Soapbox 2013 end of year lists:

Gigs of 2013

1, Neil Young and the Crazy Horse @ O2 TCOTU 17/6/13

The fact that a gig in such a horrible venue is my number one of the year just goes to show how good the band and Neil were this night. It highlighted all sides of Young’s back catalogue ranging from full on grunge to beautiful acoustic ballads with the harmonica and a piano. Special gig.

2, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds @ Hammersmith Apollo TCOTU 26/10/13

Nick Cave at Latitude has always been one of my favourite gigs of all time so I had a feeling that seeing him doing a proper gig at this venue which has always been one of my favourites in TCOTU would be excellent, and I wasn’t wrong. The album he released this year is great so I wasn’t concerned that the set might be heavy on songs from it. They translated better than expected to the live setting and the other hits that were bashed out were excellent too. I love how much energy Nick has onstage and he must be one of the greatest frontmen of all time. The Bad Seeds compliment him perfectly too, full of energy and musically spot on.

3, The Charlatans/Beady Eye/James Dean Bradfield/Tim Burgess and Friends @ Royal Albert Hall TCOTU 18/10/13

The reason this gig is this high is mostly Beady Eye. Coming onstage with Bonehead and blasting through Live Forever, Columbia and then My Sweet Lord with Liam’s vocals sounding better than ever was pretty special. James Dean Bradfield was really good too but don’t tell anyone.

4, Japandroids @ Latitude 19/07/13

Their album from last year has gone on to be one of my favourites in recent years, therefore I was pretty pumped to see them live. They didn’t disappoint and delivered a proper full on rock and roll set with so many fist in the air singalong moments.

5, Primal Scream @ Royal Albert Hall TCOTU 21/03/13

This album was before the album came out so was my first taste of the new material. Starting and finishing the gig with run throughs of “2013” was a bold but impressive move and what went on inbetween was a proper greatest hits set and the best I’ve seen this fantastic live band in years.

6, Beck @ Cambridge Junction 06/07/13

The first time I’d seen Beck in a lot of years, I was slightly apprehensive as to how a seated acoustic gig would work out. Fortunately Beck’s set was strong enough to get everyone up and out of their seats and dancing and it was an excellent night out. I can’t wait to see him properly full on electric again though.

7, The Magic Band @ Norwich Arts Centre 7/12/13

When this was first announced I was hesitantly excited. Obviously it was going to be good to hear these classic tunes done live but would it be right without Captain Beefheart and would a bunch of old guys in their 60s be able to pull it off? Thankfully these concerns were unfounded and they fucking rocked. Playing for just over 2 hours in total, the first set was 45 minutes long with a 30 minute interval before returning and playing for about 1 hour 20 mins. Hearing these songs live was amazing and the visual spectacle of seeing this kind of music performed so effortlessly was so impressive too. Rockette Morton is now the best bass player I’ve ever seen live and John French up there with the greatest drummers I’ve seen too. Talking of John French, it was a shame he only got to play drums on two of the songs as he’s so talented at them and the other guy they had in for the rest of the tunes whilst good, was nowhere in his league. Despite this though, French as the frontman worked perfectly. It may sound sacrilege to say so but French has so much stage presence (part Michael Stipe, part Richard O’Brien from the Crystal Maze) and nailed the vocals so perfectly that I’d soon forgotten about Beefheart all together, this was very much The Magic Band doing their shit and doing it brilliantly.

8, My Bloody Valentine @ Hammersmith Apollo 13/03/13

They’d been on my must see list for years and it finally happened. The sound was the one thing that let it down and meant it’s not higher up the list. It was hard to make out the vocals a lot of the time and the stage presence wasn’t fantastic. However despite all that it wasn’t just a gig, it was a proper experience and when the gig finished I had a feeling you don’t normally get after a normal gig. Pretty special.

9,Mogwai @ Cambridge Junction 28/11/13

I’d seen these lot headline Field Day a few years back and got a good idea of how impressive they are live. However you could tell that they’re much better suited to a dark dingy venue than they were a big open field and that is why this gig was so good. A rare opportunity to see Mogwai play a small venue as a warm up for their ATP headline set and this was pretty majestic.
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10, Richard Ashcroft @ Latitude Festival 20/07/13

Yeah his solo stuff is shit, luckily he barely played any of it. Dickie, an acoustic guitar and a set full of Verve classics, it was hard to go wrong really.

