The 50 best albums of 2015

This reunion album, the US punk trio’s first in ten years, suggests that age hasn’t withered Sleater-Kinney one jot. Their minimal, super-influential musical formula (two very loud guitars, one very heavy drum kit) is not the sort of thing that dates, and Corin Tucker’s cold fury and Carrie Brownstein’s eccentric hiccups roar and rage and slip and slide with the force of old. Andrzej Lukowski

Proving that math rock is way more fun than it sounds, Battles made a wonderfully wonky return this year. Those oddball guitar riffs and batshit time signatures were a welcome contrast to 2015’s catalogue of shiny pop, but despite that, there’s an undeniable funky flavour on the album. ‘FF Bada’, for example, has more going on in it than a Thomas Pynchon novel, but still makes you want to dance – even if you do need a calculator to do so. Tristan Parker

Just beating Jeremy Corbyn as Islington’s biggest breakout star this year, young MC Simbi Ajikawo came endorsed by Kendrick Lamar, J Cole, Andre 3000 and Dizzee Rascal. Ignore the insane levels of hype, though: her debut album was a bold gambit by a committed young artist determined to do it her own way. James Manning

The first full-length release by London pop pranksters PC Music is a sonic sugar rush: a ten-track blend of ’90s Europop, J-Pop and chopped-up electronica. It should be awful, and in some ways it kind of is. But it’s also unbelievably catchy, and a pointed futurist retort to anyone who thought music had finally run out of road. James Manning

With former members of legendary Congolese band Staff Benda Bilili on board, and a sound spanning dub, funk, afrobeat, electronica and psychedelic rock, it would have been more surprising if Mbongwana Star hadn’t made an engrossing debut album. ‘From Kinshasa’ is just such a record, pulling together everything from dark, spaced-out guitar jams to the joyful sound of the electric likembé. James Manning

Packed to the gunnels with virtuoso playing and time-signature shifts, and with two members of instrumental post-rockers Red Sparowes on board, ‘Salome’ could have been a real navel-gazer. Instead it’s one of this year’s finest rock albums. Thank God for the soaring vocals, Cocteau-ish guitar lines, crunchy riffs and spiralling pop melodies that lift the trio’s musicianship way beyond vulgar displays of power. James Manning

A funky bassline, a rumbling vocal, some strings and horns, a gospel choir and suddenly your emotions have been punched in the stomach by Matthew E White’s subtle and expertly crafted wall of sound. Just because his music is an indie/soul/pop mash-up, don’t think he’s not sure of what he’s doing: this sophomore release takes the good-natured songwriting of his debut ‘Big Inner’ and cranks up the intensity. Ashleigh Arnott

Almost 40 years in, wild post-punk rockers Killing Joke proved they were still as angry as ever with their fifteenth album. All the classic KJ ingredients are there, from crunchy, barnstorming riffs in tracks like ‘Autonomous Zone’ to killer pop-ish hooks (check ‘New Cold War’ for something approaching industrial disco), held together by Jaz Coleman’s biting observations. Thanks, Killing Joke, for showing naysayers that heavy rock in 2015 can be engaging, innovative and damn smart. Tristan Parker

‘He recorded it in his bedroom’ isn’t usually a phrase that enters lists of the year’s best albums, so Christopher ‘C’ Duncan should feel extra proud that his debut record ‘Architect’ has wowed the music world this year, even getting him on to the Mercury Prize shortlist. The classically-trained Glaswegian has crafted a package of intricate and rich chamber pop, but don’t assume this is music for snobs – you’ll be whistling along to ‘For’ and joining in with the harmonies on ‘Say’ before the songs are even over. Ashleigh Arnott

In 2014 Disclosure pushed house music into the mainstream. In 2015 Hun Choi’s pulled it right back into the shadows. This is the good kind of obscurity though: 5am, dancing in a quiet corner of Berghain obscurity. There’s an artistic sketchiness to Choi’s productions as Hunee, and he riffs on eerily atmospheric samples as much as he does four-to-the-floor beats. It all makes for a profound dance album – thoughtfully composed and deeply satisfying. Jonny Ensall

This Norwegian collective have been around more or less forever, but ‘Starfire’ – their first studio album in five years – got a new generation hooked on their freaky sound. It’s much more than a jazz album: it’s a sci-fi soundtrack, a prog rock odyssey, a freaky synth trip partly inspired by the lights of LA. ‘Fusion’ doesn’t quite do it justice, unless we’re talking the atomic kind. James Manning

‘More of the same’ isn’t such a bad thing when it comes from John Grant. ‘Grey Tickles, Black Pressure’ did bolster his sound with some spiky uptempo tracks, but if you loved the tormented balladry and biting humour of 2013’s awesome ‘Pale Green Ghosts’ then you’ll revel in this sequel. James Manning

