Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2015. Our next list is from Substitute DJ Patrick Masterson.

Chicagoans only below, so if you're not interested in reading about some of the great music this city was a part of in 2015, this won't be for you.

#1   Late Nights by Jeremih (Def Jam)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

It's true, this came out on December 4th. That part in the chorus of "Planez" where he awkwardly tries to seduce you by inquiring if you've ever read "the world is yours" on a blimp – a question so preposterous, I don't even think he knows what the point in asking is – makes it 2015's stupidest chorus by a comfortable margin. Big Sean and Ty Dolla $ign are Grade A cornballs. Dude's name is actually Jeremih.But despite all of these factors (and more, don't worry) working against him, Late Nights is an incredibly beautiful, low-key record that does this style of R&B just right. His 2012 mixtape (also called Late Nights, also imperfectly great) put the South Sider on a boil that was left to simmer after repeated delays and a finished record that sat in waiting for at least three quarters before it finally saw the light of day a few weeks ago. He sands off the aggressive edges of Migos, works in Juicy J and Twista, and finds some use for Jhené Aiko. It sounds sleek, sophisticated and focused. And unfortunately for my girlfriend, I've listened to very little else this month.

#2   Surf by Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment (self-released)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

To me, Surf is like To Pimp a Butterfly's inverse: Both grapple with societal woes, the nature of community, and how "we" move on together from similar perspectives and expansive sonic palettes. But whereas Kendrick Lamar took a dark, rigorously studied, self-serious (and self-aware) perspective to show and tell, the Social Experiment collective used a more lighthearted, consistently optimistic approach. We gon' be alright, both Kendrick and The Social Experiment seem to conclude, and the attention Kendrick and Chance the Rapper have garnered is significant after years of nihilist rap fetishism (see also: Chief Keef and the lost boys of drill). Butterfly was the way you knew the perseverance of the human spirit will prevail; Surf was the way you knew it wouldn't just be toil. Vibes worth passing.

#3   We Are Not the First by Hieroglyphic Being & J.I.T.U. Ahn-Sahm-Buhl (RVNG Intl.)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Describing Jamal Moss as a Chicagoan feels almost limiting given his Sun Ra-indebted approach to house and techno. The man feeds on the infinite abyss of sound's outermost reaches and his collaboration with the J.I.T.U. Ahn-Sahm-Bul (aka Journey Into The Unexpected Ensemble) is no disappointment to that end, a full-length that took his electronic explorations and meshed them with a host of talents: Arkestra member Marshall Allen, Daniel Carter, Liturgy/Guardian Alien guy Greg Fox, Shelley Hirsch, Shahzad Ismaily, Elliott Levin, Rafael Sanchez, Bird Show's Ben Vida. Maybe you know some of those names, maybe you don't. It's immaterial, really – We Are Not the First is bigger than any one of these artists. Wild improv channeling a greater beyond.

#4   Remember My Name by Lil Durk (Def Jam)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Speaking of the lost boys of drill, Englewood's Durk Banks aka Lil Durk made some waves this summer with the release of this official LP. The rapper (probably still best known for 2013 single "Dis Ain't What U Want") is in an interesting position: Signed to Def Jam and French Montana's Coke Boys imprint, Durk has major label support and an ear for hooks that give him a shot at transcending his drill origins. While Chief Keef continues to chip away at an insular auteurism that makes him one of hip-hop's two most flagrantly strange Big Names (Young Thug is the other), Durk is out here shooting for the Auto-Tune-assisted pop stars. Remember My Name isn't his best release and the best moment of the record isn't even his, either (that'd be Logic's stretch of "Tryna' Tryna'"), but its replay value was high and I know I heard songs from this release booming from passing vehicles along Chicago Avenue long after summer was over.

#5   Negative Scanner by Negative Scanner (self-released)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

I don't like Savages, flatly. Though they look cool and sound like something I'd enjoy, the songwriting on Silence Yourself left me cold (and I'd love to know how many of you can recall anything off that record without needing a return listen). Negative Scanner, a group drawing from many similar influences but lacking the put-on air of Euro sophistication, doesn't have that problem. Rebecca Valeriano-Flores has an energy that moves from hardcore to punk to post-punk, sure, but the entire band is at its best when they're complementing how she veers from restrained to melodramatic and back again. They're not always trying to be catchy but when they are, you know it and it works. And there's just something about the way she says "Ocean Beach" on "Fan vs. Wild" that gets me.

#6   Earth by Sweet Cobra (Magic Bullet)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

I'd never paid much attention to Sweet Cobra prior to Earth, but once I realized that this record featured appearances and production from Hum's Matt Talbot and Kurt Ballou – a dude whose presence will get me to check out a record blindly even now – I didn't need much convincing to give it a listen. It works the sludgy, harder end of the stoner-rock continuum very well and, up until that new Baroness record came out, this was far and away my favorite in the style this year. Bombs away is right; listeners take cover.

#7   Blood Dancer by Crown Larks (Space Lung/Land Breathing)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Certainly one of the weirdest records I heard in the first half of 2015, the debut LP from Crown Larks was always going to be a year-end favorite. I loved its expansive, sometimes slow-moving psychedelia and occasional free jazz elements. Long, serene instrumental stretches broken up by both male and female vocals, noisy flecks of guitar, warm bass tones, a few analog synths here and there, and one genuine earworm in "Chapels"... Crown Larks' kitchen sink leaves little to chance, yet the measured nature of the band's music is almost Califone-esque in its deliberate construction. These people know what they're doing and that confidence is writ large all over Blood Dancer. Can't wait to hear more.

#8   Tetsuo & Youth by Lupe Fiasco (Atlantic)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Given the kind of banner year we had with hip-hop, it seems almost cruel that what might be Lupe Fiasco's best album went under the radar with a late-January release that left it nearly forgotten come the end of the year. But – and I say this as a guy who's never cared much for Lupe's material – Tetsuo & Youth is an incredible record even for its length that deserves every bit of praise it gets. There are a ton of typically layered verses and bars on bars isn't the surprise, though the way he tackles his West Side upbringing is rivetingly forthright; he's largely avoided the gimmicks and I had a hard time turning it off once it started playing. I also can't understate how strongly I feel about "Deliver," one of the straight-up best songs of the year. Hats off to the man still repping for a city whose press has done him no favors recently.

#9   Ultra-High Frequencies: The Chicago Party by Various Artists (Numero Group)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Ever walked into The Owl after 2am and looked around at the water feature and the impractical bar shape and all the people looking like refugees of good times at other, earlier bars and everything's got a weird kind of David Lynchian vibe and everyone's talking but not quite with one another and when you wander to the back people are funking together to seven-inches you've never heard before and you're pretty sure no one in the entire bar could name even if they were sober? This compilation reminds me of what that feels like. We've all been there, even if my Owl is your Danny's or whatever. And if you haven't, you're why Numero Group exists. Get down with it, already.

#10   Irreal by Disappears (kranky)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Not much left for me to add to my pile of writing about how good these guys have been since their inception, so I'll simply say that I was really pleased with how Irreal turned out and that I listened to it quite a bit more than either Pre Language or Era. Death, taxes, Disappears: Well, we're fortunate at least one of those things is unerringly reliable.

1/2 Decade of Wonder (2011-2015)

1. Traxman - Da Mind of Traxman (2012)

2. Disappears - Live at Echo Canyon (2011)

3. DJ Rashad - Double Cup (2013)

4. Lil Herb - Welcome to Fazoland (2014)

5. Jeremih - Late Nights with Jeremih (2012)