blog 2015/12/15 - BEST ALBUMS OF 2015

GO STRAIGHT TO THE SOURCE:  http://thetastates.com/mp3s/blog/blog20151215-bo2015.zip

2015 was an incredible year for new music.  Good job everyone.  You did it.  We all win.
I have my top 31 albums here, plus 3 honorary mentions.


First up, the best album of 2014 that should have been 2015 but came out December 17th 2014...
D'Angelo and The Vanguard - Black Messiah
Had it come out 2 weeks later, this would be topping every 2015 list.  And since jerkface "best of" list makers like to now release their lists on December 1st, they EMBARRASSINGLY missed this one.  Take that, listmaker doofuses. (ummm...)

The SPIRITUAL album of 2015:
Run The Jewels - Meow The Jewels
A remix project beyond compare that fills a warm special part of my heart every time I hear it.  An internet crowdfunding joke fed of cat memes, this is the hero we deserve, AND the hero we wanted.

Most surprising comeback of 2015:
Violent Femmes - Happy New Year EP
This sounds exactly like The Violent Femmes as they sound in your crusty nostalgia:  sloppy singalong songs that are addictive as hell.  I am shocked.  I never expected this to be good.


OK, now on to the top 30, proper.


TIED FOR FIRST PLACE, THE BEST 3 ALBUMS OF 2015:
Joanna Newsom - Divers
Son Lux - Bones (& Lanterns Wicks EP)
Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell


NEXT TIER, 10 INCREDIBLE ALBUMS (4-13) OF 2015:

Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit
Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear
FKA Twigs - M3LL155X EP
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress
Holly Herndon - Platform
LabField - Bucket of Songs
Mbongwana Star - From Kinshasa
Purity Ring - Another Eternity
Sleater-Kinney - No Cities To Love
The Mountain Goats - Beat The Champ


AND ROUND IT OUT 18 MORE (14-31) GOOD ALBUMS OF 2015:

Arca - Mutant
Beach House - Depression Cherry
Beirut - No No No
Bell Witch - Four Phantoms
Bjork - Vulnicura
Colin Stetson & Sarah Neufeld - Never Were the Way She Was
Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment - Surf
Faith No More - Sol Invictus
Final - Black Dollars
Grimes - Art Angels
Hop Along - Painted Shut
Jamie xx - In Colour
Kamasi Washington - The Epic
Machinefabriek - The Measures Taken
Merdarahta - As The Dark Clouds Swept Away We Could See The Sunset
Nosaj Thing - Fated
The Tallest Man on Earth - Dark Bird is Home
Vince Staples - Summertime '06




THIS WEEK'S TRACKS

Arca - Mutant
Arca - Umbilical
Beach House - Space Song
Beach House - Sparks
Beirut - August Holland
Beirut - So Allowed
Bell Witch - Suffocation, A Drowning II - Somniloquy (The Distance of Forever)
Bjork - Atom Dance ft Antony Hegarty
Bjork - Black Lake
Colin Stetson & Sarah Neufeld - With the Dark Hug of Time
Colin Stetson & Sarah Neufeld - Won't Be a Thing to Become
Courtney Barnett - Debbie Downer
Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best
D'Angelo and The Vanguard - Another Life
D'Angelo and The Vanguard - Really Love
Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment - Familiar
Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment - Sunday Candy
Faith No More - Matador
Faith No More - Sunny Side Up
Father John Misty - Holy Shit
Father John Misty - True Affection
Final - Black Dollars
Final - Flow River Flow
FKA Twigs - Glass & Patron
FKA Twigs - In Time
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Piss Crowns Are Trebled
Grimes - Artangels
Grimes - Flesh Without Blood
Holly Herndon - Interference
Holly Herndon - Morning Sun
Hop Along - Buddy in the Parade
Hop Along - The Knock
Jamie xx - Gosh
Jamie xx - Sleep Sound
Joanna Newsom - Goose Eggs
Joanna Newsom - Leaving The City
Kamasi Washington - Change of the Guard
Kamasi Washington - Seven Prayers
LabField - Page 55
LabField - Straight A's In Constant Sorrow
LabField - Temporary Reasons
Machinefabriek - The Measures Taken Part III
Mbongwana Star - Malukayi
Mbongwana Star - Shégué
Merdarahta - Poverty Will Spread
Merdarahta - The Dark Clouds
Nosaj Thing - Cold Stares ft Chance The Rapper
Nosaj Thing - Don't Mind Me ft Whoarei
Purity Ring - Push Pull
Purity Ring - Stillness in Woe
Run The Jewels - Close Your Eyes And Meow To Fluff (George Barrow Remix)
Run The Jewels - Meowpurrdy ft Lil Bub & Snoop Dogg, Maceo & Delonte (El-P Remix)
Sleater-Kinney - A New Wave
Sleater-Kinney - Bury Our Friends
Son Lux - This Time
Son Lux - Your Day Will Come
Sufjan Stevens - Should Have Known Better
Sufjan Stevens - The Only Thing
The Mountain Goats - The Legend of Chavo Guerrero
The Mountain Goats - Werewolf Gimmick
The Tallest Man on Earth - Beginners
The Tallest Man on Earth - Darkness of the Dream
Vince Staples - Norf Norf
Vince Staples - Señorita
Violent Femmes - Good For / At Nothing
Violent Femmes - Love Love Love Love Love



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~CPI