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

Soultracks: The 30 Best Soul Albums of 2015 (unranked): http://www.soultracks.com/critics-picks-albums-2015

Adele: 25
Alabama Shakes: Sound & Color
Rasheed Ali: 1968: Soul Power
Terri Lyne Carrington: Mosaic Project: Love And Soul
Columbia Nights: In All Things
Cool Million: Sumthin’ Like This
Disclosure: Caractal
R’mone Entonio – Unorthodox Soul EP
The Foreign Exchange – Tales From the Land of Milk & Honey
Terisa Griffin: Revival of Soul
The Internet: Ego Death
Emily King: The Switch
Kwabs: Love + War
Lianne La Havas – Blood
Kenny Lattimore: Anatomy of a Man
Miguel: Wildheart
Mint Condition: Healing Season
Tony Momrelle: Keep Pushing
Teedra Moses: Cognac & Conversation
Jamison Ross: Jamison
Jill Scott: Woman
Diane Shaw: Love, Life & Strings
Antonique Smith: Love Is Everything
Soulpersona: Momentum
Jazmine Sullivan: Reality Show
Tuxedo: Tuxedo
Tyrese: Black Rose
Kamasi Washington: The Epic
Young Gun Silver Fox: West End Coast

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fRoots Critics Poll: http://www.frootsmag.com/content/critpoll/

1. Stick In The Wheel From Here (From Here)
2. Anna & Elizabeth Anna & Elizabeth (Free Dirt)
3. Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba Ba Power (Glitterbeat)
4. Sam Lee & Friends The Fade In Time (Nest Collective)
5. Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino Quaranta 40 (Ponderosa)
6. The Rheingans Sisters Already Home (RootBeat)
7= Emily Portman Coracle (Furrow)
Leveret New Anything (RootBeat)
9= Simpson, Cutting & Kerr Murmurs (Topic)
Vieux Farka Touré & Julia Easterlin Touristes (Six Degrees)
11 Mbongwana Star From Kinshasa (World Circuit)
12 False Lights Salvor (Wreckord)
13= Olivia Chaney The Longest River (Nonesuch)
Jackie Oates The Spyglass & The Herringbone (ECC)
Songhoy Blues Music In Exile (Transgressive)
Spiro Welcome Joy And Welcome Sorrow (Real World)
The Unthanks Mount The Air (Rabble Rouser Music)
18= Ballaké Sissoko & Vincent Segal Musique De Nuit (No Format!)
Blick Bassy Akö (No Format)
Kandia Kouyaté Renascence (Stern’s)
Tom & Ben Paley Paley & Son (Hornbeam)

Here's my chart of charts, based on 132 end-of-year list, to a maximum of 50 albums in each list. It excludes lists made by a single person, and unranked lists of over 30 albums. 50 points for a 1st place, 49 points for a 2nd place etc, while unranked lists are given an average number of points.

The first figure shows the total number of points; the second figure shows how many lists that album appeared in (excluding positions below #50).

Note that there's a big gap points-wise between the Top 11 and the rest of the pack.

Short version: Kendrick walked it. TPAB was the only album to show up in over 50% of all lists (79 out of 132), and it also received 30 #1 places (its nearest competitor receiving just 8).

