Top 99 Music Albums of 2015
by 
Skinny 
This is getting difficult. 2015 is the best year of this decade so far.
(added genres as a guide for the potentially curious - I don't necessarily endorse these genre labels)
- Chart updated: 07/28/2026 08:45
- (Created: 01/19/2015 16:52).
- Chart size: 99 albums.
There are 14 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 99 Music Albums of 2015 has an average rating of 92 out of 100 (from 17 votes). Please log in or create an account to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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- some droning ambient art-pop that crosses over into trip-hop territory at times and is lyrically just stunning, a series of ruminations of gender and sexuality and the ills of society, asking all the right questions and offering some wonderful thoughts for everyone to ponder. a far softer sound than innocence is kinky, but more difficult structurally, often being built around little more than unsettling drone passages and confrontational, uncomfortable (and occasionally hilarious) spoken word bits. her voice, however, remains a thing of beauty throughout, whether she's delivering an open-ended sermon with a wry smile, or gently soothing with sade-esque tones. i'm obsessed with this record at the minute, and it's my favourite thing hval has done. surely one of the best songwriters in the world today.
(art pop; drone; trip-hop) [First added to this chart: 05/10/2015]
(art pop; drone; trip-hop) [First added to this chart: 05/10/2015]
Year of Release:
2015
Appears in:
Rank Score:
615
Rank in 2015:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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To be honest, I didn't think anything would be able to knock Jenny Hval's Apocalypse, girl from my #1 spot this late in the year (although Freddie Gibbs has an album coming out this month, so all bets are off), but this may just have managed it. It's far less fragmented than his debut, and better in pretty much every conceivable way - its transparent, Robbie Basho-informed folk-picking moments are more direct and hit harder than before, its Tangerine Dream synth undercurrents feel more organically woven into the music, and its droning raga-rock elements are more enveloping, especially when allowed to stray into frayed (albeit far more subtle than ever before) black metal territory or slyly incorporate wailing, Ayler-style sax into the mix. Besides those influences mentioned above, there are even times when I swear I can hear The Beatles at their most plaintive or Pink Floyd at their most frazzled, without it ever sounding forced or cliched or retrofetishistic. I also find that the album works just as well when given my undivided attention through headphones in a dark room as it does whilst soundtracking the mundane shit I do around the house upon getting in from work. Really beautiful stuff, that can be either crushingly dense and claustrophobia-inducing or pleasantly ambient (depending on what you want to get out of it at that particular moment in time). I thought his debut was an interesting curio that hinted at a massive potential, and his second full-length has delivered completely and utterly on that early promise. It's a shame that this is supposedly his last release as Stara Rezka, but it's a pretty fucking astounding way to bow out.
[First added to this chart: 11/23/2015]
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[actual note to come]
"And a final word is saved for the new Rob Mazurek record, Galactic Parables Vol. 1, which is brilliant, even if I haven't had time to digest it as fully as I'd have liked to yet. He and the Exploding Star Orchestra offer two very different live performances of the same material, flying from tape-sampling, throw-it-at-the-wall clutter to smooth, tropical grooves to something more violent and spaced-out and alien, often recalling Sun Ra but most notably reminding me of one of my favourite jazz albums ever, the Weather Report's Live in Tokyo. It might sound like a bit of an untamed mess, but it remains highly accessible throughout. I hesitate to offer more thorough feelings about the record until I've managed to listen it more than twice, but it is certainly worth checking out."
