End of year best albums list.

Top 2 gigs I only found out about on the day[/u]

Francis Harold & the Holograms – some warehouse in Glasgow, September



Francis Harold & the Holograms is a hardcore Arizona punk band who wear Death-style hoods and are fronted by an overweight Indian wearing a filthy raincoat. The one time I saw them they were un-fucking-believeable, which happened to be at 3 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon in a semi-derelict warehouse - as this vid shows. The cops arrived half way through, but to their credit, didn’t close it down. They were supported by Gropecunt.

Lee Mavers – some pub in Glasgow



I still can’t believe this happened. It seems like a dream. Incidently, because Mavers didn't come until 10 pm, I had to miss the first 6 rounds of David Haye v Klitschko, which was the same night. Not a great loss as it turned out

Best new band name of the year

Gropecunt

Top ten gigs, no order

Toots & the Maytals – Glasgow Academy, September

If you only see one reggae band in your life, make it Toots.

Wu-Tang Clan – Glastonbury, June

Massive, massive, massive. Best I’ve seen them. Bring the Ruckus was POWERFUL.

Three Trapped Tigers – Glasgow School of Art, May

Playing downstairs in a wee bar. Most of the punters were standing taken aback by them, whilst meanwhile I was grabbing my bird and screaming THIS BAND ARE THE FUCKING FUTURE in her face.

Lee Scratch Perry – Glastonbury, June

The man, the myth, the legend. He’s about 4”6 tall and has a beard dyed bright red. His set was part heavy dub DJing, before his band came out and warmed up the crowd with ten minutes of CAN I GET A LEE SCRATCH PERRY? much like some mad McDonalds order. He then sang a 30 min set of roots reggae standards. Kind of like the polar opposite of an aged Phil Spector singing a set of soul classics, backed by the Drifters. But absolutely amazing.

Adam Stafford – Bongo Club, November

Man's a genius.

Beady Eye – Glasgow Barrowland, March

I WAS THERE. THEIR FIRST EVER GIG. I WAS THERE. Best I’ve ever seen Liam, end of. Four Letter Word = better than anything Oasis did in the past ten years. Umad Noel?

Primal Scream – Glastonbury, June

Pissing down with rain, freezing cold, crowd was half-empty as nearly every sadact at Glasto went to see U2 - BUT NOT ME, BALLDOG AND KARL’S SWEDISH BIRD THOUGH! The set I saw them do in March was probably just as good, but this was all about the experience.

British Sea Power – The Arches, Glasgow, February

They’ve reached the stage where they have so much good material they could play 3 hours and everyone at the gig would still love it. I’ve watched them evolve since 2003, and they just get better and better.

Futuristic Retro Champions – Captains Rest, April

Much loved saccharine-sweet indiepop band’s final gig. I can still get all JP-circa-2007 if I want to.

Mogwai – SWG3, Glasgow, September

In a tent behind a railway, a crowd full of aggressive Weegies on ching, with yours truly pulling shapes and getting stuck in. Mogwai Fear Columbia_rocks_man

Top 1 tune by a forum member in 2011



Even if this tune had been written by Abs, sung by Chuzeville and produced by Tob, I'd still throw my hands up and admit that it's simply brilliant.

Top 1 tune from an album you should look out for in January



Twilight Sad going down the industrial meets shoegaze route. Large.

Top 1 tune from the greatest album you'll hear in 2012



It's coming

FORTY - Haterz gonna hate

40. Wilco – The Whole love
39. The Sand Band – All Through The Night
38. Dream Diary – You Are The Beat
37. Ghostpoet – Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam
36. The Decemberists – The King is Dead
35. Anna Calvi – Anna Calvi
34. Wy Lyf – Go Tell Fire to the Mountain
33. Bon Iver – Bon Iver
32. REM – Collapse Into Now
31. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds – Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

30. SCUM – Again Into Eyes
29. Cults – Cults
28. Art Brut – Brilliant Tragic!
27. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Belong
26. The Strokes - Angles
25. Creepoid – Horse Heaven
24. The Streets – Computers & Blues
23. The Go! Team – Rolling Blackouts
22. The Vaccines – What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?
21. J Mascis – Several Shades of Why

20. Charles Bradley – No Time for Dreaming
19. The Joy Formidable – The Big Roar
18. The Duke Spirit - Brusier
17. Beady Eye – Different Gear, Still Speeding
16. Ringo Deathstarr – Colour Trip
15. Elbow – Build A Rocket Boys!
14. Gruff Rhys – Hotel Shampoo
13. Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes
12. Black Lips – Arabia Mountain
11. Ryan Adams – Ashes & Fire

10. Action Bronson – Dr. Lecter
9. The Black Keys – El Camino
8. Aiden Moffat & Bill Wells – Everything's Getting Older
7. Laura Marling – A Creature I Don't Know
6. Tom Waits – Bad As Me

5. British Sea Power – Valhalla Dancehall
4. The Horrors - Skying
3. Yuck - Yuck
2. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake

1. Josh T Pearson – Last of the Country Gentlemen

A few records that I feel would make it and dump a few of the lower records out but I haven't listened to them enough yet - Stephen Malkmus, Kate Bush, Standard Fare's newie plus a few others.

Great year - plenty of listed albums I've not cast my ears over yet so looking forward to visiting a few of the Soapy's picks.

good list by virtue of the fact that theres no kasabian on it (everyone who likes kasabian is a balloon)

never got into that JTP album at all myself though.

What a powerful page. Chrissie, Was scream at glasto really not that busy? I think I ended up nearish the front so had no idea what was behind me. Gutted I lost you after Mozza though as punishment me and sam got over there too early and had to hear a huge chunk of Mumfred and sons set which I don't think I'll ever get over.
I really wanna see Lee Perry, he comes over almost every year and does the jazz cafe, always never found anybody who wanted to go so passed it off. Gonna try to see him next time.

Huge list Brad, we listen to so much of the same shit. Josh4thewinffs!

Hepburh, is Laura Marling definitely doing a new record next year? Fuck me she don't stop does she.

FFS JP's gaybook status reminded me about the Sea of Bees record - think RYM puts that under 2010 so must have missed it although it was released in Feb 2011.

