OMG IT'S VERBWHORES BEST RECORDS OF 2015 THREAD 2015

[Serge]

So, PART TWO then.

Like everybody else, my interest in the current jazz scene was reawakened by the amazing 'The Epic' by Kamasi Washington (or 'The Beast' as I like to refer to it.) The best jazz album since, phoo, 'Agharta'?

Bitchin Bajas had a good year - the album-length EP 'Transporteur' and the collaboration with Natural Information Society gave us two epic dronefests which it's hard to choose between - I'll go for the NIS collab, as I've probably listened to that more often, but let's hope for more in 2016.

Girlpool's 'When The World was Big' was an excellent flashback to the stylings of Riot Grrrl and their voices remind me of Laura Veirs, which is always a good thing in the Serge book.

Blur made a comeback which exceeded all expectations with 'The Magic Whip', somehow merging the sound of 'Parklife' with the self-titled album (even if I was hoping for a bit more '13' style). I've not really liked anything that Albarn has done in the last decade or so, but this really had a few killers on it, not least the excellent 'There Are Too Many Of Us'.

Was pointed in the direction of Flako's 'Natureboy' when it appeared at the top of the Bleep Albums Of The Year list a couple of weeks ago, and am happy to mention how good it is here too.

Floating Points' 'Elaenia' for making me drift off (in a good way) and Max Richter's 'Sleep' which never did.

Holly Herndon's 'Platform' is better than Bjork's attempts at the same kind of thing.

More psych jams from Follakzoid's 'III', with added electronics for Chris Forsyth & Koen Holtkamps 'The Island', and krautrock-tinged diversions from XAM's 'Tone Systems' (touted as an EP, but album length again), whose Cluster/early Kraftwerk sound is spot on, and the mysterious Autumn Of Paekward's 'Iktsuarpok'.

John Grant's 'Grey Tickles, Black Pressure' - yes, it's not as good as 'Pale Green Ghosts' - not much is - but it has 'You & Him' on, and also sounds a bit Fatima Mansions in places (that might just be me), so always going to be a winner in my book.

Nap Eyes 'Whine Of The Mystic' will do until a new Parquet Courts album is ou-oh, here it is. It'll still more than do, though. Oh, and not to mention Shopping's 'Why Choose?'

The Orb made their best record in years with 'Moonbuilding 2703AD', four lengthy pieces of bliss that keeps up the Kompakt Kwality.

Neither were on Ghostbox, but The Host's 'Esalen Lectures' and Death And Vanilla's 'To Where The Wild Things Are' will appeal to fans of that hauntological thing (even if the latter's cover is a bit try-too-hard in the 'resembling a Ghostbox sleeve' department.)

Kara-Lis Coverdale (no relation) and LXV's 'Sirens' is another electronic piece of majesty that fans of Eliane Radigue or Laurie Spiegel should check out. Rival Console's 'Howl' was another quality piece of electronica.

Both Maserati with 'Rehumanizer' and Christopher Bissonnette with 'Pitch, Paper And Foil' built on their previous templates without maybe doing anything startlingly new, but still worth checking out all the same.

Disappears' live version of 'Low' is well worth a listen - the extended riff on 'Weeping Wall' is amazing. Bonus points for putting the track-listing on a sticker on the back in the style of the original album too.

Nots 'We Are Nots' introduces a female Fall (or is it a female CAN?) Mac DeMarco's 'Another One' is a pretty decent set of lovely songs (plus one electronic instrumental that I'd like to see him do more of). Richard Hawley's 'Hollow Meadows' is Another Richard Hawley album, but always a pleasure, never a chore.

More electronica: Container's 'LP' (slightly abrasive), 555's 'Arcosanta' (krauty drifts of synths), Walls 'Urals', Palmbomen's 'II', Suzanne Kraft's 'Talk From Home' the mysterious Domenique Dumont's 'Comme Ca' and Colleen's 'Captain Of None'. Godspeed You! Black Emperor sneaked out 'Asunder, Sweet And Other Distress', which sounded like part two of 'Allelujah' without the ten year wait.

Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe & Ariel Kalma released the latest FRKWYS collaboration album, and yes, it was more lengthy synth pieces of the type that I never seem to get bored of.

Daniel Bachman's 'River' will appeal to the Fahey Heads. Steve Gunn continues on his way to World Domination with his collaboration with Black Twig Pickers, 'Seasonal Hire'.

And finally, The Gurdjieff Ensemble's 'Komitas' digs deep into the past for new versions of works by Armenian composer Komitas Vardapet which bridge the gap between folk and classical quite nicely.

2016 has got to go some to beat this....!

[Dannyhood91]

To Pimp A Butterfly by Kendrick Lemar is the best rap album in 12 years.

[Crabwalk]

Not even the best rapper called Lemar

[Dannyhood91]

I'd say it's about 50/50


















heh

[DukeDeMondo]

Carly Rae Jepson: Emotion

Came out of nowhere, this, and blew the piss out my tits. She really, really, really, really, really, really likes 1989, but if you're gonna like anythin, it may as well be the best pop album of 2014.

All That: https://youtu.be/W374tWnsk70

Soft Train – Wiretapper EP

I have a connection to this that I'm not gonna go into, but it's fuckin incredible. Strange, unpredictable songs by an utterly amazing songwriter.

Glitterbomb.: https://softtrain.bandcamp.com/track/glitterbomb

Kacey Musgraves  - Pageant Material

I love Kacey Musgraves with all of me, and this is about the best mainstream country album that anyone could ever think about putting together in a year the colour of 2015. Is it as good as the last album? I don't know, but I've battered the pish out of it at every opportunity.

Dime Store Cowgirl: https://youtu.be/Kw-9GLQCcwY

Lonelady – Hinterland

Again, I dunno if this is as good as the previous album, or better, but I fuckin adore it. As others have said, plenty to get lost in. Listened to this on headphones when I was gettin my hole battered in a park one time an it was just incredible.

Bunkerpop: https://youtu.be/AaWVJCtDdnE

Father John Misty: I Love You, Honeybear

I fuckin adore this record, and adore him. Funny as fuck, an stuffed to the shits with tunes you could cut your guts on.

The Night Josh Tillman Came To Our Apartment:  https://youtu.be/iY37fixfN_A

[purlieu]

Incredibly hard narrowing it down from maybe 50 or 60, but I've got a top 20. For me it's been a brilliant year, with most of this top 20 the sort of album that would normally appear in my top 5.

Chvrches - Every Eye Open
Unlike their debut, this took a while to grow on me - it's certainly a lot more in-your-face and lacking some of the subtleties of Bones... - but once it began to sink in I realised it's another album without a bad track. Just brilliantly melodic, emotive and catchy synthpop start to finish.

The Future Sound of London - Life in Moments
Sort of an 'Environments 5.5', this album accompanied their scrapbook The Most Important Moments in a Life and despite only being 40 minutes long is probably my favourite thing of theirs since Environments II seven years ago. Melodic guitar, violin and piano mixed with glitchy electronics.

Idlewild - Everything Ever Written
The last few records before their hiatus were largely variations on a theme - albeit excellent ones - but Everything Ever Written sees Idlewild stretching their limbs and heading out into uncharted territories, with 7 minute psych-tinged jams, off-key trumpet solos, multi-part vocal harmonies and layers of organ and mellotron. The second half of the album is absolutely killer and the first half isn't far off.

The Future Sound of London - Archived 8
An unusual collection that almost entirely eschews the group's layered organic sound to focus on a selection of cold, synthetic synth + IDM tracks from 1991 through to the present. The brutalist architecture adoring the cover suits it well. A fine addition to the increasingly strong Archives series.

