FasterLouder's 50 Best Albums of 2015

FasterLouder's 50 Best Albums of 2015

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48.

September 25, 2015
Critic Score
76
39 reviews

Every Open Eye is lean, keenly focused, an immense growth from their debut that keeps their foundations intact.

46.

June 23, 2015
Critic Score
78
22 reviews

45.

February 17, 2015
Critic Score
75
25 reviews
The unmistakable, ever-reliable vocals of Ghostface provide a gritty realism to the dark subject matter, contrasting nicely with the smooth, layered atmosphere laid down by BBNG.

42.

August 28, 2015
Critic Score
79
44 reviews

41.

January 13, 2015
Critic Score
71
30 reviews
A strictly-limited guestlist in comparison to the exhaustive list of featured artists on previous LPs allows for Ronson to hone in specifically on the strengths of his artists.

40.

Hermitude - Dark Night Sweet Light
August 28, 2015
Critic Score
80
1 review

39.

May 18, 2015
Critic Score
77
36 reviews

It might not succeed as well as select predecessors; but, as an album, Why Make Sense? allows for the band to be interesting, to be relevant and – perhaps the most important of them all – to be them.

37.

August 28, 2015
Critic Score
76
32 reviews

The result is dense, and keenly focused; instead of pin balling between ideas Foals seem to have settled on a solid aesthetic. These songs are rich, at times highly emotive, and constantly simmering.

36.

Gold Class - It's You
September 4, 2015
Critic Score
80
1 review

35.

March 23, 2015
Critic Score
76
28 reviews

_ I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside_ doesn’t stand out for advancement for Sweatshirt or the rap genre, but offers something the other releases lacked – a human relatability.

34.

October 16, 2015
Critic Score
79
40 reviews

Deerhunter always find a lot to exploit in the intersection of Cox’s gloomy visions and the band’s gravity-defying pop vistas, and for the most part Fading Frontier is a rewarding immersion in diverse layers of melody and meaning. But there’s still a nagging spottiness that keeps it from reaching its full potential.

33.

January 27, 2015
Critic Score
71
18 reviews

If you need something to keep you company while you lick your wounds, Range Anxiety will do very nicely indeed.

31.

May 19, 2015
Critic Score
77
38 reviews

The expectation was there for a good return to form from a band that always followed their muse no matter how much it threatened to derail their commercial potential. The reality is they’ve far exceeded that with Sol Invictus, an album that in its finest moments matches the best of their golden years.

30.

April 6, 2015
Critic Score
76
15 reviews

29.

September 25, 2015
Critic Score
77
35 reviews

b’lieve i’m goin down… is a winding hour of self-reflection that can drift by without much impact. But its textured arrangements and Vile’s sneaky wit very much reward close listening.

27.

January 20, 2015
Critic Score
80
30 reviews

26.

October 23, 2015
Critic Score
89
43 reviews

23.

October 16, 2015
Critic Score
78
23 reviews

22.

April 7, 2015
Critic Score
83
30 reviews
The band’s mutated genre-morphing incorporates hip-hop, late-period IDM, R&B in its traditional sense and primitive street-drumming – and even that description doesn’t quite do justice to what it is they are doing here.

21.

January 20, 2015
Critic Score
85
41 reviews

19.

March 23, 2015
Critic Score
81
34 reviews

Short Movie plays very much like an album of seeking rather than settling down, of picking away curiously at life choices rather than committing to one.

18.

March 17, 2015
Critic Score
79
26 reviews

17.

January 27, 2015
Critic Score
83
24 reviews

Prass’s winsome coo is a beautiful instrument, and the way her melodies dance and soar can be sublime, but the lyrics fall just a little short of the level that everything else on the record achieves effortlessly.

16.

Dick Diver - Melbourne, Florida
March 10, 2015
Critic Score
78
9 reviews

Melbourne, Florida is a mature, confident record, taking the band out of the old neighbourhood and into the world.

15.

May 4, 2015
Critic Score
79
9 reviews
Hiatus have loaded up as many genres as they could fit in this psychedelic jigsaw of a record.

14.

August 21, 2015
Critic Score
79
15 reviews
That shaky marriage of lo-fi pub punk and Shogun’s heartening, soul-laced delivery is exactly what makes the band so special. Rather than being some novelty that loses its appeal, that bristling contrast makes the album a total thrill through every repeat listen.

13.

May 26, 2015
Critic Score
79
30 reviews

We have arrived at a notable highpoint for both Nielson and the rest of the Orchestra. Multi-Love marks their best LP yet.

12.

April 27, 2015
Critic Score
79
45 reviews

It’s up there with Blur’s best albums, and a reminder of just how well the band reconcile their divergent ideas.

10.

November 6, 2015
Critic Score
84
36 reviews

There’s something that feels tangibly joyful on Art Angels that we didn’t hear on Visions.

8.

February 10, 2015
Critic Score
87
42 reviews

An intimately close-to-the-bone emotional exploration that not only fulfills his potential that was glimpsed three years ago, but trumps the folk masterpieces of his old outfit through sheer conviction.

7.

March 31, 2015
Critic Score
91
47 reviews

You won’t walk away humming the tunes, but Carrie and Lowell will stay with you. Sufjan has prettier albums, and sweeter albums, but none has the impact of Carrie and Lowell.

6.

April 21, 2015
Critic Score
79
35 reviews
This is an album that proves that there is far more to this band than meets the eye.

5.

June 1, 2015
Critic Score
83
45 reviews
Jamie xx makes dance music to move you emotionally as much as physically

4.

January 20, 2015
Critic Score
89
46 reviews

There’s so much of the band’s past in here, from their spikiest hostility to their sleekest accessibility, but they also seem to be rewriting the rules as they go, which makes this album just fine for newcomers too.

3.

July 17, 2015
Critic Score
83
49 reviews
It’ll be divisive for sure, and fans of Air or Moroder might find it less groundbreaking than trad-rock listeners, but it’s fucking rad on its own merits anyway.

2.

March 24, 2015
Critic Score
84
44 reviews
Barnett’s songs hold such sway because she’s voicing her entire range of emotions: alternately scared shitless, achingly sad, and (rightly) proud of herself. Being so in touch with her scattershot feelings, her pen should never run dry.

1.

March 15, 2015
Critic Score
95
45 reviews

To Pimp A Butterfly is like a modernist novel, one that rewards re-reading, comes with unreliable narrators, has lengthy interior monologues, and embraces a grand narrative.

Original Source: http://fasterlouder.junkee.com/the-50-best-albums-of-2015/852415
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