Democracy is a great aul' lark altogether. A few weeks ago, The Ticket's gang of music writers put together a load of lists to sum up the year in music and presented it for approval. You, the wise and well-informed readers of The Ticket, then went away and voted on those shortlists and had the final say on 2015 and music. Democracy in action.
The big one for poll watchers is always album of the year and it was Villagers who swooped in to take that award. Conor O'Brien's excellent third album Darling Arithmetic was the top choice for our readers, comprehensively ahead of Girl Band's Holding Hands With Jamie and Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly.
0 of 5
Girl Band, though, don’t leave the field empty-handed as they topped the poll for Best Band, seeing off the challenges from Blur, Alabama Shakes, Tame Impala and The War On Drugs with ease. If there was a category for best live act, we reckon Girl Band would also have taken that one, such was the visceral power of their performances throughout 2015.
It turned out to be a good election campaign for Róisín Murphy, the Wicklow woman who already had a triumphant year thanks to her Mercury Music Prize-nominated Hairless Toys album. She goes home with Best Irish Act and Best Solo Act wins under her oxter, a double-whammy which speaks volumes about her appeal to Irish audiences. Expect Hairless Toys to make an appearance along with those albums from Girl Band and Villagers in the Choice Music Prize shortlist when it's announced in early January.
In terms of Irish acts, Murphy won out despite strong challenges from Villagers and Girl Band (who else?). There were also good showings here for Bitch Falcon and Paddy Hanna.
While many of us may beg to differ, Adele's Hello was the track of the year as far as the readers are concerned. The return of Adele late in the year really was something else – for the first couple of days, the video for Hello was clocking up more than one million views an hour – and it's clear that she struck a chord with readers. If you've got a ticket for her forthcoming Irish tour, make sure it's in a safe place like in your shoe.
For the record, Hello did the business over Tame Impala's Let It Happen, Hot Chip's Dancing In the Dark, Kendrick Lamar's seismic King Kunta and Father John Misty's Nothing Good Ever Happens at the Goddamn Thirsty Crow. Nothing good ever happens at a Father John Misty show either, but that's a heated discussion for another day.
Treasure trove of trad
When it comes to the specialist categories, Buttons & Bows ran away with the Best Traditional Album vote. The Return of Spring, the band's first studio album in 24 years and the album our reviewer Siobhán Long called "a treasure trove of trad and contemporary tunes", caps a very good year for Jackie Daly, Séamus McGuire, Manus McGuire and Garry O'Briain.
There were also section wins for Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell (their fine album The Travelling Kind was your choice for Best Roots' album), Brad Mehldau (the favourite of jazz fans for 10 Years Solo Live) and Peter Whelan and La Serenissima/ Adrian Chandler (best classical album from their recording of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Concertos for Bassoon and Violin in tromba marina).
Your choice for best video went to Sia for the widely admired Elastic Heart which just about held off Girl Band's Paul (one of many great videos from them). Other videos to make an impression with readers included Björk's Stonemilker, Mark Ronson's Feel Right and Kendrick Lamar's Alright.
And that is that for another year. It’s now time to catch up on all the music from the past 12 months that you missed out on and to check out names and releases which have peaked your interest from the lists above. We’ll be back in 2016 to see what’s in store when musicians go to work once again. No doubt we’ll be back in 12 months to see how it all played out.
- Click here to see if you are one of this year's prize-winners
THE TICKET AWARDS 2015 - FILM
BEST BAND Winner - Girl Band
2 Blur
3 Alabama Shakes
4 Tame Impala
5 War On Drugs
BEST ALBUM
Winner - Darling Arithmetic by Villagers
2 Holding Hands With Jamie - Girl Band
3 To Pimp A Butterfly - Kendrick Lamar
4 Vulnicura - Björk
5 Currents - Tame Impala
BEST TRACK
Winner - Adele for Hello
2 Tame Impala - Let It Happen
3 Hot Chip - Dancing In the Dark
4 Kendrick Lamar - King Kunta
5 Father John Misty - Nothing Good Ever Happens at the Goddamn Thirsty Crow
BEST SOLO ACT Winner - Róisín Murphy
2 Kendrick Lamar
3 Björk
4 Sufjan Stevens
5 Father John Misty
BEST IRISH ACT
Winner - Róisín Murphy
2 Villagers
3 Bitch Falcon
4 Girl Band
5 Paddy Hanna
BEST TRADITIONAL ALBUM
Buttons and Bows - The Return of Spring
BEST ROOTS ALBUM
Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell - The Travelling Kind
BEST JAZZ ALBUM
Brad Mehldau - 10 Years Solo Live
BEST CLASSICAL ALBUM
Vivaldi: Four Seasons; Concertos for Bassoon; for Violin in tromba marina - Peter Whelan, La Serenissima/Adrian Chandler (violin)
BEST VIDEO
Sia - Elastic Heart