Julie sea of bees is such a slut, saw her in Liverpool and the support was Laura j Martin who went to my school, we were having a chat about things and a drunken singing of the school hymn, all the time Julie was basically trying to rape laura

50 - Bobmo – The Cliff (EP)

Terrific little 4 song electro EP from Frenchman ‘Bobmo’. Even though it's only a 4 track affair, I would much rather put this in my list than some of the leading contenders: Noel's borefest or the crushingly dissapointing Spectrals album.

Listen to – Deadpoint :Bouncy French acid house - delicious

49:-Justice – Audio Visual Disco

It’s that old difficult 2nd album syndrome for Justice. As anyone who’s watched there cliché ridden tour documentary will tell you though, it was probably fairly likely they’d make a ridiculous second album. On the follow up they’ve gone a bit proggy on us all, noodling synths, ridiculously cheesey sounding guitars, some vocal harmonies and just generally long, boring songs. Only the disco sounding “Helix” and the pounding more old style Justice of “Canon” hit the spot for me. You have to admire them for bravely ditching there old sound but I can’t get into this at all.

Listen to - Canon

48 - Bad Meets Evil – Hell: The Sequel

This is the collaboration album between Eminem and Royce Da 5 9. They first collaborated on the awesome track ‘Bad Meets Evil’ on Eminem’s debut. They’ve now reunited this year for an 8 song EP “Hell The Sequel”. How is it? A mixed bag, both are fantastic rappers when on form but too often the choruses are so shit (female vocalists singing cheesy clichéd shit) that it ruins any vibe they create through the verse. It’s not bad though, when in full flow Eminem and Royca Da have a brilliant chemistry between them.

Listen to – Welcome 2 Hell

47 - Beady Eye – Different Gear Still Speeding

Sorry Liam. Opener four letter word hits it, and Bring The Light is a pretty awesome rock n roll stomp but everything else ranges from cringey (for anyone) to acceptable but painfully dull (The Morning Sun). The spirit is here as you can hear the effort, Liam sounds really fired up vocally but the songs are just not really there. Still better than Noel’s turgid abortion of an album though.

Listen to – Bring The Light

46 - The Vaccines – What Did You Expect From The Vaccines

I’m glad the Vaccines exist, for a while it seemed like traditional British indie music with scratchy guitars, heavily accented vocals and big choruses had been drowned in a wave of keyboards and ponce vocals but along came the Vaccines to remind us that as long as guitars exist and people still remember the Libertines it will never die. It’s not clever or particularly brilliant and I doubt in a few years anyone will even remember the songs but the Vaccines definitely serve a purpose of a timely reminder that there’s still an audience out there for guitar music that is short, tuneful and incredibly catchy.

Listen to – Wreckin Bar :A wonderful 90 second opener with silly Scott Fitzgerald references and a fuck you Ramones vibe to it.

45 - Kode 9 – Black Sun

Real dark dark dub step from Kode 9 & Spaceape. The vocals delivered with aplomb by Spaceape are very much at odds with the perceived view of dubstep as party music, lyrically he’s talking about suicide, anxiety and general bad shit. Musically it’s textured bass patterns with a layer or two of wobbly keyboards. Interesting sounding but not particularly mind blowing. Personally I can only listen to this album in chunks, not because it isn’t good, just because it only really has one mood, darkness and that gets a bit much after a while.

Listen to - Everyman

44 - Dusty Kid – Beyond That Hill

A decent collection of well thought out electronic music. Beyond that Hill is 8 tracks of big sounding, heavily layered European house music, it’s not hugely engaging but it’s a good listen nonetheless.

Listen to - Cheyenne

43 - The Weeknd – House of Balloons

The Weeknd isn’t something I’d typically ever be into as he’s a real smooth R & B singer, however the content is pretty good so it’s hard to ignore. The vibe of this album is a sort of haunting minimal, spacey production with these stream of consciousness tales of drugs, love, lust and desperation sung over the top. His voice is brilliant as it captures some real pain and goes hand in hand with the lyrics he’s singing. It won’t be for everyone and it is a bit one trick as it does wear thin after a while but it is a good idea and it’s well executed.

Listen to – High For This :seedy, dubby tinged party tune

42 : Digitalism – I Love You Dude

Lots of second album problems for Digitalism. The first was immensely fun but this follow up seems a bit contrived. A lot of the songs have more of a conventional rock feel to them but they just don’t have the same effect as the debut. In fact much of the album comes over as overly cheesy, mainly due to the poor lyrics and increased presence of actual verse chorus type vocals instead of the looped vocal samples on the first album. Still It's a Digilism release so there're still some good shit on there to take in amongts the lesser offerings.

Listen to – Statosphere :one of the more original Digitalism style songs

41 - Atlas Sound – Parallax

Atlas Sound’s first two albums are of considerable quality, unfortunately this one doesn’t quite live up to the mark. As with everything Bradford Cox touches there are some good moments on it, but by in large it’s a disappointing album bereft of any real standouts. Bradford Cox could really do with being a little less prolific (3 Atlas sound and 5 Deerhunter albums and numerous EPs in 10 years) as the song writing is starting to suffer. But with his condition, it’s easy to understand why he doesn’t want to slow it down.

Listen to - Lightworks

40 -Bon Iver – Bon Iver

Nice production and well formed songs, this is a very likeable album. It’s well produced, warm sounding and has lovely vocals. Most of the songs build nicely from simple beginnings into rich warm compositions. Shame about the terrible last song then, which almost threatens to destroy all that came before it.

Listen to - Holoscne

39 -Yusek – Living On The Edge of Time

This albums a bit more poppy than his older stuff as it’s far more vocally orientated with less electro bangers. The first 6 tracks are a bit excessively poppy for my tastes and although catchy as hell are bit over the top, but from track 7 onwards it really gets into more of a groove and pulls that album back.

Listen to - Fireworks

38 - WU LYF – Go Tell Fire To the Mountain

This is a hard album for me too listen to all the way through. I just can’t get over how awful the singers voice is, a lot of people say that it adds character and they wouldn’t be who they are without it and I kind of agree but it still doesn’t help the fact that I can only enjoy WULYF in small doses. The music is at times absolutely majestic and massively atmospheric, all sparse jangly guitars and echoey organs, but that voice… gravelly is a polite way of describing the vocals. Good but flawed.

