Albums of the year: 2015

Last week my friend Giles asked how many albums I’d listened to this year and I guessed at a hundred. In putting together a list of albums that I’d listened to properly (as against tried and discarded) it came to almost exactly a hundred. Many (Kamasi Washington’s three disc opus The Epic, for instance) I haven’t had time to form a considered opinion of. The number keeps growing, even as last year’s releases are pushed aside by leaks of this year’s (Bowie’s Blackstar is very good in part). Anyway, usual drill, I cut off my list at the point where it feels like there’s serious competition to get in. The 41 is based on how much I enjoyed the album over the year, not seeking credibility points. Some albums fade over a year, but my 2015 number one established itself in my affections early on and stayed there with its combination of witty, self-lacerating lyrics and gorgeous, memorable music, building into a gloriously uplifting celebration of love. Greatly look forward to seeing him at Rock City in May. And, yes, I did buy my top three on vinyl – several of the others, too – because they seemed to belong in my collection that way.

40= The Orange Humble Band – Depressing Beauty

40 = Four Tet – Morning/Evening

39 Boz Scaggs – A Fool To Care

38 Leftfield – Alternative Light Source

37 Prince – Hitnrun Phase One

36 Seckou Keita – 22 Strings

35 Wilco – Star Wars

34 Alabama Shakes – Sound & Color

33 Tame Impala – Currents

32 Sarah Cracknell – Red Kite

30= Indiana – No Romeo

30= Michael Chapman – Fish

29 Tracey Thorn – Songs From The Falling (EP)

28 Rickie Lee Jones – The Other Side of Desire

27 Sons of Bill – Love and Logic

26 Libertines – Anthems For Doomed Youth

25 Franz Ferdinand and Sparks – FFS

24 Mercury Rev – The Light In You

23 James McMurtry – Complicated Game

22 Grimes – Art Angels

21 New Order – Music Complete

20 The Delines – Scenic Sessions

19 Laura Marling – Short Movie

18 Don Henley – Cass County

17 Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Multi-Love

16 Bill Ryder-Jones – West Kirby County Primary

15 El Vy – Return To The Moon

14 Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly

13 Matthew E White – Fresh Blood

12 Destroyer – Poison Season

11 Bob Dylan – Shadows In The Night

10 Hot Chip – Why Make Sense?

9 Bjork – Vulnicura

8 Kurt Vile – B’lieve I’m Goin’ Down

7 Young Fathers – White Men Are Black Men Too

6 Calexico – Edge of the Sun

5 James Taylor – Before This World

4 Jason Isbell – Something Other Than Free

3 Ezra Furman – Perpetual Motion People

2 Sleaford Mods – Key Markets

1 Father John Misty – I Love You, Honeybear

 

 

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