2015 End-of-Year Music Polls & Critics' Lists

better than flaming GC

The 405's Alternative Mercury Prize awarded to Little Simz's A Curious Tale of Trials + Persons
http://www.thefourohfive.com/music/article/the-405-alternative-mercury-prize-goes-to-little-simz-144

40 records on that Decibel list and no VHOL?

hardly heard any of those Decibel albums and the only one I thought was an unqualified tick.jpg was #40, Cruciamentum

I wouldn't mind but I already keep scolding myself for how much cool shit I bypass because I'm catching up on (predominantly) metal promos

I take it the Mercury Rev album is boring?

I take it the Mercury Rev album is boring?

― djh

It's Secret Migration levels of boring.

it's like being waterboarded but with sap instead of water

no pissgrave no credibility

Listened to the first tracks of Decibel's top five albums to "see what I'm missing" this year, then the first track of Lightning Bolt's new album, and how the former has been dubbed "Extremely Extreme" (Decibel's tagline) over the latter continues to elude me... feels like listening to a random selection of MOR (ie hard bop, here comes the bass solo!) contemporary jazz albums... but then again hasn't everything been done in Japanoise/noise rock/jazz rock as well since the 80s? Maybe viscerally I just respond more to the latter's driving rhythm, and blind myself to what makes metal lyrics "hit hard" for some.

Resident Music's list is the best of this lot. Not perfect, but I'll be surprised to see a better top 5 this year.

There are few current graves I would happily stripe, but I wouldn't want to make a scene of it.

Top 20 from that Resident Music list:

20. Jamie xx - In Colour
19. Wand - Golem
18. Gaz Coombes - Matador
17. Nathaniel Rateliff & the Nightsweats - s/t
16. Girl Band - Holding Hands with Jamie
15. Ryley Walker - Primrose Green
14. Lonelady - Hinterland
13. Tess Parks & Anton Newcombe - I Declare Nothing
12. Ghostpoet - Shredding Skin
11. The Maccabees - Marks to Prove it
10. Jacco Gardner - Hypnophobia
9. Blanck Mass - Dumb Flesh
8. Thee Oh Sees - Mutilator Defeated At Last
7. Songhoy Blues - Music in Exile
6. Julia Holter - Have You in My Wilderness
5. Mbogwana Star - From Kinshasa
4. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell
3. Courtney Barnett - Everybody Poops
2. Low - Ones & Sixes
1. Algiers - s/t

oh god, are we really comparing five-album best of lists against each other now

when will the madness end

Nice to see Songhoy Blues rate so highly on a list; I was worried they'd be overlooked. First track from new album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOValSt7YOY

Rate Your Music has fluid charts so things will change but here's the Top 100 of 2015 according to the utilitarian website as of right now, including archival and live releases:

1 Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
2 Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell
3 Joanna Newsom - Divers
4 Swans - The Gate
5 Kamasi Washington - The Epic
6 Miles Davis - At Newport 1955-1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4
7 Bob Dylan - The Cutting Edge 1965-1966: The Bootleg Series Vol. 12
8 Toby Fox - Undertale Soundtrack
9 Yes - Progeny: Highlights From Seventy-Two
10 Mgła - Exercises in Futility
11 Panopticon - Autumn Eternal
12 Lil Ugly Mane - Third Side of Tape
13 Oneohtrix Point Never - Garden of Delete
14 Ryan Adams - Live at Carnegie hall
15 Chelsea Wolfe - Abyss
16 Julia Holter - Have You in My Wilderness
17 The Rolling Stones - The Marquee Club Live in 1971
18 Leprous - The Congregation
19 Zierler - ESC
20 Max Richter - Sleep
21 Horrendous - Anareta
22 Elza - A mulher do fim do mundo
23 Riverside - Love, Fear and the Time Machine
24 Deafheaven - New Bermuda
25 Steven Wilson - Hand. Cannot. Erase.
26 Amorphis - Under the Red Cloud
27 Satan - Atom by Atom
28 Deep Purple - Long Beach 1971
29 Avatarium - The Girl With the Raven Mask
30 Paradise Lost - The Plague Within
31 Gov't Mule - Sco-Mule
32 Viet Cong - Viet Cong
33 Stara Rzeka - Zamknęły się oczy ziemi
34 Björk - Vulnicura
35 Cattle Decapitation - The Anthropocene Extinction
36 Colin Stetson & Sarah Neufeld - Never Were the Way She Was
37 Enslaved - In Times
38 Iron Maiden - The Book of Souls
39 Milo - So the Flies Don't Come
40 Jamie xx - In Colour
41 Autechre - AE_LIVE_KRAKOW_200914
42 Nickelus F - Trick Dice
43 Thy Catafalque - Sgùrr
44 Susanne Sundfør - Ten Love Songs
45 Yes - Progeny: Seven Shows from Seventy-Two
46 Blues Pills - Blues Pills Live
47 Coil - Backwards
48 Mark Lanegan - Houston: Publishing Demos 2002
49 Caligula's Horse - Bloom
50 Vince Staples - Summertime '06
51 Enshine - Singularity
52 Lupe Fiasco - Tetsuo & Youth
53 The Chills - Silver Bullets
54 Timbre - Sun & Moon
55 Elder - Lore
56 Beach House - Depression Cherry
57 Gorod - A Maze of Recycled Creeds
58 Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear
59 Gloryhammer - Space 1992: Rise of the Chaos Wizards
60 Thee Oh Sees - Mutilator Defeated at Last
61 Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
62 Symphony X - Underworld
63 Gazpacho - Molok
64 Shape of Despair - Monotony Fields
65 Ghost - Meliora
66 Katatonia - Sanctitude
67 Carly Rae Jepsen - E•MO•TION
68 Prurient - Frozen Niagara Falls
69 Tyranny - Aeons in Tectonic Interment
70 Ricercar Consort - Musikalisches Opfer
71 Neon Indian - VEGA INTL. Night School
72 Uncle Acid - The Night Creeper
73 Car Seat Headrest - Teens of Style
74 Anekdoten - Until All the Ghosts Are Gone
75 Tribulation - The Children of the Night
76 Melechesh - Enki
77 Napalm Death - Apex Predator - Easy Meat
78 Leviathan - Scar Sighted
79 Soilwork - The Ride Majestic
80 Van der Graaf Generator - After the Flood: Van der Graaf Generator at the BBC 1968-1977
81 Disasterpeace - It Follows
82 Floating Points - Elaenia
83 Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - Tower Theater, Philadelphia 1975
84 Beach House - Thank Your Lucky Stars
85 The Dear Hunter - Act IV: Rebirth in Reprise
86 ２８１４ - 新しい日の誕生
87 Jim O'Rourke - Simple Songs
88 Deerhunter - Fading Frontier
89 Tame Impala - Currents
90 Gazpacho - Molok
91 Sulphur Aeon - Gateway to the Antisphere
92 Misþyrming - Söngvar elds og óreiðu
93 Sleater-Kinney - No Cities to Love
94 My Dying Bride - Feel the Misery
95 Clutch - Psychic Warfare
96 Tempel - The Moon Lit Our Path
97 Godspeed You! Black Emperor - 'Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress'
98 Royal Headache - High
99 Czarface - Every Hero Needs a Villain
100 Jason Isbell - Something More Than Free

Love the eclecticism there, thanks.

Anyone placing bets on Sufjan vs Kendrick at P&J?

that RYM list is certainly VERY different to the Acclaimed music 2015 and almost certainly very different to most EOY lists lol.

i'm glad this thread's title was changed, this is the first time i've looked at it because i thought it really was about Gaz Coombes (not that there's anything wrong with that, i liked the 2nd Supergrass album a lot)

top 100 of 2015 according to the utilitarian website as of right now, including archival and live releases

Why would you include archival and live releases? You have to check those boxes to get those, and most polls do not include them. Gazpacho's Molok is a good album, but probably doesn't need to be listed twice.

Without the archival and live, it's better than most of the lists we'll see in the coming weeks. After Jason Isbell, here's what's in the list without the other crap:

84. Protomartyr - The Agent Intellect
85. Junkie XL - Mad Max: Fury Road
86. W.A.S.P. - Golgotha
87. Obsequiae - Aria of Vernal Tombs
88. Richard Hawley - Hollow Meadows
89. Kamelot - Haven
90. Low - Ones And Sixes
91. Ought - Sun Coming Down
92. Kurt Vile - b'lieve i'm goin down...
93. Laura Marling - Short Movie
94. Bosse-de-Nage - All Fours
95. Sacri Monti - Sacri Monti
96. Caspian - Dust and Disquiet
97. Spock's Beard - The Oblivion Particle
98. Lamb of God - VII: Sturm und Drang
99. Arcturus - Arcturian
100. Fuzz - II

Christian Mistress - To Your Death just misses it at 101. Enforcer, High On Fire, Wand, I think I like the second 100 better!

