After a first quarter that left us spoilt for choice, giving us at least two indisputable candidates, Kendrick and Sufjan, for album of the year; the second one almost paled in comparison. Many of the most eagerly awaited albums of the season felt straight into the good not great category, among them the latest from Sun Kil Moon; Django Django; Raekwon; Mikal Cronin; Hot Chip or Blur‘s comeback, all of which perfectly fine works that somehow failed to reach their respective artists’ previous heights.
But not all were bad news, among those who did raise the standards bar, Holly Herndon delivered an album for the times overflowing with ideas leaving the mere musical to expand into the social, political and technological realms; Vince Staples; Miguel; Shamir; Donnie Trumpet and Kamasi Washington kept all different corners of urban music vibrantly alive; Waxahatchee; Dominique A and Alabama Shakes stood up among songwriters and the collaborations between Franz Ferdinand & Sparks (FFS) and Wavves X Cloud Nothings, as well as Jim O’Rourke‘s comeback album and Jamie XX‘s solo one count as the biggest surprises.
Still to come later on the year the new albums by PJ Harvey; Frank Ocean; Kanye West; Chromatics; James Blake; Lana Del Rey; Tame Impala and Beach House, whose promising advance has seen the light of day this week. Keep yourself up to date by following Roberawards’ Spotify playlists with the best Albums; Tracks; Compilations and Reissues of 2015.
Check the list of our favourite records from 2015’s second quarter, each of them illustrated with one of its hidden gems
| 1-HOLLY HERNDON Home (From "Platform") (4AD) |
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| 2-VINCE STAPLES Jump Off The Roof (Feat. Snoh Allegra) (From "Summertime '06") (Def Jam) |
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| 3-WAXAHATCHEE Poison (From "Ivy Tripp") (Wichita) |
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| 4-DOMINIQUE A Cap Farvel (From "Éléor") (Wagram) |
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| 5-ALABAMA SHAKES Future People (From "Sound & Color") (Rough Trade) |
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| 6-MIGUEL Hollywood Dreams (From "Wildheart") (RCA) |
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| 7-FFS Police Encounters (From "FFS") (Domino) |
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| 8-JIM O'ROURKE Friends With Benefits (From "Simple Songs") (Drag City) |
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| 9-KAMASI WASHINGTON Change Of The Guard (From "The Epic") (Brainfeeder) |
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| 10-JAMIE XX Seesaw (Feat. Romy) (From "In Colour") (Top Dawg) |
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| 11-JENNY HVAL Take Care Of Yourself (From "Apocalypse, Girl") (Sacred Bones) |
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| 12-VARIOUS ARTISTS Every Night (Hannah Diamond) (From "PC Music Vol. 1") (PC Music) |
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| 13-A$AP ROCKY Jukebox Joints (Feat. Kanye West & Joe Fox) (From "AT.LONG.LAST.A$AP") (RCA) |
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| 14-SAUNA YOUTH Modern Living (From "Distractions") (Upset The Rhythm) |
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| 15-BLUR New World Towers (From "The Magic Whip") (Parlophone) |
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| 16-THEE OH SEES Turned out Light (From "Mutilator Defeated At Last") (Castleface) |
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| 17-PRURIENT Greenpoint (From "Frozen Niagara Falls") (Profound Lore) |
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| 18-WAVVES X CLOUD NOTHINGS Such A Drag (From "No Life For Me") (Ghost Ramp) |
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| 19-THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH Darkness Of The Dream (From "Dark Bird Is Home") (Dead Oceans) |
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| 20-CHRISTINE AND THE QUEENS Christine (From "Chaleur Humaine") (Because) |
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| 21-HIGH ON FIRE The Black Pot (From "Luminiferous") (eOne Music) |
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| 22-DJANGO DJANGO Giant (From "Born Under Saturn) (Ribbon) |
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| 23-SHAMIR Demon (From "Ratchet") (XL) |
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| 24-DONNIE TRUMPET AND THE SOCIAL EXPERIMENT Make Me Cool (Feat. Big Sean, Jeremih & Kyle) (From "Surf") (Self-Released) |
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| 25-MBONGWANA STAR Kala (From "From Kinshasa) (World Circuit) |
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| 26-MIKAL CRONIN Say (From "MCIII") (Merge) |
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| 27-SUN KIL MOON The Possum (From "Universal Themes") (Caldo Verde) |
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| 28-GIRLPOOL Cherry Picking (From "Before The World Was Big") (Wichita) |
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| 29-HOT CHIP Love Is The Future (From "Why Make Sense?") (Domino) |
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| 30-RAEKWON 4 In Da Morning (Feat. Ghostface Killah) (From "Fly International Luxurious Art") (ICEH20) |
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| 31-UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA Like Acid Rain (From "Multi Love") (Jagjaguwar) |
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| 32-HUDSON MOHAWKE Scud Books (From "Lantern") (Warp) |
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| 33-FLORENCE + THE MACHINE How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful (From "How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful") (Republic) |
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| 34-PEACH KELLI POP III (From "Princess Castle 1987") (Burger) |
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| 35-EVANS THE DEATH Enabler (From "Expect Delays") (Fortuna Pop) |
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| 36-NADINE SHAH Stealing Cars (From "Fast Food") (Apollo) |
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| 37-JOANNA GRUESOME I Don't Wanna Relax (From "Peanut Butter") (Slumberland) |
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| 38-BLANCK MASS Atrophies (From "Dumb Flesh") (Sacred Bones) |
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| 39-EAST INDIA YOUTH End Result (From "Culture Of Volume") (XL) |
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| 40-ABRA Atoms (From "Rose") (577114 Records) |
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