2015: a year in music.

top/favourite albums of the year

01. Carrie & Lowell, Sufjan Stevens (Asthmatic Kitty)

recommended track: "John My Beloved"

02. Multi-Love, Unknown Mortal Orchestra (Jagjaguwar)

recommended track: "Can't Keep Checking My Phone"

03. Currents, Tame Impala (Interscope)

recommended track: "Eventually"

04. Surf, Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experiment (self-released)

recommended track: "Sunday Candy"

05. Elaenia, Floating Points (Pluto/Luaka Bop)

recommended track: "Nespole"

06. In Colour, Jamie xx (Young Turks)

recommended track: "Loud Places"

07. Vulnicura, Björk (One Little Indian)

recommended track: "Stonemilker"

08. The Night Took Us in Like Family, L'Orange and Jeremiah Jae (Mellow Music Group)

recommended track: "Do My Best to Carry On"

09. I Love You, Honeybear, Father John Misty (Sub Pop)

recommended track: "The Night Josh Tillman Came to Our Apartment"

10. I Cry When I Laugh, Jess Glynne (Atlantic)

recommended track: "Ain't Got Far to Go"

11. E•MO•TION, Carly Rae Jepsen (Interscope/School Boy)

recommended track: "Run Away with Me"

12. Fading Frontier, Deerhunter (4AD)

recommended track: "Living My Life"

13. Divers, Joanna Newsom (Drag City)

recommended track: "Leaving the City"

14. La Di Da Di, Battles (Warp)

recommended track: "The Yabba"

15. Are You Alone?, Majical Cloudz (Matador)

recommended track: "Silver Car Crash"

16. Depression Cherry, Beach House (Sub Pop)

recommended track: "Sparks"

17. Thank Your Lucky Stars, Beach House (Sub Pop)

recommended track: "Elegy to the Void"

18. Portraits, Maribou State (Counter/Ninja Tune)

recommended track: "Natural Fools"

19. Peripheral Vision, Turnover (Run for Cover)

recommended track: "Dizzy on the Comedown"

20. Sometimes I Sit and Think and Sometimes I Just Sit, Courtney Barnett (Mom + Pop/Marathon Artists/Milk!)

recommended track: "Depreston"

HMs/21-38: Ones and Sixes, Low (Sub Pop); Lantern, Hudson Mohawke (Warp); All We Need, Raury (Columbia); To Pimp a Butterfly, Kendrick Lamar (Interscope/Aftermath/Top Dawg); DJ-KiCKS 50, DJ Koze (!K7 Records); Ivy Tripp, Waxahatchee (Merge/Wichita); No No No, Beirut (4AD); Why Make Sense?, Hot Chip (Domino); But You Caint Use My Phone, Erykah Badu (self-released); White Men Are Black Men Too, Young Fathers (Big Dada); Stuff Like That There, Yo La Tengo (Matador); Summertime ‘06, Vince Staples (ARTium/Def Jam); Escape from Evil, Lower Dens (Ribbon Music); Have You In My Wilderness, Julia Holter (Domino); Art Angels, Grimes (4AD); Poison Season, Destroyer (Merge/Dead Oceans); All Possible Futures, Miami Horror (Dine Alone); Lost in New York, Penguin Prison (Downtown)

top/favourite EPs of the year

Nymphs II-IV, Nicolas Jaar (Other People/R&S)

Intermission, Shigeto (Ghostly International)

Hallucinogen, Kelela (Warp/Cherry Coffee)

M3LL155X, FKA twigs (Young Turks)

The Beyond/Where the Giants Roam, Thundercat (Brainfeeder)

2014: a year in film.

top US theatrical (narrative) film releases that I saw in 2014

Stranger by the Lake [L'inconnu du lac] (Alain Guiraudie, 2013 | France | Strand Releasing)

Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013 | UK/USA/Switzerland | A24)

Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson | USA | Warner Bros.)

