) Well, truth is, who‘s to blame you? Fact is, too much long body copy is dotted with such indulgent little phrases like truth is, fact is, and who’s to blame you. Trust us: we guarantee, with a hand over our heart, that no such indulgent rubbish will appear in your entry. That’s why God gave us big blue pencils. So we can expunge every example of witted waffle.

For you, the skies will be blue, the birds will sing, and your copy will be crafted by a dedicated little man whose wife will be sitting at home, knitting, wondering why your entry demands more of her husband‘s time than it should.

But you will know why, won‘t you? You will have given her husband a chance to immortalize himself in print, writing some of the most persuasive prose on behalf of a truly enlightened purveyor of widgets. And so, while your dedicated reader, enslaved to each mellifluous paragraph, clutches his newspaper with increasing interest and intention to purchase, you can count all your increased profits and take pots of money to your bank. Sadly, this is not the real copy for this entry. But it could well be. All you have to do is look at the account executive sitting across your desk (the fellow with the lugubrious face and the calf-like eyes), and say ”Yes! Yes! Yes!“ And anything you want, body copy, dinners, women, will be yours. Couldn’t be fairer than that, could we?

a, News, SSMU

Renovated SSMU Student Run Cafeteria to offer expanded menu, replace Bocadillo

by Mayaz Alam on

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On Aug. 24 a new, yet to be named food operation opened alongside The Nest in the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) cafeteria. Together, the two services will form the Student-Run-Café (SRC). 

The new food operation sells items such as burgers and pizza, while The Nest  has added a full pasta bar. Menu items are clearly differentiated between the two  food operations, with little overlap in what each location sells. 

According to SSMU Vice-President (Finance & Operations) Zacheriah Houston, the new food operation will increase the variety of food options sold at the SRC while allowing The Nest to maintain its original mandate as a sustainability hub.

“Students were very clearly asking for more meat, but it didn’t fit the vision of The Nest,” Houston said. “The new café will have more meat and a wider variety and selection of food, but it’ll definitely be offering vegan and gluten-friendly options [too].”

The new food operation will be situated in the space formerly occupied by Bocadillo, a food service provider whose lease expired in June, 2015. 

Bocadillo’s departure followed the earlier exit of Bambou Bol in March 2015, which occurred due to the latter’s failure to pay rent. SSMU Vice-President (Clubs & Services) Kimber Bialik noted that these departures enabled SSMU to move forward with its mandate to prioritize student space.

“It was a mix of good timing with […] those leases […] ending, and when we were ready to mobilize with [the SRC].” Bialik said.

The creation of the SRC follows a series of motions passed by SSMU to prioritize student space in the Shatner Building, while minimizing the presence of corporate efforts on campus : one such motion, the “Confidential Motion Regarding the Future of Food Services in the University Centre”—which was confidential at the time because it dealt with ongoing lease negotiations with Bocadillo—was passed on March 26. It mandates that SSMU work towards removing commercial tenant activity from the Shatner Building. The motion also prevents any new agreements with commercial tenants without the explicit approval of SSMU Legislative Council.

According to Houston, the decision to forgo a commercial tenant in favour of another student-run operation was difficult, given the uncertainty that the SRC will immediately produce a profit.

“We were giving up guaranteed revenue [from a commercial tenant] for revenue that could be more favourable for [SSMU] or could be worse,” Houston explained. “We have pretty high hopes given the amount of traffic that used to go through the cafeteria and also based on how well The Nest did during the last term.” 

While The Nest ran a deficit of nearly $20,000 during its first semester of operation, Winter 2014, Houston does not foresee a similar setback for the new food operation.

“The new operation will definitely be budgeted for a surplus because [it] replaced a commercial tenant; so financially, it’s not really an option to run a deficit,” Houston said. “The Nest […] had [a] really high food cost percentage compared to any other restaurant that I’ve looked at because local, diet-sensitive food is expensive.” 

Currently, there will be no option for students to pay for food at either The Nest or the new food operation using a McGill meal plan. Houston attributed this to the high cost of offering an alternate payment system that accepts meal plans.

Both Bialik and Houston explained that student consultation will play a large role in the evolution of the SRC. Houston noted that students will be able to take part in the naming of the new food operation; “The Nest,” which opened in January 2014, was chosen in a similar process. Bialik highlighted that input from current students will help determine how the renovated area surrounding the SRC is repurposed.