Listen to – LYF

37 - Ringo Deathstarr – Colour Trip

Snappy band name, a fit guitarist and music that sounds like a baggy my bloody valentine, what’s not to like? The album isn’t consistent enough to be an all time classic but it’s certainly got enough about it to deserve exploration by those who like shoegaze.

Listen to – Imagine Hearts

36 - Boys Noize Records Presents Super Acid (compilation)

Another absolutely banging compilation from Boys Noize records. As you can probably tell from the album title, this one is a bit of a homage to the acid house genre. All clattering drums, squelchy roland synths and the odd siren. It’s all new stuff though that aims to recreate the thrill of late 80’s acid house but with modern production. By in large it succeeds too, highlights being Boys Noize opener “10/10” Jan Divers “Army of Mowers”, the savage collaboration between Erol Alkon and Boys Noize “Death Suite” and the more straight up, “The Beast” by Strip Steve. If you like the old school acid sound you’ll love this.

Listen to – Boys Noize - "10/10"

35 – Action Bronson & Statik Selektah - Well Done

Bronson’s second release of the year sees him collaborating with producer Statik Selektah. I don’t like this as much as Dr Lechter, perhaps a little due to it’s unfamiliarity with me (it only came out in December) perhaps also because the beats sound a bit more mainstream and not as interesting as the beats on Lechter. Bronson’s still on it thoughout and doesn’t put a single word wrong. Lyrically it’s more of the same, maybe being a little lighter than on Lechter.

Listen to – Time for Some Action :a thick slice of big sounding original hip hop

34 - Neon Indian – Era Extrana

More mid tempo type stuff with washy keyboards and softly sung vocals that seem to be everywhere at the moment. This one’s a goodun though, a few really good songs on this release held together with some more average ones. There’s some really great and different keyboard sounds on this album from light poppy sounding numbers to some altogether more dense and psychedelic songs.

Listen to – Polish Girl :A real catchy beast of a song.

33 -Jan Driver – Amatilda

Proving that you don’t have to be a 19 year old Frenchman with a fringe to make decent electro records is Jan Driver, an aging German with a fat face, precious little hair but a flair for varied, interesting electronic music. The first 10 tracks off this album are all pretty solid, with a nice range of electro bangers and some more weirded out slower tunes. Bass is the big thing on Amatilda, I don’t know how he does it but the bass sounds bigger on this album than any on this list. Unfortunately the quality slides a bit in the last 3rd (it’s a 15 track album). Like a lot of electro artists, they could do with editing there albums down a bit but all in all it’s a pretty decent album, the collaboration with Siriusmo ‘Let’s do it together’ is especially good.

Listen to – Let’s Do It Together

32 - The Kills – Blood Pressures

After seeing them live years ago and really enjoying there performance I finally got round to checking out the Kills this year when they released there new album Blood Pressures. It’s a pretty decent way to start, opening song Future comes fast is one of the songs of the year. The way they arranged the songs on this album though is not particularly smart as straight after the belting opening song there are 3 songs of consecutively degrading quality, then a short beatlesy sounding average number then the saving grace of ‘DNA’. From here on in though it’s good shit all the way through to the charming closer of ‘Pots and Pans’.

Listen to – Future comes fast

31 - Raveonettes – Raven In the Grave

This, there fitth studio album seems to have slipped under the radar a little. This is a shame as it’s an enjoyable collection of songs. Not as shoegazey as there earlier work as they’ve turned up the keyboards for this one and made more of an effort to get with the times (by going back to the 80’s). The results are pretty decent, and in Recharge & Revolt they’ve made one of the best songs of there career. Not as brilliant as the debut or ‘Lust Lust Lust’ but definitely a decent effort.

Listen to – Recharge & Revolt

30 - The Strokes – Angles

A big surprise inclusion is this album, I thought it was a bit of a joke when I first heard it mainly due to the shock of the massive shift in styles from the sound of there first 3 albums. On repeated listens however, Angles has revealed itself to be a fascinating album of many different styles (funk, reggae, 80s pop, rock, punk and classic rock), the songs are strong and have more of a sense of urgency about them that was sadly lacking from ‘First impressions…’. It’s a shame they don’t seem to like each other any more as Angles has seems to have given them a lifeline, just when they were in danger of becoming stale has beens.

Listen to – Machu Piccu

29 - J.Macsis – Several Shades of Why

This is the first solo release from ex Dinosaur Junior singer/songwriter / genius guitarist J.Mascis. Considering Dinosaur Jr’s penchant for big noisy fuzzed out guitar’s it’s somewhat surprising that you have to go 5 songs deep into his album before you even hear a an electric guiar. Yep it’s pretty much an acoustic album. It’s a real belter too, there’s not a weak song among the 10 tracks offered here. His voice even at 45 still manages to retain that sound of dissatisfied American youth and the guitar playing is lovely.

Listen to – Is It Done

28 - SBTRKT – SBTRKT

Dubby goodness on show here. More on the lighter side of dubstep than the Kode9 album, which is the other dubstep representation on this list. Pharaohs and Wildfire are pretty much all out main stream pop, but done brilliantly, great melodies, punchy rhythms and good vocals. There are a few different guest vocalists showcase on this album with mixed results, Yukimi Nagano owns ‘Wildfire’ and likewise Roses Gabor on ‘Pharohs’ but I found the vocals that Sampha’s vocals quite annoying and unfortunately he features on a number of tracks.

Listen to – Wildfire

27 - The Field – Looping State of Mind

The Field is the stage name for Swedish electronic artist Axell Willner. Looping state of mind is his 3rd album and by in large it sticks to the same formula as the first two – lengthy progressions of dense collages of looping droned out electronic sounds. It’s reminiscent of some of Aphex Twin’s work and its pretty dam good too.

Listen to – Arpeggiated Love :a massive 10 minute slowly building epic.

26 - Toro Y Moi – Freaking Out (EP)

Toro’s second release of the year, the Freaking Out EP probably contains there best work. If they replicated this over a full long player it could be album of the year worthy. The EP is much more electronic than the album with a big 80’s dancefloor vibe. Some great tunes on this 5 song EP.

Listen to – Saturday Night : genius 80’s electro pop.

