2015 was a pretty boss year for music, if you were me (and I was). In fact, there were so many albums that if I was to write a full "Top 10" list, I wouldn't have time to properly address any of the titles included therein. So, instead, I provide you with a quick list of some albums released this year that I've spun quite a bit these past few months. It's not necessarily a best of, but most of these titles would have wound up on such a list anyhow. It's just a few recommendations with my briefest thoughts on them.

5. "Every Open Eye" -- Chvrches

After Chvrches' "The Mother We Share" was released, I remember thinking "This is either a really promising debut for the band to grow from, or a blueprint for the band to spend the rest of its career trying to replicate." "Every Open Eye" proved to be both. Songs like "Down Side of Me" and "Afterglow" show the band trying to branch their sound out, but a majority of the album suffers from feeling a bit too familiar. With that said, the album is incredibly catchy, and what it lacks in innovation makes up for in entertainment. Overall, it's more a sum of its parts than a cohesive effort, but I never felt any differently about "The Mother We Share."

4. "We Cool?" -- Jeff Rosenstock

Rosenstock manages to balance the line between anthemic and irritating for an entire album. The wheezy delivery of key lines in "Nausea" should be groan-inducing, but come across as endearing. The lyrics are about as relatable for any twenties-to-thirties audience member, with such themes as getting drunk alone and your friends going out to get drunk without you. Some songs, such as "Novelty Sweater," sound like they could have been b-sides from Weezer's "Pinkerton" (an album I'm personally not a fan of), but I don't think Rosenstock never loses his voice in his inspiration. This was an album I thought was merely decent, but has not left my rotation since the day I downloaded it. Oh, yeah, Rosenstock has his entire discography (including "We Cool?") for free on his site.

3. "Divers" -- Joanna Newsom

The first of two albums five years in the making on this list. Newsom's follow-up to the triple-LP "Have One on Me" is a much tighter effort, but also lacks the ambition of her last two releases. The album largely deals with themes of aging, death, and trying to hold onto love in the process of both. Moments of instrumental aside stand out among the album's highlights.

2. "Carrie & Lowell" -- Sufjan Stevens

This album was inspired largely by the death of Sufjan's mother, Carrie, who left him when he was a boy. The title's Lowell refers to Stevens' stepfather, who owns the record label (Asthmatic Kitty) that released the LP. The album traces Stevens' childhood recollections of his mother, as well as addressing her passing. For such a gentle, affectionate record, it can be very violent and self-loathing, eliminating Stevens' former maximalism in favor of more concise sonic landscapes.

1. "The Heart is a Monster" -- Failure

I can't believe this album is real, let alone the fact that it might be my favorite of the year. Failure is known to be "your favorite band's favorite band" (if your favorite band happens to be Tool). The band released three albums, the first of which produced by Steve Albini (perhaps most famous for working with Nirvana and Big Black) before breaking up. Ken Andrews has worked as a producer (having mixed Paramore's self-titled album from last year, amongst other things) and helmed various side-projects, none of which met Failure's success. What the album does best is perhaps its structuring, starting the album as a reiteration of past efforts, to show that they've still got it, before exploring other sounds and song types as it continues to show off what more they are now capable of. There are six instrumental songs on the album, numbered five to nine, making this a direct follow-up to their 1996 magnum opus, "Fantastic Planet."

Special Mention: "Sauna" -- Mount Eerie

I loved The Microphones, but haven't followed Elverum's successive works with Mount Eerie all that faithfully. What I can say is that his latest album, "Sauna," kicks ass. I didn't include it because I never got around to purchasing the album yet (college funds cut into that shit), and it's been a while since I've given it a proper listen to write about. This isn't a "Best Of 2015" list so much as a few titles that I'd say to check out, but if it was, "Sauna" would have a comfortable position on that list nonetheless.