Susanne Sundfør - Ten Love Songs
You have to admire Norway for having someone like Susanne Sundfør as their biggest selling artist. There are enough pop hooks in the songs here to avoid accusations of pretentiousness, but each track is overlaid with a haunting atmosphere, the melodies are stunning, and the arrangements wonderful, in a way which no other pop stars seem to be willing to venture into. I've actually been relatively disappointed by pop this year - I didn't enjoy the Carly Rae Jepsen album, sadly - but hearing what would be a fantastic pop ballad by anyone else head off into a seven minute orchestral piece on here really made this album for me.

HKE & t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 - Gateway アセンション
Probably the two biggest names in the vaporwave scene at the moment provided a side each of original material here, cutting the samples entirely. HKE's side sees him moving further into dark but dreamy post-dubstep sounds, whilst t e l e p a t h takes a surprising - and incredible - sidestep into melodic ambient techno. Beautiful stuff.

Holly Herndon - Platform
Top notch sound design and experimental sampling skills tied with punchy club sounds and a pop sensibility, which pretty much covers all the bases for me. A marvellous album which doesn't really sound like anything else I know.

2814 ‎– 新しい日の誕生
HKE and t e l e p a t h once again, in collaboration on this album, better known as Birth of a New Day. Probably the most widely known vaporwave album now, a collection of hazy, dreamy ambience soundtracking a futuristic Japanese city by night. Gorgeous melodies and an atmosphere to get lost in, totally worthy of all the praise it's got.

Haiku Salut - Etch & Etch Deep
The bizarre mid-ground between indie-pop and IDM, Haiku Salut have an incredible ear for bittersweet melodies and varied instrumentation. Punchy laptop beats, ukulele and accordion have never sounded so good together.

Tangerine Dream - Quantum Key
As shoulders mentioned earlier, the sadness of Edgar's passing has at least given those of us not in the 'nutty TD obsessives' club a chance to listen to the group's output with somebody else keeping the quality control up. A sublime set of shimmering electronica, benefiting from Thorsten's post-rock tendencies, Hoshiko's beautiful violin playing, and of course Ulrich Schnauss's input. Bodes incredibly well for next year's Quantum Gate album which, being the last material Edgar began working on, I'm hoping will be an excellent send-off for the group - ideally with a final tour in 2017 to mark the band's 50th anniversary and disbandment, as per Edgar's plan.

Nmesh / t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 ‎– ロストエデンへのパス
t e l e p a t h is back again, this time with Nmesh on the other side. Both artists provide a gorgeous textured ambient soundscape, somewhere between new age and ambient drone. The title translates to The Path to Eden, and such a sense of tranquility and peace is present throughout. The Zomby remix included on the digital version is a fabulous additiona.

Ólafur Arnalds & Nils Frahm - Collaborative Works
Whilst technically a compilation, all but three tracks on this double disc record were released in 2015, and thus I'm happy to include it. More electronic than one would perhaps expect from these two composers, nevertheless the melodic sensibility of both is present throughout, and whether it's a dusty modular synth piece or a dual piano improvisation, both artists manage to provide a predictably beautiful performance on every track here.

Remember - ハートエイクに歩い
The move this year from sample-based nostalgia to dreamy dystopian ambient within certain parts of the vaporwave scene has been right up my street (largely because the amount of traditional vaporwave I've enjoyed almost entirely dried up in 2014). This second album by Remember, and the prequel to his debut on Dream Catalogue, is a fine example, a mix of hazy, warped drones, heartbreaking synth melodies and punchy trap-inspired beats. Of the two, this is my preferred album, although his debut tends to get the most praise. Both are worth checking out.

Pursuing Paradise - Adult Contemporary Novel
Not much vaporwave has sampled from more contemporary music, preferring to keep to corporate stock music and '80s pop, but Pursuing Paradise has now put out a pair of albums based largely on late '90s and early '00s material. Sampling everything from Orbital to the Goo Goo Dolls, Adult Contemporary Novel is an overtly emotive, melodic record, and as somebody who likes music that wears its heart on its sleeve, as well as music with a surprising and off-kilter feel, it was totally up my street.