1 Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly 3515 79
2 Sufjan Stevens - Carrie and Lowell 2697 64
3 Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit And Think And Sometimes I Just Sit 2522 63
4 Father John Misty - I Love You Honeybear 2411 59
5 Jamie XX - In Colour 2370 62
6 Bjork - Vulnicura 2129 62
7 Grimes - Art Angels 2116 54
8 Julia Holter - Have You In My Wilderness 1936 55
9 Tame Impala - Currents 1934 50
10 Joanna Newsom - Divers 1639 52
11 Sleater-Kinney - No Cities To Love 1636 46
12 Kamasi Washington - The Epic 1365 42
13 Vince Staples - Summertime '06 1329 38
14 Oneohtrix Point Never - Garden of Delete 1278 36
15 Carly Rae Jepsen - E•MO•TION 1085 32
16 Kurt Vile - B'lieve I'm Goin Down… 1001 35
17 Floating Points - Elaenia 995 29
18 Holly Herndon - Platform 950 31
19 Beach House - Depression Cherry 882 36
20= Alabama Shakes - Sound and Color 881 29
20= Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Multi-Love 881 26
22 Drake – If You're Reading This, It's Too Late 868 26
23 Miguel - Wildheart 855 24
24 Deerhunter - Fading Frontier 832 31
25 Blur - The Magic Whip 786 28
26 Future - DS2 745 22
27 Wolf Alice - My Love is Cool 704 22
28 Jenny Hval - Apocalypse, Girl 657 23
29 Viet Cong - Viet Cong 649 25
30 Chvrches – Every Open Eye 633 24
31 Sleaford Mods - Key Markets 617 21
32 Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment - Surf 597 19
33 Lana Del Rey – Honeymoon 596 22
34 Deafheaven - New Bermuda 592 21
35 Shamir - Ratchet 568 18
36 Jason Isbell - Something More Than Free 560 20
37 Wilco - Star Wars 552 20
38 John Grant - Grey Tickles, Black Pressure 548 20
39= Low - Ones & Sixes 535 18
39= New Order - Music Complete 535 19
41 Laura Marling - Short Movie 523 19
42 Adele – 25 516 13
43 Jlin - Dark Energy 497 15
44 Earl Sweatshirt - I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside 496 17
45 Leon Bridges - Coming Home 491 16
46 D'Angelo and the Vanguard - Black Messiah 488 13
47 Natalie Prass - Natalie Prass 486 19
48 Girl Band - Holding Hands With Jamie 470 17
49 Hop Along – Painted Shut 461 15
50 Young Fathers - White Men Are Black Men Too 459 15
51 Florence + the Machine – How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful 451 20
52 Tobias Jesso Jr - Goon 441 17
53 A$AP Rocky - At.Long.Last.A$AP 438 13
54 Ezra Furman - Perpetual Motion People 427 15
55 Arca - Mutant 417 14
56 Jim O'Rourke - Simple Songs 416 13
57 Destroyer - Poison Season 415 15
58 Lonelady - Hinterland 411 14
59 Ryley Walker - Primrose Green 409 14
60= Dr Dre – Compton: A Soundtrack 407 17
60= Mbongwana Star - From Kinshasa 407 17
62 The Weeknd - Beauty Behind The Madness 404 13
63 Foals - What Went Down 396 17
64 The Internet - Ego Death 382 13
65 Gwenno - Y Dydd Olaf 368 15
66 Prurient - Frozen Niagara Falls 359 15
67 Young Thug - Barter 6 357 12
68 Titus Andronicus – The Most Lamentable Tragedy 353 14
69 Kacey Musgraves – Pageant Material 352 13
70 Torres – Sprinter 350 12
71 Four Tet - Morning/Evening 336 12
72 Hunee - Hunch Music 330 9
73 Faith No More - Sol Invictus 324 8
74 Chris Stapleton – Traveller 322 9
75 Majical Cloudz - Are You Alone? 321 14
76= Everything Everything - Get To Heaven 318 10
76= Rae Sremmurd – SremmLife 318 13
78 Protomartyr - The Agent Intellect 313 10
79 Iron Maiden - The Book of Souls 312 9
80 FFS - FFS 308 12
81 Songhoy Blues - Music In Exile 306 12
82 Hudson Mohawke - Lantern 300 9
83 Levon Vincent - Levon Vincent 299 9
84 Ghost - Meliora 297 9
85 Matana Roberts - Coin Coin Chapter Three 296 7
86 Waxahatchee - Ivy Tripp 295 9
87 Justin Bieber - Purpose 290 9
88 Susanne Sundfør - Ten Love Songs 283 9
89 Thee Oh Sees - Mutilator Defeated At Last 280 8
90 Panda Bear - Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper 278 11
91 Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Asunder, Sweet And Other Distress 273 13
92 Ibeyi - Ibeyi 270 12
93 U.S. Girls - Half Free 269 8
94 Empress Of - Me 261 9
95 Kode 9 - Nothing 258 8
96= Jessica Pratt - On Your Own Love Again 257 14
96= Neon Indian - Vega Intl - Night School 257 10
98 Killing Joke - Pylon 253 7
99 Tribulation - The Children of the Night 251 6
