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!