Piccadiily Records (Manchester)
Top 100: http://www.piccadillyrecords.com/counter/feature.php?feature=751

1 - Julia Holter - Have You In My Wilderness
2 - Horsebeach - II
3 - Thee Oh Sees - Mutilator Defeated At Last
4 - Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit
5 - Lonelady - Hinterland
6 - Gwenno - Y Dydd Olaf
7 - Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell
8 - Outfit - Slowness
9 - Tess Parks & Anton Newcombe - I Declare Nothing
10 - Linkwood - Expressions
11 - Romare - Projections
12 - The Charlatans - Modern Nature
13 - Blank Realm - Illegals In Heaven
14 - Floating Points - Elaenia
15 - Ruf Dug - Island
16 - Dutch Uncles - O Shudder
17 - Bambi Davidson - Brunswick
18 - Toro Y Moi - What For?
19 - Ryley Walker - Primrose Green
20 - Föllakzoid - III
21 - Ducktails - St. Catherine
22 - Boof - The Hydrangeas Whisper
23 - Colleen - Captain Of None
24 - Beach House - Depression Cherry
25 - Kurt Vile - B'lieve I'm Goin Down...
26 - Moon Duo - Shadow of the Sun
27 - D'angelo and the Vanguard - Black Messiah
28 - Chastity Belt - Time To Go Home
29 - Be (Garth Be) - H I P N O T O N Y
30 - Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Multi-Love
31 - Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly
32 - Tame Impala - Currents
33 - Rozi Plain - Friend
34 - Other Lives - Rituals
35 - Badbadnotgood & Ghostface Killah - Sour Soul
36 - The Holydrug Couple - Moonlust
37 - Jamie xx - In Colour
38 - Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress
39 - Mac Demarco - Another One
40 - John Grant - Grey Tickles, Black Pressure
41 - Moon B - Lifeworld
42 - Public Service Broadcasting - The Race For Space
43 - A Place To Bury Strangers - Transfixiation
44 - The Fall - Sub-Lingual Tablet
45 - Stealing Sheep - Not Real
46 - Ultimate Painting - Green Lanes
47 - Viet Cong - Viet Cong
48 - Kamasi Washington - The Epic
49 - Jose Padilla - So Many Colours
50 - Low - Ones and Sixes

i rely heavily on the rym lists, though i also filter out all the metal records when i run the top 100. i mean, i like metal, but rym _really_ likes metal. should probably filter out all the progressive rock records as well because i care nothing about steven wilson or beardfish, but even if i filter out metal, somebody will tell me about krallice or dodheimsgard. nobody is going to tell me about komara.

13 - Blank Realm - Illegals In Heaven

^ not really all that nuts about straight-up indie rock, but this album is really good in a classic flying nun sort of way

Mojo Magazine - Top 50 Albums

1. Julia Holter - Have You In My Wilderness
2. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly
3. New Order - Music Complete
4. Tame Impala - Currents
5. Jim O'Rourke - Simple Songs
6. Bill Ryder-Jones - West Kirby County Primary
7. Songhoy Blues - Music In Exile
8. Mbongwana Star - From Kinshasa
9. Sleaford Mods - Key Markets
10. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell
11. Bob Dylan - Shadows In The Night
12. Courtney Barnet - Sometimes I Sit And Think And Sometimes I Just Sit
13. Low - Ones An Sixes
14. Sleater-Kinney - No Cities To Love
15. Richard Dawson - Nothing Important
16. D'Angelo - Black Messiah
17. Hooton Tennis Club - Highest Point In Cliff Town
18. Blur - The Magic Whip
19. Joanna Newsom - Divers
20. Dungen - Allas Sak
21. Richard Thompson - Still
22. Young Fathers - White Men Are Black Men Too
23. John Grant - Grey Tickles, Black Pressure
24. Gaz Coombes - Matador
25. Paul Weller - Saturns Pattern
26. Wilco - Star Wars
27. Leon Bridges - Coming Home
28. Matthew E. White - Fresh Blood
29. Earl Sweatshirt - I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside
30. Bill Fay - Who Is The Sender?
31. Ezra Furman - Perpetual Motion People
32. Jamie XX - In Colour
33. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Chasing Yesterday
34. Jason Isbell - Something More Than Free
35. The Libertines - Anthems For Doomed Youth
36. Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear
37. Promised Land Sound - For Use And Delight
38. Lonelady - Hinterland
39. Keith Richards - Crosseyed Heart
40. Alabama Shakes - Sound & Color
41. Kasami Washington - The Epic
42. Boz Scaggs - A Fool To Care
43. Mark Ronson - Uptown Special
44. Ryley Walker - Primrose Green
45. The Weeknd - Beauty Behind The Madness
46. Tobias Jesso Jr. - Goon
47. Deerhunter - Fading Frontier
48. David Gilmour - Rattle That Lock
49. Ibeyi - Ibeyi
50. Kurt Vile - B'lieve I'm Going Down

Gaz Coombes beating off Boz Scaggs there

It's amazing to think that Julia Holter is now a huge huge alternative star with big billboard campaigns on the tube and stuff.

