All right, guys. This is the big one: the top records list, a.k.a the 50 albums that we will publicly endorse more than our recent presidential nominees. All things considered, 2015 was an impressive 365 days of Sleater-Kinney reunions, Drake memes, Beach House double teams and Justin Bieber comebacks, but the biggest story was undoubtedly the sheer quantity of great music artists unleashed onto the world.
But still, some where more epic than others. These are the records we enjoyed the most; the ones we had to tell our friends about, the ones we binge-listened to in our cars and played so many times our laptops have PTSD. So comb though, see if your favorite record made the cut, and let us know what you think we missed. FYI the Pope’s indie rock album was in it’s own league so we couldn’t possibly put it in here …
(Go check out our Best Music Videos and Singles/Remixes of 2015 too!)
In alphabetical order …
1. Alabama Shakes – “Sound and Color”
2. Alison Wonderland – “Run”
3. Arca – “Mutant”
4. Beach House – “Depression Cherry”
5. Bicep – “Just”
6. Bjork – “Vulnicura”
7. Boxed In – “Boxed In”
8. Braids – “Deep in the Iris”
9. The Chemical Brothers – “Born in the Echoes”
10. Colleen Green – “I Want to Grow Up”
11. Dan Deacon – “Gliss Riffer”
12. Destroyer – “Poison Season”
13. Dilly Dally – “Sore”
14. Disclosure – “Caracal”
15. Drake – “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late”
16. Dr. Dre – “Compton”
17. Empress Of – “Me”
18. Erykah Badu – “But You Caint Use My Phone”
19. Fetty Wap – “Fetty Wap”
20. FIDLAR – “Too”
21. FKA Twigs – “M3ll155x EP”
22. Four Tet – “Morning/Evening”
23. Grimes – “Art Angels”
24. HEALTH – “Death Magic”
25. Holly Herndon – “Platform”
26. Hudson Mohawke – “Lantern”
27. Jamie xx – “In Colour”
28. Jeremih – “Late Nights”
29. Julia Holter – “Have You in My Wilderness”
30. Kamasi Washington – “The Epic”
31. Kelela – “Hallucinogen”
32. Kendrick Lamar – “To Pimp a Butterfly”
33. Kurt Vile – “B’lieve I’m Goin’ Down”
34. Nadastrom – “Nadastrom”
35. Neon Indian – “Vega School International”
36. Oneohtrix Point Never – “Garden of Delete”
37. Palmbomen – “Palmbomen II”
38. Panda Bear – “Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper”
39. Petite Noir – “Life is Beautiful”
40. Rae Sremmurd – “Sremm Life”
41. Shamir – “Ratchet”
42. SOPHIE – “Product”
43. Stealing Sheep – “Not Real”
44. Sufjan Stevens – “Carrie & Lowell”
45. Tame Impala – “Currents”
46. Thundercat – “The Beyond/Where The Giants Roam”
47. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – “Multi-Love”
48. Vince Staples – “Summertime ’06”
49. The Weeknd – “Beauty Behind the Madness”
50. Young Thug – “Barter 6”
