10 Best Albums
1. Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly
An album of the year should not only be an album of quality, but one that captures the year as a moment in history. Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly fits a perfect place in a tension-filled year for race relations all over the country. It is a complex album about race, religion, fame, love and everything in between. Kendrick is in pain trying to figure out his place in all of it and resolve his own conflicts. The album beautifully ends in a conversation between Kendrick and Tupac on race and fame.
2. Jamie XX – In Colour
Jamie XX’s In Colour is stuck in a conflict between loneliness and being surrounded by people all the time. The album feels big but its intent is supposed to make you feel small and isolated. The highlight and song of the year is “Loud Places” with Jamie’s bandmate Romy Madley Croft. It is a song that is mind-blowing with the sheer number of moving parts. In an album so isolated, Jamie was also able to make a surefire party starter with “(I Know There’s Gonna Be) Good Times” with Young Thug and Popcaan. In Colour proves that electronic music can be beautiful besides just ups and downs.
3. Sufjan Stevens – Carrie and Lowell
Sufjan Stevens’ Carrie and Lowell is just plain sad and heartbreaking. So sad, it is hard to listen to it twice due to the impression it leaves on you. The album’s two namesakes are Stevens’ mother, who was mentally ill and died in 2012, and his stepfather. The album reflects on life and death and the inevitability of it all. Carrie and Lowell is a tragic album that you have to spend time with and let it wash over you in its crisis.
4. Tame Impala – Currents
Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker is a studio wizard. He singlehandedly put together the entirety of Currents. The album is definitely the years most psychedelic and groovy. It’s about Parker’s breakup with his girlfriend and accepting Tame Impala’s burgeoning rock star presence. There are highlights throughout from the electronic opener “Let It Happen” to the funky “The Less I Know The Better, the sexy “’Cause I’m A Man” and the stomping “Eventually.”
5. Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit
Another Australian rocker picks up number five on this list. Courtney Barnett is a storyteller, each song on Sometimes I Sit… is a vignette showing picture in her head. The brilliant “Depreston” depicts her fatigue in buying a house with her partner and settling down. The opener “Elevator Operator” talks about a suicidal boy lost in his life trying to find purpose. Barnett shows us that life may not always be interesting but there’s always an existential struggle with our 20s.
6. Earl Sweatshirt – I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Even Go Outside
The existence of Odd Future is in question and Earl Sweatshirt was probably the first to heed the call. None of his current or former OFWGKTA comrades appeared on the album. I Don’t Like Shit is a crisis for the 21-year-old rapper. He was at a Samoan prep school when he became famous, came back, and released his debut album Doris. He had to deal with massive transitions in his life and the fame he wasn’t sure he wanted. The second album was written in a drug and booze addled isolation from it all.
7. Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment – Surf
Chance The Rapper is very proud that he’s an independent artist in 2015, but he wants to make sure others get the chance to shine too. He gave his bandmates and key producer, Nico Segal a.k.a. Donnie Trumpet, the lead on this album, making Surf is probably the most fun album of the year. The sheer number of collaborators on this album is insane: J. Cole, Big Sean, Jeremih, B.o.B., Busta Rhyme, Quavo from Migos, Erykah Badu, and Janelle Monae, among others.
8. Alabama Shakes – Sound and Color
Alabama Shake’s second album is pure southern rock. It’s full of fuzzy guitar riffs and Brittany Howard’s gospel-esque wailing. Most of the songs are slow with long solos. The highlights are the break-up song “Don’t Wanna Fight” and the slow burning “Gemini.”
9. A$AP Rocky – At.Long.Last.A$AP
A$AP Rocky’s year got off to a rough start after the death of his friend and the head of A$AP Mob, A$AP Yams, from a drug overdose. At.Long.Last.A$AP is a tribute to Yams but also an experimental album for Rocky. He began experimenting with acid after hanging out with ILoveMakonnen at SXSW. While the album may not be as great as A$AP debut, he does keep the bar high with collaborations with Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Future, M.I.A., Mark Ronson and Mos Def.
10. Tobias Jesso Jr. – Goon
Tobias Jesso Jr. is something like a young Randy Newman. But all his songs also sound like they’re some reinterpretation of the Cheers theme song. Goon is a great collection of piano songs about heartbreak and Hollywood. There was speculation around the time Goon dropped that Jesso was dating Taylor Swift and with such a similar style of songwriting it makes sense.
25 Best Songs
- Jamie XX – “Loud Places” (featuring Romy) – In Colour
- Courtney Barnett – “Depreston” – Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit
- Tame Impala – “Let It Happen” – Currents
- Kanye West – “Only One” (featuring Paul McCartney) – SWISH
- Florence + The Machine – “What Kind of Man” – How Big How Blue How Beautiful
- Post Malone – “White Iverson” – Single
- Major Lazer & DJ Snake – “Lean On” (featuring MO) – Peace is The Mission
- Kanye West – “All Day” (featuring Theophilus London, Allan Kingdom & Paul McCartney) – SWISH
- Kendrick Lamar – “King Kunta” – To Pimp A Butterfly
- Earl Sweatshirt – “Faucet” – I Don’t Like Shit I Don’t Even Go Outside
- Jamie XX – “(I Know There’s Gonna Be) Good Times” (featuring Young Thug & Popcaan) – In Colour
- Jessica Pratt – “Back, Baby” – On Your Own Love
- Jason Isbell – “Speed Trap Town” – Something More Than Free
- The Weeknd – “Can’t Feel My Face” – The Beauty Behind The Madness
- Sufjan Stevens – “Fourth of July” – Carrie & Lowell
- Grimes – “Flesh Without Blood” – Art Angels
- Heems – “Home” (featuring Dev Hynes) – Eat Pray Thug
- Fetty Wap – “Trap Queen” – Fetty Wap
- Travi$ Scott – “Antidote” – Rodeo
- Kendrick Lamar – “Mortal Man” – To Pimp A Butterfly
- A$AP Rocky – “Wavybone” (featuring UGK & Juicy J) – At.Long.Last.A$AP
- Chance The Rapper – “Angels” (featuring Saba) – TBA
- Jack U – “Where Are U Now?” (featuring Justin Bieber) – Skrillex and Diplo Present Jack U
- Tame Impala – “Cause I’m A Man” – Currents
- Hudson Mohawke – “Scud Books” – Lantern