Year-End Lists

The Guardian: 40 Best Albums of 2015

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. To Pimp A Butterfly
   Kendrick Lamar
2. Carrie & Lowell
   Sufjan Stevens
3. I Love You, Honeybear
   Father John Misty
4. Have You In My Wilderness
   Julia Holter
5. Vulnicura
   Björk
6. No Cities To Love
   Sleater-Kinney
7. Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
   Courtney Barnett
8. The Epic
   Kamasi Washington
9. White Men Are Black Men Too
   Young Fathers
10. Divers
    Joanna Newsom
11. Wildheart
    Miguel
12. Fading Frontier
    Deerhunter
13. My Love Is Cool
    Wolf Alice
14. If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late
    Drake
15. Currents
    Tame Impala
16. Elaenia
    Floating Points
17. In Colour
    Jamie xx
18. Multi-Love
    Unknown Mortal Orchestra
19. E•MO•TION
    Carly Rae Jepsen
20. Art Angels
    Grimes
21. Ten Love Songs
    Susanne Sundfør
22. Music Complete
    New Order
23. Holding Hands with Jamie
    Girl Band
24. Platform
    Holly Herndon
25. Perpetual Motion People
    Ezra Furman
26. Short Movie
    Laura Marling
27. Another One
    Mac DeMarco
28. Natalie Prass
    Natalie Prass
29. Key Markets
    Sleaford Mods
30. Free Love
    Fantasma
31. Every Open Eye
    Chvrches
32. Apocalypse, Girl
    Jenny Hval
33. On Your Own Love Again
    Jessica Pratt
34. FFS
    FFS
35. Compton
    Dr. Dre
36. Summertime ’06
    Vince Staples
37. Unbreakable
    Janet Jackson
38. Grey Tickles, Black Pressure
    John Grant
39. The Book of Souls
    Iron Maiden
40. At Least For Now
    Benjamin Clementine

Katie Rife: The Best Films of 2015, as published by The A.V. Club

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016]

1. The Look of Silence
   Joshua Oppenheimer
2. Mad Max: Fury Road
   George Miller
3. The Duke of Burgundy
   Peter Strickland
4. Room
   Lenny Abrahamson
5. Tangerine
   Sean Baker
6. Sicario
   Denis Villeneuve
7. It Follows
   David Robert Mitchell
8. Phoenix
   Christian Petzold
9. Brooklyn
   John Crowley
10. The Martian
    Ridley Scott
10. The End of the Tour
    James Ponsoldt

This list contributes to:

• A.V. Club: 20 Best Films of 2015

Adam Nayman: The Best Films of 2015, as published by The A.V. Club

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021]

1. Phoenix
   Christian Petzold
2. Jauja
   Lisandro Alonso
3. The Assassin
   Hou Hsiao-Hsien
4. The Princess of France
   Matías Piñeiro
5. Li’l Quinquin
   Bruno Dumont
6. The Forbidden Room
   Guy Maddin
7. When Evening Falls on Bucharest or Metabolism
   Corneliu Porumboiu
8. Horse Money
   Pedro Costa
9. Amour fou
   Jessica Hausner
10. Timbuktu
    Abderrahmane Sissako
11. The Look of Silence
    Joshua Oppenheimer
12. Magic Mike XXL
    Gregory Jacobs
13. Hard to Be a God
    Aleksey German
14. Carol
    Todd Haynes
15. Heaven Knows What
    Ben Safdie and Joshua Safdie

This list contributes to:

• A.V. Club: 20 Best Films of 2015

Noel Murray: The Best Films of 2015, as published by The A.V. Club

[see also The 10 Best Documentaries of 2022 • The 10 (or 11) Best Documentaries of 2021 • The Best Films of 2021 • The Best Films of 2020 • The Best Films of 2019 • Top 15 Films of 2018 • Best Films of 2017 • The Best Films of 2016 • Top 15 Films of 2014 • 15 Best Films of 2012 • Best Films of 2011]

1. Mad Max: Fury Road
   George Miller
2. Inside Out
   Pete Docter
3. Brooklyn
   John Crowley
4. The Duke of Burgundy
   Peter Strickland
5. Mustang
   Deniz Gamze Ergüven
6. 45 Years
   Andrew Haigh
7. Phoenix
   Christian Petzold
8. Carol
   Todd Haynes
9. Anomalisa
   Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson
10. Blind
    Eskil Vogt
11. James White
    Josh Mond
12. Bridge of Spies
    Steven Spielberg
13. Crimson Peak
    Guillermo del Toro
14. Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem
    Ronit Elkabetz and Shlomi Elkabetz
15. Creed
    Ryan Coogler