100 DJ Sotofett - Drippin' For A Tripp 247 7
101 C. Duncan - Architect 246 11
102 Helen - The Original Faces 242 8
103 Clutch - Psychic Warfare 239 6
104 Blanck Mass - Dumb Flesh 238 8
105 The Maccabees - Marks to Prove it 236 8
106 Beach House - Thank Your Lucky Stars 233 7
107 FKA Twigs - M3LL155X 227 8
108 Bob Dylan - Shadows In The Night 226 9
109 Helm - Olympic Mess 225 7
110= Baroness - Purple 220 6
110= Romare - Projections 220 7
112 Gaz Coombes - Matador 211 8
113 Colleen - Captain of None 209 7
114 Janet Jackson - Unbreakable 206 8
115= Brandon Flowers, The Desired Effect 204 6
115= Motörhead - Bad Magic 204 5
117= Chelsea Wolfe - Abyss 201 8
117= Ought - Sun Coming Down 201 8
119= Beach Slang – The Things We De To Find People Who Feel Like Us 199 8
119= The Charlatans - Modern Nature 199 6
121 East India Youth - Culture Of Volume 197 10
122 The Libertines - Anthems For Doomed Youth 195 7
123= Elysia Crampton - American Drift 194 6
123= Kelela - Hallucinogen 194 8
125 Julio Bashmore – Knockin' Boots 186 6
126= Marina And The Diamonds - Froot 185 7
126= Roisin Murphy - Hairless Toys 185 6
128= Algiers - s/t 184 5
128= DJ Richard - Grind 184 6
130 Django Django - Born Under Saturn 182 7
131 Royal Headache - High 181 5
132= Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba - Ba Power 176 5
132= Battles – La Di Da Di 176 6
132= Domenique Dumont - Comme Ca 176 6
132= Rival Consoles - Howl 176 6
136 Marilyn Manson - The Pale Emperor 175 6
137 Sophie - Product 174 5
138= Ashley Monroe – The Blade 173 8
138= Various Artists - Hamilton: Original Broadway Soundtrack 173 5
140 Jazmine Sullivan - Reality Show 169 6
141 Badbadnotgood & Ghostface Killah - Sour Soul 167 7
142 Big Sean - Dark Sky Paradise 166 5
143 Little Simz - A Curious Tale Of Trials + Persons 165 7
144 JME - Integrity 164 6
145 Bring Me The Horizon - That's The Spirit 160 6
146= Boof - The Hydrangeas Whisper 159 4
146= Linkwood - Expressions 159 4
146= Sunn O))) - Kannon 159 4
149 M.E.S.H. - Piteous Gate 158 6
150 Max Richter - From Sleep 157 5
151= Mgla - Exercises in Futility 155 5
151= Paradise Lost - The Plague Within 155 4
153= Car Seat Headrest – Teens Of Style 154 7
153= Fetty Wap - Fetty Wap 154 6
155= Hot Chip - Why Make Sense? 152 6
155= Napalm Death - Apex Predator - Easy Meat 152 4
157 Nadine Shah - Fast Food 151 6
158= Dawn Richard - Blackheart 150 5
158= Sam Lee & Friends – The Fade in Time 150 4
160 Horrendous - Anareta 149 5
161 High on Fire - Luminiferous 148 4
162= Belle & Sebastian - Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance 147 9
162= Ghostpoet - Shredding Skin 147 7
164 Girlpool - Before The World Was Big 146 7
165= Maria Schneider Orchestra - The Thompson Fields 145 3
165= Myrkur - M 145 5
167 Jam City - Dream A Garden 144 7
168= Dilly Dally – Sore 143 6
168= Public Service Broadcasting - The Race for Space 143 5
170= Future - 56 Nights 139 5
170= Matthew E. White - Fresh Blood 139 7
172= Helena Hauff - Discreet Desires 138 7
172= Toro Y Moi - What For? 138 4
174= Mac DeMarco - Another One 137 9
174= The Chemical Brothers - Born In The Echoes 137 5
176= Chastity Belt - Time To Go Home 136 5
176= Haiku Salut - Etch And Etch Deep 136 4
178 Best Coast - California Nights 135 6
179 Future Brown - Future Brown 133 6
180 Disclosure - Caracal 131 5
181= Kehlani - You Should Be Here 130 4
181= Selena Gomez - Revival 130 5
183= Bully – Feels Like 127 9
183= Rustie - EVENIFUDONTBELIEVE 127 5
183= The Weather Station - Loyalty 127 3
186 Dave Rawlings Machine - Nashville Obsolete 126 4
187 Christina Vantzou - No. 3 124 3
188 Darkstar - Foam Island 123 3
189= Lower Dens - Escape From Evil 122 3
189= The Wonder Years - No Closer to Heaven 122 3
191= Halestorm - Into The Wild Life 121 4
191= The Mountain Goats – Beat the Champ 121 5
193= Carter Tutti Void - f (x) 120 5
193= Nidia Minaj - Danger 120 4
195= Keith Richards - Crosseyed Heart 119 3
195= Villagers – Darling Arithmetic 119 3
195= Wand - Golem 119 4
198= Charli XCX - Sucker 118 5
198= Liturgy - The Ark Work 118 4
198= Steven Wilson - Hand. Cannot. Erase. 118 3
198= Vilod - Safe In Harbour 118 3