2047 - 새로운 삶을 시작
Although ostensibly part of the vaporwave scene, 2047 works on its fringes, and this album more than any. It combines melodic ambient techno with elements of industrial, subdued breakbeats and glitchy IDM, stitching the whole lot into a seamless journey into a bleak futuristic urban setting. The tape version is disappointing, dubbing the 63 minute album onto a C90 tape (lots of fast-forwarding), but otherwise I'm really happy to hear such a classic electronica sound achieved with absolutely flawless production by such a young producer (the artist being only 16).

Blur - The Magic Whip
I wasn't at all into guitarry indie stuff when I bought this and barely listened to it for months, but at some point it finally clicked and I was rather impressed. I'm not sure it'll become one of my absolute favourite Blur records - it seems to lack a certain personal charm that was there in everything between Modern Life is Rubbish and 13, but most of the songs here are still excellent and with each play it grows on me more.

木の反射 - Body
One final vaporwave album for me top 20 and another heading into ambient and new age realms. Entirely sample-based, and mostly, I'd imagine, from new age CDs (although I do recognise an Eno sample in there), it's an odd but satisfying mix of disjointed structure and relaxing sounds. Flutes and ethnic vocals, synths and field recordings build but are never allowed to resolve, turning the supposedly relaxing new age sounds on their head.

Max Richter - Sleep/from Sleep
Somewhere in here there is a fantastic album. Compositionally, Richter's chops are all still present. But neither version of this album quite works for me. The full eight hour piece is too minimal and repetitive to work as a standalone piece, yet has too many dynamic moments to work as a companion to sleep (not to mention the times I've briefly woken up to a track I've never properly heard and wondered what the hell I'm listening to). In contrast, the condensed CD version isn't quite varied enough to work as an album of its own right - certainly not one to challenge the likes of The Blue Notebooks and Infra in quality. Don't get me wrong, all the material here is typically beautiful, but I can't help imagining a more focused ten track album would have been a better use of this material. Nevertheless, Richter has an ear for melancholic melody like few others and individual moments here are really rather special.

jennylee - right on!
Returning to the more lo-fi roots of her work with Warpaint (the nearest comparison would be their debut EP), jennylee plays with that sound and adds her own influences, particularly her love of '80s goth, throwing in more reverb and some lovely chorussy bass. I wouldn't mind a couple more hooks but overall a really charming and moody collection of songs.

The Orb - Moonbuilding 2703 AD
I enjoyed 2009's Baghdad Batteries quite a bit, but this is the first Orb record since the '90s that I can honestly say is a worthy follow-up to that era. The side-length tracks always work in The Orb's favour, yet it was relieving to discover this wasn't simply a retread of past glories; instead, it's a more balanced version of the often Fehlmann-heavy Fehlmann/Paterson lineup, with more organic breaks contrasting against the minimal techno associated with the former, and the album's label, Kompakt. Closing on a hip-hop feel, the album shows that Alex can finally curate a record that combines everything that made The Orb great with a contemporary and forward-thinking sound.


Honourable mentions go to:
HOLOVR - The Wheel of Time; Valiska - Repetitions; Miley Cyrus - Miley Cyrus and her Dead Petz; Son Of - Social Zombies; Nomine - Inside Nomine; 8:58 - 8:58; Berber Ox - Communication with the Interior; Trickfinger - Trickfinger; Phoenix #2772 - You Are Already Dead; Perfume Advert - +200 Gamma; The Black Dog - Neither/Neither; AFX - Orphaned Deejay Selek; Moon Ate the Dark - Moon Ate the Dark II


I'm hoping to get Sometimes by Goldmund for Christmas, which I would imagine will feature quite high on this list too.

[The Boston Crab]

Cheers. Some interesting sounding stuff there.