25 - Tyler The Creator - Goblin

A massively flawed work of genius from Odd Future’s Tyler The Creator. When it’s good (Yonkers, Radicals, Tron Cat, Sandwiches, She) it’s absolutely brilliant. However when it’s bad (Transylvania, Nightmare, Window) it’s absolutely terrible. What makes Tyler the creator good, that don’t give a fuck / I’ll say and do whatever the fuck I want attitude is the same thing that makes him bad. Intense attention to detail is not something that they have focussed on in the studio and so a few stinkers have slipped through and spoiled what could have been the album of the year.

Listen to – Radicals :an absolute banger of a track, chorus - ‘KILL PEOPLE, BURN SHIT…. FUCK SCHOOL!”

24 - Housemeister – Music Is Awesome

An action packed, fun, high tempo electro house LP. There’s barely a bad song on it.

Listen to – Music is Awesome

23 - Gang Gang Dance – Eye Contact

What a weird album this is. I really enjoyed there previous album the massively eclectic - ‘Saint Dymphna’. Eye contact though is even more zany than its predecessor. It’s more synthy and rhythmic than ‘SD’ with the Chinese pop music sounding vocals cranked to extra weird. Enjoyably fucked up.

Listen to - Mind Killa

22 - Tashaki Miyaki – Tashaki Miyaki EP

I’m a total sucker for anything like this. Sound wise it’s early Raveonettes / Jesus and Mary Chain with Mazzy Star style vocals. If you like any of those 3 bands you’ll adore Tashaki Miyaki. It's an 8 song EP with 4 original compositions, a cover (a wonderfully dreamy version of Buddy Holly's Heartbeat) and 3 alternative versions.

Listen to – Keep Me In Mind

21 - Surkin – USA

With ‘USA’ Surkin is striving for the big time this release. It’s got huge variety of ideas and a unifying concept of the album being a radio show running through it. It’s definitely a party album to keep you dancing and in the main it’s a good template of how to make a fun, funky disco electro album. It’s got a bit of a hip hop vibes too in the sense of it’s many vocal samples that are thrown out there. Where it suffers is it’s overly long and occasionally excessively poppy but those are minor negative marks on a very good album.

Listen to – White Knight Two :huge 90s sounding piano anthem.

20 - Minks – By The Hedge

If you didn’t know it was the Mink’s you’d swear you were listening a Yo La Tengo album. The first 3 tracks of By The Hedge certainly fit this description, after which the album veers through styles of some different (but fairly similarly sounding ) influences – My Bloody Valentine, The Cure. It’s a good album that sadly never achieves the originality that turns good albums into great ones. It’s well worthy of appreciation though.

Listen to – Funeral Song :a nice poppy, cure-eque paean to the summer as it disappears

19 - Arctic Monkeys – Suck It and See

Another fine effort from the Arctic Monkeys who have never made a bad album. The fourth is markedly more mature sounding (surprise surprise) than the three predecessors as they’ve morphed from scratchy indie rock songs about pulling girls and getting beaten up, to writing more altogether well rounded songs with more musical depth and subtler lyrics. They’ve done it supremely well too, whilst I still prefer the childish thrill of the debut, Suck it and see easily slots into there ever improving discography very nicely indeed.

Listen to – She’s Thunderstorms

18 - Viva Voce – The Future Will Destroy You

A splendid album that took me by surprise with its instant-ness. This is an album full of catchy rock songs, opener ‘Plastic Radio’ and the brilliant echoey psychedelic duo ‘Viking Love Song’ and ‘No Ship Coming In’ are the cream of the crop. Influence wise, we’re talking a mix of classic and psychedelic rock with a very modern well produced sound.

Listen to – No Ship Coming In : reminds me of Jefferson Airplane

17 - Sirisuimo – Mosaik

Similar in style to the Housemeister album that’s also on the same label (Berlin’s Boys Noize Records), Mosaik also brings fun to table with interesting samples and playful keyboard effects. On the whole it’s got less ‘euro disco’ sounding songs than on the Housemeister release and has a more depth of different sounds and effects across it’s 17 tracks. As the title suggests its a real 'Mosaik' of different dance songs, pounding electro european house music, disco, funk, dub, synth pop. Well worth exploring.

Listen to – Einmal In Der Woche Schrein : A tuneful bouncy psychedelic monster of a song.

16 - Toro Y Moi – Underneath The Pine

I prefer this one to there much lauded debut. It’s a really interesting sound there attempting on this album, muddled fuzzy almost shoegazey sounds with a dancey disco beats and hushed vocals. I love the dreamy sound of this record.

Listen to – New Beat

15 - Wooden Shjips – West

Never heard of these guys before I heard there 3rd album ‘West’. It’s an album worthy of comparisons to fellow psychedelic rockers The Black Angels or Spacemen 3. The riffs on show here are beautifully scuzzed up and the vocals are pretty much murmured throughout the album. It’s more droney side of psychedelic rock so if your into that sort of thing I’d check it out.

Listen to - Home

14 - Sebastian – Total

I’ve waited a fucking age for this album. Since I heard the genius electro release ‘Smoking Kills EP’ a good number of years ago, I’d been waiting for this album. Sound wise he’s not doing anything beyond what was expected - it’s super fucking compressed French electro disco with a massive Daft Punk influence. It’s a fantastic release hampered (as is always the case on releases by electro DJs) by its absurd length (22 tracks!). A little more quality control and it’d be a classic.

Listen to – Kindercut

13 - Washed Out – Within and Without

The name perfectly describes washed out’s music. ‘Eyes closed’ the albums opener is absolutely stunning, a gentle head nodding rhythm supplemented by some of the dreamiest keyboards you’ve ever heard and vocals that drift in and out of the song space as if transmitted from another planet on a celestial wind. The whole album never shifts from the mood of gentle waves on a tropical beach at night time. Critics may say it’s overly blissed out, not me though as they’ve sensibly kept it down to 9 songs, so it’s over fairly quickly. By the time you’re reaching terminal chill it suddenly ends a bit like a good daydream.

Listen to – Eyes Be Closed

12 - Fair Ohs – Everything Is Dancing

A great little low key indie album. Everything is dancing is all about danceable punchy little indie songs with occasional African sounding beats and punk guitars, very much in the vein of Vampire Weekend but more lofi sounding and much better.