Also note: bands are OVER. Only 2 in the Top 18.

here is my list, holler: http://1000timesyes.tumblr.com/post/136882457429/cleaning-out-my-closet-the-top-75-records-of-2015

1578 albums placed in total. 10 albums received one first place vote, and nothing anywhere else:

Anneli Drecker - Rocks & Straws
Billy Gibbons - Perfectamundo
Caspian – Dust And Disquiet
Ela Orleans - Upper Hell
Falz – Stories That Touch
High-Functioning Flesh - Definite Structures
Luca Turilli's Rhapsody - Prometheus: Symphonia Ignis Divinus
Nicolas Godin - Contrepoint
Stick In The Wheel - From Here
The North Sea – Anniversary

xp tell me about ahnnu

UK Number One albums released in 2015 that received no critical love at all:
Meghan Trainor - Title
Imagine Dragons - Smoke + Mirrors
James Bay - Chaos and the Calm
Josh Groban - Stages
Will Young - 85% Proof
Jess Glynne - I Cry When I Laugh
Rudimental - We the Generation
Jamie Lawson - Jamie Lawson

US Number One albums left out in the cold:
Fall Out Boy - American Beauty/American Psycho
Imagine Dragons - Smoke + Mirrors
Kelly Clarkson - Piece by Piece
OST - Empire: Original Soundtrack from Season 1
OST - Furious 7
Shawn Mendes - Handwritten
Zac Brown Band - Jekyll + Hyde
OST - Pitch Perfect 2
OST - Descendants
Luke Bryan - Kill the Lights
Pentatonix - Pentatonix

Highest ranked album that didn't chart in the UK or the US: Kamasi Washington.

Raymond Cummings' noise best-of great as usual

http://www.villagevoice.com/music/here-are-the-36-best-noise-tracks-of-2015-8054338

Amazing work, Mike; thank you.

6 female artists in the top 11 is pretty cool to see, too.

