THE BEST SONGS & MUSIC VIDEOS OF 2015

As a corollary to our Best Albums of 2015 list, we wanted to highlight some individual songs and music videos that caught our attention over the course of the year. Some of our absolute favorites already fell into the album roundup, but in order to avoid too much duplication we decided that any given band could only be present on one list.

What you see below are the singles, standout album tracks, videos (some of which honestly could stand as short films), and other sundries that we felt were deserving of your attention. So pop those headphones on and get to it.

SONGS

Roseau - "Kids and Drunks"

Goth Babe - "Sunshine"

Froyo Ma - "Think @bt"

Budo Kiba - "One For Charlie"

Slow Dakota - "I Saw Christ in Hermès"

Be Quiet - "Ichor"

Bairoa - "Sumersión"

Phèdre - "Tivoli"

Dadras - "Earth Don't Stop Here"

Alabama Shakes - "Future People"

Sebastian Paul - "Riptide"

Gilligan Moss - "It Felt Right"

Totally Mild - "When I'm Tired"

Silicon - "Dope"

Cool Uncle feat. Jessie Ware - "Break Away"

Car Seat Headrest - "Times to Die"

Purity Ring - "Flood On The Floor"

Florence and the Machine - "Various Storms & Saints"

Wild Ones - "Dim the Lights"

VIDEOS

Nosaj Thing - "Cold Stares ft. Chance The Rapper + The O'My's"

Unknown Mortal Orchestra - "Necessary Evil"

Buscabulla - "Métele"

Lower Dens - "To Die in L.A."

Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - "Sundry"

Dralms - "Crushed Pleats"

Dan Deacon - "When I Was Done Dying"

Fur Voice - "Fantasia"

Naytronix - "Back in Time"

The Staves - "Black & White"

Shlohmo - "Buried"

Bagarre - "Claque-le"

Total Makeover - "Self Destructive"

Ducktails - "Surreal Exposure"

REVIEW: Total Makeover - Total Makeover

Will Shenton

Ladies and gentlemen, Noah Stitelman is back.

The king of goofball synthpop and former Neighbors frontman, along with Brian Harney, Julie Noyce, and Sam Hendricks, is up on the proverbial horse again with his newest project, Total Makeover. The band's debut takes Stitelman's signature vibe to darker places, generally presenting a more dynamic sound than his previous work—and that's saying something.

The self-titled EP ranges from recognizable pop tracks like "Different Shapes" and "Self Destructive" to the simmering bummer that is "New England Highway," and the opener, "Girls With Boyfriends," even makes its way into punchy, almost pop-punk territory. But despite all this jumping around, the album manages to feel surprisingly cohesive.

It's fun to finally hear how Stitelman works in a group. When we interviewed him last year, he admitted that Neighbors was more or less a solo project largely because he didn't "play well with others," but he clearly seems to have found some people who mesh well with his sound and push him out of his comfort zone. This more passionate, cathartic style is a welcome tonal shift, and I'm excited to see where Total Makeover goes from here.