"Haha, it's Rob Mazurek & the Exploding Star Orchestra - Galactic Parables vol. 1. Mazurek came up in the same Chicago free improv scene that birthed Tortoise, and then moved to Sao Paolo and worked extensively with free jazz musicians there. He does all sorts of stuff (Skull Sessions is a favourite), and his latest is a heady mix of smooth tropical fusion (think Donald Byrd at his most accessible), Sun Ra-esque skronk, street preacher spoken word, with random bursts of tape noise thrown in. It's two different live takes of the same material, but they differ massively (different settings, different personnel)." [First added to this chart: 11/23/2015]
"And a final word is saved for the new Rob Mazurek record, Galactic Parables Vol. 1, which is brilliant, even if I haven't had time to digest it as fully as I'd have liked to yet. He and the Exploding Star Orchestra offer two very different live performances of the same material, flying from tape-sampling, throw-it-at-the-wall clutter to smooth, tropical grooves to something more violent and spaced-out and alien, often recalling Sun Ra but most notably reminding me of one of my favourite jazz albums ever, the Weather Report's Live in Tokyo. It might sound like a bit of an untamed mess, but it remains highly accessible throughout. I hesitate to offer more thorough feelings about the record until I've managed to listen it more than twice, but it is certainly worth checking out."
"Haha, it's Rob Mazurek & the Exploding Star Orchestra - Galactic Parables vol. 1. Mazurek came up in the same Chicago free improv scene that birthed Tortoise, and then moved to Sao Paolo and worked extensively with free jazz musicians there. He does all sorts of stuff (Skull Sessions is a favourite), and his latest is a heady mix of smooth tropical fusion (think Donald Byrd at his most accessible), Sun Ra-esque skronk, street preacher spoken word, with random bursts of tape noise thrown in. It's two different live takes of the same material, but they differ massively (different settings, different personnel)." [First added to this chart: 11/23/2015]
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- yeah this really knocked me for six. i loved the first chapter, and thoroughly enjoyed the second, but this is something else altogether - a mixture of drone, noise, and free jazz, roberts ruminating on slavery in america and her relationship to it as an ancestor. it's painful, but never bleak, keeping up the intensity throughout and mirroring roberts' journey through the southern states that she mentions in the liner notes. as always, beautifully pressed to awesome-sounding vinyl by the guys at constellation.
(drone; free jazz; spoken word) [First added to this chart: 02/07/2015]
(drone; free jazz; spoken word) [First added to this chart: 02/07/2015]
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- this shit is black as fuck. much has been talked about it being a return to the jazz-rap sound that was last popular in the mid-90s, but actually i see this record as incorporating its jazz influences more organically than the likes of jazzmatazz or the low end theory - like, it feels like a genuine fusion record. nods to dj quik (king kunta is quite literally just a beefed-up quik beat), outkast (definitely has the same sprawling tendencies of something like aquemini), eminem (the multiple personality thing). i see its main themes as being the guilt of being a young, rich, famous, black man in america, watching the world burn around you and wondering whether you're doing enough; also it's clearly just about capital - from the nods to snipes' tax evasion in the opener through to the (kinda corny) how much a dollar cost?. but sonically this shit is rich as fuck, full of nods to hip-hop's past (and those of jazz and funk, obviously, though they're all intertwined anyway) whilst remaining utterly contemporary. lyrically, i prefer the wider scope as opposed to the fairly linear (if still successful) narrative of good kid, maad city. honestly, i didn't expect this record to top his last, but it has. silly good. (could definitely do without that trite tupac "interview", though, which just kills all momentum stone dead and means the album ends with a whimper.)
(jazz rap; West Coast hip-hop) [First added to this chart: 03/24/2015]
(jazz rap; West Coast hip-hop) [First added to this chart: 03/24/2015]
Year of Release:
2015
Appears in:
Rank Score:
28,802
Rank in 2015:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Available from
Dam's lushest production work and his strongest songwriting. Fantastic variety too, especially compared to his previous releases. 'O.B.E.' is straight-up deep acid house, 'Surveillance Escape' is probably the most intense thing he's ever recorded, and it features some of his most out-there instrumentals. The Pitchfork review was spot on when it said that the pop songs are the poppiest he's ever produced, and the experimental stuff is the most experimental. Even given all of that, it's a remarkably cohesive listen, flowing very nicely without ever letting itself get into a rut where you feel like ideas are repeating themselves. Coaxed some really great verses from Snoop and particularly Tip, too. Whilst I loved it, I thought that 'I Don't Wanna Be a Star' was distractingly in thrall to Prince, and the Higher album he released with Steve Arrington was amazing but probably too content to play to Arrington's strengths, but here Damon has really found his own voice, with layered, luxurious production and genuinely catchy hooks. Lyrically it's obviously well-trodden ground, mainly concerned with positivity and the neverending power of funk, but I wouldn't expect anything else from Damon, and he's put together an album that will likely stand as his masterpiece, one where he got to follow all of his musical instincts in whichever direction they took him, all whilst remaining true to himself and strengthening his signature synth-funk sound.
