2015 was a year of new discovery and a year where established acts made classics. Wolf Alice and Natalie Prass made smashing freshman material but seniors Jeff Bridges and Bjork came up trumps, though Bridges is mainly an actor ;)
Should spare a blue note for jazz this year as well, as Kamasi Washington, Alan Lee and Kyoto Jazz Sextet sexed it up.
But the main mention goes to Sufjan Stevens who after so much enriching material over the last few years went all autobiographical and blue/sepia. Hashtag plaudits.
1. SUFJAN STEVENS - CARRIE AND LOWELL
Brilliant transcendental stripped-down honest folk from Sufjan; writing from the heart. A little bit of artistic license in the supernatural. Could be album of the decade.
2. KURT VILE - B'LIEVE I'M GOIN DOWN
3. WOLF ALICE - MY LOVE IS COOL
Very turbulent in its style-shift. A very rich and assured debut of guitars and searing vocals that's so hard to genre-ize. Packs a wallop.
4. RIVAL CONSOLES - HOWL
Electronic knack that sputnukmusic called "monadic" - I disagree - it flows like a masterpiece
Electronic knack that sputnukmusic called "monadic" - I disagree - it flows like a masterpiece
5. JEFF BRIDGES - SLEEPING TAPES
Against all the odds from one of my favourite actors. Spoken-word over ambient brilliance, with the concept of being in the land of nod
Against all the odds from one of my favourite actors. Spoken-word over ambient brilliance, with the concept of being in the land of nod
Her debut? No way! Timeless baroque-pop classic with the voice of an angel. One of the best first-efforts in years that's a capsule in time already.
7. JAZMINE SULLIVAN - REALITY SHOW
90's style R&B done better than anything I'd previously heard from that decade
8. TAME IMPALA - CURRENTS
They switched from the lo-fi of their last album to cystalline joyeux on this third effort. From jogging, to pre-gaming to cycling around and goofing around, this album was best enjoyed on headphones.
9. NILS FRAHM - SOLO
Piano glazed with electronics from the spaghettiblogonese unofficial hero of 2015. This and the official Victoria soundtrack (film of the year!)
10. FOUR TET - MORNING / EVENING
One of my favourite slow burners for DJ'ing. The first side is Indian playback and the latter is a crescendo of great elecdrumica.
11. PRINS THOMAS - PARADISE GOULASH
Hours and hours of mixtape. Highly recommend this for a a playlist that never stops giving - rarities spazzing all around. 
12. JIM O'ROURKE - SIMPLE SONGS
Dense instrumentation, stunning studio production and a whole boatload of narrative. Like if Pink Floyd mated with Cat Stevens.
13. MASAYOSHI FUJITA - APOLOGUES
Beautiful Japanese vibraphonist delivers his best work yet
14. JULIA HOLTER - HAVE YOU IN MY WILDERNESS
Gorgeous.
15. ROOTS MANUVA - BLEEDS
Album number six for Rodney. This was the best album of its ilk in a bleak year for hip-hop. Not feeling Kanye or Kendrick? Hit up some British as we do it better this time around.
16.MBONGWANA STAR - FROM KINSHASHA
Congolese funk,dub & post-punk . everything raised up high in the production. Dancefloor dynamite. Bends and shakes every which way but loose
17. KYOTO JAZZ SEXTET - MISSION
Japan are Japan; making great whiskey and jazz. If this was a flop, I'd say they should stick to their blow-up dolls and green tea chocolate but as it goes it is stellar nu-jazz.
18. FLOATING POINTS - ELAENIA
Electronica of the highest order. Lengthy tracks that creep into so many corners of style and puncture our comprehension. Rewarding.
19. PREFUSE 73 - RIVINGTON NAO RIO
The wonk-tron master of hip-hop is back. Elastic spaghetti that melts into your brain and melds with your memories
20. KHRUANGBIN - THE UNIVERSE SMILES UPON YOU
Thai funk, surf rock and bossa nova recorded in a barn in Texas. It's snowing outside but this makes me wanna use a beach-ball. Super-chill.
Thai funk, surf rock and bossa nova recorded in a barn in Texas. It's snowing outside but this makes me wanna use a beach-ball. Super-chill.
21. JAMIE XX - IN COLOUR
Party. Old school? Party. New school? Textures. Great feeling. Show-boater. Producer. XX who? Psyching me up before an interview.
22. ALAN LEE JAZZ QUARTET - AN AUSTRALIAN JAZZ ANTHOLOGY
Okay, it's cheating - not really a studio album but this was so full-on brilliant that it has to make it on here. Seven absolute collectors items from 1973 and 1974 played with such vivacity and range that it's utterly incomprehensible how beautiful this is. Nuggets
Okay, it's cheating - not really a studio album but this was so full-on brilliant that it has to make it on here. Seven absolute collectors items from 1973 and 1974 played with such vivacity and range that it's utterly incomprehensible how beautiful this is. Nuggets
23. EVERYTHING EVERYTHING - GET TO HEAVEN
One of the best bands going; sheer creativity;sheer penmanship ;sheer production and a colossal,poppy core with jagged and rocky edges.