11, Ghost Poet @ Norwich Arts Centre 10/10/13

The surprise gig of the year for me. I’d seen him a few years back at Latitude and enjoyed it but it was a short set and pissing it down so I didn’t really get the full effect. I like both his albums but wouldn’t classify myself as a big fan. The night was delayed by over an hour and he didn’t come onstage til 11.15. This could have been a disaster but it seemed to work in the gigs favour as the crowd was properly up for it and so was he by the time he took to the stage. The tunes sounded so much better live and there was so much energy both onstage and in the crowd.

12, Fuck Buttons @ Norwich Waterfront 15/09/13

Loudest gig I’ve ever been to. Another act I wouldn’t class myself as a huge fan of on record but it really worked as something special live.

13, Solange @ Field Day Festival 25/05/13

A proper funky set that felt like I’d been transported back to an 80s disco or something. Properly creating a career of her own and stepping out of the “Beyonce’s sister” tag. Definitely one of the best actual performances I saw all year too with some great dancing.

14, Masta Ace/DJ Format @ Open Norwich 29/09/13

Hip hop gigs in general tend to be a bit more fun than your standard indie fare and this was probably the best one I went to this year. Masta Ace is a bit of a rarity in that his newer material hasn’t dipped too much in quality compared to the early 90s classics. Format was worthy of a mention too, played a load of old school hip hop classics and djing from 7inch singles too, what a guy.

15, Daughter @ Norwich UEA 27/10/13

Daughter at Norwich Arts Centre was my first gig of the year in front of under 300 people in very low key surroundings. Throughout the year I saw them perform two more times at Field Day and Latitude where you could see they were growing as performers and this came to a brilliant conclusion playing to several thousand people at the UEA in October. The album whilst initially being a bit of a slowburner has become one of my favourites of the year and one I keep coming back to. I like the fact that they continue to develop their live sound and develop the tracks from their recorded album versions. The almost anti stage presence could potentially be a bit annoying with some acts but you kinda get the feeling with these guys the shyness and overwhelmed feeling they present is pretty sincere. I’ve really high hopes for their career.

16, Four Tet @ Field Day Festival, TCOTU 25/05/13

Four Tet is one of my favourite acts of the past decade or so but live electronica always suffers a bit due to the lack of visual spectacle and crowd interaction. I’d seen him a few times before and got a big sense of this so was interested to see how he would pull of a sub headline set on the mainstage at a festival. Luckily it suited him big time as the light show just as it was getting dark was great plus there were giant balloons, what more could you want!

17, Cloud Nothings @ Visions Festival, TCOTU 10/08/13

Cloud Nothings were a band I’d forgotten about. I’d enjoyed the early jangly indie pop stuff but when Attack on Memory came out last year I listened to it a couple of times and was initially put off at the change in sound and hadn’t listened to them since. Seeing them live here just made that new sound click with me and I went home and listened to Attack on Memory loads since and I now realise their sound has changed for the better. A real powerful live performance with one of the rowdiest crowds I’ve been in all year.

18, Edwyn Collins @ Cambridge Junction 22/04/13

A few years ago I was obsessed with Orange Juice and Edwyn’s solo stuff. That’s died down a bit recently but I still couldn’t turn down the chance to see him live again. The live band had changed slightly since I last saw him and he had this guy on lead guitar who I thought was awesome, turns out he plays for The Pretenders now too haha. Seeing Edwyn live is always special and due to what he’s been through recently has an added emotional sentiment to it too. A top gig in its own right though.

19, Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ Latitude Festival 20/07/13

Another band I’d wanted to see for years. Probably not the greatest time to have seen them as their newest album is the weakest yet in my book but when they played the hits they properly smashed it. Karen O owns the stage big time

20, The Stone Roses @ Finsbury Park TCOTU 07/06/13

Last year the Heaton Park and VFest gigs were my top two of not only the year but also all time by a fair distance. This years’ efforts were nowhere near as good as that but the Friday was definitely a lot more enjoyable than the Saturday. The band weren’t as tight, the setlist wasn’t as good and the crowd was awful, however it was still The Stone Roses live and when the opening lines of Stoned Love hit the speakers I still had the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and still spent the following hour and half singing my heart out.

