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Music hosts Jedd Beaudoin, Chris Heim, Carla Eckels and Bill Pearce run down the best in music for 2015 - including selections for world, rock, local music, jazz, R&B, gospel, blues, rockumentaries and books about music.Join KMUW's music hosts throughout January on Global Village, Strange Currency,Night Train, Crossroads, Soulsations and Straight No Chaser for a month-long feature of the Best of 2015. See individual show pages for more information on upcoming shows and to listen to past shows through the streaming archive.Along with show favorites, Chris Heim was invited to be a voting member for several Critics Polls this year. You can see the results of those polls for Best of the Year here:The Transglobal World Music Chart Best of 2015: http://www.transglobalwmc.com/The fRoots Critics Poll: http://www.frootsmag.com/content/critpoll/The NPR Jazz Critics Poll: http://www.npr.org/sections/ablogsupreme/2015/12/21/460527087/the-2015-npr-music-jazz-critics-pollEnjoy.

Strange Currency: Best of 2015

Strange Currency--hosted by Jedd Beaudoin--airs six nights a week from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. on KMUW, bringing you new releases, old favorites and forgotten classics. 

In addition to his overall "Best of 2015" list, Jedd offers several "best of" categories this year, including best indies, reissues, music films and DVDs, and local regional releases.

Best of 2015

  1. Something More Than Free — Jason Isbell
  2. High on Tulsa Heat — John Moreland
  3. Turnpike Troubadours — Turnpike Troubadours
  4. All Across This Land — Blitzen Trapper
  5. The Deepest Lake — Dengue Fever
  6. Nashville Obsolete — Dave Rawlings Machine
  7. It’s Great To Be Alive — Drive-By Truckers
  8. Sometimes I Sit and Think and Sometimes I Just Sit — Courtney Barnett
  9. I Love You, Honeybear — Father John Misty
  10. All Your Favorite Bands — Dawes
  11. Soul Searching, Vol.1 Memphis/Vol.2 Nashville — Jim Lauderdale
  12. No Cities To Love — Sleater Kinney
  13. Still — Richard Thompson
  14. Let The Good Times Roll — JD McPherson
  15. Call Me Insane — Dale Watson
  16. Beat The Champ — Mountain Goats
  17. Stumpjumper — Charlie Parr
  18. Devil Music — Randall Bramblett
  19. Stuff Like That There — Yo La Tengo
  20. Lost Time — Dave Alvin and Phil Alvin
  21. Science and Magic: A Soundtrack To The Universe — Lil Bub
  22. Street Dogs — Widespread Panic
  23. Paper Wheels — Trey Anastasio
  24. The Magic Whip — Blur
  25. Goon — Tobias Jesso, Jr. 

Best Indie

  1. Reeves Gabrels and His Imaginary Friends — Reeves Gabrels and His Imaginary Friends
  2. Half Past, Present Pending — Mike Coykendall
  3. Faithful and Tall — Angela Parrish
  4. Stop Time — Jon Regen
  5. Yeah Okay, I Know — Christian Lee Hutson
  6. While They Were Dancing — Vacilando
  7. Swamp Rose and Honeysuckle Vine — Nathaniel Talbot
  8. Unremembered — Sarah Kirkland Snider
  9. Half A Native — Buxton
  10. The Long Lost Friend — Husky Rescue 

Best Reissues

  1. My Old New Records — Slim Dunlap
  2. Trace — Son Volt
  3. Complete Matrix Tapes — Velvet Underground
  4. Loaded — Velvet Underground
  5. Chicken Heads — Bobby Rush 

Best Music Films and DVDs

  1. Jaco: The Film
  2. Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten
  3. The Wrecking Crew
  4. Heaven Adores You
  5. The Decline of Western Civilization (boxed set)
  6. Quiet Riot: Well Now You’re Here There’s No Way Back
  7. The Jam: About The Young Idea
  8. Love and Mercy
  9. Salad Days
  10. Roxy: The Movie

Best Local Regional Releases

  1. Trading A Dream--The Travel Guide
  2. Everything Is Subliminal--The World Palestine
  3. Let’s See Star B--The World Palestine
  4. Divorce Corpse--Divorce Corpse
  5. The Magic World--The Wonder Revolution
  6. No Easy Way Down--The Excuses
  7. The Songbook Project--William Flynn Project
  8. Ride Again--Cherokee Maidens
  9. Agitator--Kill Vargas
  10. Live At R Coffehouse--Information Welfare
  11. Jump The Track--Joe Stumpe
  12. Resplendent--In Vivid
  13. Treehugger--Francis Moss
  14. Missing Out On Nothing--Twin Cities
  15. Americana-Na--Americana-Na

Singles of Note:

  • “Don’t Let Them Get In Your Head”—Jenny Wood and The Femeline
  • “Elephant”—The Pents
  • “Tiger”—Hawley
Jedd Beaudoin is host/producer of the nationally syndicated program Strange Currency. He has also served as an arts reporter, a producer of A Musical Life and a founding member of the KMUW Movie Club. As a music journalist, his work has appeared in Pop Matters, Vox, No Depression and Keyboard Magazine.