Goodbye to Language 3D [Adieu au langage] (Jean-Luc Godard | Switzerland/France | Kino Lorber)

Frank (Lenny Abrahamson | UK/Ireland/USA | Magnolia Pictures)

A Field in England (Ben Wheatley, 2013 | UK | Drafthouse Films)

Obvious Child (Gillian Robespierre | USA | A24)

Force Majeure [Turist] (Ruben Östlund | Sweden/France/Norway | Magnolia Pictures)

Nightcrawler (Dan Gilroy | USA | Open Road Films)

Gloria (Sebastián Lelio, 2013 | Chile/Spain | Roadside Attractions)

top US theatrical (documentary) film releases that I saw in 2014

Jodorowsky's Dune (Frank Pavich, 2013 | USA/France | Sony Pictures Classics)

Nas: Time Is Illmatic (One9 | USA | Tribeca Film)

Björk: Biophilia Live (Nick Fenton & Peter Strickland | UK | Cinema Purgatorio)

Keep On Keepin' On (Alan Hicks | USA | RADiUS-TWC)

Best Director

Alain Guiraudie, Stranger by the Lake

Jonathan Glazer, Under the Skin*

Paul Thomas Anderson, Inherent Vice

Ben Wheatley, A Field in England

Jean-Luc Godard, Goodbye to Language 3D

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler*

Pierre Deladonchamps, Stranger by the Lake

Michael Fassbender, Frank

Bill Hader, The Skeleton Twins

Johannes Kuhnke, Force Majeure

HMs: Joaquin Phoenix, Inherent Vice

Mark Duplass, The One I Love

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Scarlett Johansson, Under the Skin*

Paulina García, Gloria*

Jenny Slate, Obvious Child*

Charlotte Gainsbourg, Nymphomaniac

Essie Davis, The Babadook

HM: Kristen Wiig, The Skeleton Twins

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Josh Brolin, Inherent Vice

Martin Short, Inherent Vice

Patrick d'Assumçao, Stranger by the Lake

Riz Ahmed, Nightcrawler

Ethan Hawke, Boyhood

HM: Scoot McNairy, Frank

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Laura Dern, Wild

Patricia Arquette, Boyhood

Katherine Waterston, Inherent Vice

Joanna Newsom, Inherent Vice

Tilda Swinton, Snowpiercer

Best Writing - Adapted Screenplay

Paul Thomas Anderson, Inherent Vice

Walter Campbell & Jonathan Glazer, Under the Skin

Jon Ronson & Peter Straughan, Frank

Amy Jump, A Field in England

Gillian Robespierre, Obvious Child

Best Writing - Original Screenplay

Alain Guiraudie, Stranger by the Lake

Nick Hornby, Wild

Bong Joon-ho & Kelly Masterson, Snowpiercer

Lukas Moodysson, We Are the Best!

Nick Damici & Jim Mickle, Cold in July

Best Cinematography

Claire Mathon, Stranger by the Lake

Daniel Landin, Under the Skin

Robert Elswit, Inherent Vice

Fabrice Aragno, Goodbye to Language 3D

Laurie Rose, A Field in England

Best Original Score

Mica Levi, Under the Skin*

Jonny Greenwood, Inherent Vice

Jim Williams, A Field in England

Stephen Rennicks, Frank

Kurt Stenzel, Jodorowsky's Dune

HM: James Newton Howard, Nightcrawler

2014: a year in music.

top/favourite albums of the year

01. Early Riser, Taylor McFerrin (Brainfeeder)

Recommended tracks: "Postpartum," "The Antidote (feat. Nai Palm)," "Decisions (feat. Emily King)," "Place In My Heart (feat. RYAT)"

02. Mess, Liars (Mute)

Recommended tracks: "Mask Maker," "Vox Tuned D.E.D.," "Pro Anti Anti"

03. Our Love, Caribou (Merge)

Recommended tracks: "Can't Do Without You," "All I Ever Need," "Our Love," "Julia Brightly," "Your Love Will Set You Free"

04. Lese Majesty, Shabazz Palaces (Sub Pop)

Recommended tracks: "Dawn in Luxor," "Forerunner Foray," "They Come in Gold," "Solemn Swears," "#CAKE"