“As of right now, there have been no decisions as to what we’re going to do with that space because the consultation on how […] the SRC was going to be designed was in 2012,” Bialik explained. “Considering that the majority of those students are gone, we definitely want to reach out to students again and figure out what their priorities are […] for the space.” 

For Jessica Zheng, U3 Science, the departure of Bambou Bol and Bocadillo, coupled with the increased menu offerings at the SRC, is both positive and negative.

“I think less [restaurant] variety will deter students from frequenting the SSMU building during lunch hours,” Zheng said. “At the same time, because the SRC is offering an extensive menu now, students can still find a satisfying meal, especially for on-the-go items despite the closure of two food options.”

SSMU’s remaining food service tenants, including La Prep and Liquid Nutrition both have leases that end in June, 2016. They account for approximately 65 per cent of annual food sales, according to a presentation given to Council by Kathleen Bradley, last year’s vice-president (Finance & Operations).

Private

Benfica crowned 2014/15 Champions of Portugal

on

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This is some dummy copy. You’re not really supposed to read this dummy copy, it is just a place holder for people who need some type to visualize what the actual copy might look like if it were real content.

If you want to read, I might suggest a good book, perhaps Hemingway or Melville. That’s why they call it, the dummy copy. This, of course, is not the real copy for this entry. Rest assured, the words will expand the concept. With clarity. Conviction. And a little wit.

In today’s competitive market environment, the body copy of your entry must lead the reader through a series of disarmingly simple thoughts.

All your supporting arguments must be communicated with simplicity and charm. And in such a way that the reader will read on. (After all, that’s a reader’s job: to read, isn’t it?) And by the time your readers have reached this point in the finished copy, you will have convinced them that you not only respect their intelligence, but you also understand their needs as consumers.

As a result of which, your entry will repay your efforts. Take your sales; simply put, they will rise. Likewise your credibility. There’s every chance your competitors will wish they’d placed this entry, not you. While your customers will have probably forgotten that your competitors even exist. Which brings us, by a somewhat circuitous route, to another small point, but one which we feel should be raised.

Long copy or short – You decide

As a marketer, you probably don’t even believe in body copy. Let alone long body copy. (Unless you have a long body yourself.) Well, truth is, who‘s to blame you? Fact is, too much long body copy is dotted with such indulgent little phrases like truth is, fact is, and who’s to blame you. Trust us: we guarantee, with a hand over our heart, that no such indulgent rubbish will appear in your entry. That’s why God gave us big blue pencils. So we can expunge every example of witted waffle.

For you, the skies will be blue, the birds will sing, and your copy will be crafted by a dedicated little man whose wife will be sitting at home, knitting, wondering why your entry demands more of her husband‘s time than it should.

But you will know why, won‘t you? You will have given her husband a chance to immortalize himself in print, writing some of the most persuasive prose on behalf of a truly enlightened purveyor of widgets. And so, while your dedicated reader, enslaved to each mellifluous paragraph, clutches his newspaper with increasing interest and intention to purchase, you can count all your increased profits and take pots of money to your bank. Sadly, this is not the real copy for this entry. But it could well be. All you have to do is look at the account executive sitting across your desk (the fellow with the lugubrious face and the calf-like eyes), and say ”Yes! Yes! Yes!“ And anything you want, body copy, dinners, women, will be yours. Couldn’t be fairer than that, could we?

Horst
a, Art, Arts & Entertainment

Horst: Transcending the ages through colour photography

by Jack Neal on

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Horst Paul Bohrmann’s (Horst P. Horst) work has become recognized worldwide as some of the most forward-thinking endeavours in photography, and he is widely considered one of the most prolific fashion photographers of all time. Despite this recognition, not much is known about the man behind the lens. The superbly designed Horst: Photographer of Style exhibition, held at the McCord Museum, provides a spectacular glimpse into the wondrous transition from black and white to colour photography, while also shining light on the shadows of this enigmatic individual as well.

Born in 20th century Germany, Horst moved to Paris to pursue a career in architecture with Swiss architect, Le Corbusier. But upon meeting the ‘star-photographer’ of French Vogue, Baron George Hoyningen-Huene, he veered off into what became his absolute passion: Photography. This is where the exhibit begins.

The exhibit begins in a darkly lit room with the letters “H O R S T” in large, white capital letters printed in 3-D over a dark grey wall alongside a biography of Horst’s early life. A multitude of his black and white photographs of beautiful women taken during the 1930s for a Vogue cover are on the walls. The centre of the room is occupied by a floor-to-ceiling glass case showcasing six designer dresses worn by some of the models in the photographs. These images, taken in the 1930s, were some of the first high-fashion photographs ever taken, and appear immaculate from lighting to shadowing to poses.