Listen to - Eden

11 - Ed Banger Records – Let The Children Techno (compilation)

An awesome 20 song compilation put out by French electro label Ed Banger records. Unlike most dance music compilations this one manages to maintain absolute class throughout, besides the awful; Mattie Safer: "Is That Your Girl?" and the merely average closer from Flying Lotus, everything else is good. It flies through various sub genres with total ease, from genius electro funk of Breakbot to a glorious synthy remix of Bernard Fevre’s ‘Dali’ renamed 'Infinity Riser', it even slips into some dub later in the album which is a real turn up for Ed Banger. This is not a patience sapping techno album but a brilliant trip through some really fun electro house tunes.

Listen to – Breakbot, Shades of Black

10 - Radiohead - King of Limbs

Personally I don't understand all the criticism this release has had. At the end of the day (sorry) it's a new Radiohead album with a few really good songs, some good songs and a few average ones - this makes it a good album in any year. It has a bit of the dull start but once it gets going it's pretty good. Seperator and Lotus Flower are two of my favourite 'head songs of all time... EVER!

Listen to - Seperator - a typically haunting fine piece of work

9 - Thee Oh Sees – Castlemania

A totally mental album I only just discovered. Thee Oh Sees (on this album anyway) are pretty much Syd Barret era Pink Floyd but made more lo-fi and madder. I really love the combo of surreal lyrics snappy quirky melodies and weird random noises of doorbells and demonic voices in the background.

Listen to - Stinking Cloud - A lovely classical sounding melody augmented by out of tune trumpets and fucked up whistles.

8 - Gruff Ryhs – Hotel Shampoo

Utterly charming is the first thing that comes to mind when I think back to Hotel Shampoo. Gruff's voice is just so charming that it completely disarms you when you hear it. I'm a long time SFA fan but it's the first Gruff Rhys solo release i've heard and i'll definately be checking out more. It's a really consistent album, with it's only flaw being that all of the songs are good but there's nothing truly great on there.

Listen to - Christopher Colulmbus - One of the more adventurous arrangements on the album.

7 - Jamie XX & Gill Scott Heron – We’re New Here

Mega Mega skillfull remix album from Jamie XX (aka Jamie from the XX!). The general problem with remix albums is you either fuck up the songs so much that you create something new that barely repesents the original album and thus lose the original vibe of the album, or you make minor tweeks and alterations but fail to add anything new. Jamie XX has managed to do neither here, he's got the original (released last year) and completely turned it on it's head creating vast, stunningly original songscapes and cut and pasted Gill Scott's vocals all over them. Managing to not make the vocals sound out of place and replicating the vibe of the original perfectly.

Listen to - NY Is Killing Me - Absolutely killer dubby beat perfect for Gill Scott's vox.

6 - Yuck – Yuck

A very good album which is an absolute must for anyone who likes the sound of early to mid 90s alt American guitar music. The first 6 tracks are absolutely on fire, and stack up one after the other like your listening to some long lost classic Pavement album. Unfortunately aside from the scuzzy thrill of 'Operation' and the slow burn more Pavement sounding than Pavement closer of 'Rubber' side 2 isn't as strong. Still a very good album though.

Listen to - The Wall - a hugely catchy song

5 - PJ Harvey – Let England Shake

A masterful performance from Polly Jean, vocally it's an absolutely unbelievable. The music is very good too, really fucking moody but still quite light, giving lots of space for that voice to work it's thick, dark magic. Lyrically the constant references to England do get a bit annoying but it's a minor gripe. Song wise, only 'All and Everyone' doesn't hit the spot for me, everything else is very good. There's a nice variety of songs on here too, from the tone setting mid tempo opener 'Let England Shake' to the light, 50's rock n roll sampling 'The Words That Maketh Murder', dark cinematic ballads like 'On Battleship Hill', a more traditional raw rock sound - 'Bitter Branches', The shimmering ethereal 'Written on the Forehead' and the haunting folky closer 'The colour of the earth'.

Listen to - The Glorious Land - hard to pick a standout on this album so i'll just have to go with this melodic little beaut.

4 - The Horrors – Skying

A stunning album that initially underwhelmed due to the crushing hype of trying to follow up an album of the year but then revealed itself to be another absolutely monumental album. Perhaps it falls ever so slightly short of Primary Colours but it's still a brilliant follow up.

Listen to - Oceans Burning - psychedelic closer of swirling guitars and spacey vocals.

3 - Action Bronson – Dr Lechter

I Love the beats on this album, it's just got such a classic and fun loving feel to it with it's all school soul samples and percussive rhythms. It's absolute perfect for a rapper as talented as Action Bronson to showcase his trade. His rhymes are often playful, rhythmic and full of character, rarely falling into the bullshit clichéd drivel that has almost killed real hip hop. I love the way it's completely taking things back to the basics of focusing on supreme MC skill. Bring on the next golden age of hip hop.

Listen to - Ronnie Coleman - real punchy funky beat with Bronson on prime form.

2 - Mazes – A Thousand Heys

Hard to believe that these guys aren't from California as they recreate that melodic, blissed out, Cali, skater punk vibe incredibly well. There kinda like a punkier and more melodic version of Yuck. For me it's the careless attitude of this album that's irresistible, the songs are well constructed enough to be melodic but also they also don't sound like TOO much thought has gone into them as to not spoil the whole fresh careless fun vibe. Effortlessly brilliant.

Listen to - Bowie Knives - Has the biggest chorus of the album, absolute choon.

1 - Metronomy – The English Riviera

God knows how I went from I went from thinking Metronomy were absolutely terrible to acknowledging The English Riviera as the album of the year but well here we are. The English Riviera is absolutely brilliant and is stunning collection of songs I wouldn't have thought would have been possible to have come from this band. All of the songs have a real depth to them, in terms of the lyrics, the brilliant production and the killer arrangements of perfectly balanced keyboard sounds, minimal sounding guitar and deep rich bass. Lyrically it's the usual shit about break ups and make ups but it's so well executed and you can really feel the emotion in the delivery. This albums more about the sum of its parts more than any moment of individual brilliance so it needs a few listens to get it. His vocals won't be everyone's cup of tea but if you can get past that it's totally brilliant.

Listen to - The Look - simple but massively effective





URGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHH

FFS Thanks god that's over, that took ages.

