Last week UTG brought you our Top 10 favorite albums of this year, as nominated and voted on by the staff. Well today we’re pleased to give you each member’s individual picks for the best of the year.
However this list does something a little different: not only does it count down the top 10 albums, but it also shows our favorite EP’s or films of the year. Certain staff members opted for just choosing films, but regardless our lists are not just comprehensive, but spanning a wide variety of genres as well. We at UTG like to think our staff is very diverse, and it really shows in our lists.
So without further ado, here are the individual staff lists for both album of the year as well as EP and film of the year.
James Shotwell – Editor/Founder/Co-Owner
Albums:
1. Doug Stanhope – Before Turning The Gun On Himself
2. The Tower and The Fool – How Long
3. Kendrick Lamar – good kid, m.A.A.d city
4. Mixtapes – Even On The Worst Nights
5. Pierce The Veil – Collide With The Sky
6. Parkway Drive – Atlas
7. Frank Ocean – Channel Orange
8. Imagine Dragons – Night Visions
9. Die Antwoord – Ten$ion
10. fun. – Some Nights
Films:
1. Argo
2. Excision
3. Django Unchained
4. Killer Joe
5. Sleepwalk With Me
6. Moonrise Kingdom
7. Compliance
8. Some Guy Who Kills People
9. Wreck-It Ralph
10. The Cabin In The Woods
Jacob Tender – Managing News Editor/Co-Owner
Albums:
1. Frank Ocean – Channel Orange
2. Fun. – Some Nights
3. John Mayer – Born and Raised
4. Vacationer – Gone
5. Coheed and Cambria – The Afterman: Ascension
6. Yellowcard – Southern Air
7. The Early November – In Currents
8. Further Seems Forever – Penny Black
9. Carly Rae Jepsen – Kiss
10. House of Heroes – Cold Hard Want
Films:
1. Fat Kid Rules The World
2. Moonrise Kingdom
3. Sound of My Voice
4. Safety Not Guaranteed
5. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
6. Prometheus
7. Detachment
8. Beasts of the Southern Wild
9. The Cabin in the Woods
10. We Need to Talk About Kevin
Grant Trimboli – Chief Operations Manager/News writer
Albums:
1. Such Gold – Misadventures
2. Frank Ocean – Channel Orange
3. In Fear And Faith – In Fear And Faith
4. Kendrick Lamar – good kid, m.A.A.d city
5. Curren$y – The Stoned Immaculate
6. Between The Buried And Me – The Parallax II: Future Sequence
7. The Weeknd – Trilogy
8. John Mayer – Born and Raised
9. Pentimento – Pentimento
10. No Trigger – Tycoon
EPs:
1. Pentimento/Young English Split EP
2. Alexisonfire – Death Letter EP
3. Palisades – I’m Not Dying Today EP
4. I The Mighty – Karma Never Sleeps EP
5. Peace’d Out – Peace’d Out
Films:
1. Skyfall
2. The Avengers
3. The Dark Knight Rises
4. Cabin In The Woods
5. Argo
Tyler Osborne – Review Writer / Photographer / News Writer
Albums:
1. Hostage Calm – Please Remain Calm
2. Basement – Colourmeinkindness
3. Mindset – Leave No Doubt
4. Pentimento – Pentimento
5. The Menzingers – On the Impossible Past
6. Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten
7. Trash Talk – 119
8. Misser – Every Day I Tell Myself To Be a Better
9. Make Do and Mend – Everything You Ever Loved
10. Norah Jones – Little Broken Hearts
Films:
1. Argo
2. Cabin in the Woods
3. Dark Knight Rises
4. Looper
5. Prometheus
6. Lincoln
7. The Raid
8. Django Unchained
9. Skyfall
10. Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry
Brian Lion – Front Page Editor / Interviewer / The Short Cut columnist
Albums:
1. Said The Whale – Little Mountain
2. First Aid Kit – The Lion’s Roar
3. Between the Buried and Me – The Parallax II: Future Sequence
4. Alt-J – An Awesome Wave
5. Purity Ring – Shrines
6. Bad Books – II
7. Freelance Whales – Diluvia
8. P.O.S. – We Don’t Even Live Here
9. The Weeknd – Trilogy
10. Good Old War – Come Back As Rain
Films:
1. Killing Them Softly
2. Moonrise Kingdom
3. Sound Of My Voice
4. Killer Joe
5. Argo
6. Rust And Bone
7. Incision
8. End Of Watch
9. Wild Bill
10. Jeff Who Lives At Home
Josh Hammond – Review Writer
Albums:
1. Stars – The North
2. Sigur Ros – Valtari
3. Right Away, Great Captain – The Church of the Good Thief
4. The Shins – Port of Morrow
5. Beach House – Bloom
6. Japandroids – Celebration Rock
7. Jenny Owen Youngs – An Unwavering Band of Light
8. Beth Orton – Sugaring Season
9. Fun. – Some Nights
10. Kelly Hogan – I Like to Keep Myself in Pain
Top 5 from MY Scene (Lawrence/Kansas City)
1. We Are Voices – Tread Lightly
2. Deco Auto – Past Mistakes and Hauntings
3. The Architects – Live in LA
4. Antennas Up – The Awkward Phase
5. Schwervon – Courage
Dan Bogosian – Review Writer
Albums:
1. Deftones – Koi No Yokan
2. Duck. Little Brother, Duck! – Don’t Take Our Filth Away
3. Hostage Calm – Please Remain Calm
4. The Guru – Go Easy
5. Good Old War – Come Back as Rain
6. Sigur Ros – Valtari
7. Vacationer – Gone
8. Dead Sara – Dead Sara
9. Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!