The second part of the exhibit showcases Horst’s Surrealist work, also from the 1930s, with a handful of stunning black and white photos featuring women in bizarre positions, posing with sharp-edged, cube-based inanimate objects. In this part of the exhibit the viewer is introduced to Horst’s friendship with fellow artist Salvador Dalí—an artist who clearly influenced and inspired some of Horst’s more abstract work. Additionally, Horst’s work-life division becomes increasingly clear. This separation is enhanced by the exhibition’s inclusion of four Dalí-esque still lifes and dozens of Horst’s sketches cleverly compiled onto an iPad, which viewers can flick through at their own pleasure.

[URIS id=35476]

The exhibit continues with a short black and white film that documents Horst at work, mid photo shoot. Afterwards the exhibit opens into a stark-white and high-ceiling gallery that dazzles with the vivid colours and bright clothes of the aforementioned Vogue covers. This stark contrast between this section of the gallery and the more dimmed atmosphere of the preceding sections brilliantly displays Horst’s transition to colour photography and the dazzling effects that the transition had on Horst’s work.

The initial black and white photos, the introduction of improved technology in the 1940s via the short film, and finally the incorporation of colour all blend together superbly and transport the viewer through time. In reality, a large majority of the brightly dazzling colour photos in the ‘modern’ part of the exhibit are from the 1930s, thus either emerging at the same time of or preceding some of the faded black and white photography at the beginning of the exhibit. Highlighting the impact that colour can have on photography in such a seemingly anachronistic way is the most interesting takeaway from this exhibit. With colour, the world can instantly appear more glamorous and modern, and conversely reveal how incorrect society’s romanticized and re-imagined visions of the past are. The exhibit brilliantly enhances this realization by transitioning from brightly coloured magazine covers into subdued–albeit nude–black and white photos that Horst took in the 1950s, a clever testament to the rather mind-shifting experience that this exhibition encapsulates.

Whether or not the exhibit was designed to foster this rather existential questioning, it is nevertheless a splendid conclusion to the show. Horst: Photographer of Style is an incredibly well thought-out and striking exhibit that showcases not only Horst’s own growth, but that of photography and art as well.

Horst: Photographer of Style is being presented at the McCord Museum (690 Sherbrooke Street West) until Sunday, August 23. Admission is $8.50.

best albums of 2015
a, Arts & Entertainment, Music

The best albums of 2015 (so far)

by Chris Lutes and Jack Neal on

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15. Jenny Hval – Apocalypse, Girl

Full of surprises, Jenny Hval’s fifth studio album delves into territory that her previous work had avoided entirely. It pushes boundaries, with noisy interludes and sharp melodies that are so well crafted it’s impossible to take all the musical arrangements in with one listen. It’s weird, wonderful, and one of the most intriguing and bizarre records released this year.

14. Sun Kil Moon – Universal Themes

Despite a couple of uneven songs and Sun Kil Moon’s (singer-songwriter Mark Kozelek) personal lyrical vendettas, there are ultimately more good things than bad to say about Universal Themes. Taking the stream-of-conscious lyrical conceit of 2014’s Benji a step further by not tying it to any specific theme, he muses on love, death, and insignificant encounters with strangers, resulting in a complicated portrait of an acerbic crank. The lack of focus is responsible for the album’s weaknesses, but also contributes to its strengths—the idea that his songs can go anywhere is a liberating one.

13. Jamie xx – In Colour

Jamie xx of The xx delivers the platonic ideal of uplifting ambient music: It’s unobtrusive at first, but worms its way into the consciousness through multiple listens. After a while, the songs become fully internalized and the listener is invariably in a better mood than before they pressed play. There’s something to be said for an album that accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do, even when its goals aren’t as lofty as one would hope.

12. Marina & the Diamonds – FROOT

While her previous two efforts were all over the place, Marina’s third studio album, FROOT is a much more focused and well-realized album filled with catchy 80s-inspired songs that are reminiscent of Madonna in her prime. The Welsh singer-songwriter finally accepts her slightly unconventional position within not only the music industry, but society in general: “All the other jewels around me astounded me at first / But I’m not cursed / I was just covered in dirt.” It’s hard to get more honest or hopeful than that.