Top 5 Albums from previous years I discovered/clicked with me this year

1, Charles Douglas – Not Your Kind of Music: The Basement Tapes 1995 – 1999 (2012)

Probably my favourite discovery of the year. A guy from America who recorded tons of songs in the 90s after a spell in a mental hospital. Musically it is all pretty lofi and not too far away from the likes of Daniel Johnston, Stephen Malkmus etc. Real addictive shit.

2, Waxahatchee – American Weekend (2012)

Discovered Waxahatchee after reading something about her in the NME (lol yeah I still read it). I bought her latest album (lol yeah I still buy cds) and this album from last year was included as a bonus disc. I ended up liking this one even more than the new one as it’s a bit more lofi sounding and has a warmth to it that the newer one lacks slightly.

3, How to Dress Well – Total Loss (2012)

I remember listening to his debut album back in 2010 when it first came out and not being too impressed (I’ve since revisited and enjoy a lot more), so wasn’t in any rush to listen to this when it came out last year. I can’t even remember how I ended up listening to this one actually but so glad I did as it is pretty fucking epic. I spent a large part of early 2013 giving this a spin and whilst I’ve not listened to it so much recently it has definitely been one of my most enjoyable albums of the year.

4, Television – Marquee Moon (1977)

I appreciate I’m about 5 years too late to be revisiting this album and declaring my love for it but there we go. This is an album I first listened to about ten years ago when The Strokes were the biggest band on the planet and Television were mentioned in reference to them a fair bit. I always quite liked it but didn’t think it to be anything that special and have since revisited it once every few years and pretty much thought the same thing. Recently however that all changed and I had a proper clicking moment with this record, in particular the song “Venus”. I get it now and will have to check out their other stuff.

5, Cloud Nothings – Attack on Memory (2012)

I pretty much described what happened to me with this album in my gigs of the year. Safe to say this was a real case of the album sounding so much better and clicking properly after hearing it performed live. Had some great times with this album this year and it really reminds me of stuff like Husker Du and The Replacements which is a massive compliment.


Top Albums of 2013

What a strong year it has been for music. I wasn’t sure how many to include in my end of the year list as it’s been the best year in recent memory for albums in my book. I’ve settled on a top 40 as I can genuinely say these are all albums I’ve truly really enjoyed and will be returning to often. Everything on this list is something I feel is well worth checking out if you haven’t already and the fact that the list misses out albums by some bands I really love such as No Age, Sebadoh, Boards of Canada, Yuck, Yo La Tengo, Edwyn Collins, The Fall, Camera Obscura, Low etc etc just goes to show how good this year has been.

Anyway on with the list…

40, Diane Coffee – My Friend Fish

This is an album by the drummer of Foxygen. If you know them then you’ll have an idea of the kinda vibes this album gives off too. They’ve been pretty productive this year what with their own album plus guitarist Rado releasing a solo album too (that one wasn’t quite strong enough for my top 40). Unfortunately this album doesn’t quite live up to the amazing start with track 1 “Hymn” being one of my favourite tunes of the year, however what follows is a good pastiche of 60s psychedelica with a few elements of soul thrown in too. The First and last songs on this album are by far the best.

Best track: Hymn

39, Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Mosquito

A new release from Yeah Yeah Yeahs is always something to be excited about, however this has surprisingly featured pretty low on my list. I can’t quite put my finger on why it hasn’t clicked with me as much as their other stuff, there’s some top tunes on here including Sacrilege, Mosquito and These Paths however they never quite reach the heights of some of the bands true classics. A solid effort that I’ll definitely be coming back to, but compared to the rest of the band’s work a slight disappointment.

Best Track: These Paths

38, Big Deal – June Gloom

Big Deal were one of those bands I’d been aware of for a few years but never really bothered to check out. It was only after seeing them live as part of the Norwich Sound and Vision Festival and really enjoying them that I bothered to listen to this, their latest album. Initially it didn’t grab me as much as their live show did however it’s an album I’ve found pretty addictive and keep seeing myself coming back to. Soundwise the mixture of male and female vocals remind me slightly of The Raveonettes in places but musically it’s a whole lot lighter sounding and actually reminds me quite a lot of early Ash (I mean that as a compliment in case you were wondering).