10. We Were Skeletons – Blame & Aging
EPs:
1. Peace’d Out – Peace’d Out
2. Old Best Friend – Keep In Touch
3. Disco Vietnam – Fear of Lava
4. Alexisonfire – Death Letter
5. Vacationer – Spotify Sessions
Grace Duffy – Review/Feature writer/Scene & Heard columnist
Albums:
1. Cancer Bats – Dead Set On Living
2. Deftones – Koi No Yokan
3. Marina and the Diamonds – Electra Heart
4. Adam Lambert – Trespassing
5. mewithoutYou – Ten Stories
6. School of Seven Bells – Ghostory
7. Imagine Dragons – Night Visions
8. Stone Sour – House of Gold and Bones Part 1
9. Minus the Bear – Infinity Overhead
10. Punch Brothers – Who’s Feeling Young Now?
Films:
1. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
2. The Dark Knight Rises
3. The Avengers
4. The Raid
5. Argo
6. Skyfall
7. Shadow Dancer
8. Grabbers
9. Cabin in the Woods
10. End of Watch
Kellie Gannon – Head Of Photography/News and Feature writer
Albums
1. Lana Del Rey – Born To Die
2. Secrets – The Ascent
3. The Weeknd – Trilogy
4. Cloud Nothings – Attack On Memory
5. Frank Ocean – Channel Orange
6. Silversun Pickups – Neck Of The Woods
7. Kendrick Lamar – good kid, m.A.A.d city
8. Imagine Dragons – Night Visions
9. Lianne La Havas – Is Your Love Big Enough?
10. Machine Gun Kelly – Lace Up
EPs:
1. Lana Del Rey – Paradise
2. Chet Faker – Thinking In Textures
3. Blink 182 – Dogs Eating Dogs
4. Ed Sheeran and Yelawolf – Slumdon Bridge
5. Walk The Moon – Anna Sun
Adrian Garza – Review Writer
LPs:
1. Enter Shikari – A Flash Flood of Colour
2. Basement – Colourmeinkindness
3. Make Do and Mend – Everything You Ever Loved
4. Mixtapes – Even On The Worst Nights
5. Stick To Your Guns – Diamond
6. Being As An Ocean – Dear G-d
7. The Chariot – One Wing
8. Converge – All We Love We Leave Behind
9. Thrice – Anthology
10. Hostage Calm – Please Remain Calm
EPs:
1. Neck Deep – Rain In July
2. The Swellers – Running Out Of Places To Go
3. Redeemer – First Degree
4. Touché Amoré / The Casket Lottery – Split EP
5. Moving Mountains – New Light
Film:
1. The Dark Knight Rises
2. Indie Game: The Movie
3. Prometheus
4. Avengers
5. Cabin In The Woods
Kriston McConnell – News writer
Albums
1. Outline In Color – Jury Of Wolves
2. In Fear And Faith – Self Titled
3. Crown The Empire – The Fallout
4. Adestria – Chapters
5. The Word Alive – Life Cycles
6. Pierce The Veil – Collide With The Sky
7. Memphis May Fire – Challenger
8. Between The Buried & Me – Parallax II: Future Sequence
9. Parkway Drive – Atlas
10. Glass Cloud – Royal Thousand
EPs:
1. Greeley Estates – The Narrow Road
2. Palisades – I’m Not Dying Today
3. Dead Rabbitts – Edge Of Reality
Films:
1. Dark Knight Rises
2. The Avengers
3. Les Miserables
4. Cloud Atlas
5. Life Of Pi
Matt Dondiego – News Writer
Albums:
1. Basement – colourmeinkindness
2. Title Fight – Floral Green
3. Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten
4. Gypsy – Giant’s Despair
5. Now Now – Threads
6. A$AP Rock – Long Live A$AP
7. Xerxes – Our Home Is A Deathbed
8. Pentimento – Self Titled
9. Kendrick Lamar – good kid, m.A.A.d city
10. Such Gold – Misadventures
EPs:
1. Maker – Self Titled
2. Souvenirs – I’m Tired Of Defending You
3. State Lines – Self Titled
4. Single Mothers – Self Titled
5. Night Verses – Out Of The Sky
Anthony Galasso – News Writer
Albums:
1. The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten
2. Imagine Dragons – Night Visions
3. John Mayer – Born and Raised
4. Coheed and Cambria – The Afterman: Ascension
5. Hostage Calm – Please Remain Calm
6. Dinner and a Suit – Since Our Departure
7. Anberlin – Vital
8. Let Me Run – MAD/SAD
9. Bruno Mars – Unorthodox Jukebox
10. Goot – In Your Atmosphere
EPs:
1. Bonaventure – Come Hell or High Water
2. James Vincent McMorrow – We Don’t Eat EP
3. Patent Pending – Spring Break ’99
4. Lauren Marsh – Ready For Takeoff
5. Candy Hearts – The Best Ways To Disappear
Films:
1. The Avengers
2. Wreck-It Ralph
3. The Dark Knight Rises
4. Prometheus
5. The Amazing Spider-Man
Justin Proper – Reasonable Remakes, For the Love of Film, How Bad Is It? columnist
1. Django Unchained
2. Cabin in the Woods
3. Seven Psychopaths
4. Cloud Atlas
5. Prometheus
6. Moonrise Kingdom
7. Argo
8. Jiro Dreams Of Sushi
9. The Five-Year Engagement
10. V/H/S
- UTG PREMIERE: Kill Lincoln – “Good Riddance to Good Advice” Music Video - March 10, 2015
- REVIEW: You Blew It! – ‘Pioneer of Nothing’ EP - January 26, 2015
- Kill Lincoln Announce Spring Tour - January 14, 2015