[Mark Steels Stockbroker]

I probably did buy more than ten new albums this year, but some of those were impulse purchases in RT that I can't remember and was usually disappointed by.


The memorable stuff: Belle&Sebastian, Gnod, that Swedish thing with the eye-pyramid on it, Sauna Youth.

I don't care that I don't know the young peoples music, I'm that old now.

[Mark Steels Stockbroker]

Oh yeah, Lonelady as well. Thought that was 2014 somehow.

[ThickAndCreamy]

I have been a colossal lazy bastard this year with new music and have listened to very little. However here are some of the few albums I've enjoyed that haven't been listed thus far.

Beach House - Depression Cherry

They can't really put a foot wrong in my book. Beautiful dream pop that sounds a lot like every other album they've made but it doesn't really matter when their output is so beautiful. The sort of record you want to listen to on a windy night walking alone on a beach.

Vietcong - Vietcong

Former band members from Women make the pounding post-punk record they've always had in them. Blissful noise.

Also I'd like to give a shout out to the Ork Records compilation released this year even if just for this incredible early Television single I'd never heard before - Johnny Jewel.

[alan nagsworth]

This album is so damn good I'm posting a big picture of it in the hopes that more people will check it out. The more I listen to it, the more I can hear Dev Hynes' songwriting in here, which obviously is no bad thing as he's fucking brilliant.

[Serge]

Dev Hynes

I was with you right up until these words.

[Custard]

Beach House - Depression Cherry

They can't really put a foot wrong in my book. Beautiful dream pop that sounds a lot like every other album they've made but it doesn't really matter when their output is so beautiful. The sort of record you want to listen to on a windy night walking alone on a beach.

Aye, what a lovely record it is. Really quite beautiful

[Icehaven]

All my favourite records of 2015 are from 1996.

[newbridge]

Destroyer's Poison Season is my favorite of the year (not that I listen to that much new music). Even better than Kaputt in my opinion.

Beach House's Depression Cherry was also very good, and I'm not sure I would rank it as an amazing album but I thought Beirut's No No No is worth a mention in the thread since it's a perfectly good record if you enjoy earlier Beirut but was unfairly maligned by the critics it seems.

[selectivememory]

I listened to more new music this year than I have in ages, and even then it was nothing compared to some of you. My two favourite albums were both by artists who were already among my favourites of all time.

Joanna Newsom's Divers was my favourite album this year. Another stone cold classic for me; I struggle to think of a better writer working today. I'm only just getting to grips with what a brilliantly realised thing this is. I'm terrible at explaining why I like something, but this just hits so many sweet spots for me. It has a fascinating conceptual/philosophical thread throughout the whole album, but is also as breathtakingly beautiful and inventive as her music usually is.

Sufjan's Carrie & Lowell was also very good, and although it doesn't have the same kind of ambition or scope as some of his earlier records, I thought it was a near-perfect realisation of what he was going for with it, and is probably my second favourite album about death and grief after Electro-Shock Blues.

Following various recommendations on here, I also really liked Jessica Pratt's On Your Own Love Again, which to my ears has shades of Nick Drake and Joni Mitchell, Ezra Furman's Perpetual Motion People and Kamasi Washington's The Epic.

Also thought John Grant's Grey Tickles, Black Pressure was decent enough, though not as good as his previous efforts.

[alan nagsworth]

Neon Indian's new'un is blowing my fuckin' mind at the moment. Shimmering, gorgeous pop that is miles above the retro kitsch-y appeal that carries a lot of the charm of most of its revivalist contemporaries in the indie/electronic scenes[nb]and I would cite a wide array of artists that it mops the floor with, from Hot Chip to Calvin Harris to any number of chillwave/vaporwave kids who wish they could sound this cool[/nb] and creates something that is irresitibly cool, making nods to its influences rooted way back in disco, house, synth-pop etc. and then strutting through the modern day chaff with its eyes closed, biting its lip and bopping its head into the beyond. Transcendent psychedelic funk with countless reach-for-the-mirrorball synth licks and effortless style.

