Best Music Of 2015 Our favorite albums, songs and artists of the year.
The Best Music of 2015
Top row, left to right: Cover art for Wilco, Kamasi Washington and Grimes; Middle row, left to right: Sufjan Stevens, Chvrches and Kendrick Lamar; Bottom row, left to right: Father John Misty, Joanna Newsom, Courtney Barnett Courtesy of the artists hide caption
In January, Mucca Pazza set a Tiny Desk record by fitting 23 members onstage. Colin Marshall/NPR hide caption
Icelandic band Samaris played one of KEXP's favorite in-studio sessions of 2015. Charina Pitzel/KEXP hide caption
Maria Schneider and Rudresh Mahanthappa share top honors in the 2015 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll. Briene Lermitte/Jimmy Katz/Courtesy of the artists hide caption
Miguel. Daniel Sannwald/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
The San Francisco Symphony's recording of two Beethovenian works by John Adams is one of our picks for 2015. Courtesy of the San Francisco Symphony hide caption
Jason Isbell's Something More Than Free was one of our favorite folk recordings of 2015. Adam Kissick for NPR hide caption
Folk Alley's 10 Favorite Albums Of 2015
Folk Alley
Colleen's Cecile Schott. Courtesy of the artist hide caption
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Dornik quietly made one of the year's best R&B albums. Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Ann Powers calls Rhiannon Giddens' solo debut, Tomorrow Is My Turn, an album that "literally reconfigures American history." Michael Weintraub/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Torres is otherwise known as Mackenzie Scott. Her album, Sprinter, was one of the year's most scorching records. Shawn Brackbill hide caption
Joan Shelley's Over And Even is Stephen Thompson's favorite album of 2015. Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Kamasi Washington. John Vettese/WXPN hide caption
The artwork for VHOL's Deeper Than Sky perfectly illustrates the shredded cosmos the album explores. Brandon Duncan/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
In Bob Boilen's favorite concert of 2015, Sufjan Stevens turned Washington, D.C.'s Constitution Hall into a place of self-discovery and magic. Bob Boilen/NPR hide caption
It's a "waste a time to have expectations" about Young Thug (seen here performing in Atlanta in October), writes Rembert Browne. Prince Williams/Getty Images hide caption