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20 best albums of 2015 so far

1 July, 2015 — by Christopher Ratcliff0

sleater kinney no cities to love flowers cover

It’s summer. You can tell it’s summer because the music industry has buggered off on holiday for three months leaving us all bereft of new music and having to listen to our Dad’s Greatest Hits of ELO cassette and pretend like that’s a brilliant and convenient thing in front of all our much cooler friends.

Thankfully help is at hand. For it is exactly the middle of the year and therefore a wondrous time where all the music mags and websites across the land announce their annual ‘best albums of the year so far’ lists, giving music fans a chance to discover something they may have missed, which they can pretend to enjoy for a bit before inevitably listening to 1989 for the remainder of the summer.

Throwing its metaphorical hat into the oddly not-so-metaphorical ring is Methods Unsound, with its own best albums of the year so far list, presented in handy alphabetical order so as not to force us to make any real decisions or put in any extra work. We hope you find something to your liking.

Action Bronson – Mr Wonderful

action bronson in grey hoodie
“I wouldn’t presume to tell anyone how to wear their hooded top, Mr Bronson”

Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit

courtney barnett on park bench
“Nope, still haven’t figured out this funny little muddle called life yet”

Braids – Deep in the Iris

braids band transparent figures
G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-Braids!

Björk – Vulnicura

bjork dressed as a colourful bird
“SQUAAAAAAWWWWWK”

Dan Deacon – Gliss Riffer

Dan-Deacon
“Welcome to my wonderful world of experimental sound,
please leave you preconceptions at the door,
you can also leave your coat with my mum”

John Carpenter – Lost Themes

john carpenter 2015 hands out
“Behold! My elderly head!”

Gaz Coombes – Matador

Gaz Coombes portrait photographed by Oxfordshire and London based photographer Andrew Ogilvy photography
“What was that? No I don’t know ‘Roll Out the Barrel’. Well alright I do, but I’m not playing it”

Faith No More – Sol Invictus

faith no more sol invictus band with gimp
Thank you so much for attending our fundraiser. Now if you don’t mind leaving your dog outsi… Oh my God.

Holly Herndon – Platform

holly herndon with sequencer
Fucking iPhone 5 and its fucking different charging lead.

Ibeyi – Ibeyi

ibeyi
We dream the same dreams, we want the same thing,
we share the same hair.

Jamie XX – In Colour

jamie-xx record shopping
“Oooooh, they hardly ever have Kula Shaker’s second album”

Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly

kendrick lamar with gold chain
Gesundheit

Purity Ring – Another Eternity

purity ring band in a lake
“Uh… I think I can see a body”

Sleater-Kinney – No Cities to Love

Corin Tucker, Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss of Sleater-Kinney in New York.
“If you can both move further to the edge, I’m not sure if my bow is in shot”

THEESatisfaction – EarthEE

theesatisfaction
“Hang on, I’m just going to tweet about this asshole with a camera”

Tigercats – Mysteries

tigercats
“I don’t get it. Who is Bill Withers?”

Torres – Sprinter

torres music artist with dirt on her face
“With my disguise complete, I will go undercover with
the street urchins and learn the secrets of their pick-pocketing ways”

Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Multi Love

unknown mortal orchestra
“To the science museum!”

Vessels – Dilate

vessels band under water
I’ll find them for three, but I’ll catch them and kill them for ten. Oh there are five of them, uh… make that 50.

Young Fathers – White Men Are Black Men Too

Young Fathers in the middle of the road at night
“What was that? No we don’t know ‘Stay Another Day’. Well alright we do, but we’re not playing it’

That’s your lot. Come back halfway through next year, when we’ll divulge 2016’s best albums up until that point.

There’s a definite possibility you’re not reading music websites in the correct way.

Check out all the latest album releases in our new music reviews section.

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