Slumlord

Annie

[Kane Jones]

Neon Indian's new'un is blowing my fuckin' mind at the moment.

Jesus, I'm ordering that bitch right now on the strength of those two tracks. I was disappointed with Toro Y Moi's What For? album this year, especially after Anything In Return from 2013 which I thought was fucking genius, but this seemingly fills that gap. Cheers Nags, you adorable cunt.

[alan nagsworth]

Ah, you're welcome! It is a very, very good album. It reminds me of the sugary technicolour psych-tropical stuff that Yeasayer have also done really well, especially on "Odd Blood" which I still consider to be something of a pop masterpiece, so yeah, this definitely didn't disappoint. Incidentally, Yeasayer teased a wee snippet of music on their website last week, so it's probably safe to assume we can expect a new album from them next year, I reckon!

[Custard]

Yeah, the Neon Indian record is pretty great. Endlessly inventive, solid dancey pop music

My current favourite is The Glitzy Hive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0WtwtOCC1g

[Kane Jones]

Well, it's the last day of 2015 so time to submit my entries.  First, here's a pictorial version for those of you who can't be bothered to read my ramblings below;



20. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Multi-Love
While maybe not as consistently great as II, this is definitely a brighter, more colourful album than its predecessor. I think I prefer the more lo-fi sonics of II, but the title track is one of the most perfect pop songs I've heard this year. A big, beaming smile of a song. The tracks Necessary Evil and Puzzles are also highlights, although there's not really a duff track in sight.

19. U-Ziq - XTLP
Mike Paradinas can pretty much do no wrong, in my opinion. I think Chewed Corners is a better album (top ten of 2013 for me) but this is another solid record of bright, melodic IDM.

18. Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear
It took me a while to warm to this, but it's really got under my skin recently. It's been a year for instrumental electronic music for me, so it's quite surprising that a singer/songwriter album made it this high. But the melodies are exquisite and the lyrics are brilliant. Great album.

17. Idjut Boys - Versions
I've been really enjoying sun-drenched chill out music over the past few years, and this dubby little remix of 2012's Cellar Door album has been played to death in my gaff this past couple of months. Never mind the Balearics. Kenny Dub Headband and Another Bird feature two of my favourite basslines of the year.

16. Rival Consoles - Howl
Jon Hopkins' Immunity was my number 1 album of 2013, and while this isn't quite as good, it's a very accomplished record. Beautifully crafted and produced with each listen peeling back another layer to enjoy. A cracker.

15. Ólafur Arnalds & Nils Frahm - Collaborative Works
This feels more like an album of musical sketches than anything else, but that's far from a criticism. Each track ebbs and flows wonderfully, making it a very immersive listening experience. One of two appearances from Arnalds in my top twenty, too.

14. Vessels - Dilate
Ditching the post rock and digging out the keyboards was a great move for these lads. The throbbing intensity of track two, Elliptic, and it's almost tribal percussive ending is one of the highlights of the year for me. The vocal tracks let it down a bit, but that's a minor gripe. It's a great little record.

13. Lonelady - Hinterland
Spiky, New Wave guitars with catchy, staccato riffs, driving rhythms, well-crafted melodies and a very gifted singer/songwriter. Not a great deal not to like about this little corker.

12. Blanck Mass - Dumb Flesh
Sounds like coming round on the floor of a Night Club in hell. Big, boisterous beats, distorted brick-walled-to-fuck crunchy synths but with a keen sense of melody. A dark, hulking bitch of an album.

11. Kiasmos - Swept EP
Ólafur Arnalds' second appearance in my top 20. Their debut album was one of my highlights from last year. This EP sees the Icelandic duo's recipe unchanged which is something of a relief. They seem incapable of making bad music to my ears. Piano melds with swathes of synths and glitchy beats to produce flawless, beautiful music.