(synth funk) [First added to this chart: 09/13/2015]
(synth funk) [First added to this chart: 09/13/2015]
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- brainfeeder have been heading towards jazz territory for a while now (peralta, thundercat, you're dead!), but here they've just decided to blow the doors off and attack full throttle. definite hints of alice coltrane, the weather report, bitches brew (minus the guitars), a tone that at times sounds deceptively similar to john coltrane, even a deliciously fela-fried funk on re run home, this is just startlingly consistent for a three-hour record. just has this freewheeling, fat, west coast party vibe that puts a smile on my face. my favourite is the second disc, but it really is excellent throughout. the impassioned freakouts are the perfect tonic for the calmer choral- and orchestral-backed sections, and that version of debussy's claire de lune is fucking sumptuous. #obligatoryjazzhashtag
(jazz fusion) [First added to this chart: 05/02/2015]
(jazz fusion) [First added to this chart: 05/02/2015]
Year of Release:
2015
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,969
Rank in 2015:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Available from
- it's honestly just one of the most refreshing singer-songwriter albums i've heard in a long time. musically it's almost disney-esque in its swirling majesty at times, whilst at others it's a much quieter, more low-key affair (also worth a mention are the contemporary synth-pop stylings of true affection and the rollicking rock of album highlight the ideal husband). plenty of variety here, to me it recalls randy newman, warren zevon, even early elton john. the album really excels lyrically though, essentially being a concept album about relationships, taking in all that they encompass, from being scared and vulnerable to feeling overwhelmingly happy, and even downright mean and obnoxious at times, but all the while feeling completely human. catchy songs and smart, emotional lyrics abound.
(folk rock) [First added to this chart: 02/07/2015]
(folk rock) [First added to this chart: 02/07/2015]
Year of Release:
2015
Appears in:
Rank Score:
5,082
Rank in 2015:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Available from
- boosie hones the angry/triumphant vibe he brought on last year's excellent comeback mixtape life after deathrow into album form, and it's as brilliant as i'd hoped. there's something wonderfully retro about boosie, whose time away in jail means he appears to have missed hip-hop's recent move towards more cohesive album statements that try to convey one vibe and do it well, and so he's delivered the sort of album that was last seen sometime around 2008 or 2009 - a major label rap record that tries to tick all the boxes, with street songs, songs for the ladies, and slower, contemplative moments, harking back to a time when the likes of 50 cent and t.i. were rap's reigning kings. whilst this makes boosie sound like something of a man out of time, the energy and urgency with which he's rapping more than make up for this, leaving the newly rechristened badazz as something of a wondrous anomaly, a rapper who was never known for his rappity-rapping actually bringing his lyrical a-game at a time when lyrics are about as inconsequential as they've ever been in rap, especially in the south, where boosie is as beloved as he is relatively unknown in virtually every other part of the world. here, he tears through synthetic yet soulful trap beats with a passion the like of which tupac used to conjure, and it's beautiful to behold. long live boosie.