A once-off reminder that voting for ILM's own end-of-year music poll is currently open and you have <7 days left to cast your vote for Gaz Coombes:

ILM's 2015 End of Year Albums & Tracks Poll / VOTING THREAD

http://www.ims-awwa.org/resource/resmgr/images/get_involved_web.jpg

the Car Seat Headrest album that showed up on several lists is goooood ... saw the name over and over again near the end of 2015 but didn't get around to listening till now

My best crit list find: DJ Sotofett. Vinyl duly ordered from Honest Jon's.

Bringing in a heap of musicians and friends, DJ Sotofett has engineered a melting pot of sounds that brings in all sorts of rhythms and flavours, be it the balearic guitars for the intro track (named Ibiza Dub, of course), the super-fluid and euphoric drum jam on the D-Side alongside Parisian peer Gilb’R, or the authentic african vocal (Shouts to the Kambo Super Sound fam!) on what is probably the hottest riddim of them all: ‘Nondo’

hmmmm, maybe

See what you think:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyiR9b2um2I

the largest poll of 2015 tracks, starts January 26th on Triple J midday (less than 5 Hours time)

triple j's Hottest 100 2015 teasers
http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/musicnews/s4393239.htm

After six weeks of steady voting, and a massive swell of traffic to the triple j website on the final day of voting on Friday, it's time to say: Happy Hottest 100 Eve!

With only one sleep to go until the world's biggest music poll kicks off for 2015, excitement levels are off the hook.

After spending the weekend crunching numbers and making sure every last one of your votes was counted, we can tell you that there were over 2 million votes cast this year.

2,094,350 votes, to be precise, pouring in from 172 countries around the world, from locations as far flung as Suriname, Zimbabwe, Bahrain, Serbia, and of course, in our own backyard.

There's already been plenty of debate over which of your favourite songs of 2015 are going to make it into the countdown. And to keep you guessing, we've put together some teaser stats. Can you pick the results from these lil' tidbits?

• More than 16,000 songs were voted for.
• 54 songs are Australian (which is 54%, slightly down from last year's record of 59).
• There's 26 Hottest 100 debutantes this year.
• It's an upbeat year! The average BPM of the Hottest 100 is 123 (compared to 121 last year and 116 in 2013)

correction, that will be on tuesday not monday.

Tuesday our time so probably monday yours.

Don't expect much from the list but there is talk that a black artist (i.e. kendrick) might be in with a shot of winning this year which is...progress for the notoriously whitebread list

Headphone Commute's Readers Poll
http://reviews.headphonecommute.com/2016/01/24/best-of-2015-readers-poll/

Great list, and thanks for the pointer to that site. I hope other ILM voters took note the Max Richter, which does what it says on the tin. Will be investigating the Irisarri.

results are in

Triple J Hottest 100 2015
http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/hottest100/15/countdown/

wikipedia with more data / analysis
Triple J Hottest 100, 2015
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_J_Hottest_100,_2015

The Wombats!

Lol fuck them!

http://m.nashvillescene.com/nashville/results-of-the-2015-nashville-scene-country-music-critics-poll/Content?oid=6325160

For the Scene's 16th Annual Country Music Critics' Poll, we surveyed more than 80 music writers across the country to determine 2015's top country albums, singles, performers and more. See the results of our poll below.

Albums:

1. Chris Stapleton, Traveller (Mercury Nashville)

2. Jason Isbell, Something More Than Free (Southeastern/Thirty Tigers)

3. Ashley Monroe, The Blade (Warner Nashville)

4. Kacey Musgraves, Pageant Material (Mercury Nashville)

5. Eric Church, Mr. Misunderstood (EMI Nashville)

6. Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard, Django and Jimmie (Legacy)

7. Rhiannon Giddens, Tomorrow Is My Turn (Nonesuch)

8. James McMurtry, Complicated Game (Complicated Game)

9. The Mavericks, Mono (Valory)

10. Maddie & Tae, Start Here (Dot)

11. Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell, The Traveling Kind (Nonesuch)

