Alright kids, here it is. The big year end list. It’s all come down to this. Why do we do year end lists? Do we even need to explain why? This is the point of time where all the great art gets filtered down into one handy collection so you don’t have to waste your time scrambling around wondering: “What was the best album of the year? I need to know! How can I know I made the right decisions when I was in a record store this year? What will I have to buy in order to fix it?”

We all hate crappy music and we hope that by making lists like this we can say: “look, this is why that Mumford and Sons record sucks, it didn’t make this list of 20 albums that DON’T fill you full of murderous rage.” It also gives us something to say when we want to turn up Ought telling us all that we have is the beautiful blue sky and our co-workers ask us: “what the hell is this?”

I mean, if you were listening to music this year, there should be no real surprises. Tame Impala’s genius and utterly danceable psychedelic trip comes out on top with Currents. Kendrick Lamar a close second in his powerful and political To Pimp a Butterfly. Jamie xx’s In Colours wasn’t exactly his Gil-Scott Heron collaboration, but his more pop-focused sound was irresistible to the ears. You may notice that we also included That Band From Calgary, whose jarring post apocalyptic sound could shatter eardrums and restart pacemakers.

Will this start a lot of debate? I mean, all the records are great. Dilly Dally’s Sore was a powerful declaration of the self as was Courtney Barnett’s sometimes… . Deerhunter showed us  what can happen when you start taking your meds and find a positive space to be in. Titus Andronicus just blasted us to the wall with our fists raised and our chests pumping. Grimes got us dancing while checking our Tumblrs for gifs of weird Japanese cartoons.

2015 wasn’t a bad year for music. Here’s how not bad we thought it was:

TOP 20 ALBUMS

1. Tame Impala – Currents
2. Kendrick Lamar -To Pimp a Butterfly
3. Jamie xx – In Colours
4. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Multi Love
5. Viet Cong – Viet Cong
6. Drenge – Undertow
7. Father John Misty – I Love You, Honeybear
8. Kurt Vile – b’lieve I’m goin’ down
9. Courtney Barnett – sometimes i sit and think and sometimes I just sit
10. Dilly Dally – Sore
11. Sufjan Stevens – Carrie and Lowell
12. Deerhunter – Fading Frontier
13. Lower Dens – Escape From Evil
14. Grimes – Art Angels
15. Waxahatchee – Ivy Tripp
16. Ought – Sun Coming Down
17. Mac DeMarco – Another One
18. Protomartyr – The Agent Intellect
19. Wolf Alice – My Love Is Cool
20. Titus Andronicus – The Most Lamentable Tragedy

TOP 20 SINGLES

1. Grimes – Realiti
2. Kurt Vile –  Pretty Pimpin’
3. Wolf Alice – Moaning Lisa Smile
4. Dilly Dally – Desire
5. Best Coast – Feeling OK
6. Titus Andronicus – Dimed Out
7. Kendrick Lamar – King Kunta
8. Viet Cong – Continental Shelf
9. Tame Impala – Let it Happen
10. Fidlar – West Coast (40 oz on repeat)
11. Youth Lagoon – Highway Patrol Stun Gun
12. Florence and The Machine – Ship to Wreck
13. Sufjan Stevens – Should have known better
14. Jamie xx – Gonna be Good times
15. Waxahatchee – Air
16. Courtney Barnett – Pedestrian at Best
17. Father John Misty – The Night Josh Tillman Came to Our Apartment
18. Drenge – Standing in the Cold
19. Deerhunter – Snakeskin
20. Ought – Beautiful Blue Sky