Best Track: Dream Machines
37, Babyshambles – Sequel to the Prequel

A Babyshambles album on a best of the year list in 2013 – WTF! Pete has managed to pull off the best post Libertines work of any of the band members, ten years on from the debut. I couldn’t quite believe it. The opening is brilliant with the short spikey Fireman giving the album an energetic start, what follows are some really fucking good pop songs including highlights “Nothing Comes to Nothing” and “Maybeline”. The quality control seems to be loads better than Doherty’s other post Libertines efforts and filler is kept to a minimum.

Best Track: Nothing Comes to Nothing

36, Suede – Bloodsports

I’d never been a massive fan of Suede until this year. Obviously I knew the big hits and stuff but I’d never spent any real time with their back catalogue. I decided to check this out after really enjoying the Barriers single on 6Music and was pleasantly surprised. It has since led me to get all of their back catalogue and realise I’ve been missing out on some good shit over the years and I’ve become a bit of a Suede fan late on. As far as comeback albums go obviously I’m approaching this in a different way to the majority of their fans but I truly feel this album fits in quite high up in terms of their back catalogue and marks a real return to form. The pacing is quite interesting too with all the big tunes being at the start and the end of the album being very ballad heavy. Somehow it works though and makes for quite a dramatic whole piece.

Best Track: It Starts and Ends With You

35, Beady Eye

With Dave Sitek on production and an immense comeback song in Flick of the Finger, my anticipation was pretty high. Ultimately this album didn’t quite live up to those expectations however I think now things have settled I can appreciate this as a solid piece of work that features some of the best tunes from any Gallagher since SOTSOG. Whereas DGSS felt like a collection of songs this definitely has more of an album feel to it and whilst there’s a few dud moments overall the good moments outweigh the bad, and when it’s good it is very very good.

Best Track: Flick of the Finger

34, Ty Segall – Sleeper

Ty Segall has always been someone I’ve checked out bits and pieces by, but this is the first album he’s featured on to properly grab me and suck me in. It marks a shift in terms of sound away from the garage rock sound into a more acoustic psychedelic sound and I think his voice really works in this setting. It reminds me of Brian Jonestown Massacre a fair bit and Howl era BRMC. It gets a little bit samey by the end but as a fairly short album it doesn’t outstay its welcome too much.

Best Track: Sleeper

33, Fuck Buttons – Slow Focus

This type of music lends itself much better to the live setting and they were absolutely one of my favourite gigs of the year. On record though and in the right mood this album is an absolute beast. It’s not something you’d put on to relax to and despite the fact there’s melody throughout it can be pretty industrial sounding and heavy in places. They’ve managed to get a good balance between abstract and lobbing in a bit of mainstream appeal and the fact they’re now playing pretty big venues whilst remaining true to their sound is a testament to the quality of what they put out. This could easily have been a bit of a let-down after the exposure they got in the Olympics coverage and been somewhat of a sell-out album; thankfully it’s anything but that.

Best Track: Sentients

32, Guided by Voices – English Little League

2013 has seen Robert Pollard as prolific as ever with numerous releases under various monikers, however the most interest is always left for what he releases under the Guided by Voices name. In my book this is one of Pollard’s strongest releases in years. If you know Guided by Voices you will know what this sounds like, there’s no deviation from their trademark sound and nor would you want there to be.

Best Track: Flunky Minnows

31, The Flaming Lips – The Terror

Definitely one of The Flaming Lips least melodic and most challenging albums in recent times. Whilst it doesn’t have the hits of albums like The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi… this is an album that every time I listen to it I find myself getting pretty lost in it. I think to release something like this at this time in their career was a pretty brave move but probably needed. Some of the tracks go on a bit too long and it’s not a comfortable listen in places however this is still something I keep returning to and am always impressed by when I listen.

Best Track: Be Free, A Way

30, Robert Pollard – Blazing Gentlemen

I thought English Little League mentioned not so long ago would be Pollard’s highest entry in my list this year, however this late entry released just days ago currently is doing it even more for me. This is Pollard at his catchiest and sounding like he is having loads of fun in the process.

