When Marty McFly and Doc predicted flying cars and hover-boards in 2015, their ideas were certainly lofty and, quite frankly, overestimated the motivation of the human race. Even though we’re only, like, ten days into the new year, everyone seems to be a little antsy to call the game already. Major music publications made it a rush job to spit out 2015 expectations just days after posting the 2014 Best-Of lists. 2014 is already vintage: remember when no one had heard of Schoolboy Q yet? Ahh, those were the days.

So, our music staff looked towards the horizon, shielding our eyes from the hopeful light of a promising new year horror that’s already cursing the new year. We came up with some ideas—some actual and others hypothetical; that might make 2015 more than “that year in the Back to the Future sequel.”

Photo By MikeSpeaks

Royals’ Debut EP, Cycles.

Though it may sometimes feel as if D.C.’s electronic music scene gets overlooked in favor of other genres, big things are in store this year for the EDM/IDM crowd. From the contagious nu-disco remixes of Eau Claire, to the emergence of new artists like Wave Age and Fellow Creatures, there’s bound to be at least one act that’ll fulfil your synth driven needs.

Above all else, I’m anxiously awaiting the release of Royal’s debut EP, Cycles, which is set to drop on January 26th. Known for producing trap inspired remixes and beats, Royal is the moniker of local producer Imad-Roy El-Amine. After releasing numerous one-off tracks over the past year, El-Amine gained national praise on Hype Machine for his debut single, “Round Two”, which features lyrics from rap newcomer, Desktop. Unlike his earlier work, “Round Two” is a catchy, video game inspired creation that contrasts beautifully with Desktop’s free flowing lyrics. The collaboration was clearly a massive success and raises the question of who else we can expect to see on this EP? Regardless of who ends up making an appearance, Royal is just one of many D.C. based electronic artists that are poised for a massive breakthrough in 2015. —Dalton Vogler

Sleater-Kinney Covers Priests

I know, I know, enough has been said about Sleater-Kinney’s reunion tour/new album. It’s a big freakin’ deal, and I (metaphorically) camped out for tickets to their 9:30 Club appearance, which is a much cooler image than reality, which was maniacally refreshing a Ticketmaster page. No doubt we’ll hear new tunes as well as old favorites (god help us, no more Fugazi covers, though). But S-K’s timing is the best part here—the announcement placed the trailblazers on the crest of a new wave of female musicianship. Let’s not forget that women ruled punk in 2013 and 2014 .

So, I’d love to hear the band pay tribute to women who picked up where S-K left off. A cover of Priests’ “Right Wing” would be perfect (if you don’t hear the influence of Olympia’s rock goddesses in that tune anyway, you need to have your ears checked). I’d be surprised if Corin, Carrie and Janet aren’t already buds with their D.C. pop-rock counterparts Ex Hex—I cast my vote for a cover of “War Paint”. Perhaps for an encore, S-K could sonically strip apart Perfect Pussy’s “Driver,” delivering a fierce, but accessible, version of Meredith Graves’ questions of mortality and relevancy. —Tori Kerr

National and Local Artists Cover Each Other In a March Madness-Style Face-Off

The D.C. area has incubated a lot of homegrown musicians. It’s also been the site of many outside musicians getting their first big break. In 2015, we want to listen to them fight. Well, not really.

Like March Madness, this would require the creation of a bracket system, pitting two artists against each other at a time. Each artist must reinvent a song from their counterpart and the audience would vote on which rendition they liked best. Keep in mind this is a fantastical scenario.

In the local corner we have:

• Wale
• Thievery Corporation
• The Dismemberment Plan
• The Rosemont Family Reunion

And in the usurper column:

• Emmylou Harris
• Mary Chapin Carpenter
• Foo Fighters
• Telograph

Emmylou Harris folking up Wale’s “D.C. Chillin’.” Thievery Corporation creating a soundscape from Mary Chapin Carpenter’s “Grow Old With Me.” Foo Fighters roar through the tongue-twister that is “The Dismemberment Plan Get Rich” (and perform it at Fort Reno, perhaps?). And, the late, great and weird Rosemont Family Reunion against Telograph. May the best artist, as voted by the local public in attendance, win. —Caroline Baxter

T-Swift Goes Reggae

Taylor Swift releases a reggae-influenced rock tune, stacks some harried power chords on top of it and her fans “discover” No Doubt. —Tori Kerr

Downtown Boys’s Debut LP

The list of every hyper-political, co-ed, bilingual, horn-infused, hardcore art punk band on the planet is a short one: It’s Downtown Boys, the end. The world’s most unique punk band is also perhaps its most important, meshing music that pogos between danceable and caustic with on-point politics that intends to crush both institutional racism/sexism/homophobia, and the “D.I.White” stereotypes that tend to permeate punk culture. This year, the Providence, RI six-piece will beat an increasingly-familiar musical path, from tiny D.C.-based Sister Polygon Records to cutting edge indie Don Giovanni. It’s the same path local punk powerhouse Priests—who run Sister Polygon—took when the band released its debut EP last year. When the Downtown Boys debut drops this spring, expect it to make waves well beyond the punk world. —Ron Knox

Protect-U

Protect-U reaches singularity, new album streams straight into our cerebral cortex.

Damaged City Fest

Last April, D.C.’s homegrown hardcore punk festival, Damaged City, churned into its second year with a line up stocked with bands both local and legendary. By the time seminal California powerviolence band Infest took the stage at St. Stephens and the Incarnation Episcopal Church on Damaged City’s second night, the festival was at full-bore: the band a cacophony of blistering drums and yowling guitars, the crowd a human landing pad for a procession of flailing stage divers. This April, the third incarnation of Damaged City will have a distinctly international flavor, with sets by UK hardcore heavyweights The Mob, The Flex and Arms Race, along with a stacked roster of punk, hardcore and powerviolence bands from home and abroad. —Ron Knox

Fugazi Reunion 2015

“Eh, fuck it. Let’s just do it.” — Ian MacKaye, hopefully.