One of the best bands going; sheer creativity;sheer penmanship ;sheer production and a colossal,poppy core with jagged and rocky edges.
24. NILS FRAHM - VICTORIA (Official soundtrack)
This official soundtrack to my favourite movie experience of 2015 blended soothing piano with sinister minimal techno. The hand camera shot the whole German movie in one take and it was so disorientating I came out of the cinema completely and utter anxious in the afternoon before going to work, but it had absolutely worked.
25. VIET CONG - VIET CONG
If there had to be something forceful to dent the Top 25 on this list, then this would be it. Forcible, forceful post-punk. Direct and poetic. "If we're lucky we'll get old and die" <3 span=""> Lays it on thick
<3 span=""> Lays it on thick26 YOUNG FATHERS - WHITE MEN ARE BLACK MEN TOO
After winning the Mercury Music Prize in 2014, these TV On The Radio copycats followed up their debut brilliantly. A total storm of all the best styles in the sky.
27. APHEX TWIN - COMPUTER CONTROLLED ACOUSTIC INSTRUMENTS PT2
Technically an EP, this follow-up to 2014's "Syro" was an uncharacteristically focused effort from Richard D. James but still has plenty of wonk and warble and spaz and sputter.
28. BJORK - VULNICURA
Gorgeous depth to this break-up album by Björk Guðmundsdóttir. Album number nine; can't wait for her tenth.
29. RICHARD HAWLEY - HOLLOW MEADOWS
Crooning of the highest order from Sheffield. Makes me wanna stroke my beard and polish my boots; light up a fire and munch on some puddings. Not Christmas yet.
30. LOW - ONES AND SIXES
Joyous and sinister as one, this eleventh album for the Minnesota rock experimentalists packs another punch like they've been doing their whole career.
31. KAMASI WASHINGTON - THE EPIC
Three hour jazz album that blows down the door of convention and adds a new dimension to the genre. Gotta be done
32. DESTROYER - POISON SEASON
The New Pornographers collaborator hits top form on this great album full of storytelling grandeur. Spellbinding.
33. PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING - THE RACE FOR SPACE
This is rock, electronica and instrumentals complete with samples from the space race between America and the Soviet Union from 1957-1972, taken from the British Film Institute. As great as it sounds!
34. OUGHT - SUN COMING DOWN
Snotty post-punk that I loved jogging to, whether the sun was belting down or drizzle was wetting my glasses.
35. LOWER DENS - ESCAPE FROM EVIL
There's something about a Baltimore sound. Beach House, Wye Oak and now Lower Dens. Shimmering production, elegant vocals and a full-bodied sound poised for a semblance of this decades in memories to come.
36. DAM-FUNK - INVITE THE LIGHT
More funk in a row here. An amazing electro-funk opus. This list is hotting up.
37. NEON INDIAN - VEGA INTL. NIGHT SCHOOL
The gig of the year in Taipei I missed. I should have just got the night off and paid-up as this was a great glitzy record that would have great to be have danced to in the flesh.
38. SUN KIL MOON - UNIVERSAL THEMES
A free-flowing, liberated and varied follow-up to the previous years tragic "Benji" and I could put them together as a double-disc contrast, though it's not my right to do that.
39. ROISIN MURPHY - HAIRLESS TOYS
Wonky, spazzy return from ex-Moloko front-lady after 8 years out of the game. Sinister lounge.
40. JESSICA PRATT - ON YOUR OWN LOVE AGAIN
Recorded on a four track, this lo-fi folk is amazing. It sounds like a simplified Joanna Newsom.
41. ELYSIA CRAMPTON - AMERICAN DRIFT
Can't put it better than wiki:"Elysia Crampton is an American experimental electronic musician. Her work is known for taking heavy detail in exploring Latinx culture, queer identity and its historic roots, subversion of macho cultural tropes, South American spirituality, naturalist themes, and frequent utilization of samples from varied sources.[1]"
42. DUNGEN - ALLAS SAK
One of the most prolific rock bands in the game deliver another forward-thinking, Marcus-loving 'tastic.
43. LIGHTNING BOLT - FANTASY EMPIRE
Pummelling, cascading noise of rock of rise. Rise!
44. RILEY WALKER - PRIMROSE GREEN
Loose 60's tinged folk from Chicago with ludicrously beautiful picking.
45. JOHN GRANT - GREY TICKLES, BLACK PRESSURE
Knotty songwriting, packed with grit. Came off a great recommendation from a friend while we were pre-gaming one night.
46. JULIO BASHMORE - KNOCKIN' BOOTS
Great soulful house with bass. Championed big by Gilles Peterson.
47. GHOST CULTURE - GHOST CULTURE
Debut indie electronica for brilliant newbie from London. Have it for James Greenwood.
48. BLUR - THE MAGIC WHIP
Mass discussion covered this uber-heavyweight return. Inspired by a trip to Hong Kong, these rock brilliances nailed a superb comeback.
49. JOHN TEJADA - SIGNS UNDER TEST
Electronic crunch with momentum for the Kompakt extraordinaire.
50. FRED THOMAS - ALL ARE SAVED
Loved this singer-song writer of 'Saturday Looks Good To Me' fame and his latest effort. Style shifts like spaghetti.
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