Apologies for the occasional dips into blogger review mode, I kept getting carried away and forgetting that I was only writing for the Soapy not for fucking pitchfork. Thought's concerning the year as a whole and top 10 gigs attended coming later, need a rest, a cup of tea and a Mcgangbang (google it) in that order.

Props to Mahoney too for his format which i've unashamedly sampled.

Amazing Stocky! Gonna have a kip then give this a proper read

Man I bet JP feels so silly when he see's what his list could of been. High-5 Stocky!

Nice read Stocky. Definitely a bunch of stuff I wanna check out now such as Tashaki Miyaki, Mazes (forgot to check their album out). I kind of liked Viva Voce's record from a few years ago, forgot all about them actually.
You & Kev both rating Toro Y Moi is enough for me to check them out though that artwork is some fucked up gay shit!

btw, the kills album before this Midnight Boom is well worth checking out. Much more poppier yet so fucking good.

This has been the year where I've listened to most contemporary music, but I doubt I'll do the same thing next year. I only consider the top3 records really essential but every album listed has something to make it special enough. This year I've seen live 8 of the 10 bands that form the top10, so I guess it helps a little to their position. Here we go:

30. Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring For My Halo
Like someone said, it is a good album but not that special. But when I'm in the right mood it works so well.
Key track: Jesus Fever

29. Yuck - Yuck
They embody perfectly their influences, it's just that I'm not that keen on that era.
Key track: The Wall

28. Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
Admirable craftsmanship but it drags a bit. I reckon I would have loved this band if they had come some years ago.
Key track: Honey Bunny

27. The Babies - The Babies
Quite liked this when it came out but lost interest soon. Still it has some fun tunes.
Key track: Meet Me In The City

26. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Mirror Traffic
I was never into Pavement at all but this is a poppier, friendlier approach. Maybe too long but with some great guitar driven songs.
Key track: Senator

25. Cloud Nothings - Cloud Nothings
I really wanted this to be great cos his early singles were so, but the truth is it goes at an unnecessary speed and the second half is forgettable. But its energy it's welcome and I swear it sounds like The La's sometimes.
Key track: Understand At All

24. Destroyer - Kaputt
80s moody sounds with saxophones, keyboards and all that shit. Described sounds like the worst idea ever but it works.
Key track: Chinatown

23. Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde
I still think the debut has better songs and the singer needs to wise up, but Weekend is a killer tune and the rest is quite alright.
Key track: Weekend

22. The Black Keys - El Camino
Lonely Boy > Life. If this had come before Brothers I would probably rate it higher. I really wanna see this band live btw.
Key track: Lonely Boy

21. Mazes - A Thousand Heys
Listened to this after Stocky said something somewhere. It's quite good and entertaining and it has taken Cloud Nothings place on the list. Oh, and one song starts freakingly similar to a song by my old no-band.
Key track: Go Betweens

20. Crystal Stilts - In Love With Oblivion
I gave this a higher rating on RYM but it made my list strange so it has become my first re-rating. It has some dark pop gems but the rest is starting to grate a little to me.
Key track: Through The Floor

19. Vivian Girls - Share the Joy
I haven't heard it too much, but everytime I have returned to it I have ended with a good taste in my ears. I Heard You Say has become one of my favourite songs of the year.
Key track: I Heard You Say

18. Tinariwen - Tassili
Desert folk, very great guitar playing. I wanted to make a joke with desert/dessert and Moz, but it's not working. So I say Wilco's guitarist and some guy from TV on the Radio collaborate on this. They have among their fans some of the biggest cunts on earth though (Bono, Chris Martin, Thom Yorke, Brian Eno).
Key track: Tenere Taqqim Tossam

17. Royal Headache - Royal Headache
Good quick garage, the vocals sometimes have a soul touch that reminds me of early Mando Diao.
Key track: Surprise

16. Dum Dum Girls - Only In Dreams
I have nothing to say about this right now tbh.
Key track: Bedroom Eyes

15. Beady Eye - Different Gear, Still Speeding
They have made it better than what most people thought they would. I'm not surprised, some highlights alongside some filler. If I wasn't the Oasis fan that I am I'd probably hate some songs though.
Key track: The Roller

14. Beirut - The Rip Tide
This is a not very special record by a very special band. I've been getting into Beirut this year and this might be their simpler one but not in a bad way.
Key track: Santa Fe

13. Tom Waits - Bad As Me
Solid and focused compilation of his different ranges.
Key track: Hell Broke Luce

12. Anna Calvi - Anna Calvi
This is one record which I tend to reward cos of its originality and merit. I think she's very special, knows how to write a good song and has a lot of potential, we will see.
Key track: Desire

11. Bass Drum Of Death - GB City
They sound so good their good songs really hit the spot. The other songs just sound good.
Key track: Young Pros

10. The Go! Team- Rolling Blackouts
I didn't know them before this year, so I guess that's the main reason for considering this one amongst their best, as all of them are pretty similar. But yeah, good fun.
Key track: Buy Nothing Day

9. The Strokes - Angles
I haven't changed my mind from the first impressions: some songs are fuckin' good, other are ok, other are shit. It clearly reflects the creative and recording process, sometimes it feels too discordant or unfinished.
Key track: Under Cover of Darkness

8. The Vaccines - What Did You Expect From the Vaccines
Some of the catchiest songs of the year come on this lot. It's fun and that's it.
Key track - If You Wanna

7. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
I feel like I've said this a thousand times but anyway. It sounds like it should, the songs are great and they have grown as a band, adding instruments to the mix and trying new structures. The harmonies are still as magnificent as before. I think it's a great record but there's something that makes it a little worse than the debut.
Key track: Grown Ocean

6. The Horrors - Skying
I have a strange feeling with this album, cos I really like it but from the start I've been thinking I should enjoy it more. Anyway, not as good as Primary Colours in my eyes, but still an admirable effort.
Key track: Endless Blue

5. Wilco - The Whole Love
Wilco can never do wrong, but the truth is I wasn't too much into their selftitled. With this one they offer some of the best qualities of their palette, their pop side shines, the semi-experimental bits work and the acoustic ballads grab.
Key track: Dawned On Me

4. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
This probably requires an explanation so I'll give it. I like this record, it has some of Noel's best songs and not a bad one. I like Record Machine and Stop the Clocks, I always did. Do I love it? I wouldn't go that far. Does any other album deserve this place? I don't think so.
Key tracks: Everybody On The Run

3. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake

Take an imaginary big big leap forward, as this is miles ahead of the forth place. This was the first time I sat down to listen to a whole album by her and from the very start I fell in love with it. Many things have been said but all of them are deserved without any doubt. The voice, arrangements, structures, lyrics... Everyting is perfect.
Key track: The Words That Maketh Murder

2. Arctic Monkeys - Suck It And See

I had nearly abandoned them, dunno exactly why. When FWN came out I hated it and started to hate them. I saw Humbug as a better direction but it didn't move me either. And then they release their softer one, full of low-voiced ballads and with some typical rockers and blow me away.
Key track: She's Thunderstorms

1. Black Lips - Arabia Mountain

I guess this was meant to succeed, at least for me. Still don't know how much is due to the production and how much to the songs, but both make a perfect match. An incredibly solid record with 16 tracks where each of them adds to the whole thing. The album I have listened to the most and considering it's mostly formed by two minutes easy tracks it's quite surprising my love still perdures. Don't know where they'll go next but who cares.
Key track: Time

Stocky, tell me everything you know about Mazes or a tale or something

Here's a track by track made by the singer

www.thisisfakediy.co.uk/articles/trackbytrack/mazes-a-thousand-heys

i'd like to thank myself for slating the new radiohead alboom

even though i never even listend to it

it was just for the lulz

think i did the same with the arctic monkeys and kasabioon too

Barny, when are you adding up the top 10's of all 4 lists?

Next week, I'm sure there will be an avalanche of last-minute lists. I think I'll take 30 from each.

Cheers for that Barn.

Don't know a tremendous amount about them really, think they were originally from Manchester but moved to TCOTU or something.

Saw them earlier this year and they were terrific ~(that reminds me, need to do my top 10 gigs). Had a brief conversation with the singer Jack, seems like a nice guy, told him I felt guilty about downloading his album illegally and that I was going to buy a 12" vinyl from the merch stand to make up for it. I can't wait to see them again but whilst it seems like the albums got decent critical reviews it hasn't received much attention from the public so they don't seem to be getting many gigs.

mazesmazesmazes.com

I have made a top 10 album list and a top 20 song list (of stuff not on the top 10 album list).
I see no point in making a top 50 list or similar because if you include everything you like, nothing will feel special and stand out in the end.
Two things became quite clear when I was finished.
Four Swedish albums are on it and I am always more critical about artists and bands from here so that caught me by suprise. And secondly, it's way more straight forward rock/pop compared to what I expected overall, in terms to what I've listened to, but these are the albums and songs that I find most solid. So this is where I ended up.

-------

10) Bon Iver - Bon Iver

Sometimes I am still disapointed by this album. I can't put my finger on it but there's something not right with it. I suppose I just prefer the more stripped down sound. It suits his voice better. However, the songs are there and Holocene is the best song he's written so far. And the album is at its best late at night driving or contemplating the fucked up universe we live in. And we need those type of albums as well from time to time.

Holocene



9) Those Dancing Days - Daydreams And Nightmares

They released a very promising debut album through which you could see, given enough time, that they would release something closer to a classic than the very unfocused, albeit charming, debut. I wouldn't have thought for one second that they would release it so soon.
Daydreams And Nightmare combines all the strengths of each girl and lets Linnea get front stage with her voice as it carries every song on a bed of tight musicianship. Biggest surpise of the year.

Reaching Forward (turn up the volume..low sound)




8) The Kills - Blood Pressures

Since the first EP this has been one of my absolute favourite bands. They have had their ups and downs but you could always find a couple of tunes that stood out on any of the albums. With Blood Pressures they have found a concistency that I haven't heard since Keep On Your Mean Side.
And then we hav Alison...I love everything she does. Every single breath she records makes my knees week. No matter if it's for The Dead Weather or a guest spot on a Primal Scream song. But she is at her finest everytime she goes back to her own band.

Future Starts Slow




7) Peter, Bjorn And John - Gimme Some

They have always had a nack for a tune, as I'm sure you are all aware of since Young Folks and that whistling. But it's finally this year that they have managed to make a strong and coherent album.
The album is a modern update on the Swedish indie pop scene of the early 90s (like Popsicle and This Perfect Day) and it's quite irrestistable and extremely hard to dislike. It's pretty similar to any of the great albums of Teenage Fanclub as it's just pure pop played with guitars.

May Seem Macabre




6) The Black Keys - El Camino

Sadly it seems Black Keys has been cursed with the all-too common "they are too mainstream now when more people listen to them, so I will hate them with a venegance" dilemma.
Yes, the album has catchy songs, yes they are a bit more pop than garage this time around, but no, it does not make it any worse at all.
It's 11 great songs and I have no problem loving them all.

Run Right Back




5) Melissa Horn - Innan Jag Kände Dig

She's 24 years old but on her third album she sometimes sound like she has lived a lifetime. And what makes this album so exciting is that in other songs she sounds extremely fragile and weak. She plays with her voice and the music to suit the lyrics and the images she paints. Because she sings in Swedish she will never get that big outside of Scandinavia, and I have contrasting feelings towards that. I would love the world to hear Melissa but on the other hand I am perfectly happy that we have this diamond all for ourselves.

Jag Saknar Dig Mindre Och Mindre




4) Israel Nash Gripka - Barn Doors And Concrete Floors

This is the album Ryan Adams has been looking for during the last 10 years.
In the year when Ryan gets praised for finding his "roots" again simply by picking up an acoustic guitar, it is shocking to see this getting completely overlooked.
It's definitely not anything groundbreaking, but it merges the best from Neil Young, aforementioned Ryan Adams and good old regular americana, and Nash does it in such an effortless way that all the songs feel timeless and fresh. It doesn't matter if it's the hauntingly beautiful Goodbye Ghost or the rocking Lousiana (which could fit anywhere on Exile On Main Street without being ashamed), every song is exciting in their own way.