This list contributes to:

• A.V. Club: 20 Best Films of 2015

Drowned in Sound: 100 Favourite Albums of 2015

[see also 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2014 • 2012 • 2011]

1. I Love You, Honeybear
   Father John Misty
2. To Pimp A Butterfly
   Kendrick Lamar
3. Vulnicura
   Björk
4. My Love Is Cool
   Wolf Alice
5. Carrie & Lowell
   Sufjan Stevens
6. E•MO•TION
   Carly Rae Jepsen
7. Divers
   Joanna Newsom
8. Deep In the Iris
   Braids
9. No Cities To Love
   Sleater-Kinney
10. Apocalypse, Girl
    Jenny Hval
11. Viet Cong
    Viet Cong
12. SUCKER
    Charli XCX
13. The Magic Whip
    Blur
14. Bones You Have Thrown Me and Blood I’ve Spilled
    Kathryn Joseph
15. Honeymoon
    Lana Del Rey
16. Ones and Sixes
    Low
17. Solo
    Nils Frahm
18. The Lucid Dream
    The Lucid Dream
19. White Men Are Black Men Too
    Young Fathers
20. Short Movie
    Laura Marling
21. Everything Else Matters
    Pinkshinyultrablast
22. Ten Love Songs
    Susanne Sundfør
23. Holding Hands with Jamie
    Girl Band
24. Sleep
    Max Richter
25. Fetty Wap
    Fetty Wap
26. What Went Down
    Foals
27. The Epic
    Kamasi Washington
28. Y Dydd Olaf
    Gwenno
29. Flailing Tomb
    Petrels
30. Etch and Etch Deep
    Haiku Salut
31. Welcome Back To Milk
    Du Blonde
32. Sour Soul
    BADBADNOTGOOD & Ghostface Killah
33. The Pale Emperor
    Marilyn Manson
34. From Kinshasa
    Mbongwana Star
35. Everything Ever Written
    Idlewild
36. Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress
    Godspeed You! Black Emperor
37. Perpetual Motion People
    Ezra Furman
38. Algiers
    Algiers
39. Painted Shut
    Hop Along
40. Seems Unfair
    Trust Fund
41. Get To Heaven
    Everything Everything
42. + –
    Mew
43. Art Angels
    Grimes
44. All Things Under Heaven
    The Icarus Line
45. Poison Season
    Destroyer
46. Marks to Prove It
    The Maccabees
47. Colic
    Then Thickens
48. Escape From Evil
    Lower Dens
49. Glider
    Heather Woods Broderick
50. Dumb Flesh
    Blanck Mass
51. Before the World Was Big
    girlpool
52. Death Magic
    HEALTH
53. Fading Frontier
    Deerhunter
54. Beings
    Lanterns on the Lake
55. Have You In My Wilderness
    Julia Holter
56. Primrose Green
    Ryley Walker
57. Infinity Machines
    Gnod
58. Pylon
    Killing Joke
59. Illegals in Heaven
    Blank Realm
60. Hyperview
    Title Fight
61. Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance
    Belle and Sebastian
62. Payola
    Desaparecidos
63. Music In Exile
    Songhoy Blues
64. Lease of Life
    Errors
65. Peanut Butter
    Joanna Gruesome
66. Mythologies
    Cheatahs
67. The Light in You
    Mercury Rev
68. Shedding Skin
    Ghostpoet
69. Sound & Color
    Alabama Shakes
70. Depression Cherry
    Beach House
71. On Your Own Love Again
    Jessica Pratt
72. Many Colours
    Colder
73. Ghost Culture
    Ghost Culture
74. In Colour
    Jamie xx
75. Compton
    Dr. Dre
76. The Miraculous
    Anna von Hausswolff
77. Anthems For Doomed Youth
    The Libertines
78. La Di Da Di
    Battles
79. Grey Tickles, Black Pressure
    John Grant
80. Hinterland
    LoneLady
81. Integrity
    Jme
82. For All My Sisters
    The Cribs
83. Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
    Courtney Barnett
84. If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late
    Drake
85. Currents
    Tame Impala
86. B’lieve I’m Goin Down…
    Kurt Vile
87. Return to the Moon
    EL VY
88. Sun Coming Down
    Ought
89. Goon
    Tobias Jesso Jr.
90. Platform
    Holly Herndon
91. Darling Arithmetic
    Villagers
92. New Bermuda
    Deafheaven
93. Elaenia
    Floating Points
94. Matador
    Gaz Coombes
95. Fuckup Rush
    Fairhorns
96. Fast Food
    Nadine Shah
97. Hairless Toys
    Róisín Murphy
98. Before We Forgot How To Dream
    SOAK
99. Beat the Champ
    The Mountain Goats
100. Hermits On Holiday
     Drinks

