NPR Music's 50 Favorite Albums of 2015

The brainchild of the pianist Anthony de Mare, this album takes a group of Stephen Sondheim’s finest songs and entrusts them to leading composers to reinvent. Alongside de Mare himself, the project draws upon 36 names, rich in various styles and ideas—from Mason Bates, Eve Beglarian, and William Bolcom to Wynton Marsalis, Nico Muhly, and Steve Reich. Each reveals imagination, love, and boundless inventiveness over the course of the program’s three-and-a-quarter hours. There are some real gems here.

Right from the get-go, this Mexican indie singer/songwriter beckons us to go deeper into her Baja world with the heady, rolling drums and jangling guitars of “Un Beso.” Morrison’s dreamy voice lures us in further among the sparse pop space of “Flor Que Nunca Fui,” before rich strings add a soft touch to rock tunes like “Azúcar Morena” and “Tú Atacas” and layers of harmonies develop into a crescendo of ecstatic release on “No Vuelvo Jamás.” But it’s the eerie wavering keyboard and drum echoes of “Yo Vivo para Ti” that linger the longest.

Nashville’s one-man hit factory presses pause on the production line for a soulful solo debut. 13 years in the writing, the tracks on *Traveller* possess choruses as effortlessly infectious as anything Stapleton has gifted to high profile clients like Adele and Luke Bryan but there’s a fascinating desperation to the themes here. From the wild, sleepless delirium at the heart of “Parachute” to the bandit bluegrass on “Outlaw State of Mind”, this is country rock that’s unafraid to explore drink, drugs, and a very dark underbelly.

Album available on CD and vinyl on Thrill Jockey's website and all major and small retailers. Bonus tracks "I'm Kin Version" and "Captain of Dub" for limited Japanese edition on Plancha available on Itunes. My fifth album, recorded in the spring and early summer of 2014 in San Sebastián, Spain. For the first time in my album-making I chose to restrict myself to a very limited number of instruments: treble viola da gamba, voice, and occasional percussion, to better explore the possibilities of a Jamaican-dub-era-influenced style of production, with a heavy emphasis on my Moogerfooger analog delay and digital emulations of spring reverb, tape delay and other echo-producing devices… I finger-picked my treble viola da gamba and used an Octaver pedal to generate bass lines, and fell in love head over heels with the sound. Coupled with the fact that this was the first time I recorded an album in the spring, this was undoubtedly my most fulfilling album-recording experience so far!

Courtney Barnett\'s 2015 full-length debut established her immediately as a force in independent rock—although she\'d bristle at any sort of hype, as she sneers on the noise-pop gem \"Pedestrian at Best\": \"Put me on a pedestal and I\'ll only disappoint you/Tell me I\'m exceptional, I promise to exploit you.\" Warnings aside, her brittle riffing and deadpan lyrics—not to mention indelible hooks and nagging sense of unease with the world—helped put *Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit* into the upper echelon of 2010s indie rock. The Melbourne-based singer-songwriter stares at stained ceilings and checks out open houses as she reflects on love, death, and the quality of supermarket produce, making *Sometimes* a crowd-pleaser almost in spite of itself. Propulsive tracks like the hip-shaking \"Elevator Operator\" and the squalling \"Dead Fox\" pair Barnett\'s talked-sung delivery with grungy, hooky rave-ups that sound beamed in from a college radio station\'s 1995 top-ten list. Her singing style isn\'t conversational as much as it is like a one-sided phone call from a friend who spends a lot of time in her own head, figuring out the meaning of life in real time while trying to answer the question \"How are you?\"—and sounding captivating every step of the way. But Barnett can also command blissed-out songs that bury pithy social commentary beneath their distorted guitars—\"Small Poppies\" hides notes about power and cruelty within its wobbly chords, while the marvelous \"Depreston\" rolls thoughts on twentysomething thriftiness, half-glimpsed lives, and shifting ideas of \"home\" across its sun-bleached landscape. While the topics of conversation can be heavy, Barnett\'s keen ear for what makes a potent pop song and her inability to be satisfied with herself make *Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit* a fierce opening salvo.

Rapper Earl Sweatshirt’s third album is a dark, fascinating trip to the bottom of the self. Lyrically, Earl is a singular talent, capable of dense, expressive lines that flip back and forth between humor and pain, despair and resolve. “My days numbered, I’m focused heavy on making the most of ’em/I feel like I’m the only one pressin’ to grow upwards,” he raps on “Faucet,” over beats as hazy and fragmented as the words themselves.

