Exclaim!'s Top 27 Albums of 2015 So Far

Exclaim!'s Top 27 Albums of 2015 So Far

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27.

Ibeyi - Ibeyi
February 17, 2015
Critic Score
75
17 reviews
This is, it's apparent, an album of ideas and feelings that were dying to come out, and Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi have expressed them with beauty and technical expertise beyond their 20 years.

26.

Torche - Restarter
February 24, 2015
Critic Score
73
17 reviews

Restarter is remarkably composed and perfectly balanced, demonstrating Torche's ability to continually refine their doom-pop/melodic hard rock approach.

24.

METZ - II
May 5, 2015
Critic Score
77
21 reviews

II possesses the thrills of the original but boasts a few new subtle differences to mark itself as a worthy sequel.

22.

Michael Rault - Living Daylight
May 5, 2015
Critic Score
77
5 reviews

21.

Shamir - Ratchet
May 19, 2015
Critic Score
75
29 reviews

One gets the sense that Ratchet is just the beginning of a career that could go in any direction Shamir wanted.

20.

Young Fathers - White Men Are Black Men Too
April 7, 2015
Critic Score
83
30 reviews

None of it should coalesce, but it does. White Men Are Black Men Too is a perfect storm of influences and talent that make for an unforgettable album.

19.

Jessica Pratt - On Your Own Love Again
January 27, 2015
Critic Score
78
24 reviews

Despite the fact that the album is still almost entirely solo ... the songs seem poppier, trippier; far more open-ended.

18.

Blur - The Magic Whip
April 27, 2015
Critic Score
79
45 reviews

On The Magic Whip, it's clear that the band has benefitted from some time apart.

17.

Tobias Jesso Jr. - Goon
March 17, 2015
Critic Score
79
26 reviews
Like all good pop songwriters, Jesso Jr. is a master of making personal moments seem universal, with most of his words seeming like parts of a hazy memory rather than a concrete story.

16.

Napalm Death - Apex Predator - Easy Meat
January 27, 2015
Critic Score
84
15 reviews

Their traditional characteristics and intellectual concepts, incorporated with new elements and ideas, make Apex Predator - Easy Meat another impressive addition to Napalm Death's spotless catalogue.

15.

Sleater-Kinney - No Cities to Love
January 20, 2015
Critic Score
89
46 reviews
There's not enough space here to get into why Sleater-Kinney may be one of the most important bands of 2015, but one thing is clear: they've already delivered a serious contender for one of the year's best records.

14.

The Weather Station - Loyalty
May 12, 2015
Critic Score
82
6 reviews

Loyalty is undeniably a folk album, underpinned by Lindeman's finger-picked guitar, spacious piano and banjo, her husky, timeless voice having taken on a new maturity, every word now clearly articulated.

13.

Alabama Shakes - Sound & Color
April 21, 2015
Critic Score
79
35 reviews
It's a deliberately weird record, but authentically weird; it's chaotic yet cohesive, full of sound, colour and unshakable vision.

12.

Natalie Prass - Natalie Prass
January 27, 2015
Critic Score
83
24 reviews

Natalie Prass marks a solid entrance from an assured new talent; it's an absolutely lovely soul record, shot through with the wistfulness of heartbreak country.

11.

A$AP Rocky - AT.LONG.LAST.A$AP
May 26, 2015
Critic Score
74
30 reviews

A.L.L.A makes the best and most natural use of a diverse cast of cameos since Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

10.

Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment - Surf
May 29, 2015
Critic Score
82
18 reviews

Surf succeeds on multiple levels: as a rap album, as a soul album, as a showcase of musicianship and as proof that the industry ladder can be ascended without a label or sales.

9.

Viet Cong - Viet Cong
January 20, 2015
Critic Score
80
30 reviews

Viet Cong maintains the same shadowy, droning tones that haunted Cassette, only taking them deeper into the abyss. At the same time, it's strangely more direct and unconventional.

8.

Björk - Vulnicura
January 20, 2015
Critic Score
85
41 reviews

In turning to explore themes of human nature, Vulnicura delivers much more on a musical and lyrical level than your archetypal breakup record typically does.

7.

D'Angelo and The Vanguard - Black Messiah
December 15, 2014
Critic Score
92
31 reviews

It is here, it is masterful, it is heartening and it represents today's best from an R&B/soul perspective. Black Messiah has come and we weren't ready.

6.

Drake - If You're Reading This It's Too Late
February 12, 2015
Critic Score
76
30 reviews

This is a refined, looser, freer Drake. Between only a couple hiccups, If You're Reading This It's Too Late weaves personal raps, 6-side boosts and absorbing production in cohesive fashion.

4.

Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell
March 31, 2015
Critic Score
91
47 reviews

It's Stevens' own life and relationships that he mines here with his trademark deftness and nuance. And gosh, what agonizing, cathartic beauty he's shared.

3.

Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear
February 10, 2015
Critic Score
87
42 reviews
The themes are universal, yet its subject matter and ways in which the album executed are deeply personal, making this a truly resonant record.

2.

Jamie xx - In Colour
June 1, 2015
Critic Score
83
45 reviews

In Colour is a master class in deftness.

1.

Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
March 15, 2015
Critic Score
95
45 reviews

Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly ... will likely be one of 2015's most discussed, dissected and debated album releases, regardless of genre.

Original Source: http://exclaim.ca/Music/article/exclaims_top_27_albums_of_2015_so_far
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