While the main "Year in Review" feature was picked entirely by Post-Trash editors, we wanted to give all of our contributors a chance to pick their favorite releases, regardless if the records would be something covered here on our site or not. Every contributor was able to pick their personal top 20 records of the year and points were assigned based on rank. An album picked at #1 was given 20 points while an album selected at #20 was awarded a single point and so on. Our contributors' tastes range a bit wider than that of our editors, but the connection to this particular site becomes abundantly clear as the numbers unfold. We're happy to present the Post-Trash "Top 30 Albums of 2015: Staff Picks", as voted by the entire team (individual contributor lists can be found below).
BEN SMITH:
The Spirit of the Beehive – You Are Arrived (But You’ve Been Cheated)
Parquet Courts – Monastic Living
Dirty Dishes – Guilty
Donovan Wolfington – How to Treat The Ones You Love
Clean Girls – Despite You
Stove – Is Stupider
Protomartyr – The Agent Intellect
Woozy – Blistered
Shopping – Why Choose
Bueno – Guilt
Pile – You’re Better Than This
Dogs on Acid – Dogs on Acid
Lost Boy ? – Canned
Krill – A Distant Fist Unclenching
Ought – Sun Coming Down
Geronimo! – Buzz Yr Girlfriend Vol. 4: Why Did You Leave Me?
Screaming Females – Rose Mountain
Wiki – Lil Me
Show Me The Body – S M T B
Stringer – Dead Ass
BOBBY CARDOs:
1. Stove - Is Stupider
2. Spray Paint - Dopers
3. Pile - You’re Better Than This
4. Operator - Puzzlephonics I
5. Lost Boy ? - Canned
6. Bodega Bay - Our Brand Could Be Your Life
7. Painted Zeros - Floriography
8. Krill - A Distant Fist Unclenching
9. Pile - First Other Tape
10. Cende - Cende
11. Lady Bones - Dying
12. Dirty Dishes - Guilty
13. Dead Tenants - Void
14. Woozy - Blistered
15. Speedy Ortiz - Foil Deer
16. Bueno - Guilt
17. LVL UP - Three Songs
18. Hellrazor + Spook the Herd - Split EP
19. Protomartyr - The Agent Intellect
20. Viet Cong - Viet Cong
DAN MANNING:
1. Viet Cong - Viet Cong
2. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie and Lowell
3. Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear
4. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Multi-Love
5. Majical Cloudz - Are You Alone?
6. Alex G - Beach Music
7. Mount Eerie - Sauna
8. Stove - Is Stupider
9. Carly Rae Jepsen - Emotion
10. Deafheaven - New Bermuda
11. Royal Headache - High
12. Palm - Trading Basics
13. Ought - Sun Coming Down
14. Tame Impala - Currents
15. Mark McGuire - Beyond Belief
16. Floating Points - Elaenia
17. Torres - Sprinter
18. Weed - Running Back
19. Institute - Catharsis
20. Beach House - Thank Your Lucky Stars
DAN MURPHY:
Stove – Is Stupider
Kendrick Lamar — To Pimp a Butterfly
Krill — A Distant Fist Unclenching
Dirty Dishes — Guilty
Pile — You’re Better Than This
Hop Along — Painted Shut
Sleater-Kinney — No Cities to Love
Pile — First Other Tape
Courtney Barnett — Sometimes I Sit and Think, Sometimes I Just Sit
Torres — Sprinter
Deafheaven — New Bermuda
Empress Of — Me
D’Angelo — Black Messiah
Helvetia — Dromomania
Doubting Thomas Cruise Control — Remember Me John Lydon Forever
Titus Andronicus — The Most Lamentable Tragedy
FKA Twigs — M3LL155X
Operator — Puzzlephonics I
Protomartyr — The Agent Intellect
Father John Misty — I Love You, Honeybear
DAN RICKERSHAUSER:
Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell
Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear
Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
Leapling - Vacant Page
Tame Impala - Currents
Pile - You're Better Than This
Mac Demarco - Another One
Joey Bada$$ - B4.DA.$$
Protomartyr - The Agent Intellect
Shamir - Ratchet
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Multi-Love
Deerhunter - Fading Frontier
Low Cut Connie - Hi Honey
The Internet - Ego Death
Bully - Feels Like
The Underachievers - Evermore: The Art of Duality
Soccer Team - Real Lessons in Cynicism
Alex G - Beach Music
Grimes - Art Angels
CATHERINE VIANALE:
"2015 was a year of tremendous releases running the gamut of genres and styles. I’ve had the great enjoyment of listening to these 15 albums in their entirety and these are the ones that are going to stick with me as we plow forward into a new year of great releases to come. I’m very grateful to my college radio station, WVFS Tallahassee, for broadening my musical horizons and helping me discover some of the bands that I’m ridiculously stoked on now and 98% of the albums aforementioned."