Elaenia is a dazzling score which puts Shepherd in the spotlight as a composer who has produced an album that bridges the gap between his rapturous dance music and formative classical roots that draws upon everything Shepherd has done to date. Growing up in Manchester - he started out as a chorister at an early age - Shepherd eventually arrived in London for university, where he spent the next five years engineering Elaenia, all the while DJing in cities across the globe and working towards his PhD in neuroscience. An album that draws inspiration from classical, jazz, electronic music, soul and even Brazilian popular music, Elaenia - named after the bird of the same name - is the epitome of the forward-thinking Floating Points vision in 2015. Musically, the mesmerising ebbs and flows of Elaenia span moments of light and dark; rigidity and freedom; elegance and chaos. The lush, euphoric enlightenment of ‘Silhouettes (I, II & III)’ - a three-part composition that acts as a testament to those early days Shepherd spent playing in various ensembles, complete with an immensely tight rhythm section that ends up providing a cathartic, blissful release. Elsewhere, Shepherd’s knack for masterful late night sets bare fruition to the hypnotic, electronic pulse of ‘Argenté’, which leads into final track 'Peroration Six' - a track with one of the biggest tension-and-release moments in music this year. Shepherd - the ensemblist, the producer and scientist - even built a harmonograph from scratch to create the artwork for Elaenia, the end result created by using it and 2 fibre optic cables of 0.5 and 1.5mm diameters, which were connected to light sources responding to bass drum and white noise percussive sounds from the album track ‘For Marmish’. Like his contemporaries Caribou and Four Tet, Shepherd has nurtured the Floating Points name into one renowned for ambitious and forward-thinking DJ sets, having performed all over the world at events and clubs such as Output NYC, Trouw, Sonar, Unit in Tokyo, Panorama Bar and, of course, Nuits Sonores (which lent its name to his seminal track from summer 2014) as well as the much missed Plastic People, where he held a residency for five years. Elaenia also features a huge variety of contributors, including drums from Tom Skinner and Leo Taylor plus vocals from Rahel Debebe-Dessalegne, Layla Rutherford and Shepherd himself. Elsewhere there's Susumu Mukai taking up bass, Qian Wu and Edward Benton sporting violins, Matthew Kettle on the viola, Alex Reeve on guitar and Joe Zeitlin on the cello.

On Florence + The Machine’s third album, their focus is clear from the cover art. While the group\'s first two albums featured frontwoman Florence Welch posed in a theatrical side profile with her eyes closed, this one finds her eyes open and staring straight into the camera. This sense of immediacy and alertness infuses the band’s most mature, cohesive album yet, starting with propulsive opener, “Ship to Wreck.” Lush arrangements combine a rock band, strings, and brass with Welch’s volcanic, soaring voice, serving high drama on tracks like the driving “What Kind of Man” and the transcendent “Mother.”

The London experimental producer crafts ethereal dancefloor sounds for any time of day.

The hiss of liquid poured over ice, an eerie Metro Boomin guitar line, and a hypnotic rhyme—“Dirty soda, Spike Lee, white girl, Ice T, fully loaded AP”—that sounds like an arcane magic spell: That’s how Future opens his exquisitely toxic third album, right before he casually drops the year’s most twisted footwear-related flex. *DS2* was released during the peak of summer 2015, back when the rapper’s buzz had never been bigger, thanks to the runaway success of his recent mixtape trilogy (*Monster*, *Beast Mode*, *56 Nights*). The triumphant *DS2*—announced the week before its release—would serve as the capstone of Future’s antihero’s journey, one that he spells out on the fiendish “I Serve the Base”: “Tried to make me a pop star/And they made a monster.” The paradox of *DS2*—short for “Dirty Sprite”—is that it’s an album of wall-to-wall rippers dedicated to all sorts of depraved pleasures, over the course of which one begins to suspect its protagonist is having very little fun. “Best thing I ever did was fall out of love,” Future croaks on “Kno the Meaning,” an oral history of his comeback year. And while heartbreak has clearly done wonders for his creativity, the hedonism seems to be having diminishing returns: Never before have dalliances with groupies or strip-club acid trips sounded more like karmic punishments. As a result, the lifestyle captured on *DS2* is better to listen to than to live through, thanks to massive-sounding beats from a murderer’s row of Atlanta producers—including Metro Boomin, Southside, and Zaytoven—that range from “moody” to “downright evil.” Still, whether or not Future sounds happy on *DS2*, he *does* have plenty to celebrate: After all, in less than a year he’d flooded the market with enough top-shelf music to sustain entire careers. As he points out during the conclusion of “Kno the Meaning”: “My hard work finally catching up with perfect timing.”

