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Play the podcast in the player above, or download the MP3. If you haven't already, be certain to subscribe (and rate!) the pod in iTunes.

i've got a lot of words here, and plenty more to spare in the podcast above, so let's get right to listing out and detailing most of the notable LPs released over the past 12 months.

Critically praised records that didn't click for me

• Beach House's Depression Cherry: A nice approach and good sonic minamlism, but the presentation overall just doesn't do it for me.
• Deerhunter's Fading Frontier: A little perplexed as to how this one cracked the top 15 of a few major-pub lists. "Snakeskin" is quite enjoyable; it should have been the album opener. "All the Same" is sort of a plodding push of a track 1. Overall, this is OK but not too memorable. I'll probably like it more in 2019 than I did in 2015.
• Grimes' Art Angels: Considered a top-five LP by many a review board. The style just doesn't click with me. Artistically, I understand and even enjoy some of what Grimes is doing here, but the delivery and overall context goes past my head. Liked a few of the songs, but the idea that this is an elite 2015 release is something I can't interpret.
• Jamie XX's In Colour: Aurally pleasing enough, but in general I thought this one was a bit overrated on the year-end lists. A nice "listen while you write" album for me, but I have no pull to come back after two listens.
• Joanna Newsom's Divers: Can't get past the voice more than anything, and the arrangements aren't the easiest thing to dig your heels into.
• Titus Andronicus' The Most Lamentable Tragedy: This band's never gonna do it for me. Just one of those things.
• Vince Staples' Summertime '06: Says more about my way-too-pick hip-hop tastes than the offerings of this specific LP.

Disappointments and/or underwhelming releases

• Ben Folds' So There: The tenor tones of the title track are nice, and the orchestral arrangements around the songs work, but overall this isn't one of Folds' memorable efforts. It'll be a nice surprise to revisit on rare occasions, but it's not essential to his canon. Plus, the three concertos that tag the end of the LP seem out of place, even with the rest of the record including elements of the orchestra.
• Built to Spill's Untethered Moon: "On the Way" is a standout track. But overall, not much to this LP that makes me want to head back and listen again. Twice was enough. Read a few times the sentiment that this was BtS's best LP since the '90s. Consider me stumped.
• Coldplay's A Head Full of Dreams: Whatever it was that once inspired Chris Martin and his band to write genuinely good music with guitars, a bass, some piano and drums has seemingly permanently left the coop. I forced myself to listen to the whole thing out of dedication to the Coldplay fan I used to be, the one who still enthusiastically plays Parachutes and A Rush of Blood to the Head. That band is never coming back.
• Gary Clark's The Story of Sonny Boy Slim: Doesn't come close to what was tapped with Blak and Blu.
• The Dead Weather's Dodge and Burn: Only gave it one listen and wasn't even drawn back to try again.
• The Fratellis' Eyes Wide, Tongue Tied: "Me and the Devil" is a pretty good opener; made me think The Fratellis were opting to go an Arctic Monkeys AM route. Some of this LP has a The Gaslight Anthem ethos. The melody to some of the verse from "Thief" sounds like it's one shade removed from "Ghostbusters," by the way. Overall I don't think The Fratellis will ever get close to tapping the well that was their home run debut, Costello Music.
• Muse's Drones: A little too novel in concept, and a lot of it sounds like ideas that should've hit the cutting room floor. "The Handler" is a highlight.

Good efforts but not standouts

• Alabama Shakes' Sound and Color: Title song/album opener is maddeningly short; you probably heard it on that iPad commercial 87 times. The first single, "Don't Wanna Fight," didn't do it for me, but some bass modulation, more muscle and ambition did good for the Shakes' sound. Brittany Howard's delivery on "Gimme All Your Love" is worthy of a Grammy. Overall I did like it but wouldn't say it was a complete sophomore effort.
• Blur's The Magic Whip: The first studio output from Blur in 12 years was a surprise (the thing basically only came to be because of a cancelled music festival that had the band hanging out in Hong Kong for a week) ... and the years away showed. I wanted to like Whip more than I did. You can tell, sometimes, how much you enjoy an album by how often you feel the urge to return to it, and I didn't give Whip more than three spins all the way through. Recorded in Hong Kong, the aesthetic of that city has tinges on the album, but overall the fun of Blur is missing.
• Courtney Barnett's Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit: Definitely an LP that pulls off the nearly impossible task of providing a fresh sound while channeling an ethos from the '90s indie scene. Doing that is what provided the Australian songwriter the chance at cracking the top 20 of so many year-end lists. "Aqua Profunda!" is probably my favorite song on the record. Barnett's off-the-shoulder delivery grabs you, though the lyrics (while good) sometimes get too wordy for their own good. But a fine debut! I think my favorite song title of the year is "Nobody Cares If You Don't Go to the Party."
• Kamasi Washington's The Epic: A triple album of jazz deco (a term I just made up!) that is nearly three hours long. I twice attempted to listen to all of it, but it's such a project that I couldn't make it. Liked some of what I heard. At the same time, I'm kind of gobsmacked a freeform sprawl of a jazz album found itself well-placed on so many year-end lists. I've got no qualm with it, but its inclusion seems conspicuously hivemind-y, as if Washington's association with Kendrick Lamar spurred people to start paying widespread attention to an entire genre of often brillliant music. If more jazz can be included on a year-to-year basis, music reviewers and listeners will be better for it, though, so hopefully this kick-starts a movement.
• Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly: Well, it's a statement album, that's for sure. The overwhelming pick for the best record of 2015 just didn't connect with me in a lot of ways. I will say that "i" is the best song on the record, and "Hood Politics" also hits hard. "Mortal Man" makes for a good closer, but a lot of the spoken word stuff just took me out of the experience. Kendrick's talent is undeniable, and I think he'll have clearer highs than this.
• Ryan Adams' 1989:  Some good parts, some stinkers, like his "Welcome to New York" take. "Style," "All You Had to Do Was Stay" and "I Know Places" were his three best here, I thought. The last one has that plate reverb which balances with the slow romp and bounce of the bass line. Very nice.

Surprisingly good but just short of cracking the final list

• Beach Slang's The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us: An angsty punk record without too much angst or too much punk! This LP really grew on me, and there's an enduring sound here, I think. Most of the songs clock in under 150 seconds, too. For any fan under 25, it doesn't get much more honest than the lyric "The night is alive / It's loud and I'm drunk."
• Carly Rae Jepsen's E•MO•TION: Wouldn't take to listening to Jepsen's stuff, but caved because this was very highly rated by many a critic. After giving it a chance, I can hear why. There are a few earworms, and the production work on the LP is absolutely solid. The hooks aren't totally engrossing, but it's a nice release from Jepsen, who elevated her status with this. The bass work is very nice. Would make for a great late-night album in the late summer/early fall.
• Chris Stapleton's Traveller: Unquestionably honest and a well-rounded debut, as strong an opening effort from any solo artist as we heard in 2015. His genre doesn't bring me in, but Stapleton's going to be a mega star in the country world over the next few years. Traveller isn't true country. It's slow-boiled dirty folk blues. "Tennessee Whiskey" and "Might As Well Get Stoned" are stan