1) The Spirit of the Beehive: “You Are Arrived (But You’ve Been Cheated)”
2) Palehound: “Dry Food”
3) Protomartyr: “The Agent Intellect”
4) Lianne La Havas: “Blood”
5) Alex G: “Beach Music”
6) Krill: “A Distant Fist Unclenching”
7) A Place to Bury Strangers: “Transfixiation”
8) HEALTH: “Death Magic”
9) Gouge Away: “,Dies” EP
10) Palm: “Trading Basics”
11) PWR BTTM: “Ugly Cherries”
12) Empress Of: “Me”
13) D’Angelo: “Black Messiah”
14) Father John Misty: “I Love You, Honeybear”
15) Title Fight: “Hyperview”
16) Foxing: “Dealer”
17) Leapling: “Vacant Page”
18) DILLY DALLY: “Sore”
19) Helen: “The Original Faces”
20) U.S Girls: “Half Free”
ERIC GAGNE:
kendrick lamar - to pimp a butterfly
mail the horse - planet gates
ghostface killah & badbadnotgood - sour soul
pile - you're better than this
courtney barnett - sometimes i sit and think, and sometimes i just sit
tobias jesso jr - goon
jim o'rourke - simple songs
joanna newsom - divers
kamasi washington - epic
julia holter - have you in my wilderness
HANNAH LIUZZO:
1. Sufjan Stevens—Carrie and Lowell
2. FKA Twigs—M3L155X
3. Courtney Barnett—Sometimes I Just Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit
4. Me In Capris—For Those Who Think You
5. Stove—Is Stupider
6. All Dogs—Kicking Every Day
7. Palehound—Dry Food
8. Dogs on Acid—Dogs On Acid
9. Toro Y Moi—What For?
10. Gunk—Gunk
11. Beach House—Thank Your Lucky Stars
12. Pile—You’re Better Than This
13. Pleasure Gap—CREAM WAVE
14. Kendrick—To Pimp a Butterfly
15. Father John Misty—I Love You, Honeybear
16. Viet Cong—Viet Cong
17. Palm—Trading Basics
18. Foreign Tongues—Fragile, As Said Before
19. Bedroom Eyes—Honeysuckle
20. Beach House—Depression Cherry
JEREMY PROBST:
Honeyuck – Very Tiny Songs
Carly Rae Jepsen – E•MO•TION
Girlpool – Before the World Was Big
BOOSEGUMPS – ☺
Toby Fox – UNDERTALE Soundtrack
Krill – A Distant Fist Unclenching
Palehound – Dry Food
Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly
Ex-Breathers – Past Tense
Grimes - Art Angels
Adult Mom – Momentary Lapse of Happily
Long Beard - Sleepwalker
Beach House – Depression Cherry
Vince Staples – Summertime ‘06
Peach Kelli Pop – Peach Kelli Pop III
Shunkan – The Pink Noise
LVL UP – Three Songs
Eerie Summer – The Way I Don’t Understand Anything Anymore
G.L.O.S.S. – Demo
JANK – Awkward Pop Songs
JONATHAN BANNISTER:
Soccer Team - Real Lessons in Cynicism
Stove - Is Stupider
Protomartyr - The Agent Intellect
Dirty Dishes - Guilty
Failure - The Heart is a Monster
Pile - You're Better Than This
Speedy Ortiz - Foil Deer
All Dogs - Kicking Every Day
Beliefs - Leaper
Deafcult - Deafcult
Weed - Running Back
Julien Baker - Sprained Ankle
Space Mountain - Gargantua
Blacklisters - Adult
Dilly Dally - Sore
Bully - Feels Like
Sleater-Kinney - No Cities to Love
Love of Diagrams - Blast
John Carpenter - Lost Themes
Zombi - Shape Shift
JONATHAN NASRALLAH:
1. Father John Misty - I Love You Honey Bear
2. Hop Along - Painted Shut
3. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie And Lowell
4. The World is a Beautiful Place & I am No Longer Afraid to Die - Harmlessness
5. Fred Thomas - All Are Saved
6. Jaime XX - In Colour
7. Majical Cloudz - Are You Alone?
8. Beach Slang - The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us
9. Eskimeaux - O.K.
10. Cloakroom - Further Out
11. Elvis Depressedly - New Alhambra
12. Girlpool - Before The World Was Big
13. Purity Ring - Another Eternity
14. Woozy - Blistered
15. Waxahatchee - Ivy Tripp
16. Chvrches - Every Open Eye
17. Foxing - Dealer
18. Protomartyr - The Agent Intellect
19. Ex - Breathers - Past Tense
20. Pretend - Tapestry'd Life
JULIA LEIBY:
1. all dogs - kicking every day
2. sports - all of something
3. pwr bttm - ugly cherries
4. brittle brian - verisune
5. spirit of the beehive - you are arrived (but you've been cheated)
6. julien baker - sprained ankle
7. yowler - the offer
8. alex g - beach music
9. emily yacina - pull through
10. diet cig - sleep talk / dinner date 7'
11. fraternal twin - skin gets hot
12. o-face - mint
13. long beard - sleepwalker
14. johanna warren - nūmūn
15. pinegrove - everything so far
16. beverly tender - lord mayor makes 1,000 speeches
17. swings - sugarwater
18. stolen jars - kept
19. lemon meringue die - nobody wouldn't see good things
20. kississippi - we have no future, we're all doomed
KELLY JOHNSON:
Gunk- Gunk
Meat Wave - Delusion Moon
Thee Oh Sees - Mutilator Defeated At Last
Lightning Bolt - Fantasy Empire
Stove - Is Stupider
Pile - You’re Better than This
Potty Mouth - Potty Mouth EP
Vince Staples - Summertime ‘06
Protomartyr - The Agent Intellect
Girl Band - Holding Hands with Jamie
Bully - Feels Like
Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
Dilly Dally - Sore
Torche - Restarter
Car Seat Headrest - Teens of Style
High Priests - Demo
PWR BTTM - Ugly Cherries
Palehound - Dry Food
Krill - A Distant Fist Unclenching
Guerilla Toss - Flood Dosed
MARCUS GAUTHIÉR:
1. Father John Misty
2. Courtney Barnett
3. Krill
4. Eskimeaux
5. Protomartyr
6. Quarterbacks
7. The World Is a Beautiful Place and I am No Longer Afraid to Die
8. Stove
9. Girlpool
10. Kendrick Lamar
11. Sleater-Kinney
12. Ought
13. Downtown Boys
14. Tame Impala
15. Speedy Ortiz
16. Diet Cig
17. Pile
18. Joanna Gruesome
19. Sufjan Stevens
20. Kamasi Washington
NICCOLO DANTE PORCELLO:
Palm - Trading Basics
Bethlehem Steel - Docking
Krill - A Distant Fist Unclenching
SUPERTEEN - Stay Creepy
The Spirit of the Beehive - YOU ARE ARRIVED
Guerilla Toss - Flood Dosed
Swings - Detergent Hymns
PWR BTTM - Ugly Cherries
Mourn — Mourn
O-Face - Mint
Palehound - Dry Food
QUARTERBACKS — QUARTERBACKS
Sheer Mag - II
Swings - Sugarwater
SPORTS - All of Something
Noxious Foxes - Roxious Soxes
Fraternal Twin - Skin Gets Hot
I Tried To Run Away When I Was 6 - Not Avoiding You
Pile - You’re Better Than This
Loose Tooth - Easy Easy East
NICK DUVAL:
1. Zs, Xe
2. Nicolas Jaar, Nymphs II-IV
3. Sporting Life, 55 5's
4. Cindy Lee, Malenkost + Act of Tenderness
5. Uniform, Perfect World
6. Waxahatchee, Ivy Tripp
7. Palm, Trading Basics
8. Oneohtrix Point Never, Garden of Delete
9. NAH, Light as Fuck + Submission/Excruciate
10. The Guests, Red State 2015 EP
11. Container, LP
12. Arca, Mutant
13. Jenny Hval, Apocalypse, Girl
14. Holly Herndon, Platform
15. Kelela, Hallucinogen EP
16. Guerilla Toss, Flood Dosed EP
17. Viet Cong, Viet Cong
18. Vince Staples, Summertime 06
19. Panda Bear, Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper
20. Big Neck Police, Sleight of Time
PETER IVES:
20. Motörhead - Bad Magic
19. MED, Blu & Madlib- Bad Neighbor
18. Painted Zeros- Floriography
17. Death Vacation- Death Vacation
16. Joanna Newsom- Divers