A powerful fusion of Cuban/African folk music, downtempo, soul and R&B, Ibeyi’s sound is like no other—groovy, haunting and organic. Of Cuban descent, the twins exploded onto the French music scene, their eponymous debut album and mesmerising hit singles “River”, “Mama Says” and “Oya” already establishing them as a lasting phenomenon of World music. Discover their potent compositions right here.

A wondrous debut from the house producer of indie-pop romantics The xx, *In Colour* is the sound of dance music heard at helicopter height: beautiful, distant, and surprising at every turn. Whether summoning old-school drum ’n’ bass (“Gosh”) or dancehall-inflected pop (the Young Thug and Popcaan double feature “I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)”), the mood here is consummately relaxed, more like a spring morning than a busy night. Laced throughout the thump and sparkle are fragments of recorded conversation and the ambience of city streets—details that make the music feel as though it has a life of its own.

The former Drive-By Trucker delivers his most diverse album yet in *Something More Than Free*, a beautifully observed and finely conceived collection of windswept rock that finds the singer/songwriter exploring questions of place and identity. While “Speed Trap Town” perfectly captures the feeling of growing up in rural America, “24 Frames” ponders faith and family—all with the lyrical acuity of Townes Van Zandt and the melodic aplomb of Tom Petty.

After a five-year retreat from the spotlight, Jazmine Sullivan returns with poised authority on *Reality Show*, her third full-length collection of perceptive, emotionally raw R&B. We’ve always known the Philly musician is a talented singer—her agile vocal fireworks light up tunes like \"Mascara” and “Masterpiece (Mona Lisa)”—but *Reality Show* is a huge artistic leap forward due to Sullivan’s gutsy songwriting. When she lays into tunes about everywoman trials (the disco-tinged “Stanley,” the soulful “Silver Lining,” and the sinister “#Hoodlove”), *Reality Show* is equally gritty and gratifying.

Joan Shelley is based in Kentucky, but the songs on her third album are as indebted to Fairport Convention as Appalachian folk. She has a clear, pure voice that rings out over the intricate fingerpicked spiderwebs and deep, limpid chords on *Over and Even*. The spell she casts is enhanced by the collaboration of Nathan Salsburg, whose mesmerizing guitar work adds heart to “Ariadne’s Gone,” and by the harmonies of Will Oldham, whose woodsy hum buoys the skipping-stone melody of “Stay on My Shore.”

Recorded Jan 16-17 2015, near Louisville, KY. Engineered by Daniel Martin Moore (with additional recording by James Elkington, Rachel Grimes, Kevin Ratterman and Mark Valenzuela). Mixed at LaLa Land by Kevin Ratterman. Mastering by Joe Lambert.

Harpist and singer/songwriter Joanna Newsom’s idiosyncratic take on folk and Americana has always been a powerful—if polarizing—experience. Her fourth album strikes a balance between the ornate orchestral explorations of 2006’s *Ys* and the more stripped-down confessions of 2010’s *Have One on Me*. She blends labyrinthine wordplay (“Bleach a collar/Leach a dollar/From our cents/The longer you live, the higher the rent”) and obscure subject matter (the names of Lenape villages on what is now New York City) into songs that are passionate, sincere, and surprisingly immediate.

The most ambitious jazz album to arrive in ages, Los Angeles saxophonist/composer Kamasi Washington\'s debut clocks in at 174 minutes—with never a dull moment. While his flawless 10-piece band already packs a wallop, thanks to their doubled basses and drums, Washington embellishes them with a string section and angelic choir. Like his luminous playing on Kendrick Lamar’s *To Pimp a Butterfly*, Washington solos with power and grace here. Versions of \"Cherokee\" and Terence Blanchard\'s \"Malcolm\'s Theme\" nod to jazz tradition, but it\'s originals like \"Change of the Guard\" that signal his truly epic aspirations.

