| 100/2015 |
| 100 |  | Miami Horror
All Possible Futures
synthpop/nu-disco |
| 99 |  | Knxwledge
Hud Dreems
instrumental hip-hop |
| 98 |  | Wise Blood
Babyland
plunderphonics |
| 97 |  | Selena Gomez
Revival
pop |
| 96 |  | Seven Lions
The Throes Of Winter
electro |
| 95 |  | Annie
Endless Vacation
dance-pop |
| 94 |  | Justin Bieber
Purpose
pop |
| 93 |  | Alessia Cara
Four Pink Walls
pop |
| 92 |  | Panda Bear
Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper
psychedelic pop |
| 91 |  | Courtney Barnett
sometimes i sit and think, and sometimes i just sit
garage rock/singer-songwriter |
| 90 |  | HOLYCHILD
The Shape of Brat Pop to Come
dancepop |
| 89 |  | George FitzGerald
Fading Love
deep house |
| 88 |  | Drake
If You're Reading This It's Too Late
hip-hop |
| 87 |  | Empress Of
Me
synthpop |
| 86 |  | Lotic
Agitations
grime/noise |
| 85 |  | Hudson Mohawke
Lantern
wonky/pop/electronic |
| 84 |  | Smallpools
Lovetap!
pop |
| 83 |  | SNCKPCK
LAVA PAL
lo-fi/electronic/pop |
| 82 |  | Robyn
Love is Free
dance-pop |
| 81 |  | Dam-Funk
STFU
synth funk |
| 80 |  | Bob Moses
Days Gone By
deep house |
| 79 |  | Danny L Harle
Broken Flowers
pop/bubblegum bass |
| 78 |  | Elysia Crampton
American Drift
electronic |
| 77 |  | Sam Gellaitry
Escapism
trap |
| 76 |  | Marcus Marr and Chet Faker
Work
house/dance-pop |
| 75 |  | Vanessa Carlton
Liberman
singer-songwriter/pop |
| 74 |  | Joey Badass
B4.DA.$$
hip-hop |
| 73 |  | 2 8 1 4
新しい日の誕生
vaporwave/ambient |
| 72 |  | The Go! Team
The Scene Between
lo-fi/dance |
| 71 |  | Young Fathers
White Men Are Black Men Too
experimental hip-hop |
| 70 |  | U
We Decide Who Comes In
tech house |
| 69 |  | Frank Turner
Positive Songs for Negative People
singer-songwriter/pop-punk |
| 68 |  | Archy Marshall
A New Place 2 Drown
experimental hip-hop |
| 67 |  | Percussions
2011 until 2014
microhouse |
| 66 |  | Purity Ring
Another Eternity
synthpop/electropop |
| 65 |  | Oddisee
The Good Fight
hip-hop |
| 64 |  | PC Music
PC Music Vol. 1
bubblegum bass/pop |
| 63 |  | Maxo
Chordslayer
chiptune/bubblegum bass |
| 62 |  | Romare
Projections
house/jazz |
| 61 |  | Point Point
Contrastive Focus Reduplication
electronic |
| 60 |  | Sam Gellaitry
Short Stories
trap/wonky |
| 59 |  | George Clanton
100% Electronica
synthwave |
| 58 |  | The Chemical Brothers
Born In The Echoes
big beat |
| 57 |  | Madeon
Adventure
electropop/dance |
| 56 |  | Shamir
Ratchet
pop/r&b/house |
| 55 |  | Disclosure
Caracal
r&b/garage |
| 54 |  | Hoodboi
Palm Reader
jersey club |
| 53 |  | CHVRCHES
Every Open Eye
synthpop/electropop |
| 52 |  | Toro Y Moi
What For?
psychedelic pop/alternative rock |
| 51 |  | Neon Indian
Vega Intl. Night School
synthpop/chillwave/disco |
| 50 |  | Skylar Spence
Prom King
pop/future funk |
| 49 |  | Pusha T
King Push – Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude
hip-hop |
| 48 |  | Head High
Home. House. Hardcore.