(Southern hip-hop; gangsta rap) [First added to this chart: 06/10/2015]
(Southern hip-hop; gangsta rap) [First added to this chart: 06/10/2015]
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'Fuckin' Up the Count' evokes those gritty, piano-led Mike Dean beats that Scarface used to sound so great over, 'Extradite' (featuring two brilliant guest verses from the perennially underrated Black Thought) takes a welcome left-turn into 1970s jazz-fusion, 'Packages' features 808 Mafia at their gloriously unsubtle best, '10 Times' is a skeletal take on DJ Mustard's ratchet bounce (and contains a disarmingly lyrical verse from none other than Gucci Mane), and 'Cold Ass Nigga', the album closer, is the most sonically abrasive Gibbs song I've ever heard, built on ascending buzzsaw synths and a single-note battering ram of a bassline, leaving absolutely no breathing room whatsoever. It's slightly too clean (and probably too basic) to call it a post-Yeezus beat, but I'd certainly but them in the same ballpark. It also makes for a strangely unsatisfying end to the album - for a start, its aggressive nature is more typical of an out-of-the-blocks album starter; secondly, the entire vibe of the song is largely at odds with the rest of the album; thirdly, it's just lyrically such a massive step down from the preceding 'Freddie Gordy' - but I guess that's largely representative of the (frankly quite odd) pacing of the album. That four-song trap section in the middle could've been more evenly spread in order to stop the album falling into a (slightly) monotonous rut, just as the first four or five songs of the album are probably a little too similar to be easily discernible for casual listeners. (Then again, even the best Gibbs' albums feature questionable sequencing - Piñata begins with a forgettable instrumental and ends with a Mac Miller verse.) It's not as though the order of the tracks here is a massive hurdle, but it makes for a somewhat disjointed listen.
Overall, this album feels like a return to the more straightforward coke'n'hoes rap of Cold Day in Hell and Baby Face Killa - in fact, it's the exact Freddie Gibbs album I was hoping for in 2013. There's some really strong songs here ('Fuckin' Up the Count', 'McDuck', 'Extradite', '10 Times', 'Freddie Gordy'), but it's easy to conclude that Gibbs has fallen back into his comfort zone after giving everything he had over Madlib's psychedelic soul meanderings. Of course, taking a step back, Gibbs in his comfort zone is still better than 99% of other rappers. So... what exactly would constitute a strong Freddie Gibbs release in 2015? To be honest, fuck knows; I'll take another Baby Face Killa over ESGN, though, and that's basically what Shadow of a Doubt is. Good Gibbs = great anybody else, and so this album is probably cause for minor celebration (even if, at the moment, it feels like a bit of a letdown following the transcendent excellence of Piñata).
Full review: http://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=421574#421574 [First added to this chart: 11/23/2015]
Overall, this album feels like a return to the more straightforward coke'n'hoes rap of Cold Day in Hell and Baby Face Killa - in fact, it's the exact Freddie Gibbs album I was hoping for in 2013. There's some really strong songs here ('Fuckin' Up the Count', 'McDuck', 'Extradite', '10 Times', 'Freddie Gordy'), but it's easy to conclude that Gibbs has fallen back into his comfort zone after giving everything he had over Madlib's psychedelic soul meanderings. Of course, taking a step back, Gibbs in his comfort zone is still better than 99% of other rappers. So... what exactly would constitute a strong Freddie Gibbs release in 2015? To be honest, fuck knows; I'll take another Baby Face Killa over ESGN, though, and that's basically what Shadow of a Doubt is. Good Gibbs = great anybody else, and so this album is probably cause for minor celebration (even if, at the moment, it feels like a bit of a letdown following the transcendent excellence of Piñata).
Full review: http://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=421574#421574 [First added to this chart: 11/23/2015]
Total albums: 99. Page 1 of 10
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Top 99 Music Albums of 2015 composition
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
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| Boosie Badazz | 2 | 2% | |
| Christina Vantzou | 1 | 1% | |
| Mumdance | 1 | 1% | |
| Billy Woods | 1 | 1% | |
| Kacey Musgraves | 1 | 1% | |
| Ufomammut | 1 | 1% | |
| Autre Ne Veut | 1 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
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| |
57 | 58% | |
 |
9 | 9% | |
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7 | 7% | |
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5 | 5% | |
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4 | 4% | |
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2 | 2% | |
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2 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 99 Music Albums of 2015 chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
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Up 1 from 100th to 99th |
Up 1 from 99th to 98th |
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Top 99 Music Albums of 2015 similarity to your chart(s)
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Top 99 Music Albums of 2015 ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
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Showing latest 3 ratings for this chart. | Show all 17 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 12/06/2017 05:10 |  Onater | 456 | 90/100 |
| ! | 10/27/2016 03:07 |  splashfoop | 164 | 78/100 |
| ! | 12/05/2015 23:23 |  Applerill | 970 | 75/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
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This chart is rated in the top 1% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 92.0/100, a mean average of 95.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 95.6/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 6.4.
