Best Music of 2015: #7 Ryan Adams - 1989

It's pretty much indisputable that Ryan Adams was the best songwriter in the world from 1997 to 2000. Not just because of the two albums hyperlinked in that sentence, but also because this material was being written in between.

After two Whiskeytown and two solo records made my top ten in the first six years of its existence, Adams didn't appear again for another 10 years. He's hardly returned to his old form, because that would be almost impossible, but I'm obviously pleased with his recent output. 

Yes, this is an album of Taylor Swift covers, so it's somewhat surprising I liked it so much. On the other hand, you had to know Ryan Adams would make these songs his own, so it's not a total shock, but I still have to call it the most unlikely album to land here. 

I received Daisy Cutter Pale Ale in a beer trade with a Twitter pal from Chicago. (In fact, four of my top 13 were acquired in that exchange.) So, I'm not going to say I didn't expect much, but a 5.2% pale ale that doesn't even fall into the "pale ale that could just as easily be called an IPA" category is still the most unlikely 4.5 capper of the year.