Year In Review 2015

2015, the year I had been looking forward to experiencing since seeing Back To The Future Part II has come and gone. When that movie was released in 1989, I was 9 years old and I remember thinking so much about what 2015 would be like. Now that it has passed, it's probably so much different than my 9 year old self ever imagined, but it's also so much better than I could have ever thought of. 

2015 for me saw a lot of happiness, as well as sadness. Craziness and love. Challenges and blessings. We began 2015 with a Caribbean cruise to Cozumel, Honduras, Belize & Costa Maya - I left my job after 5 years with Summit Home Health & Hospice, leaving some of the greatest people I have ever worked with - I started a new job as a Marketing Director with Five Point Restoration working with some of the best friends I've ever had - My beautiful and amazing grandmother passed away at the age of 91 - We owned a dog for a week, and realized our schedules were not cut out to be dog owners at this point in our lives, but we were able to find him a great new home- Shara's oldest nephew returned home from serving his mission ins Arizona - We got a trampoline - My little sister married her best friend of 8 years, and found out she will be having a baby next February! - My youngest daughter Jane turned 2 years old - Shara's younger brother Shawn passed away at the age of 31 - I took Will on his first overnight camping trip with my dad and brother in law - Shara and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary with a trip to Denver to see the Broncos and a new ring - My band Go Suburban played a bunch of concerts, and started recording an album that will be released at the beginning of next year - We took a trip with my family to California to go to Disneyland, Universal Studios, and the Utah v. USC game - My oldest son William turned 5 years old - My children challenged me more than anything else I think I've ever had to deal with, but grew to love them so much more this year. 

As with other years in the past, this year was accompanied with music that became the soundtrack to my life. Through everything I did this year, there was always music with me. I was able to communicate with a lot of music lovers through social media, in person and through online publications which made finding great music even better. Music apps on smart phones became much more accessible and provided a seamless way for me to consume more music than I ever have before. As is custom with so many websites, TV shows and magazine articles at this time of year, I've created a my own list of top 20 albums this year. After ranking these albums, I create a playlist via iTunes & Spotify featuring one song from each album, which hopefully gives you a small sample of the music I listened to this year, but also creates a chapter in my music library for the year 2015. When I go back over the years and listen to these playlists, I'm instantly taken back to that year and I reminisce about all the events that happened during that time.

This is my birthday present to myself every year that I now share with you. I literally spend the entire calendar year researching, reading & debating what will make my list and what music I will put on it. I now present to you my 2015 Year In Review:

1. Tame Impala - Currents
2. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell
3. Wilco - Star Wars
4. Jamie xx - In Colour
5. Hop Along - Painted Shut
6. Alabama Shakes - Sound & Color
7. Foo Fighters - Saint Cecilia EP
8. Grimes - Art Angels
9. Kurt Vile - B'lieve I'm Goin Down...
10. Ben Folds - So There
11. Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear
12. Lord Huron - Strange Trails
13. Ryan Adams - 1989
14. Baroness - Purple
15. Deerhunter - Fading Frontier
16. Foals - What Went Down
17. Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment - Surf
18. Muse - Drones
19. Brandon Flowers - The Desired Effect
20. Day Wave - Headcase EP

Honorable Mentions:

James Bay - Chaos And The Calm

Big Grams - Big Grams
twenty one pilots - Blurryface
Fall Out Boy - American Beauty/American Psycho
Chvrches - Every Eye Open