house |
| 47 |  | Beach House
Depression Cherry
dream pop |
| 46 |  | DJ Paypal
Buy Now
disco/footwork |
| 45 |  | Unknown Mortal Orchestra
Multi-Love
alternative/funk |
| 44 |  | Nosaj Thing
Fated
glitch hop |
| 43 |  | Toro Y Moi
Samantha
cloud rap |
| 42 |  | Astre
Dreams Of Gold
electronic/hip-hop |
| 41 |  | Elvis Depressedly
New Alhambra
lo-fi/alternative |
| 40 |  | Dave DK
Val Maira
microhouse |
| 39 |  | Mew
+-
dream pop/rock |
| 38 |  | Thundercat
The Beyond/Where The Giants Roam
neo-soul |
| 37 |  | katie dey
asdfasdf
lo-fi/bedroom pop/electronic |
| 36 |  | Natalie Prass
Natalie Prass
chamber pop |
| 35 |  | Rustie
EVENIFUDONTBELIEVE
purple sound/trap |
| 34 |  | Carly Rae Jepsen
E MO TION
bubblegum pop |
| 33 |  | Pogo
Kindred Shadow
plunderphonics/pop |
| 32 |  | Jon Hopkins
Late Night Tales
electronic/folk |
| 31 |  | Rav
Beneath The Toxic Jungle
experimental hip-hop |
| 30 |  | Bicep
Just
deep house |
| 29 |  | Passion Pit
Kindred
electropop |
| 28 |  | Jamie xx
In Colour
garage/pop |
| 27 |  | Chrome Sparks
Parallelism
electronic |
| 26 |  | Tobias Jesso Jr.
Goon
singer-songwriter/chamber pop |
| 25 |  | Grimes
Art Angels
I'm not often very surprised by the direction artists go that seem to leave other fans shocked and appalled. But Art Angels got me. After practically memorizing Visions, I didn't think she'd make anything this bright. I read all the interviews, listened to "Go," "Realiti," "Flesh Without Blood," and even "SCREAM," but I still didn't expect "Pin." For an artist that already pushes boundaries, Grimes really surprised me this year. |
| 24 |  | DJ Koze
DJ-Kicks
Would anyone else put Adele samples and cLOUDDEAD on the same mix? There's probably a few oddballs out there who'd be willing, but nobody else would think of it. This psychedelic genius of Koze remains unparalleled. |
| 23 |  | The World Is a Beautiful Place...
Harmlessness
I've never really been interested in emo but this album has started to shift my opinion. It's nothing if not empowering, and brings me hope for a brighter future. |
| 22 |  | Seoul
I Become A Shade
For all the closeted Majestic Casual lovers out there, this is the best #goodvibes #chill #bass album out there. Calming, but still emotionally resonant. |
| 21 |  | Deerhunter
Fading Frontier
Bradford Cox is a music nerd's musician. Even if you disagree with the choices that he made during the creation of this album, you have to admit that each song clearly has a purpose and works exactly as it should, and they do this on their most accessible album yet, which is hugely impressive. |
| 20 |  | Lido & Canblaster
Superspeed
Lido and Canblaster both have the same problem. Neither of them have made a particularly good release on their own - they're too stuck with their individual moods. But combined, they counter each other. Canblaster provides the percussion and flow, and Lido provides the interesting production. This allows for both producers' strengths to shine, creating an exciting EP that gives you a 19 minute break from checking the clock. |
| 19 |  | DJ Taye
Break It Down
Rashad may be sadly gone but footwork is alive and well. Incredibly quick percussion, a slow sense of distortion, and looping vocals that never really get as annoying as they should all persist from the Double Cup era. |
| 18 |  | Kornel Kovacs
Radio Koko
A superb little EP for those of us who want some old-fashioned piano house. The frosting on the cake is the variety of moods, allowing for insertion into pretty much any house DJ's set. |
| 17 |  | Nicolas Jaar
Nymphs III
Nymphs III takes Nymphs II's stellar, quieter introduction and slowly swells the beat, bringing a more dancefloor-friendly atmosphere and getting ready for "Swim," the fourth entry in the series. |
| 16 |  | Vince Staples
Summertime '06
Getting away with a double-disc rap LP was always a feat. Impressing critics, fans and the market, in 2015, with something this gritty, is simply legendary. |
| 15 |  | Sophie
Product
Sophie (and the PC Music crew) are frequently attacked for essentially being higher-pitched pop. PRODUCT proves this argument wrong. No rational radio station would play any of the songs here. If pop music in 2015 is a waterfall illuminated by the sun, PRODUCT is a glass of a water-like substance being shaken in repetitive controlled movements by a robotic hand, illuminated by lasers. |
| 14 |  | bansheebeat
Lumine
Chiptune on its own is often unbearably stale but bansheebeat makes it work by layering it on top of other things and not relying on overly cheerful aesthetics. Instead, he builds stunning waves of genuine joy and sadness with sample chopping, static currents and twinkling chords. |
| 13 |  | Four Tet
Morning/Evening
Four Tet isn't getting as much attention as he really ought to get lately. He released two albums this year (the other being 2011 Until 2014, under his "Percussions" guise) and both rose only to disappear without a trace. That's a shame, especially for Morning/Evening, which includes two of the most entrancing pieces Kiernan has ever released. |