12. Dwight Yoakam, Second Hand Heart (Warner Bros.)

13. Cam, Untamed (Arista Nashville)

14. Don Henley, Cass County (Capitol)

15. Turnpike Troubadours, The Turnpike Troubadours (Bossier City)

16. John Moreland, High on Tulsa Heat (Old Omens)

17. Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen, Hold My Beer Vol. 1 (Lil' Buddy Toons)

18. Corb Lund, Things That Can't Be Undone (New West)

19. Alan Jackson, Angels and Alcohol (Alan's Country/EMI Nashville)

20. Joe Ely, Panhandle Rambler (Rack 'Em)

21. Asleep at the Wheel, Still the King: Celebrating the Music of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys (Proper)

22. Dave Rawlings Machine, Nashville Obsolete (Acony)

23. Sam Outlaw, Angeleno (Six Shooter/Thirty Tigers)

24. Andrew Combs, All These Dreams (Coin)

25. Allison Moorer, Down to Believing (eOne Nashville)

26. George Strait, Cold Beer Conversation (MCA Nashville)

27. Lindi Ortega, Faded Gloryville (Grand Tour)

28. Steve Earle, Terraplane (New West)

29. The Bottle Rockets, South Broadway Athletic Club (Bloodshot)

30. Brandi Carlile, The Firewatcher's Daughter (ATO)

Singles:

1. Little Big Town, "Girl Crush" (Capitol Nashville)

2. Jason Isbell, "24 Frames" (Southeastern/Thirty Tigers)

3. Cam, "Burning House" (Arista Nashville)

4. Ashley Monroe, "The Blade" (Warner Nashville)

5. Chris Stapleton, "Tennessee Whiskey" (Mercury Nashville)

6. Eric Church, "Mr. Misunderstood" (EMI Nashville)

7. Miranda Lambert, "Little Red Wagon" (RCA)

8. Chris Stapleton, "Traveller" (Mercury Nashville)

9. Thomas Rhett, "Crash and Burn" (Valory)

10. Eric Church, "Like a Wrecking Ball" (EMI Nashville)

11. Dierks Bentley, "Riser" (Capitol Nashville)

12. Keith Urban, "John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16" (Capitol Nashville)

13. Kacey Musgraves, "Dime Store Cowgirl" (Mercury Nashville)

14. Carrie Underwood, "Smoke Break" (Arista Nashville)

15. Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard with Jamey Johnson, "It's All Going to Pot" (Legacy)

16. Maddie & Tae, "Shut Up and Fish" (Dot)

17. Brothers Osborne, "Stay a Little Longer" (EMI Nashville)

18. Lee Ann Womack, "Send It On Down" (Sugar Hill)

19. Lee Ann Womack, "Chances Are" (Sugar Hill)

20. Cam, "My Mistake" (Arista Nashville)

21. Chris Janson, "Buy Me a Boat" (Warner Nashville)

22. Charles Kelley, Dierks Bentley and Eric Paslay, "The Driver" (Capitol Nashville)

23. Kacey Musgraves, "Biscuits" (Mercury Nashville)

24. Ashley Monroe, "On to Something Good" (Warner Music Nashville)

25. The Mavericks, "All Night Long" (Valory)

Miranda Lambert's "Little Red Wagon" is an aural war crime

Not into it, either. Bathroom Sink would have been such a better single. (Her only solo writing credit on the album, incidentally.)

http://www.toneglow.net/features/2016/1/31/2015-in-review

For some reason I only like every other Isbell album. Better luck next time I guess.

http://beehy.pe/best-of-2015/brazil-3/

A best of Brazilian album list with rock, artsy samba and some funky stuff (tho I don't think any carioca favela funk)

In retrospect this is probably my favorite year of albums of the past decade or so.

It's up there. Mine is probably 2018, but yeah this one has a lot of stone cold classics across so many genres.

Most years I would struggle to name 15 albums that I consistently enjoy, but this year has at least 25.

Gimme an E

E!

Gimme a MO

MO!

Gimme a TION

TION!

(I realized it looked like I might be cheering for an emo album.)