05. Black Messiah, D'Angelo and the Vanguard (RCA)

Recommended tracks: "Ain't That Easy," "1000 Deaths," "Sugah Daddy," "Betray My Heart"

06. You're Dead!, Flying Lotus (Warp)

Recommended tracks: "Never Catch Me (feat. Kendrick Lamar)," "Ready Err Not," "Moment of Hesitation"

07. Salad Days, Mac DeMarco (Captured Tracks)

Recommended tracks: "Salad Days," "Brother," "Chamber of Reflection"

08. Souled Out, Jhené Aiko (ARTium/Def Jam)

Recommended tracks: "W.A.Y.S," "It's Cool," "Lyin King," "Promises (feat. Miyagi and Namiko)"

09. LP1, FKA twigs (Young Turks)

Recommended track: "Two Weeks," "Pendulum," "Video Girl," "Numbers"

10. Trick, Kele (Lilac)

Recommended tracks: "First Impressions," "Coasting," "Doubt," "Closer"

11. My Everything, Ariana Grande (Republic)

Recommended tracks: "Be My Baby (feat. Cashmere Cat)," "Break Your Heart Right Back (feat. Childish Gambino)," "Love Me Harder (feat. The Weeknd)"

12. Broke with Expensive Taste, Azealia Banks (Prospect Park)

Recommended tracks: "Gimme a Chance," "Desperado," "JFK (feat. Theophilus London)," "Chasing Time"

13. Food, Kelis (Ninja Tune)

Recommended tracks: "Breakfast," "Jerk Ribs," "Floyd," "Bless the Telephone"

14. In Return, ODESZA (Counter)

Recommended tracks: "Say My Name (feat. Zyra)," "All We Need (feat. Shy Girls)," "Sundara," "Sun Models (feat. Madelyn Grant)"

15. Youth Culture Forever, PAWS (Fat Cat)

Recommended tracks: "Erreur Humaine," "Someone New," "Give Up"

16. Dunes, Gardens & Villa (Secretly Canadian)

Recommended tracks: "Domino," "Colony Glen," "Bullet Train"

17. Syro, Aphex Twin (Warp)

18. Dead, Young Fathers (anticon.)

Recommended tracks: "No Way," "Low," "Get Up"

19. Under the Skin OST, Mica Levi (Milan)

Recommended tracks: "Creation," "Lonely Void," "Love," "Death"

20. Goddess, Banks (Harvest)

Recommended tracks: "Brain," "Drowning," "Beggin for Thread," "Change"

HMs / 20-35 (no order)

Ghettoville, Actress (Ninja Tune)

I Never Learn, Lykke Li (LL/Atlantic)

Tough Love, Jessie Ware (Cherrytree/Interscope)

Seeds, TV on the Radio (Harvest)

Nabuma Rubberband, Little Dragon (Loma Vista/Republic)

Their Bodies in a Fog, Arrange (Orchid Tapes)

Otherness, Kindness (Mom + Pop)

Aquarius, Tinashe (RCA)

Clark, Clark (Warp)

The Pinkprint, Nicki Minaj (Young Money/Cash Money/Republic)

Run the Jewels 2, Run the Jewels (Mass Appeal)

Alvvays, Alvvays (Polyvinyl)

III, BADBADNOTGOOD (Innovative Leisure)

Mean Love, Sinkane (DFA)

St. Vincent, St. Vincent (Loma Vista/Republic)

top/favourite EPs of the year

Z, SZA (TDE)

Mr Noah, Panda Bear (Domino)

Mabel, Lil Silva (True Panther)

Ocean Death, Baths (anticon.)

The Green, Bibio (Warp)

Asleep Versions, Jon Hopkins (Domino)

Where Does This Disco?, YACHT (Downtown)

L1, Beacon (Ghostly International)

EP1, Duke Dumont (Virgin EMI)

nwa.hollywooddreams.coffee, Miguel (Bystorm/RCA)