| 12 |  | Kendrick Lamar
To Pimp a Butterfly
I keep finding myself discovering little things I like about this album. Obviously, pretty much anyone who can walk down a street appreciates "King Kunta." But slowly, songs hit me and became new favorites. "How Much A Dollar Cost" is an obvious lyrical pick. One day, Rapsody's bit on "Complexion" hit me like a water balloon, whereas "The Blacker The Berry" hit me like a brick. But the ultimate winner for me was "u." There should really be more songs that acknowledge self-loathing, it's powerful to see that we're not the only ones. Unfortunately, we're in a really dark place if an inspiring record has to acknowledge this bad of a world to connect with as many people as it did. |
| 11 |  | Amherst
heat.wav
I honestly didn't think I'd hear another future funk release I adored until I discovered heat.wav. For an album to re-kindle my love for a genre says a lot about it. But on a more base level, this album is just a lot of fun. |
| 10 |  | Ryn Weaver
The Fool
Ryn appeared mid-2014 with the trendy (and practically flawless) single "Octahate." She then took advantage of that fame, releasing music videos, an EP, and then this year, after a lot of promotion, her debut album. It's really hard for me to take the lack of appreciation this got. Her voice is massive, there's an incredibly genuine emotion to the songs, gorgeous production from pop producers who really understand how to write rewarding, catchy hooks (Magnus Hoinberg, Benjamin Levin, and Michael Angelakos, otherwise known as Cashmere Cat, Benny Blanco and Passion Pit, respectively). How did it fail to succeed commercially or critically? Maybe it was the fact that she was completely unknown pre-Octahate, maybe it was the 4.9 from Pitchfork, or maybe it was just bad luck. Whatever it was, it was a shame, because this was the best pop album of the year, in a year with seriously strong competition. |
| 9 |  | DJ Paypal
Sold Out
Footwork is sort of old, as far as new music genres in the internet age go. The worst thing that can happen to a new genre is for it to stagnate in predictability. One tried-and-true method for stopping this is crossing over with other genres. Thankfully, Paypal's here to save the day. He put out a compilation of Drake edits, then an extremely funky EP, and now, thanks to the artistic flexing he achieved with his previous releases, has the experience to release footwork that is genuinely innovative, fresh, and consistently brilliant. |
| 8 |  | Goldmund
Sometimes
I wish I could write anywhere near as beautifully as Keith Kenniff composes. The most tragically unknown piece on this list, Sometimes captures those moments, the ones when sadness goes through what it always does - acceptance, reassurance, and hope. |
| 7 |  | DJ Koze
XTC
I think what's most interesting about this is how nobody can agree on what's better - the A side or the B side. We can all agree that at least one song here is superb. |
| 6 |  | Tame Impala
Currents
My first listen through to this album was honestly a huge mistake. I was on a long, dry car trip and decided to give it a shot. I entered that awkward half-sleeping-half-aware state of mind, and I associated it for the next couple of months with the awful headache I got. My next few listens were all nice enough - the songs slowly got to that point where you know what's coming next. But this album really hit top 10 material for me once I listened to it while I was trying to get over a girl. Don't do this injustice - it's an album for the people who don't want to be as bitter as they are, the people who are aware they don't own those they love, the people who keep finding themselves making the same mistakes. Listen to it as such. |
| 5 |  | Floating Points
Elaenia
Jazz has continued to push towards the music critique mainstream. Kendrick, Thundercat and Kamasi did it. But none of those really crossed over to the extent that Floating Points did. Emaelia is completely immaculate, focused, and rewards detailed listening without demanding it. |
| 4 |  | Jack J
Thirstin / Atmosphere
Good luck getting the smoothest songs of the year out of your head. |
| 3 |  | Sufjan Stevens
Carrie and Lowell
"I don't know, where…to begin." Sufjan, neither do any of your fans, now that you've bared your soul to us. This album is the moments when somebody finally lets out their dark past, their trials, their tribulations, their saddest moments, their worst emotions. Somehow, through this revelation of the darkest parts of life, you can feel a curious beauty in the trust they have for you. |
| 2 |  | Nicolas Jaar
Nymphs II
An absolutely gorgeous transformation from a pitch-shifting, ambient duplication of the sound an old TV makes when you turn it on to a percussive, downbeat, more typical Jarr track. |
| 1 |  | Oneohtrix Point Never
Garden of Delete
http://pastebin.com/raw/yjDDwSwC |
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