Best Track: Triple Sec Venus

29, Arctic Monkeys – AM

I seem to be slightly in the minority in that I really like how the Arctics sound has developed as the years have gone by. To me Suck It and See is still their best album and whilst this doesn’t quite reach the highs of that, it’s another quality album they’ve got their name to. Yeah they’re a lot more polished now and have got more of a stadium rock sound but I think they pull it off. I love what they’ve done with the John Cooper Clarke tune too and finishing the album with it turned into a massive ballad is a great move I reckon.

Best Track: I Wanna Be Yours

28, Ghostface Killah – Twelve Reasons to Die

Winner of best artwork of the year by far. Adrian Younge wasn't someone I was really aware of until hearing this but his soundtrack work really adds something to the whole feel of this album. Sometimes these collaborations feel like two people working in seperate rooms however these guys get a real good chemistry going on during this and it makes for one of Ghostface's best albums ever I reckon.

Best Track: Blood on the Cobblestones



27, Action Bronson – Blue Chips 2

After the disappointment of Saab Stories being horrible I was hesitant about this release. Luckily it sees a massive return to form for Bronson and has won me back round big time. It also features Bronson’s greatest tune of all time – Contemporary Man, potentially the first American Albanian hip hop artist to rap over a Phil Collins song.

Best Track: Contemporary Man

26, The Wave Pictures – City Forgiveness

An ambitious double album effort from The Wave Pictures that they just about manage to pull off. They’ve been one of my favourite bands of the past decade and often feature high up on my end of year lists. This album again doesn’t massively deviate from their normal sound, it’s just double the bloody length. As much as I love them this does make it a bit of a slog to get through in one go as does any double album really. I think it would have been better released as separate albums or narrowed down to one, however you can’t really knock the quality as the songwriting is consistently good throughout.

Best Track: Before This Day

25, Veronica Falls – Waiting for Something to Happen

This came out right at the very beginning of the year so it feels like I’ve had it forever. Another solid jangly indie pop effort that is on par with their excellent debut in my book.

Best Track: Teenage

24, Connan Mockasin

I first came across Connan at a festival in 2007 when he was performing as Connan and the Mockasins. I downloaded the debut album when it came out a couple of years later however didn’t really spend much time with it in all honesty. This year I ended up seeing them live at Field Day and really enjoyed it so it led me to revisting the debut album and having that properly click with me and then shortly after this new one arrived. I find Connan’s stuff just takes you to this weird world and is the closest thing to taking drugs other than actually taking them. A brilliantly weird and wonderful trip.

Best Track: I Wanna Roll With You

23, Charlie Boyer and the Voyeurs – Clarietta

Electricity in our Homes were decent enough but this debut album from former band member Charlie Boyer is a real step up in terms of quality. Taking influences from the likes of Television and The Doors this album sounds like those bands with a touch of modern day TCOTU thrown in for good measure.

Best Track: I Watch You

22, Primal Scream – More Light

On first listen I thought this album would be a lot higher on this list than its actually ended up, however I’ve not found myself coming back to this as often as I’d expected to. Despite that, whenever I do listen to this it’s always an excellent listen and easily their best album in quite some time.

Best Track: 2013

21, British Sea Power – Machineries of Joy

The opposite of what has happened to me with Primal Scream has happened to me with this album. Initially I was slightly disappointed with this however throughout the year it has slowly crept up my list as it has subtly worked its way into my favourites of the year. Whilst it’s not as immediate as some of their previous work there’s some great songs hidden away here. One of my initial criticisms of this album was that (K Hole aside) it’s fairly mid paced throughout, however I’ve come to accept that of where British Sea Power are at in their career now and it actually works quite nice as a whole piece. Yeah I miss the likes of Spirit of St Louis and Remember Me, however the songs on here are just as strong in their own way and reveal more and more with each listen.

Best Track: K Hole

20, Kurt Vile – Wakin’ on a Pretty Daze

Another of my growers from this year. Initially I felt this wasn’t as strong as Smoke Ring for My Halo, however I’m now of the opinion that it’s a decent follow up of a similar quality. The length of some of the tracks was initially a bit off putting too however I feel it lends itself to the overall feel of the album now and conjures up images of a long summer’s drive through America or something. I’m now really on board with the overall vibe of this lp and must make a point of seeing Kurt live one day as I’ve missed him at both Latitude and Field Day due to clashes in the past.

