I found over 20 lists of “Best Music of 2015” on the Internet and combined them into one meta-list. The results are below – every recording on two or more of the original source lists. To assist those who may be unfamiliar with the myriad music genres and subgenres, I have included some parenthetical guidance from Wikipedia.
On 19 Lists
Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly (hip hop)*
On 15 Lists
Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell (indie folk; baroque pop)*
On 14 Lists
Tame Impala – Currents (psychedelic rock)*
On 12 Lists
Father John Misty – I Love You, Honeybear (indie rock; folk rock)*
On 11 Lists
Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit (indie rock)*
On 9 Lists
Jamie XX – In Colour (electronica; post-dubstep)
On 8 Lists
Sleater-Kinney – No Cities To Love (riot grrrl; indie rock)*
Kamasi Washington – The Epic (jazz)*
On 7 Lists
Björk – Vulnicura (art pop; alternative dance)
Kurt Vile – B’lieve I’m Going Down… (indie rock; low-fi)
Grimes – Art Angels (synthpop; dream pop)*
Vince Staples – Summertime ’06 (hip hop)
On 6 Lists
Drake – If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late (hip hop; R&B)
Miguel – Wildheart (R&B; neo soul)
Deerhunter – Fading Frontier (indie rock; shoegaze)
Alabama Shakes – Sound and Color (roots rock; blues rock)
Jason Isbell – Something More Than Free (Southern rock; alternative country)*
Carly Rae Jepsen – Emotion (pop rock; electropop)
On 5 Lists
Dr. Dre – Compton: A Soundtrack (hip hop; g-funk)
Chvrches – Every Open Eye (synthpop; indietronica)*
Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Multi-Love (psychedelic pop; garage rock)
Maria Schneider Orchestra – The Thompson Fields (jazz)
Future – DS2 (hip hop; R&B)
Joanna Newsom – Divers (indie folk; avant-garde)
Chris Stapleton – Traveller (country; Southern rock)
On 4 Lists
New Order – Music Complete (post-punk; synthpop)
Natalie Prass – Natalie Prass (folk-rock; singer-songwriter)
Julia Holter – Have You In My Wilderness (art pop; ambient)
Blur – The Magic Whip (alternative rock; indie rock)
Beach House – Depression Cherry (dream pop; indie rock)
Adele – 25 (blue-eyed soul; R&B)
Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experiment – Surf (jazz fusion; neo soul)
Leon Bridges – Coming Home (R&B; gospel)
Laura Marling – Short Movie (folk; folk rock)
Songhoy Blues – Music In Exile (world; desert blues)
Rudresh Mahanthappa – Bird Calls (jazz)
Henry Threadgill Zooid – In For A Penny, In For A Pound (jazz; avant-garde jazz)
José James – Yesterday I Had The Blues: The Music of Billie Holiday (jazz; neo soul)*
The Internet – Ego Death (trip hop; acid jazz)
Various Artists – Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording) (hip hop; R&B)
Florence and the Machine – How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful (indie rock; indie pop)
Torres – Sprinter (alt rock; folk)
On 3 Lists
Janet Jackson – Unbreakable (pop; dance)
Lana Del Ray – Honeymoon (dream pop; trip hop)
RP Boo – Fingers, Bank Pads & Shoe Prints (footwork; ghetto house)
D’Angelo and the Vanguard – Black Messiah (soul; jazz-funk)
Majical Cloudz – Are You Alone? (indie pop; electronic)
Rae Sremmurd – Sremmlife (hip hop; trap)
Oneohtrix Point Never – Garden of Delete (drone; vaporwave)
Deafheaven – New Bermuda (black metal; blackgaze)
Destroyer – Poison Season (indie rock; baroque pop)
The Weeknd – Beauty Behind The Madness (PBR&B; pop)
Allison Moorer – Down To Believing (country; folk)
Alexander Von Schlippenbach Trio – Features (jazz)
Bob Dylan – Shadows in the Night (traditional pop)
Katie Thiroux – Introducing Katie Thiroux (jazz)
Amir ElSaffar – Crisis (jazz; world)
J.D. Allen – Graffiti (jazz; hard bop)
Wilco – Star Wars (indie rock; alternative country)
Hop Along – Painted Shut (indie folk-rock; freak folk)
Protomartyr – The Agent Intellect (post-punk; noise rock)
Mbongwana Star – From Kinshasa (world)
Girlpool – Before The World Was Big (folk punk)
Rhiannon Giddens – Tomorrow Is My Turn (folk; blues)
Kacey Musgraves – Pageant Material (outlaw country; Americana)
Jazmine Sullivan – Reality Show (R&B; soul)
Vijay Iyer – Break Stuff (jazz)
Igot Levit – Piano Works of Bach, Beethoven and Rzewiski (classical)
On 2 Lists
Holly Herndon – Platform (experimental; electronic)
The Dead Weather – Dodge And Burn (blues rock; garage rock)
Tobias Jesso Jr. – Goon (indie rock; baroque pop)
Titus Andronicus – The Most Lamentable Tragedy (indie rock; art punk)
Wolf Alice – My Love Is Cool (alternative rock; post-grunge)
Sleaford Mods – Key Markets (minimalist; post-punk)
Tigran Hamasysan – Luys I Luso (jazz; world)
Iron Maiden – The Book of Souls (heavy metal)
Ratatat – Magnifique (rocktronica; neo-psychedelia)
Disclosure – Caracal (deep house; future garage)
The Decemberists – What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World (indie folk; folk rock)*
Lady Lamb – After (indie rock; indie folk)
James McMurtry – Complicated Game (Americana; country rock)
Chastity Belt – Time To Go Home (indie rock)
Foals – What Went Down (indie rock; dance-punk)
The Foreign Exchange – Tales from the Land of Milk and Honey (R&B, electronica)
Hiatus Kaiyote – Choose Your Weapon (neo-soul; future soul)
Pete Oxley and Nicolas Meier – Chasing Tales (jazz)
Kenny Wheeler – Songs For Quintet (avant-garde jazz; post bop)
Jack DeJohnette – Made in Chicago (jazz fusion; new-age)
Kenny Werner Trio – The Melody (jazz)
Fred Hersch – Solo (jazz)
Brad Mehldau – 10 Years Solo Live (jazz)
Prism Quartet – Heritage/Evolution, Vol. 1 (jazz)
Benjamin Clementine – At Least For Now (rock opera; chamber pop)
Dave Douglas Quintet – Brazen Heat (free jazz; electronic music)
John Scofield – Past Present (jazz funk; nu jazz)
The Bad Plus And Joshua Redman – The Bad Plus Joshua Redman (jazz)
Joey Calderazzo – Going Home (jazz)
Ashley Monroe – The Blade (country; outlaw country)
Bomba Estéreo – Amanecer (electro; cumbia)
The Game – The Documentary 2 (hip hop)
Earl Sweatshirt – I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside (alternative hip hop)
Waxahatchee – Ivy Tripp (indie rock; indie folk)
Andrew Norman – Play (Boston Modern Orchestra Project) (classical)*
Dmitri Shostakovich – Symphony No. 10 (Boston Symphony Orchestra) (classical)
Anthony de Mare – Liaisons — Re-imagining Sondheim From The Piano (jazz; classical)
Anna Thorvaldsdottir – In the Light of Air (International Contemporary Ensemble) (classical)