10. Steve Moore - Cub
Pulsing, atmospheric, analogue synth soundtrack for the Belgian horror film Cub. It sounds like John Carpenter. I love John Carpenter. One of two appearances from Steve Moore in my top 10.

9. Tame Impala - Currents
I wasn't bothered about this band before now, but this album has won me over. The opener Let It Happen is simply one of the best songs I've heard all year. The bit at 4:30 where the loop goes on for slightly too long and then the beat kicks in makes me smile from ear to ear and gives me goosebumps all over. Just brilliant. The track 'Cause I'm A Man is the best sex ballad Prince never wroted.

8. Anna von Hausswolff - The Miraculous
This girl clearly loves a massive organ. An astonishing record. Utterly spellbinding. Cheers to Serge for the heads up on this one.

7. Sexwitch - Sexwitch
Natasha Kahn from Bat For Lashes teams up with Toy to cover six 1970s psyche and folk songs from Morocco, Iran and Thailand. As interesting as it sounds. A dusty, spicy, groovy and heady cocktail.

6. Public Service Broadcasting - The Race For Space
While their debut album was solid enough, this is something really special. I'm not particularly fascinated by the subject matter (The Space Race, obviously) but the storytelling woven through the samples used and the dynamic music really gives me the shivers. During the track The Other Side, when Apollo 8 orbits the moon and loses radio contact, I find myself literally holding my breath. It's a really thrilling, emotional moment.

5. Chris Walla - Tape Loops
Walla manipulates and splices analogue tape to make a stark, earthy album of contemplative beauty. I fucking love this record.

4. Zombi - Shape Shift
John Carpenter meets Goblin in these squelchy analogue synth-driven 70s/80s soundtrack-inspired instrumentals. Great fun, and never sounds like it's taking itself too seriously. I've now become slightly obsessed with Zombi and Steve Moore in general as this particular style is really grabbing my balls at the moment. A fun, sonically pleasing album.

3. Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - The Night Creeper
Authentic, sludgy, stoner metal channeling more than a little Sabbath through its fat, slow riffs and nasally Lennon-meets-Ozzy vocals. The concept (a serial killer stalking the London streets) suits the music perfectly and it's a grimy, grainy listen. It would be a perfect ten save for a plodding mess called Inside which knocks a clear star off for me. Interesting to see how much my taste has changed over the years. Only one rock/metal album in the entire top 20. Ten or so years ago, it would've pretty much all been rock/metal.

2. Föllakzoid - III
Four tracks, each one a spaced out, ten-minute trance-like jam of krautrock influenced Chilean psyche brilliance. I've found myself lost in this album numerous times over the year, and it floors me every time. 10 out of 10 perfection.

1. Floating Points - Elaenia
The most interesting, fluid and dynamic album I've heard all year. Live instruments mix with analogue synths and strange ethereal soundscapes. It's just brilliant. If you haven't already heard the ten minute track Silhouettes (I,II,III) then I urge you to do so. It's insanely cool. Cymbals sizzle, syncopated rhythms dance around strings, funky bass and synths and a female chorus lifts the whole thing into something even more spectacular. It's like a forgotten Lalo Schifrin piece from Bullitt or Dirty Harry. It's the best piece of music of the year for me. The whole album is sonic perfection to these lugholes.

[Morrison Lard]

There's only one entry,
FFS by FFS


Absolute stormer of an album. 9.5/10.

The opener, Johnny Delusional, is an incredible indie/disco/pop number.
Put it on now, if you're not smiling by the halfway point you're DEAD inside.

"Police Encounters" is toe-tapping Bom bom diddy diddy-ing magic.

Probably the most fun album I've heard since "Soopersonic Syd sings (Or does he?)".