Just one of many ways Drake grabbed 2015 by the crotch was with this miraculously murky mixtape with Atlanta rapper Future. It was Drizzy who gained the most out of the collab, as Future’s trap-titude rubbed off on the Canadian in style. Check out the swirling smokescape of ‘Jumpman’ as an example. Oliver Keens

If you tried and failed to get your head round ‘Dead Petz’ – less an album than a 90-minute, 23-track Soundcloud dump – then you’re doing it wrong. As with the records of Miley’s new sonic fellow traveller, Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne, the trick is to just jump in and wallow in the glorious psychedelic weirdness of one of 2015’s silliest and most enjoyable releases. Hannah Mon-who now? James Manning

On her invitingly lo-fi second album, Katie Crutchfield darts from ramshackle indie rock to more stripped down singer-songwriter fare, captivating with effortless pop melodies and candid lyrics. Some of the Gen-Y melancholy on ‘Ivy Tripp’ provoked unwanted ‘Dawson’s Creek’ flashbacks, but it’s hard to hold a grudge when the music is this compelling. Nick Levine

Twin daughters of the late Buena Vista Social Club percussionist Anga Díaz, Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi Diaz picked up plenty of props for their cajón-laced, stripped-back and soulful debut – released on XL in February. Adept at relaying lyrics in both English and Yoruba, fans of both traditional Afro-Cuban music and FKA Twigs found something to groove to here. Oliver Keens

The best Animal Collective stuff has always been the ketamine surfer-boy cuts contributed by Panda Bear, who hones his technique on this latest solo album: his greatest offering of children’s music for druggies. The sloshing, gurgling loops hypnotise like waves as Noah Lennox overlaps his voice into balmy meditations, while synthpop songs like ‘Selfish Gene’ suggest that his working with Daft Punk seems to have rubbed off. Brent DiCrescenzo

This intense rush of fiery jazz from LA saxophonist Washington – one of Kendrick Lamar’s band – mixed up the otherworldliness of Herbie Hancock, the roaming bluesiness of Miles Davis and the offbeat funk of Chick Corea, alongside reams of Washington’s own visionary stylings. In both content and length (almost three hours via a whopping three discs), ‘The Epic’ more than lives up to its ballsy title. Tristan Parker

Marooned in Hong Kong for five days in 2013, Blur locked themselves in a studio and pressed record for the first time in ten years. The result, finally released this year, was ‘The Magic Whip’: a gem of a record and a worthy addition to the band’s canon. Mellow earworms abounded, but it was Graham Coxon’s vital, eclectic playing that stole the show. Oliver Keens

Sam Shepherd’s got a PhD in neuroscience and he’s made one of the records of the year as Floating Points. What did you do in 2015? ‘Elaenia’ is the full realisation of the promise Shepherd’s shown as a DJ and producer – a bringing together of eclectic influences into a coherent ball of epic, jazzy, otherworldly goodness. It takes you on a journey, far outside of the traditional boundaries of dance music. Brainy and very beautiful. Jonny Ensall

We were kind of expecting Jamie Smith’s solo debut to be packed with four-on-the-floor bangers. It wasn’t. But it was a great showcase for the XX beatmaker’s eclectic tastes and polished production, and his irrepressible talent for warm, instantly nostalgic melodies made ‘In Colour’ a serotonin rush of a very different kind: less all-night rave, more hazy, loved-up glow. James Manning

Both haunted and haunting, ‘Fast Food’ is a portrait gallery of ex-lovers that confirms Geordie singer Nadine Shah as one of the finest indie songwriters around right now. Backed and boosted by her band’s raw, clanging rock, Shah’s penetrating voice and spot-on lyrics – full of telling observations and sly put-downs – let her emotional dramas burn subtly into your brain. Turn down the lights, pour yourself a gin and tuck in. James Manning

Surprise! February brought a new Drake album, which found Canada's most lint-free rapper lock down his position at the top table of hip hop. Thanks to its sudden, zero-publicity launch, many at the time assumed it was a dud – intended to break him from his contract with Cash Money. How wrong they were. Drake was on fire, and subtly aiming shots at Tyga, Kanye, Diddy and Jay Z. It was Drake who ended up smiling, though – despite being facially assaulted by Madonna. Oliver Keens

This Liverpool trio are to 2015 what the polished funk of Jungle or the languid melancholy of London Grammar were to 2014. Like many modern bands they’re truly citizens of the United States of Internet, with songs like ‘Go’ displaying influences as diverse as The XX, Steve Reich and Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. It all makes ‘All We Are’ a clever and confident debut. Oliver Keens