Jesse Hassenger: The Best Films of 2015, as published by The A.V. Club

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2014]

1. It Follows
   David Robert Mitchell
2. Mistress America
   Noah Baumbach
3. Mad Max: Fury Road
   George Miller
4. Bridge of Spies
   Steven Spielberg
5. Inside Out
   Pete Docter
6. Sleeping with Other People
   Leslye Headland
7. While We’re Young
   Noah Baumbach
8. Ex Machina
   Alex Garland
9. Mississippi Grind
   Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden
10. Creed
    Ryan Coogler
11. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
    Christopher McQuarrie
12. Sicario
    Denis Villeneuve
13. Joy
    David O. Russell
14. Steve Jobs
    Danny Boyle
15. Anomalisa
    Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson

This list contributes to:

• A.V. Club: 20 Best Films of 2015

Jane Ciabattari: The 10 Best Books of 2015 as published by BBC Culture

[see also 2016 • 2014 • 2013]

1. Gold Fame Citrus
   Claire Vaye Watkins
2. Fortune Smiles

   Stories
   Adam Johnson
3. The Story of the Lost Child
   Elena Ferrante
4. Golden Age
   Jane Smiley
5. The Complete Stories
   Clarice Lispector
6. Thirteen Ways of Looking
   Colum McCann
7. The Sunken Cathedral
   Kate Walbert
8. The Tsar of Love and Techno

   Stories
   Anthony Marra
9. Ordinary Light
   Tracy K. Smith
10. M Train
    Patti Smith

Flavorwire: 20 Favorite Albums of 2015

[see also 2018 • 2014]

1. To Pimp A Butterfly
   Kendrick Lamar
2. Art Angels
   Grimes
3. Full Communism
   Downtown Boys
4. Black Messiah
   D’Angelo and The Vanguard
5. Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
   Courtney Barnett

The rest alphabetical by artist

• Algiers
  Algiers
• Vulnicura
  Björk
• E•MO•TION
  Carly Rae Jepsen
• Payola
  Desaparecidos
• Compton
  Dr. Dre
• But You Caint Use My Phone
  Erykah Badu
• M3LL155X
  FKA twigs
• Ibeyi
  Ibeyi
• In Colour
  Jamie xx
• Divers
  Joanna Newsom
• Hallucinogen
  Kelela
• Are You Alone?
  Majical Cloudz
• Black Dollar
  Rick Ross
• Junun
  Shye Ben Tzur, Jonny Greenwood & The Rajasthan Express
• All of Something
  Sports

Resident Advisor: Top 20 Albums of 2015

[see also 2023 • 2018 • 2014 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Elaenia
   Floating Points
2. Levon Vincent
   Levon Vincent
3. Dark Energy
   Jlin
4. Much Less Normal
   LNRDCROY
5. Vulnicura
   Björk
6. Talk from Home
   Suzanne Kraft
7. Have You In My Wilderness
   Julia Holter
8. The Hydrangeas Whisper
   Boof
9. Drippin’ For A Tripp
   DJ Sotofett & Jaakko Eino Kalevi
10. Hunch Music
    Hunee
11. Utakata No Hibi
    Mariah
12. Garden of Delete
    Oneohtrix Point Never
13. Comme ça
    Domenique Dumont
14. Body Pill
    Anthony Naples
15. Clouds
    Gaussian Curve
16. Expressions
    Linkwood
17. Immersion
    Zenker Brothers
18. Homesick
    Matrixxman
19. Safe
    Visionist
20. Safe In Harbour
    Vilod

Mara Reinstein: Top 10 Movies of 2015, as published by Us Weekly

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2014 • 2013]

1. Brooklyn
   John Crowley
2. Room
   Lenny Abrahamson
3. Spotlight
   Tom McCarthy
4. The Martian
   Ridley Scott
5. Joy
   David O. Russell
6. The Big Short
   Adam McKay
7. Creed
   Ryan Coogler
8. Straight Outta Compton
   F. Gary Gray
9. Ex Machina
   Alex Garland
10. Inside Out
    Pete Docter