Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Best Albums of 2015


A great year for music, at least in terms of quality (not necessarily income generation). The best non-Historian albums of 2015 in this author's opinion:

50. Protomartyr
The Agent Intellect

49. Carla Morrison
Amor Supremo

48. Arca
Mutant

47. Mac DeMarco
Another One

46. GABI
Sympathy

45. Jlin
Dark Energy

44. Deafheaven
New Bermuda

43. Jenny Hval
Apocallypse, girl

42. Empress
Of Me

41. Earl Sweatshirt
I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside

40. Kurt Vile
b'lieve I'm goin down

39. Aphex Twin
Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2 EP

38. Lower Dens
Escape From Evil

37. Jessica Pratt
On Your Own Again

36. Drake
If You're Reading This It's Too Late

35. Floating Points
Elaenia

34. Gaz Coombes
Matador

33. Devadoorian
The Expanding Flower Planet

32. Dr. Dre
Compton

31. Sleater-Kinney
No Cities to Love

30. Blur
The Magic Whip

29. Beach House
Depression Cherry

28. Grimes
Art Angels

27. Majical Cloudz
Are You Alone?

26. Neon Indian
VEGA INTL. Night School

25. Courtney Barnett
Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit

24. Chelsea Wolfe
Abyss

23. Waxahatchee
Ivy Tripp

22. Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experiment
Surf

21. Viet Cong
Viet Cong


20. Destroyer
Poison Season

Key Tracks: “The River”, “Sun in the Sky”








 

 19. Beach House
Thank Your Lucky Stars

Key Tracks: “Elegy to the Void”, “One Thing” 










18. Miguel
Wildheart

You have to wade through some embarrassing moments (see “Valley”), but I can always appreciate some genre bending when done right.

Key Tracks: “A Beautiful Exit”, “Face the Sun”








17. FKA Twigs
M3LL155X

Key Tracks: “Figure 8”, “In Time”













16. Jim O'Rourke
Simple Songs

Key Tracks: “Half Life Crisis”, “Friends With Benefits”
 








15. Oneohtrix Point Never 
Garden of Delete

Key Tracks: “Ezra”, “Animals”












14. Gwenno
Y Dydd Olaf

Key Tracks: “Chwyldro”, “Sisial Y Môr” 










13. Deerhunter
Fading Frontier
 
Key Tracks: “Breaker”, “Take Care” 










12. Bjork
Vulnicera

Key Tracks: “Stonemilker”, “Quicksand”











11. Panda Bear
Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper

Key Tracks: “Tropic of Cancer”, “Boys Latin” 












10. Joanna Newsom
Divers

Key Tracks: “Sapokanikan”, “Leaving the City” 












9. Holly Herndon
Platform

Key Tracks: “Interference”, “Chorus"












8. Kamasi Washington
The Epic

Key Tracks: “The Rhythm Changes”, “Change of the Guard"












7. Tame Impala
Currents

Key Tracks: “Let It Happen”, “The Moment” 











6. Vince Staples 
Summertime '06

Key Tracks: “Norf Norf”, “C.N.B.”











5. Julia Holter 
Have You In My Wilderness

Key Tracks: “Silhouette”, “Everytime Boots”












4. Jamie xx
In Colour

Key Tracks: “Seesaw”, “Gosh” 










3. Father John Misty
I Love You, Honeybear

Key Tracks: “I Love You, Honeybear”, “I Went to the Store One Day” 









2. Sufjan Stevens
Carrie and Lowell

Key Tracks: “No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross”, “Should Have Known Better”








1. Kendrick Lamar
To Pimp a Butterfly

Despite the consensus on this album, it wasn’t as easy as I would have imagined naming it album of the year, pitted against Sufjan and FJM. I certainly won’t complain about having three amazing albums to choose from though.

Key Tracks: “Alright”, “How Much a Dollar Cost”



See you next year! Who knows? Maybe I'll even move this off of Blogspot finally!