Fuck it, make it 9.6/10

[dark now my pies]

Can't say what the best ones were from a totally empirical sense (although I can say which ones weren't - kendrick lemur, tame impala, four tet, sufjan stevens) and I bought a whole pile which I haven't got round listening to yet but I am prepared to list the ones that were most enduring on my music player.

howling bells - heartstrings rock solid comeback
blur - the magic whip a comeback album they didn't fuck up. A relief.
foo fighters - sonic highways the foos get such a harsh deal round these parts. this album is practically their shining monument towards mankind.
hot chip - why make sense? best dance album all year.
unknown mortal orchestra - multi-love my personal favourite
ducktails - st catherine was a let down at first but has grown on me
oneohtrix point never - garden of delete crazy, insane, wonderful. unlike his other ones I didn't feel I had to try and like it.
carly rae jepsen - e-mo-tion her music has really, really, really, really, really, grown on me. Maybe it's because she's fucking stunningly hot.
toto - xiv brilliant comeback. it pains me that these guys don't get more of the kudos they deserve.
godspeed! you black emperor - asunder sweet and other distress 'salright.

The shittest pieces of crap I have wasted money on
eels - live at albert hall
laura marling - short movie
chemical brothers - born in the echoes
maribou state not my music
todd rundgren and utopia live at the waldorf shit sound, 40 mins on each disc.
scorpions - animal magnetism 50th anniversary remaster (did not live up to the album cover)

shittest pieces of crap I didn't waste money on

noel gallagher - chasing yesterday
ash - kablammo
disclosure - caracal
motohead - bad magic rip lemmy, but seriously lad.
that guy who won the Mercury music prize

The most random music purchase I have made all year

the loungs - short cuts didn't quite know what to expect. like a Liverpudlian barbershop quartet.

[RenegadeScrew]

Well my album of the year was Clap! Clap! (Tayi Bebba) but even though I only discovered it recently, it was released in September 2014.  So that's that fucked then.  I was a little disappointed no one else mentioned it, but that's all explained now.

--

Algiers - Algiers

Debut album from an American band who sound like they use technology (lightly) and are influenced by the blues and soul music but don't wear on it their Wolfmother.  It's not brilliant but a good debut so I feel the need to give it a mention.  This is probably the best tune as an introduction

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGV9rFA-tRk

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Kode 9 - Nothing

Not as good as his 2nd album but still one of the best things I've heard this year (from this year).  Seems to have gone a bit more 'sound-designy' and minimal which works well.  Quite a lot of footwork vibes....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOqZFHISgkE

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Mbongwana Star - From Kinshasa

Congolese band with some production.  Some of it sounds like a normal Congolese band, and some of it sounds like this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhVTZLvP3GM

---

JLin - Dark Enery

Only discovered it recently.  Very footwork sounding without the silly repetition (especially of vocals).  Some of it is humping as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alcjdAu5olg

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Various - SWIM TEAM trax vol 2

Not an album as such, but a compilation by a label/collective that deserves a mention.  First track has rapping and kinda sounds like a good Death Grips tune.  The others are instrumentals.

https://swimteamny.bandcamp.com/album/swim-team-trax-2 

[Bored of Canada]

Forgot about Summertime 06



Really liked this one too. Didn't like it as much as Don't Like Shit, Don't Go Outside but it's a good'un.

[DangledTeeth]

In no particular order and without a concise review for each:

Griz - Say it Loud (And Chasing the Golden Hour Pt. 1 was a surprising mixtape)
Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
Selah Sue - Reason
Hiatus Kaiyote - Choose Your Weapon
Sons of Kemet - Lest We Forget What we Came Here to Do
Nuage - Neida
Czarface - Every Hero Needs a Villain
Everything Everything - Get to Heaven

[purlieu]

This album is so damn good I'm posting a big picture of it in the hopes that more people will check it out. The more I listen to it, the more I can hear Dev Hynes' songwriting in here, which obviously is no bad thing as he's fucking brilliant.

Yeah ok, I finally get this. Something about it wasn't working for me for some reason but it really clicked and now I fucking love it. Brilliant.