T he 2015 end of year list is here! This time it’s a jumbo list of 50 favourite albums, as well as an expanded playlist of 90+ songs. So if you don’t find something to listen to over the holidays, there’s something very wrong! It’s never made much sense to include everything in one big list, but well, here we are again. There’s a genre column that’s sortable, that may appease the purists.

First up, the must-listen shoegaze records. Italy’s La Casa al Mare delivered an unforgettable debut in ‘This Astro’, an instant classic. Beliefs returned with their second album ‘Leaper’ and it turned out to be a stunner, even better than expected. Ringo Deathstarr delivered again with ‘Pure Mood’, they could be on top every year! 93MillionMilesFromTheSun gave us the noise/psych crossover ‘Fall Into Nothing’, an epic listen. Cheatahs continued to dish out brilliance with ‘Mythologies’, and Venera 4‘s full length ‘Eidolon’ impressed.

In dream pop land, it’s hard to argue against the beauty of Beach House‘s ‘Depression Cherry’. It’s minimal dream pop at its best. I didn’t expect it, and loved every minute. That’s not to take away from the amazing crossover records by Pinkshinyultrablast, Them Are Us Too, Wildhoney and The Black Ryder. And also, the stand-out jangle pop records; ‘Jane’s Lament’ by Au.Ra, Day Wave‘s debut and Hibou‘s self/titled, all great.

2015 was another big year for reunions; on the back of Slowdive‘s tour came news of Ride‘s live return, as well as Swervedriver‘s new album and the imminent reunion of Lush! What’s next? Here’s hoping My Bloody Valentine‘s new EP will see the light of day but that’s crossing all fingers and toes! Though it’s not completely improbable, Kevin Shields told NME they were heading back into the studio last October/November to work on it. So who knows?

As 2015 wraps up there’s a number of confirmed releases to look forward to in 2016; like DIIV, Nothing, LSD And The Search For God, Pinkshinyultrablast, Dear Tracks, The Enters, Dead Horse One, The Morelings and Maria False. Without further preamble, here’s a list of faves from 2015 (combining albums and EPs / excluding 2-3 track singles)…

Shoegaze And Dream Pop Albums Of 2015

# ARTWORK ARTIST ALBUM GENRE LABEL 1 Beach House Depression Cherry Dream Pop Sub Pop 2 La Casa al Mare This Astro [EP] Shoegaze S/R 3 Beliefs Leaper Shoegaze / Dream Pop Hand Drawn Dracula 4 Ringo Deathstarr Pure Mood Shoegaze / Noise Pop Club AC30 / Vinyl Junkie 5 Pinkshinyultrablast Everything Else Matters Dream Pop / Rock Club AC30 / Shelflife 6 93MillionMilesFromTheSun Fall Into Nothing Shoegaze / Psych S/R 7 Cheatahs Mythologies Shoegaze / Psych Wichita Recordings 8 Them Are Us Too Remain Dream Pop / Synth Pop Dais Records 9 Au.Ra Jane's Lament Dream / Jangle / Psych Felte 10 Venera 4 Eidolon Shoegaze / Dream Pop S/R 11 No Joy More Faithful Shoegaze / Dream Pop Mexican Summer 12 The Black Ryder The Door Behind The Door Dream Pop / Shoegaze The Anti-Machine Machine 13 Astrobrite Deluxer Shoegaze / Noise Rock S/R 14 Wildhoney Your Face Sideways [EP] Dream Pop / Rock Topshelf Records 15 Swervedriver I Wasn't Born To Lose You Rock / Shoegaze S/R 16 Deafcult Deafcult [EP] Noise Pop / Shoegaze S/R 17 Wildhoney Sleep Through It Noise Pop / Shoegaze Deranged / Forward Records 18 Day Wave Headcase [EP] Dream Pop / Jangle Pop S/R 19 Lightning Bug Floaters Shoegaze / Psych S/R 20 Trementina Almost Reach The Sun Shoegaze Vinyl Junkie / BYM 21 Westkust Last Forever Noise Pop / Shoegaze Luxury / Run For Cover 22 Infinity Girl Harm Shoegaze / Rock Topshelf Records 23 Airs Apart [EP] Shoegaze / Dream Pop Bone Orchard 24 She Bit Her Lip Viiv Dream Pop / Shoegaze Seksound Records 25 Cloakroom Further Out Shoegaze / Post-Hardcore Run For Cover Records 26 Hibou Hibou Dream Pop / Jangle Pop Barsuk Records 27 Mumrunner Full Blossom [EP] Shoegaze / Psych Soliti / Wolves & Vibrancy 28 Quell Quell Shoegaze / Post-Rock S/R 29 Winter Supreme Blue Dream Dream Pop / Indie Pop Lollipop Records 30 Air Formation Were We Ever Here [EP] Shoegaze / Rock Club AC30 31 Flyying Colours ROYGBIV [EP] Shoegaze / Noise Pop Club AC30 / Shelflife 32 Forevr Demonstration [EP] Shoegaze / Dream Pop S/R 33 Static Daydream Static Daydream Noise Rock / Shoegaze Moon Sounds / Saint Marie Records 34 Helen The Original Faces Shoegaze / Rock Kranky 35 Lust Lust Shoegaze / Post-Hardcore S/R 36 Sourin Sourin Shoegaze S/R 37 Tamaryn Cranekiss Dream Pop / New Wave Mexican Summer 38 Fever Dream MoyaMoya Noise Pop / Shoegaze Club AC30 39 Sheer Uneasy Shoegaze / Rock The Native Sound 40 Kindling Galaxies [EP] Shoegaze / Rock No Idea Records 41 Vaadat Charigim Sinking As A Stone Shoegaze / Psych Anova Music / Burger Records 42 Threading You Are Never Enough [EP] Shoegaze / Post-Hardcore The Native Sound 43 Maria False When Shoegaze A Quick One 44 White Poppy Natural Phenomena Shoegaze / Experimental Not Not Fun 45 This Love Is Deadly Want Shoegaze / Dream Pop Bekassine / Lovesick 46 Presents For Sally Colours & Changes Rock / Shoegaze Saint Marie Records 47 Shana Falana Set Your Lightning Fire Free Shoegaze / Psych Team Love Records 48 Everyone But Me Everyone But Me [EP] Shoegaze Custom Made Music 49 Bloodhounds On My Trail Escape II [EP] Dream Pop / Shoegaze Moon Sounds Records 50 Ghost Lake I Feel Everything Shoegaze S/R

Shoegaze And Dream Pop Songs Of 2015 *UPDATED*

Need more lists? Here’s 2014’s Shoegaze and Dream Pop Albums / Songs to freshen your memory.

For more shoegaze and dream pop albums stay tuned to the blog @ Sounds Better With Reverb.