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From 
BestEverAlbums 10/26/2016 08:00 in Chart of the day (#1835): By Skinny
BestEverAlbums 10/26/2016 08:00 in Chart of the day (#1835): By Skinny“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Music Albums of 2015 by Skinny () 1. Apocalypse, Girl by Jenny Hval (2015) 2. Zamknęły Się Oczy Ziemi by Stara Rzeka (2015) 3. Galactic Parables: Volume 1 by Rob Mazurek / Exploding Star Orchestra (2015) 4. Coin Coin Chapter Three: River Run Thee by Matana Roberts…”
View forum post →From Skinny 11/23/2015 11:58 in History of the Communist Party of Great Britain 1927-1941
Skinny 11/23/2015 11:58 in History of the Communist Party of Great Britain 1927-1941“Just spent some time updating my 2015 chart, which you can check out . 21 new entries and 1 re-entry. As always recommendations are encouraged, either in the comment section or in this thread. Whilst I was updating, I was listening to the new Junglepussy again. Seriously dope shit.”
View forum post →From BestEverAlbums 11/06/2015 09:00 in Chart of the day (#1480): By Skinny
BestEverAlbums 11/06/2015 09:00 in Chart of the day (#1480): By Skinny“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Music Albums of 2015 by Skinny () 1. Apocalypse, Girl by Jenny Hval (2015) 2. Invite The Light by DāM-FunK (2015) 3. To Pimp A Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar (2015) 4. Coin Coin Chapter Three: River Run Thee by Matana Roberts (2015) 5. The Epic by Kamasi Washington…”
View forum post →Top 99 Music Albums of 2015 comments
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From
benpaco 09/04/2015 20:32 | #149258
benpaco 09/04/2015 20:32 | #149258
When I grow up, I want to be skinny.
Not enough I've heard on here to rate yet, which basically just means I have some listening to do. Only just saw your rec of NOMAD, I'm gonna check it out after the thing I'm listening to right now.
As far as what you might like, definitely check out L'Orange's collab with Kool Keith, lyrically a bit weak at times but the flow is awesome and L'Orange's heavy use of samples works really well here. The only other thing I can think of that you might have missed is Zun Zun Egui's album from this year, Shackles Gift, which has a certain feel to it that reminds me of some of the electronic stuff you listen to. I was really a fan, it seems to have gotten pretty mixed reviews.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 1
From
mickilennial 05/10/2015 16:38 | #141247
mickilennial 05/10/2015 16:38 | #141247
A lot I still need to check out here, but a very interest mid-year list for 2015 that I'm sure I'll keep coming back to.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 2
From
GeevyDallas 08/18/2015 17:38 | #147940
GeevyDallas 08/18/2015 17:38 | #147940
hey man. hope you're doing good. yeah i liked them both a lot, with beast mode and monster just behind them in terms of fewtch's post honest releases. i listen to 56 nights a lot more because it's shorter though, DS2 can be a bit of a struggle. also never really copped, but that 1, 2 is amazing tbh.
also everytime i look at this chart i dl the jenny hval album lol and always forget to listen and end up downloading again. will listen and report back though.
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From
GeevyDallas 06/10/2015 19:40 | #143486
GeevyDallas 06/10/2015 19:40 | #143486
that jefre cantu-ledesma album was straight piffery
Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 3
From
GeevyDallas 04/27/2015 17:55 | #140405
GeevyDallas 04/27/2015 17:55 | #140405
jeeeeeeez so much to check out. salute
Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 3
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