I love that album but and enjoyed seeing her live last week but she isn't a "huge huge" anything, unless you're intending the word 'alternative' to completely negate the 'huge'.

It's amazing to think that Julia Holter is now a huge huge alternative star with big billboard campaigns on the tube and stuff.

don't underestimate how targeted these campaigns are. oval space has a billboard on hackney road.

Also they're probably anticipating a big sales bounce from 'Have You In My Wilderness' appearing at or near the top of a load of magazine lists (especially mags like Mojo whose readers still actually buy CDs). If you want to push an artist like that up a commercial level or two then now is exactly the time you want to be heavily marketing her.

11. Bob Dylan - Shadows In The Night
good looking out for the classics mojo!

16. D'Angelo - Black Messiah
hmmm

Julia Holter just got booked to play the arts centre near my house in Feb, capacity of the biggest room available is probably 200. her music has Crossover Potential for sure but let's not get carried away

eh i'm fine w/ d'angelo being on some 2015 lists, the album was released after most places published their 2014 lists

Alabama Shakes only making #40 on a Mojo list suggests their album is either terrible or actually really good in ways I wouldn't have anticipated.

I found it incredibly forgettable - the only reason I even remembered it existed is that one of the songs has popped up in a commercial recently.

Some nice surprises on that Picadilly list. The Linkwood album is really good!

I'm not much into the Steven Wilson or Beardfish, but I have gotten turned on to some new prog, and thanks to the RYM lists, I learned that I like The Dear Hunter way more than Deerhunter! Gazpacho and Anekdoten albums are pretty great if you're not allergic to mellotrons or Nordic dread. Goes great paired with a nice barrel-aged stout or Hammerheart's Sköll och Hati, smoked chocolate stout. Skål, heathens!

Honestly, I forgot Blur released an album.

lol @ New Order and Blur being so high in that list

will be even more lols when New Order win the ilx eoy poll

Mojo Magazine - Top 50 Albums

15. Richard Dawson - Nothing Important

Release date was early November 2014.

Gazpacho are kinda dweeby ("This CD may destroy the universe") but I like them too. They don't overload their songs, it's more about atmosphere.

the hip-hop representation in these lists is very sad. not that the kendrick lamar album isn't great, but it's painfully obvious how much work it (and a couple of inevitable others) is doing as Not Like That Other Rap Music

the fake courtney barnett album titles were one of the lowest points of ilx not just this thread but it really is a spectacularly bad album title (the album itself is fine)

still, would definitely listen in to a conversation between her and earl sweatshirt about their album titles

definitely, though tbf the whole point of year end lists is to highlight examples of Not Like That Other (x) Music

the hip-hop representation in these lists is very sad. not that the kendrick lamar album isn't great, but it's painfully obvious how much work it (and a couple of inevitable others) is doing as Not Like That Other Rap Music

most of That Other Rap Music is arguably terrible

Courtney Barnett's voice is one of the most unpleasant sounding things I've heard this year, just this horrible nasal drone.

definitely, though tbf the whole point of year end lists is to highlight examples of Not Like That Other (x) Music

This is transparently not true in the case of much of the guitar music in, eg, the Mojo list.

that's because Mojo is really incredibly boring

i don't mind courtney barnett's voice, it's just laconic sullen detachment. sheryl crow x aimee mann isn't a very exciting vocal mode but it's not unpleasant either. the album sort of falls down in places because when she's not as insightful as she thinks she is there's nowhere for her songs to hide really

Gazpacho are kinda dweeby ("This CD may destroy the universe") but I like them too. They don't overload their songs, it's more about atmosphere.
― jmm

Ha ha, yeah. I wrote about that, the CD includes a code at the end that generates a random number that could theoretically, with the Quantum Zeno effect, destroy the universe. The fact that they may not be joking is kind of great. Plus biblical demons, Norwegian folklore about religion and trolls turning to stone, and instrumentation that includes a 10,000 year-old Skåra stone.

Also regarding Komara, it is a good palate-cleansing jolt of avant jazz prog. Worth checking out for those who may also like Shining, Author-Punisher, Zu, Pinkish Black.

(i think after attempting some grimes songs this week i'd be happy with any vocal mode that isn't insufferably cutesy)

the hip-hop representation in these lists is very sad. not that the kendrick lamar album isn't great, but it's painfully obvious how much work it (and a couple of inevitable others) is doing as Not Like That Other Rap Music

― lex pretend, Friday, November 20, 2015 9:47 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yea TPAB was obviously going to be the token rap album in otherwise non-rap lists but i didn't think it was gonna be this bad