Let’s face it, polls haven’t been good to many of us in 2015; in May we were weeping and wondering just how it all went so wrong? The Tories had got back in despite their seeming unpopularity. But step away and you realise that polls are just a consensus and not an absolute. In musical terms, they often reflect a kind of populist compromise that can’t hope to represent every record or artist that our many writers have enjoyed this year.
In particular the top 10 has been a big debating point for us, reflective of anticipated big releases (New Order, Bjork, Sufjan Stevens, The Decemberists et al) and name recognition, as much as it is the exciting emerging solo acts to release long players this year (Courtney Barnett, Ezra Furman, Julia Holter et al). The inclusion of Blur, in particular, caused many disagreements between writers, some believing it to be a return to form; others believing it to be merely substandard fare, but that’s music for you, eh? Further down the list you will find some real diversity at play with new groups (Real Lies, Wolf Alice, Desperate Journalist, Kagoule) emerging solo artists (LoneLady, Jenny Hval, Gwenno, Chris Duncan et al) rubbing shoulders with a range of genres (Kendrick Lamar, Blanck Mass, Miguel, Susanne Sundfor, Ibeyi) and this diversity, we feel, is part of the strength of GIITTV.
So, after much disagreement and voting, we reach our poll of albums for 2015.Whilst the top 20 in particular differs from our Editors top 20, as a whole the list is reflective of the broad range of tastes on site. Regardless of the debate, hopefully, these 100 albums voted for by our most writers ever, will provide you with some recommendations, discoveries as well as a snapshot of some of the records our writers have loved this year. So without further ado, here are the 100 albums as voted for by the GIITTV staff:
1) Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit And Think And Sometimes I Just Sit (Marathon Artists)
2) Bjork – Vulnicura (One Little Indian)
3) Blur – The Magic Whip (Parlophone)
Read our review.
4) Father John Misty – I Love You, Honeybear (Bella Union)
5) Ezra Furman – Perpetual Motion People ( Bella Union)
Read our review.
6) John Grant – Grey Tickles, Black Pressure (Bella Union)
Read our review.
7) Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell (Asthmatic Kitty)
8) Julia Holter – Have You In My Wilderness (Domino)
9) New Order- Music Complete (Mute)
10) Public Service Broadcasting – The Race for Space (Test Card Records)
Read our review.
11) Wolf Alice – My Love is Cool (Dirty Hit)
Read our review.
12) LoneLady – Hinterland (Warp)
Read our review.
13) Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly (TDE)
Read our review.
14) The Decemberists- What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World (Rough Trade)
15) Girl Band – Holding Hands with Jamie (Rough Trade)
16) Sleater-Kinney – No Cities To Love (Sub Pop)
17) Blanck Mass – Dumb Flesh (Sacred Bones)
18) C Duncan – Architect (Fat Cat)
Read our Interview
19) FFS – FFS (Domino)
Read our review.
20) Susanne Sundfor – Ten Love Songs (Sonnet Sound)
Read our review.
21) Everything Everything- Get To Heaven (RCA)
22) Florence and the Machine – How Big How Blue How Beautiful (Island)
Read our review.
23) Chelsea Wolfe – Abyss (Sargent House)
Read our review.
24) Jenny Hval – Apocalypse, Girl (Sacred Bones)
Read our review.
25) Best Coast – California Nights (Mexican Summer)
Read our review.
26) Gwenno – Y Dyfdd Olaf (Heavenly)
Read our Interview.
27) Grimes – Art Angels (4AD)
Read our review.
28) Joanna Newsome – Divers (Drag City)
Read our review.
29) Kagoule – Urth (Earache Records)
Read our review.
30) Marilyn Manson – The Pale Emperor (Cooking Vinyl)
31) East India Youth – Culture of Volume (XL Recordings)
32) Wilco – Star Wars (dBpm Records)
33) Chvrches – Every Open Eye (Virgin/Glassnote)
34) Miguel – Wildheart (RCA)
Read our review.
35) Real Lies – Real Life (Marathon Artists)
Read our review.
36) Stealing Sheep – Not Real (Heavenly Recordings)
37) Desperate Journalist – Desperate Journalist (Fierce Panda)
38) The Black Ryder – The Door Behind the Door (The Anti-Machine Machine)
39) Ibeyi – Ibeyi (XL Recordings)
40) Jason Isbell – Something More Than Free (Southeastern Records)
41) Sauna Youth – Distractions (Upset the Rhythm)
42) Sleaford Mods – Key Markets (Harbinger Sound)
43) Jamie XX- In Colour (Young Turks)
44) Laura Marling – Short Movie (Virgin Records)
45) Beach House – Depression Cherry (Bella Union)
46) Gaz Coombes – Matador (Hot Fruit Recordings)
47) Titus Andronicus – The Most Lamentable Tragedy (Merge Records)
Read our review.
48) Paul Weller – Saturns Pattern (Parlophone)
49) The Cribs – For All My Sisters (Sonic Blew)
50) Charli XCX – Sucker (Asylum Records)
51) Haiku Salut – Etch and Etch Deep
52) Waxahatchee – Ivy Tripp
53) Natalie Prass – Natalie Prass
54) Algiers – Algiers
55) Antique Pony – unalbum
56) Fairhorns – FuckupRush
57) IAMX- Metonia
58) Israel Nash – Silver Season
59) Lusts – Illuminations
60) Sweet Baboo – Boombox Ballads
61) Du Blonde – Welcome to the Milk
62) The Charlatans – Modern Nature
63) Roisin Murphy – Hairless Toy
64) Killing Joke – Pylon
65) My Morning Jacket – The Waterfall
66) Kid Wave – Wonderlust
67) HEALTH – Death Magic
68) Modest Mouse – Strangers to Ourselves
69) Art Of The Memory Palace – This Life is but a passing dream
70) Auntie Flo – Theory of Flo
71) Binker and Moses – Dem Ones
72) Carly Rae Jepsen – Emotion
73) Delta Sleep – Twin Galaxies
74) Frank Turner – Positives Songs for Negative People
75) Halo Tora – Omni/One
76) Jam City – Dream a Garden
77) Marika Hackman – Slept at Last
78) Muse – Drones
79) Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Chasing Yesterday
80) Ought – Sun Coming Down
81) Ryley Walker- Primrose Green
82) Sexwitch – Sexwitch
83) The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die – Harmlessness
84) Tove Styrke – Kiddo
85) Metz – II
86) San Fermin – Jackrabbit
87) Belle and Sebastian – Girls in Peacetime want to Dance
88) U.S. Girls – Half Free
89) Ghost Culture – Ghost Culture
90) Thee Oh Sees – Mutilator Defeated At Last
91) We Never Learned To Live – Silently, I Threw them Skyward
92) Ryan Adams – 1989
93) Holly Herndon – Platform
94) Kamasi Washington – The Epic
95) Josh Rouse – The Embers of Time
96) Traams – Modern Dance
97) Vienna Ditto – Circle
98) Tom McRae – Did I Sleep and Miss the Border
99) Drinks – Hermits on Holiday
100) Vukovar – Emporer