11. Earl Sweatshirt – I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside

Shut-ins of the world, rejoice—Earl Sweatshirt’s delightfully bleak album is notable for how stridently out-of-step it is with what could be labelled as normal human behaviour. In a genre often characterized by excess and machismo, Sweatshirt delivers an album that clocks in at under 30 minutes and highlights his painful insecurity above anything else, resulting in one of the more unique rap albums of the modern era.

10. Bjork – Vulnicura

With her signature distorted vocals and electronic-infused production, Bjork’s ninth studio album is one of her strongest. While a hard record to get through with its magnitude of instrumentals and the sheer length of the songs, it’s a rewarding and intriguing listen. It skilfully both reveals all, but at the same time nothing, about the enigmatic person behind this work of art.

9. Jessica Pratt – On Your Own Love Again

“Peoples faces blend together / Like a watercolour you can’t remember,” whispers Los Angeles native, Jessica Pratt, in a voice instantly reminiscent of Kate Bush. In many ways, this one line holds more weight to it than many mainstream albums do in their entirety; however, On Your Own Love Again is teeming with excellent lyricism. The intricately produced songs, recorded in Pratt’s own living room—by herself—with nothing more than a few guitars, reflect the emotion perfectly, complimenting the sense of utter loneliness Pratt is delivering.

8. Father John Misty – I Love You, Honeybear

Father John Misty (Joshua Tillman) offers a beautifully-arranged cure to the hipster narcissism that often accompanies indie music with an album that's unabashedly sentimental and romantic. Even more impressive is Tillman's ability to put that romance in an us-against-the-world context that's equal parts naive and heroic.

7. Brandon Flowers – The Desired Effect

With a host of big-name producers, echoing drums, and synthesized-infused songs, Brandon Flowers delivered one of the most fully realized and ‘80s-sounding records in recent memory.The Desired Effect primarily concerns unreciprocated love but also tackles existential wonders, self-worth, and the issue of tradition vs. progression.

6. Kacey Musgraves – Pageant Material

With Pageant Material, her second studio album, Musgraves continues to do what she does best: Make simple songs about complicated people. On “This Town” she discusses the bored realities of small-town life: “Everybody got real happy when the grocery store got beer”; “Somebody To Love” provides one of the most poignant lines of the year: “We’re all tryna get to heaven / but not today”; whilst “Good Ol’ Boys Club” is a fun little dig at the music industry: “Favours for friends will get you in and get you far / When did it become about who you know and not about how good you are?” Pageant Material is an out-and-out country record that offers some of the best songwriting skills of the year.

5. Titus Andronicus – A Most Lamentable Tragedy

Titus Andronicus rebounds from its sophomore slump, Local Business, with a gloriously excessive triple-album about living with bipolar disorder. There is surprisingly little filler for such a long album—it clocks in at over 90 minutes— as frontman Patrick Stickles shrieks and mumbles through emotional turmoil. Somehow bridging a gap between metal and bar rock, the album lends a triumphant voice for the hordes of people who can't stand to get out of bed in the morning, let alone sing.

4. Sleater Kinney – No Cities To Love

Following a rather complicated band history, Sleater Kinney returned with their first release in 10 years, a record that reflected the ups and downs the group has experienced over the past decade. It’s an exploration of success, age, and the group’s journey, held together with massive drums, angsty guitars, and intricately produced songs. With each song and experience and story of its own, No Cities To Love is a fantastic record that was well worth the wait.

3. Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly

A densely packed, politically infused, and genre-bending album, To Pimp A Butterfly is the record that 2015 needs. It’s an unapologetic rage and unfiltered explosion of emotion; something that only gets better with repeated listens. Not since Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy has there been such an honest, angsty, and conceptually sharp album. This could be one of the best albums of the decade, let alone the year.

2. Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit

The debut studio album of Australian indie artist Courtney Barnett examines the simple things in life that everyone experiences but never pays attention to. On “Pedestrian At Best,” she faces the reality of being a disappointment when raised on a pedestal, “Dead Fox” discusses millennial confusion impeccably well, while album highlight “Depreston” discusses the heartbreaking realization that even a run-down house in the suburbs is too expensive for a young couple to purchase. It’s honest, intriguing, and one of the smartest and cleverly written debut albums released since Arcade Fire’s Funeral(2004).

1. Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell

The loss of innocence and realization of growing up is never easy, but it’s made even more difficult when life is full of personal hardships. Inspired by the death of his mother and various other relationship troubles that stemmed from that emotional void, Sufjan Stevens’ seventh studio album incorporates intricate yet understated instrumentals layered beneath his raw and troubled voice. Achingly beautiful, Carrie & Lowell is one of the most heartbreaking and distraught listens released this year.

best songs of 2015
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The best songs of 2015 (so far)

by Jack Neal on

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Here's our list of the best songs of 2015 so far:

15. Jessica Pratt – “Games That I Play”

“People’s faces blend together like a watercolour you can’t remember,” sings Jessica Pratt. It’s one of the most beautifully-crafted lines written this year, and holds more weight than the combination of the Los Angeles-native’s pop contemporaries’ best tracks. Pratt’s Kate Bush-esque vocals are delivered delicately over a gently strumming guitar, before the song switches up halfway through to an incredible ‘70s-remeniscent sound, beautifully complimenting the change in tone and increased frustration reflected in the lyrics: “Were you coming to me to tell me that you’re mine?” she asks her lover, before admitting that “this motion is sickening”. Achingly gorgeous, “Games That I Play” is an understated gem in a collection of meticulously-crafted songs.

14. Lana Del Rey – “Honeymoon”

Released during the height of the summer, “Honeymoon” is the first look at Lana Del Rey’s upcoming album of the same name. Hugely orchestral, it incorporates the aspects that she does so well: Bad boys, doomed relationships, and never-ending love. “We both know it’s not fashionable to love me,” she croons in an almost whisper over lavish strings; this stunning ‘50s blue-eyed soul-inspired song proves there are many reasons to do just that. It’s a slow-burning and tragically beautiful track that breaks through the simplistic familiarity of modern pop.

13. Jessie Ware – “Champagne Kisses”

“Who’s fault is this / That I’m crazy about you,” British soul singer Jessie Ware questions on the opening line of “Champagne Kisses.” While the majority of her second studio album, Tough Love, revolves around love, this song stands out in particular with its immaculate production, Ware’s soaring vocals, and the vulnerable lyrics. “All I want is your love,” she hopefully wishes, before admitting that, “This love is supreme / That’s why I always give in.”

12. Jamie xx – “Loud Places (ft. Romy)”

For British musician Jamie xx, his 2015 debut studio album In Colour succeeded primarily in perfecting minimalism. However, the single “Loud Places” breaks somewhat from that formula, with the smooth vocals of Romy layered beautifully over a meticulously well-crafted collection of instruments and pulsating beats. “I’ve been to loud places / to search for someone to be quiet with,” Romy sings, before her lonely voice is joined with choral background singers, echoing drums, and a fantastic climactic second half that is unlike anything else released this year.

11. Taylor Swift – “Style”

Like many of Taylor Swift’s tracks, it’s often easier to love-to-hate the lyrical themes—and even the artist—than to admire the musical talent underneath. But with a fantastic blend of pulsing guitar, echoing drums, and effortless vocals, there is no avoiding the fact that “Style” is one of Swift’s most accomplished and uplifting songs. By echoing the sound of the song’s parent album, 1989 (2014), Swift’s lyrical message seems to be almost prophetic: “We never go out of style,” she sings, and neither will this track.

10. Brandon Flowers – “Never Get You Right”

“They’ll never get you right,” warns Brandon Flowers (lead singer of The Killers), in a seemingly innocent but truthful critique of society’s lack of collective understanding. Combined with fantastic reverbed vocals and heavy bass and guitar, Flowers’ vocals soar effortlessly across a wide range of notes, conveying a real sense of wanting to lend a helping hand to those who feel misjudged. “Don’t give into the pressure,” he sadly proclaims, “It isn’t going to stop / Because the world goes on around you / Whether you like it or not.”

9. Rihanna, Kanye West & Paul McCartney – “FourFiveSeconds”

Though it is painfully easy to poke hole’s in Kanye West’s attempt at ‘singing,’ “FourFiveSeconds” is in fact one of the most original and unique tracks released this year. “I think I’ve had enough / Might get a little drunk,” sings Rihanna, before Kanye West chimes in with typical character: “Hold me back / I’m ‘bout to spaz.” The song reaches a climactic mid-section with Rihanna almost breaking down: “But I just can’t apologize / I hope you can understand,” before Paul McCartney’s guitar work creeps out from beneath the vocals, providing a gritty and unstructured listen.