15. Jeremih- Late Nights
14. Le Butcherettes- A Raw Youth
13. Pete Rock- Petestrumentals 2
12. Flykills- Squirrel
11. Death Sex Advocates- My Rules, My Way
10. Future- DS2
9. Ratking- 700 Fill
8. Thee Oh Sees- Mutilator Defeated at last
7. Kurt Vile- B’lieve I’m Goin Down
6. Pimp C- Long Live The Pimp
5. Tame Impala- Currents
4. Leon Bridges- Coming Home
3. Vince Staples- Summertime ‘06
2. Father John Misty- I Love You, Honeybear
1. Kendrick Lamar- To Pimp A Butterfly
RYAN ALLEN:
1. Beach Slang - The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us
2. Juliana Hatfield 3 - Whatever, My Love
3. Molly - Peach Melba
4. Tenement - Predatory Headlights
5. Desaparecidos - Payola
6. Swervedriver - I Wasn’t Born to Lose You
7. Mac McCaughan - Non-Believers
8. Hop Along - Painted Shut
9. Pile - You’re Better Than This
10. All Dogs - Kicking Every Day
11. Sleater-Kinney - No Cities To Love
12. Wilco - Star Wars
13. Ringo Deasthstarr - Pure Mood
14. Stove - Is Stupider
15. Slonk Donkerson - The Lunar Martini Motorbike Club and Their Respective Destinies
16. Built to Spill - Untethered Moon
17. Veruca Salt - Ghost Notes
18. Titus Andronicus - The Most Lamentable Tragedy
19. Waxahatchee - Ivy Tripp
20. Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit And Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
TORREY PROTO:
1. Alex G - Beach Music
2. Pile - You're Better Than This
3. Viet Cong - Viet Cong
4. Brandon Can't Dance - LXVE II
5. Gunk - Gunk
6. Vundabar - Gawk
7. Spencer Radcliffe - Looking In
8. Ex-Breathers - Past Tense
9. Loma Prieta - Self Portrait
10. Mamaleek - Via Dolorosa
11. Kowloon Walled City - Grievances
12. Protomartyr - The Agent Intellect
13. Stove – Is Stupider
14. Swings - Sugarwater
15. Girl Band - Holding Hands With Jamie
16. Milo - So the Flies Don't Come
17. Cold Sweats - Social Coma
18. Oneohtrix Point Never - Garden of Delete
19. Blacklisters - Adult
20. Meat Wave - Delusion Moon
DAVE SPAK *:
1. Built to Spill - Untethered Moon
2. Thee Oh Sees - Mutilator Defeated at Last
3. Speedy Ortiz - Foil Deer
4. Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear
5. Paul de Jong - IF
6. Car Seat Headrest - Teens of Style
7. Royal Headache - High
8. Doubting Thomas Cruise Control - Remember Me John Lydon Forever
9. Vundabar - Gawk
10. Ava Luna - Infinite House
11. Panda Bear - Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper
12. Dan Deacon - Gliss Riffer
13. Beach House - Depression Cherry/Thank Your Lucky Stars
14. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell
15. Kurt Vile - b’lieve i’m goin down...
16. Ought - Sun Coming Down
17. Lushes - Service Industry
18. Viet Cong - Viet Cong
19. Kamasi Washington - The Epic
20. Alabama Shakes - Sound & Color
DAN GOLDIN *:
01. Built To Spill - Untethered Moon
02. Beauty Pill - Describes Things As They Are
03. Helvetia - Dromomania + A Dot Running From The Dust
04. Ava Luna - Infinite House
05. Protomartyr - The Agent Intellect
06. Eskimeaux - O.K.
07. Gun Outfit - Dream All Over
08. Gunk - Gunk
09. La Luz - Weirdo Shrine
10. Failure - The Heart is a Monster
11. Lost Boy ? - Canned
12. The Spirit of the Beehive - You Are Arrived (But You've Been Cheated)
13. Thee Oh Sees - Mutilator Defeated At Last
14. Cherubs - 2 Ynfynyty
15. Sauna Youth - Distractions
16. Ought - Sun Coming Down
17. Wand - Golem
18. Jack Name - Weird Moons
19. Rye Pines - Dead Ocean
20. Doubting Thomas Cruise Control - Remember Me John Lydon Forever
* both Dave Spak and Dan Goldin (of Exploding In Sound Records) submitted Top 20 lists that were taken into consideration for the staff picks total that included bands from the label. In the interest of not publicly ranking their own bands, the lists submitted here are their favorite albums without inclusion of any EIS artists.