Goodbye Ghost




3) Deportees - Islands And Shores

Not only did they play the best concert I had the privilege to see this year, but they released their best record to date.
They are a fascinating band as their first couple of releases were pretty awful hit-radio american soul wannabe shit.
But slowly and step by step they have refined their sound, a sound that seems to have reached its perfection with Islands And Shores and I have a hard time not ranking this among the best Swedish albums of the last decade. Simply because just as with Let England Shake, it sounds like an album that reaches its high set goals and does so with such a convincing charisma and belief that you can only let it wash over you. The themes of the lyrics falls right into place with the music. Music that is a mix of northern melancholy and sunny American soul-pop. How bizarre as that might sound, it's the rough edges of the songs and the depth of the lyrics that lifts this set of songs above most other similar stuff. Because it is pretty much just 10 genuinely simple pop songs, but it's the details that Deportees add to the music that makes them so much more.

When Buildings Sleeps




2) Fucked Up - David Comes To Life

There has been three albums this year that has stood out from the rest, and with quite some distance as well.
I am honestly astonished that not a single word has been said about this album in here. Not a single word throughout this thread and its lists.
It was a tight call but they got second place on my list. Ask me in five minutes and I probably have it on first place again.
If you have ever wondered how The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart or some other modern shoegaze-like band would sound if they had some balls, then just listen to Fucked Up.
The band even looks like a shoegazer one, if it wasn't for the grizzly bear that is the singer.
A lot of people will probably write them off as some horrible hardcore band with a screaming maniac on top. Too bad for them is all I have to say. Give it time and you will hear how complex the songs are, how melodic they are.
Yes, it's a concept album or, as most seem to refer to it, a rock opera. But for once this is a rock opera that feels coherent and not bogged down with too much imagery and nonsense, each of the 18 songs stand on their own. They just happen to revolve around a story about a British guy living in a small British town that gets hooked up with an anarchist girl.
You could argue that the middle of the album drags slightly but from Truth I Know and onwards it's a non-stop avalanche and when the last tone of Lights Go Up rings out, you know you've just listened to something quite unique.

Turn The Season:




1) PJ Harvey - Let England Shake

Let England Shake is at first place on my list simply because it is music that makes you feel something more than usual. Right to the bone. I am not fully buying into the praise it's getting for being "important" and lyrics wise it's not that spectacular. But as a concept and as an album it is without a doubt PJ's absolute masterpiece so far in her career.
What is promising is that I feel she can better this given enough time and space.
There's hardly anything to add to what haven't already been said about the album so I won't even try. The only negative thing I could find about it while compiling this list was that so many people has put it at number 1, and if that's the only criticism I can find...well, that says it all.

The Glorious Land



-------

And now follows 20 songs that I have enjoyed this year. In no particular order.


William Elliott Whitmore - Everything Gets Gone

It's a man, a guitar and a fucking fantastic voice. Nothing groundbreaking nor new.
But you feel the emotions and he has the tunes.
You don't need to have anything more than that sometimes.
"Like shutters in the wind, I am holding on."





The Low Anthem - Boeing 737

They still haven't been able to create a great solid album so far in their career. But if they keep on releasing gems like this I have no problem with that. (And a great, great, great video to go along with it.)





Feist - The Bad In Each Other

The album didn't fulfill the high hopes I got after hearing this song, but it's still a good album and it's nice to hear her progress towards the potential that she has.





Muhammed Ali - Postkodsmiljonär

The album was quite close to reach top 10 but it is a bit too polished at places and a bit too long. But the album is an important one, during a time when such a label gets thrown around way too easily. But when punk sadly has played out its overall importance in society, this hip-hop album is a fresh breath of air.





Florence + The Machine - Shake It Out

It's bordering on pompous Celine Dion shittiness but when she nails it, she nails it magnificently.





The Vaccines - Norgaard

Like Mahoney so accurately said, if I was young it would be my new favourite band.





First Aid Kit - Lion's Roar

Just like Those Dancing Days the debut promised a lot of things. The first single from the new album released next year promises they have taken the important steps and matured soundwise. Best thing they've done so far.





Anna Ternheim - The Longer The Waiting, The Sweeter The Kiss

The most beautiful 4 minutes of 2011.





Stalley - Lincoln Way Nights

Some have called him the Springsteen of the rap world and you can hear where they're coming from. It's the harsh lyrics that speaks about the lower classes of society that's in focus and it's refreshing hearing some good hip-hop that doesn't speak about the bitches and the hoes for once (even how good some of that stuff can be.).





Cults - Bumper

Today music from any day and age can be listened to within seconds and not everything needs to be breaking new. It's enough to pay homage to the better days and write pop tunes as delicious as this.
The best album Madelin appeared on this year though was Fucked Up's.





Noel Gallagher - If I Had A Gun

The best song Noel has written in over 10 years. Album was good but not on the level he can be on.





TV On The Radio - Will Do

After The Rifles the most disapointing album of the year was released by TV On The Radio. This was the diamond in a pool of shit.





Lykke Li - Get Some

She still needs to deliver on the album front, single wise she is up there with the best now.
Walked past her in Stockholm some months ago. She is the tiniest woman I've ever seen without being a midget.
That so much can come out of those lungs is impressive.





Frank Turner - Peggy Sang The Blues

No matter what you may think of the guy this song is just very, very good.




Social Distortion - I Won't Run No More

Social Distortion got old and started playing dad rock with a twist instead.
Hard Times And Nursery Rhymes was extremely close in getting on the top 10. It's for sure nothing new at all but all songs go along at a rushing speed and they are sing alongs and they have gifted me with some energy on many mornings this year on the subway. So, there you go.





S.C.U.M - Faith Unfolds

The Horrors released a better album but S.C.U.M released the best single. I could play this over and over and never get tired of it.





Shabazz Palaces - Swerve... The Reeping Of All That Is Worthwhile

Music evolves and this is such a grand example of it. Imagine hearing this at the start of the 80's. It would have blown your head off. In any case, it's everything I could never be and I love it completely.





The Head And The Heart - Down In The Valley

The 5 best minutes of 2011.





Foster The People - Pumped Up Kids

Overplayed is the word I suppose. But damn is it catchy.





Ryan Adams - Ashes And Fire

The album might be overrated but it is the best collection of songs he's done since Cold Roses and this is the best of them.





The Decemberists - Down By The Water

R.E.M might be no longer but we have the Decemberists.





The Sound Of Arrows - Conquest

MGMT and Pet Shop Boys meets Sweden and Gävle.
Because sometimes pop is not a bad thing.