8. Kacey Musgraves – “Biscuits”

“Mind your own biscuits and life will be gravy,” country singer-songwriter Kacey Musgraves sweetly sings over simple, banjo-infused instrumentation. It’s innocent enough, but the underlying message is nothing if not biting: “I burned my own damn finger poking someone else’s fire.” It’s a witty and finger-pointing critique of society’s obsession with finding the faults in others, when in reality, “We’ve all got dirty laundry hanging on the line.”

7. Florence + the Machine – “Third Eye”

Whilst Florence + the Machine’s 2015 album was, on the whole, meant to be a scaled back effort in comparison to her earlier work, “Third Eye” is a stunning accomplishment and a return to the over-the-top production and vocals that she does so well. “There’s a hole where your heart lies / And I can see it with my third eye,” she shrieks over a fantastic mesh of echoing drums, claps, piano, and guitar strums heavily reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac. But fear not: “Third Eye” is the most Florence + the Machine song that Florence + the Machine have ever made, and the standout track of How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful (2015) by a long shot.

6. Kendrick Lamar – “u”

In producing probably the most formally ambitious track on To Pimp A Butterfly (2015), Kendrick Lamar shows a level of vulnerability that would make even the most fearless artist uncomfortable. Using the framing device of drinking away his troubles in some remote hotel room, he recounts the ways he failed himself and others with an brazen level of specificity. The amount of blame he piles on himself comes through in his voice—hoarse as if it was his 50th take. The song is even better in the context of its counterpart, “i,” a triumphant ode to himself that shows what a fascinating contradiction his music can be.

5. Perfume Genius – “Fool”

Though any song from Perfume Genius’ (Mike Hadreas) new album, Too Bright (2014), could have made it onto this list, “Fool” stands out as his most accomplished and striking song yet. Beginning with ‘70 synths accompanied by snaps and clicks, the song progresses into a stunning mid-section in which it’s hard to decipher between Hadreas’ piercingly high vocals or a screaming guitar. But beneath the immaculate production, the lyrics proclaim a dark and unsettling truth: “I made your dress / I laid it out / On the couch you bought / That I picked out.”

4. Grimes – “Realiti”

Although just a demo that was initially not even meant to be released, Grimes’ latest track in anticipation for her new album, REALiTi (2015), is a stunning retro expedition into the loss of innocence while growing up. Discussing the reality of absolute bliss of childhood over pulsing synths and airy vocals, the former McGill student admits: “When we were young we used to live so close to it / And we were scared and we were beautiful.” Having since grown up, she has realized that “Every morning there’s mountains to climb,” but with the irresistibly catchy tune, it’s hard not to feel excited about living life for life itself.

3. Donnie Trumpet & the Social Experiment – “Sunday Candy”

In nearly four minutes off joyful, unbridled nostalgia, Chance the Rapper brings the best marriage of rap and soul since Kanye West’s first few albums. Connecting religion and family in a way that doesn’t feel hokey or forced, Chance sing-raps his way through an ode to the time he spent in church with his grandmother with a palpable sense of reverence and love. Jamila Woods’ soulful hook underscores these themes, and the track’s cacophonous production overflows with brassy energy, while also lending it a modern edge.

2. Sufjan Stevens – “Should Have Known Better”

It’s not until you lose someone that you properly appreciate and value everything they did for you and the impact they had on your life. On “Should Have Known Better,” the most heartbreaking song on a tear-jerking album, Sufjan Stevens faces this painful reality: He painfully admits, “I should have known better / I should have wrote a letter / Explaining what I feel / That empty feeling,” over a slowly growing multitude of instruments that blend and compliment each other, resulting in an understated but emotional epic final minute. “Don’t back down / Nothing can be changed,” he concludes, realizing that moving on is only possible with accepting the past, no matter how hard it might be. After all, “the past is still the past / A bridge to nowhere….”

1, Courtney Barnett – “Depreston”

One of the most understated yet encapsulating artists of the year, Courtney Barnett captures the very 21st-century notion of feeling out of place in the world around you and the desire to break free from it. “You say we should look out further / I guess it wouldn’t hurt us / We don’t have to be around all these coffee shops,” the 27-year-old Australian singer-songwriter hopefully sings to her partner, only to realize that the only place she can afford is a deceased estate needing to be knocked down and rebuilt. “It’s got a lovely garden / A garage for two cars to park in / Or a lot of room for storage if you’ve just got one,” she continues, but at the end of the day, “It’s [just] a Californian bungalow in a culd-e-sac.” “Depreston” is perhaps the most millennial song ever written.

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