The story begins with a man on high. He is an old man, a warrior, and the guardian to the gates of a city. Two miles below his mountainous perch, he observes a dojo, where a group of young men train night and day. Eventually, the old man expects a challenger to emerge. He hopes for the day of his destruction, for this is the cycle of life. Finally the doors fly open and three young men burst forth to challenge the old master. The first man is quick, but not strong enough. The second is quick, and strong, but not wise enough. The third stands tall, and overtakes the master. The Changing of the Guard has at long last been achieved. But then the old man wakes up. He looks down at the dojo and realizes he’s been daydreaming. The dojo below exists, but everyone in training is yet a child. By the time they grow old enough to challenge the old man, he has disappeared. This is, in essence, both a true story and a carefully constructed musical daydream, one that will further unfold in May of 2015, in a brazen release from young Los Angeles jazz giant, composer, and bandleader Kamasi Washington. The Epic is unlike anything jazz has seen, and not just because it emanates from the... more credits released October 2, 2015 Recorded at King Size Sound Labs. Engineered by Tony Austin, Chris Constable and Brian Rosemeyer. Mixed by Benjamin Tierney. Mastered by Stephen Marcussen at Marcussen Mastering.

Thanks to multiple hit singles—and no shortage of critical acclaim—2012’s *good kid, m.A.A.d city* propelled Kendrick Lamar into the hip-hop mainstream. His 2015 follow-up, *To Pimp a Butterfly*, served as a raised-fist rebuke to anyone who thought they had this Compton-born rapper figured out. Intertwining Afrocentric and Afrofuturist motifs with poetically personal themes and jazz-funk aesthetics, *To Pimp A Butterfly* expands beyond the gangsta rap preconceptions foisted upon Lamar’s earlier works. Even from the album’s first few seconds—which feature the sound of crackling vinyl and a faded Boris Gardiner soul sample—it’s clear *To Pimp a Butterfly* operates on an altogether different cosmic plane than its decidedly more commercial predecessor. The album’s Flying Lotus-produced opening track, “Wesley’s Theory,” includes a spoken-word invocation from musician Josef Leimberg and an appearance by Parliament-Funkadelic legend George Clinton—names that give *To Pimp a Butterfly* added atomic weight. Yet Lamar’s lustful and fantastical verses, which are as audacious as the squirmy Thundercat basslines underneath, never get lost in an album packed with huge names. Throughout *To Pimp a Butterfly*, Lamar goes beyond hip-hop success tropes: On “King Kunta,” he explores his newfound fame, alternating between anxiety and big-stepping braggadocio. On “The Blacker the Berry,” meanwhile, Lamar pointedly explores and expounds upon identity and racial dynamics, all the while reaching for a reckoning. And while “Alright” would become one of the rapper’s best-known tracks, it’s couched in harsh realities, and features an anthemic refrain delivered in a knowing, weary rasp that belies Lamar’s young age. He’s only 27, and yet he’s already seen too much. The cast assembled for this massive effort demonstrates not only Lamar’s reach, but also his vast vision. Producers Terrace Martin and Sounwave, both veterans of *good kid, m.A.A.d city*, are among the many names to work behind-the-boards here. But the album also includes turns from everyone from Snoop Dogg to SZA to Ambrose Akinmusire to Kamasi Washington—an intergenerational reunion of a musical diaspora. Their contributions—as well as the contributions of more than a dozen other players—give *To Pimp a Butterfly* a remarkable range: The contemplations of “Institutionalized” benefit greatly from guest vocalists Bilal and Anna Wise, as do the hood parables of “How Much A Dollar Cost,” which features James Fauntleroy and Ronald Isley. Meanwhile, Robert Glasper’s frenetic piano on “For Free? (Interlude)” and Pete Rock’s nimble scratches on “Complexion (A Zulu Love)” give *To Pimp a Butterfly* added energy.

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s smash Broadway show celebrating the life of Founding Father and American icon Alexander Hamilton winds its tale ingeniously around a series of sinuous hip-hop and R&B grooves. The twists and turns of Hamilton’s complex story mirror the deft, sometimes tongue-twisting turns the performers take in their delivery. It’s not all hip-hop; the ’60s-influenced pop of “You’ll Be Back” and the classical influence of “Take a Break” underline Miranda’s range, and it all adds up to a visionary redefinition of musical theater.

“In our 20+ years of writing songs, I’ve learned that no matter how escapist, divergent, or even transcendent the creative process feels, the result is more beholden to what is going on at the moment. It’s hard to admit that one is so influenced by what is in front of us. Doesn’t it come from something magical and far away? No, it comes from here. It comes from now. I’m not going to tell you what this record is about because I have too much respect for that moment when you come to know it for yourself.” — Alan Sparhawk, Low

This thrilling Congolese band mixes old, new, and spacey.