Best Track: Too Hard

19, The Haxan Cloak – Excavation

I’d read bits and pieces about this but only listened after seeing him supporting Fuck Buttons and being impressed. It’s a very minimal album that is best listened to through headphones and uses silence just as effectively as the other sounds on the lp. A record that is clearly not going to be for everyone but I found myself getting a bit obsessed by it for a while. It sounds a bit like it should soundtrack an old Silent Hill game, but way more intense than that.

Best Track: Excavation (Part 2)

18, Dan Michaelson and the Coastguards – Blindspot

This is my biggest surprise entry of the year for sure. I’d also enjoyed Absentee and when they finished I’d checked out the odd bit of Dan’s solo stuff which was ok but nothing special, in fact I’m not even too sure why I bothered downloading this but I’m really glad I did. It’s a short 8 track album of some of the most beautiful songs I’ve heard in a long time. Initially I wasn’t blown away but I just found myself coming back to it time and time again throughout the year. Just about every single song on this album has been my favourite at some point which again goes to show how solid this album is, however the one I keep coming back to time and time again is “You Leave me in Ruins”. You can probably tell from the title of that one that this isn’t the cheeriest of albums but it is well worth checking out.

Best Track: You Leave me in Ruins

17, Kanye West – Yeezus

I’ve been a big fan of Kanye throughout his career and have enjoyed every single release to date. This was a typically obnoxious move from Kanye which I love. He could have released a proper commercial album that would have sold millions and produced a few hit singles but instead released this, his most confrontational and aggressive album to date.

Best Track: New Slaves

16, Bill Callahan – Dream River

I’ve always been a big fan of Bill, under both his Smog name and more recently his own. Dream River is another strong release and the more I listen to it the more I think it could be up there with his very best. With lyrics like “the only words I’ve said today are “beer” and “thankyou”” you get a feel for the vibe this album gives off. It kind of feels to me like a middle ground between the Kurt Vile and Dan Michaelson albums I’ve already talked about in this list, taking the best of both of those to create something special.

Best Track: Small Plane

15, Scott and Charlene’s Wedding – Any Port in a Storm

2013 has seen me listening to and discovering a lot of up and coming bands from the Australian scene, these guys being one of them. In terms of sound it reminds me of a cross between Pavement and The Velvet Underground who just so happen to be two of my favourite bands. Obviously it’s not in the same league as the best of those two bands work but it’s a pretty fucking good effort.

Best track: 1993

14, I Am Kloot – Let It All In

Another top release from the ever reliable I Am Kloot. It’s over ten years now since I first listened to them and in that time they’ve never let me down in terms of records or live shows. This is more of the same and they’ve not even tagged on Proof for another release this time!

Best Track: Even the Stars

13, Czarface – Czarface

Inspectah Deck from Wu Tang with 7l and Esioteric and a load of wrestling samples, it couldn’t really go wrong could it? I’ve only got into this album the last couple of months but really loving it right now. Only just beaten in terms of being my hip hop album of the year and you’ll find out what that is shortly…

Best Track: Rock Beast

12, Joanna Gruesome – Weird Sister

Everyone knows I’m a sucker for horrible lofi indie pop and this album is right up my street. It reminds me of early Pains of Being Pure at Heart with early Bearsuit lobbed in for good measure. As with all albums in this genre, it’s nice and short and leaves you wanting more. There’s been several times where I’ve listened to this and just put it on again straight again. Just hope they don’t go rubbish in their second album like a few of these type of bands seem to.

Best Track: Sugarcrush

11, Jackson Scott – Melbourne

Another of the Australian acts I’ve discovered this year. Coming in at 29 minutes long for an album of 12 tracks, these are very short psychedelic pop nuggets. This is another album I’ve found to be really addictive this year and seen myself coming back to time and time again. I was slightly putt off when I saw him live at Visions Festival in TCOTU and he looked about 12 but fair play.

Best Track: Any Way

10, DJ Format with Phill Most Chill – The Foremost

My favourite hip hop album of the year and a massive return to form for DJ Format. Great beats, great samples and Phill Most Chill sounds excellent. Another short album that flies by in no time but it just has that real old school early 90s boom bap feel to it that is the real hip hop I love.

