This whole business started with Top 5 lists, thirteen years ago now. Our seemingly biannual efforts at reviving some sort of enthusiastic dialogue about music, movies, or other pop culture obsessions likewise begin with that simple, Hornby-inspired, Cusack-popularized exercise.

WH and I experienced Record Store 2015 together, 100 miles apart. We raged and exulted via text and iMessaged photos. And we realized that we hadn’t been excited about new music in quite some time.

So this Top 5 was simple: your five favorite album releases from the first half of twenty-fifteen. Our six lists include feedback from two founding members, one long-time veteran who may as well have been an original (the Captain America of our group, if you will), one frequent guest star, and two new additions who I hope will inject some much needed youthful vigor into this Moose Lodge.

Top 5 Releases from the First Half of 2015
DH | IP | MH | MMDG | RF | WH