Not au fait with the term ‘ratchet’? Allow 20-year-old disco-pop prodigy Shamir Bailey to provide a definition: ‘It’s used in a negative way, describing a girl who is a hot mess and kinda ghetto.’ If you’re still none the wiser, don’t worry: just stick on the Vegas dude’s ultra-funky debut album and let his androgynous countertenor and fierce grooves be your guide. James Manning

Creating the sequel to ‘Visions’ – the homemade LP that made Canadian producer Grimes an alt-pop star in 2012 – was bound to be a tough undertaking. Claire Boucher never tried to hide that fact, telling fans that she’d scrapped a whole album’s worth of material ‘cuz it was depressing and I didn’t want to tour it’. The struggle was worth it though when ‘Art Angels’ finally dropped in November, bursting with bold melodies and unexpected sonic diversions. It’s 2015’s freakiest pop album, and arguably its best. James Manning 

Josh Tillman is one of music’s most arch satirists, and on his second album as Father John Misty the Seattle songwriter makes the bold move of skewering shortcomings close to home – namely his marriage. ‘I Love You, Honeybear’ overflows with anti-love lyrics, yet at times Tillman discards his satire at the bedpost and lays himself so devastatingly bare that all you can do is sob through his hard-earned revelations. Bella Todd

The latest album by acclaimed indie-folk musician Stevens was part-inspired by the life and death of Steven’s late mother, Carrie. There are some unbearably sad moments, but ‘Carrie & Lowell’ isn’t the magnum opus of stripped-back bleakness you might be bracing for: its quiet acoustic guitar and electronic pulses make it bold and beautiful too. Andrzej Lukowski

From finger-picked folk-pop to shoegazing majesty via euphoric grunge rock-outs and perfect pop choruses, ‘My Love Is Cool’ is an end-to-end stunner that positions London four-piece Wolf Alice among the top flight of British indie acts this decade – if not this century. If you think that sounds like overstatement, you probably just haven’t heard the album yet. James Manning

The Bristolian house producer reintroduced the concept of the Great British Dance Album with this much-needed 12-track reminder that the weekend never dies. At a time when featherweight acts can forge a career with one basic house hit, you have to admire the sheer scope of ‘Knocking Boots’. It’s one of those nighttime-evoking, start-to-finish classics on a par with Daft Punk’s ‘Discovery’ or the Beastie Boys’ ‘Paul’s Boutique’. Oliver Keens

By now, we know all the keywords used around Florence Welch: kooky, loud, bohemian, baroque. What we rarely hear is the word ‘songwriter’, and that’s a monumental diss. At a time when rock is mostly dying on its (dull, male) arse, Florence and her band have crafted an album with more hooks than a Cornish fishing town. The overwhelmingly accomplished ‘How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful’ deserves your time. Oliver Keens

Already established as a talented poet of the mundane, Barnett made huge headway with her proper debut album: a tighter, more potent affair, mixing retro rock freak-outs with gentler pop strummers. But the words are what make ‘Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit’ special: this 27-year-old Australian captures millennial complications and contradictions like nobody else. James Manning

Lamar’s follow-up to 2012’s adored ‘Good Kid, MAAD City’, ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’ rages through race, politics, fame and consumerism – and makes no attempt at the charts. Instead, it’s aimed squarely at the musical canon that inspires it: from P-Funk to jazz, G-funk to soul, spoken word to straight-up hip hop. ‘I got the world’s attention so I’ma say something’s that’s vital,’ raps Kendrick. In that, and so much else, he succeeds. Nick Aveling

Has a genre ever mutated so far and so fast as R&B in the first half of the 2010s? From mainstream hits and classic slow jams to twisted, trap-edged ‘future’ and ‘cloud’ strains, R&B has gone through revolutions and proliferations that are only really comparable to rock ’n’ roll in the ’60s. But at the start of 2015, we still weren’t expecting the best album of the year to emerge from an R&B-oriented offshoot of LA’s skate-rap brat pack Odd Future.

We had heard some good shit from The Internet before, but nothing that came near the consistent brilliance of ‘Ego Death’. Created in three weeks in a basement studio by core duo Syd Tha Kid and Matt Martians, plus a cast of producers and guests including Janelle Monaé and Vic Mensa, it packed more perfect melodies into its 12 tracks than anything else this year. It’s also 2015’s coolest album by a mile, soaked in jazz, soul, hip hop and dreamy electronica, with Syd’s summer breeze of a voice drifting over every flawless song. Kendrick was angrier, Sufjan was sadder and Courtney was funnier. But for sheer, oozing aural pleasure, nothing topped ‘Ego Death’. James Manning