Echoes of Beethoven can be heard and felt throughout these bold works from the American minimalist icon. Commissioned by Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony, *Absolute Jest* finds Adams expanding on the monumental energy and feeling of the legendary German composer’s ideas, with thrilling riffs on some of his most recognizable work. Also included is a haunting performance of Adams’ landmark *Grand Pianola Music*, a similarly inventive piece that approaches the emotional majesty of Beethoven with glowing arrangements that include gospel piano, brass band marches, and more.

On her ninth album, Patty Griffin takes a left turn, incorporating bracing jazz and blues influences into her trademark contemporary folk sound. Griffin’s weathered voice is still central: Country tones seep into her melodies, and she expertly crafts poetic turns of phrase—particularly on “250,000 Miles,” a shattering exploration of maternal grief. But syncopated rhythms enliven tracks like “Gunpowder” and “There Isn’t One Way,” while “Noble Ground” boasts a raunchy blues swagger that’s wholly captivating.

Rhiannon Giddens—singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and founding member of Carolina Chocolate Drops—makes her solo recording debut with Tomorrow Is My Turn. The album, produced by T Bone Burnett, features a broad range of songs from genres as diverse as gospel, jazz, blues, and country, including works made famous by Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline, Odetta, and Nina Simone. The album "is a showcase for Ms. Giddens’s glorious voice," says the New York Times. "For all her technical control, her voice is a perpetually soulful marvel." NPR calls it "a truly astounding vocal performance." "Gorgeous," exclaims the Daily Telegraph. "An exceptional record." Tomorrow Is My Turn was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Folk Album.

Sufjan Stevens has taken creative detours into textured electro-pop, orchestral suites, and holiday music, but *Carrie & Lowell* returns to the feathery indie folk of his quietly brilliant early-’00s albums, like *Michigan* and *Seven Swans*. Using delicate fingerpicking and breathy vocals, songs like “Eugene,” “The Only Thing,” and the Simon & Garfunkel-influenced “No Shade in the Shadow of The Cross” are gorgeous reflections on childhood. When Stevens whispers in multi-tracked harmony over the album’s title track—an impressionistic portrait of his mother and stepfather that glows with nostalgic details—he delivers a haunting centerpiece.

Compton’s MVP puts it down for his ‘hood and his reputation on this ambitious sequel to his 2005 breakthrough album. You get the feeling Game’s in a reflective mood—“On Me,” “Step Up,” and “Don’t Trip” are filled with vintage samples and battle rhymes that\'s pure catnip for old school hip-hop heads. “Made in America” and “Just Another Day” finds Game in his element, daydreaming about the past and his dreams for the future. His versatility shines as he seamlessly drops bars with Q-Tip (“Circles”) and Future (“Dedicated”), flows over a Mike Will Made-It track (“Summertime”), and flexes over DJ Premier and Dr. Dre boom-bap (“The Documentary 2”).

The Internet create a stunningly lush neo-soul romance with their third album. Led by slyly seductive vocalist/songwriter Syd tha Kyd and the warm, instinctive production of Matt Martians, the Los Angeles band performs suites brimming with incense and whispers. “Under Control” undulates on Patrick Paige’s plunging bass notes, while “Gabby” is marked by Steve Lacy’s staccato rhythm guitar. On “Just Sayin/I Tried,” Syd offers sharp words, proving that while she’s clearly a romantic, she’s not a woman to be trifled with.

One of the major emerging figures in the 21st-century jazz, Vijay Iyer follows up 2014’s classical music–oriented *Mutations* with a third album from his excellent working trio (excepting the solo take on Strayhorn’s “Blood Count”). Repurposing some pieces already written for his other projects, Iyer—along with bassist Stephen Crump and drummer Marcus Gilmore—moves from the minimalism of “Hood” to a cover of Thelonious Monk’s “Work” to the three pieces inspired by birds. All of it\'s forward-looking, but the combination of the loping rhythms and free-flowing piano on the title track and Coltrane’s “Countdown” is particularly fascinating.

Even as a 20-track double album, this is one of the most cohesive and engaging hip-hop debuts you’ll hear. Against dank, ambitious production overseen by storied beat-smith No I.D., the Long Beach rapper documents a life spent learning the power of fear in a gang quarter with vivid wordplay and uncompromising imagery. “Jump Off the Roof”’s paranoid gospel and the woozy soul thump of “C.N.B.” embody a thrilling opus that values darkness and anxiety over radio-baiting hooks.