Best Track: Get Busy Music

9, Four Tet – Beautiful Rewind

Four Tet is pretty much my favourite electronic act of all time so a new release by him is always exciting. This is probably his most danceable record to date and the heaviest in terms of beats. It’s not going to top Rounds but then again not a lot of albums do in my books, however this is potentially his best release of the last ten years.

Best Track: Aerial

8, My Bloody Valentine – MBV

The most anticipated release of the year for me. Until it was released there was still doubt over whether or not it would actually happen and thankfully it was just about worth the wait. Opening as if not a lot had changed since Loveless, She Found Now has quickly become one of my favourite My Bloody Valentine songs. The album then goes to all the places I’d wanted it to and more with further highlights being If I Am and Wonder 2. There’s a couple of moments that don’t quite work but overall this is a heroic return.

7, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Push the Sky Away

A more sedate return for Nick after Dig Lazurus Dig and this shows more of the Nick Cave I love compared to that album. The likes of Jubilee Street, Mermaids and Higgs Boson Blues are up there with his career highlights in my book. Pretty amazing that he can be releasing an album of this quality this far into his career when so many of his peers fall into mediocrity as they get older.

Best Track: Jubilee Street

6, The National – Trouble Will Find Me

An act similar to the Arctic Monkeys that I spoke about earlier who I actually think have got better the bigger and more polished they’ve got. They proved with High Violet they were ready for the big time and this release just cements their place as far as I’m concerned. I never would have predicted The National would end up being one of the biggest indie bands on the planet but it looks as if they’re headed that way.

Best Track: I Need My Girl

5, David Bowie – The Next Day

It would take something pretty special to take the comeback of the year crown away from My Bloody Valentine and David Bowie has managed it. My expectations for this album weren’t particularly high and I’m pretty sure I didn’t even bother downloading it until it had been out a little while. What a return to form it is though. At 17 songs long you’d expect a few duds but this is pretty much hit after hit as far as I’m concerned. The fact that someone of Bowie’s age can sound more passionate and ballsy throughout than just about all of the younger acts on the rest of my list is a testament to the work he put into this album and you can tell he was truly feeling it. What a guy.

Best Track: I’d Rather Be High

4, Waxahatchee Salt – Cerulean Salt

Waxahatchee is probably my favourite discovery of the year. I got this album and her release from last year – American Weekend, at the same time. Now whilst I slightly prefer American Weekend, this year’s effort is superb too. It reminds me in places of Sharon Van Etten who featured highly on my list last year and has that warm heartfelt vibe to it.

Best Track: Misery Over Dispute

3, Lapalux – Nostalchic

Now this was a surprise. I’d heard the earlier eps from Lapalux and enjoyed them was so interested to hear what the album would be like, I never expected it to be this good though. Slight vibes of SBTRKT run throughout but more like SBTRKT on a comedown after a heavy night. When this album clicked I knew I loved it but thought I may go off it as the year went by. Instead I kept coming back to it time and time again and it has firmly cemented its place in my top 3.

Best Track: Without You

2, Daughter – If You Leave

I feel like such an NME kid having this album so high but it is brilliant. I reckon if I was a 16 year old girl this would be my favourite album of all time right now. As I mentioned in the gig list, I feel like I’ve seen Daughter grow as a band this year and this album has sound tracked it all. There’s bits of Mazzy Star in there, bit’s of Bat for Lashes too but whatever it is just works for me. It feels like a debut album and comes across quite naïve at times lyrically which I think works in this context, it will be interesting to see where they go from here though.

Best Track: Youth

1, Foxygen – We are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic

So this list begun with the drummer from Foxygen, it ends will all of them together playing my favourite album of the year. I still remember hearing them for the first time, it was January 2013 and I was doing the washing up and listening to 6Music. They played the title track from this album and I was blown away. I soon got the album and proceeded to play it nonstop for the first 6 months of the year. I had a bit of a break from it in recent months as to be fair I did completely overdo it and even wondered if it might slide down my list a bit due to it, however on returning to it the quality is still there and it sounds as great as it did when I first listened to it. Yeah they completely rip off loads of great acts from the 60s and On Blue Mountain sounds just like Suspicious Minds by Elvis but who cares, this is music worth ripping off. It’s another album where just about every track has been my favourite at one time or another and seems over just as it gets going. I just hope they follow this up with something equally as good (if they follow it up at all as they seem a fractured bunch).

Best Track: On Blue Mountain