Here we go, it's been a great one for music, my three top picks are records I absolutely love and there have been strong releases all along the year. I don't know how to interpret it, but some of my highest picks are from bands I used to hate. The list of deceptions is quite big (BRMC, Eels, Arctic Monkeys, Arcade Fire, Beady Eye, MGMT, Nick Cave, Camera Obscura) but none of those records are abysmal, simply below their standards.
30. Kings of Leon - Mechanical Bull 
Mechanical Bull still has some of the flaws of the last albums, but it also has some of their best songs to date. Here I could put some other records but KOL take it due to the rise of quality.
29. Daft Punk - Random Access Memories 
I don't mind BIG releases from BIG artists. Half of it is completely forgettable, but there are some tunes and with all that fireworks display they made all the other musicians look like buskers. I also steem his attempt to give life back to music.
28. My Bloody Valentine - m b v 
My initian reaction to this was quite positive but it has aged too fast, like the old knight rider in Indiana Jones who had been waiting a sucessor for 500 years. It has some of those moments only they can create, but the rest is really boring.
27. The Wave Pictures - City Forgiveness 
Do they have a life? All they seem to do is tour and release albums, I think they released another one DURING the last gig I saw. Anyway, this is as good as always but a double album is a bit too much.
26. Mikal Cronin - MCII 
Nice summery pop with correct doses of distortion.
25. Phoenix - Bankrupt! 
Truly enjoyable pop record.
24. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Mosquito 
Sacrilege and 10 more tracks. Probably I regard it higher than I should because I hadn't listened to them before this year.
23. Various Artists - Garage Swim 
It's not brilliant, but I'm a sucker of these bands doing what they do best.
22. TOY - Join The Dots 
TOY's bet has many chances to fail. Their genre has been exhausted as hell lately and the truth is they're not very original. But, oh, the melodies. Some of those melodies on their own justify their whole existence as a band. Endlessly is the shoulda been a hit of the year.
21. Destroyer - Five Spanish Songs 
This is a strange choice for me, as I don't know the original songs and I don't usually like mellow songs in Spanish, but Destroyer takes it all to a bittersweet place where I can sit down and slowly melt.
20. Adam Green & Binki Shapiro - Adam Green & Binki Shapiro 
Is ersatz the right word for this? Anyway, I'm buying it.
19. Devendra Banhart - Mala 
He seems very relaxed, this might be his lightest record. It's not all gold, but it has some very nice moments.
18. Anna Calvi - One Breath 
I think I prefer this to her debut. It is varied, subtle, rich. The orchestration, the voice, the guitar, all good.
17. Connections - Private Airplane 
Nice GBV tribute.
16. I Am Kloot - Let It All In 
Beautiful music, very well done.
15. The Men - New Moon 
At times they sound like Crazyhorse after devouring Neil Young's ribs. They make it seem easy but it's not.
14. David Bowie - The Next Day 
As comebacks go, this might be the best way. Rushed release, modern sounding but echoing the best eras of his past. Now go on tour, David.
13. The National - Trouble Will Find Me 
A National record. A good one.
12. Yuck - Glow & Behold 
I wasn't very fussed about their debut and with their original singer leaving it was complicated for them to change my mind and that's one of the reasons this album has been so satisfactory. From MBV to SFA, their references seem closer to me this time.
11. Franz Ferdinand - Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action 
Twenty seconds in and that chorus comes. Great work, fantastic videos too, we need Franz Ferdinand doing what they do best.
10. The Vaccines - Melody Calling EP 
On this initially surprising EP they're embracing their poppiest side but without losing interest. In fact, it comes to them very naturally.
9. Thee Oh Sees - Floating Coffin 
Was always a bit sceptic about them, but this album and their live show changed my mind. Just in time before they announced their hiatus...
8. Babyshambles - Sequel to the Prequel 
I still prefer Shotter's Nation to Sequel but only cos I have a lot of love for that one. Strong collection of songs, good production: Pete is back, at least for a while.
7. King Khan & His Shrines - Idle No More 
He has refined the sound and the compositions are stronger too. Very fun record.
6. Crocodiles - Crimes of Passion 
I'd say the best songs Crocodiles are on the previous records. But unlike those, Crimes Of Passion doesn't have any fillers, every song is a typical Crocodiles pop song and we should be grateful, clap our hands and enjoy.
5. Nobunny - Secret Songs (Reflections From The Ear Mirror) 
Simply impossible to resist. He goes across the spectrum of all the rock music made since the 1950s, but filtered through his morbid rabbit mind. The good thing is he succeedes in nearly every attempt, and after all you shouldn't blame him when he fails, his madness is the key of his success too.
4. The Strokes - Comedown Machine 
Yeah, I'm a fanboy. Would I have cared about this album if it was made by a different band? Maybe not. Should I ask for forgiveness? Don't think so. There are some quite cool tracks, that doesn't sound like anything else at the moment. And it's because when they got it fine, nobody else is on their league. Close to the record they've been trying to do for nearly 10 years.
3. Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City 
Here we have an amazing record, probably a classic. Every song adds to the whole and sounds exactly like it should. And the funny thing is they sound much better than the written ideas: a chorus composed by the word baby pronounced by a robotic Elvis; a pseudo religious love song with some dwarf singing silly words, etc. They left the tribal sound to a side without losing their Paul Simon vibes. I was no fan of them and I won't be as deep as Pitchfork, but everyone should give this a try.
2. Foxygen - We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic 
Probably the most interesting band around, with two releases of members from Foxygen close to making my top30 too. Here you have The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, Love, glam, soul and, the most important thing, you can't find the seams of it all. Robust as fuck.
1. DEERHUNTER - Monomania 
The punkest record of all year, in Bradford words. I don't know if it's a fair description, but this is truly one of the best proper rock'n'roll records of the decade. Always wondered about the relation of him with The Black Lips and here is the connection. Pensacola might be the most blatant example, but everything has an attitude very present in the Lips early records.
From the sleazy first seconds of Neon Junkyard, it doesn't lower the stakes. Dream Captain, Blue Agent, THM, all winners. I've read people complaining about the production, but in my opinion it is what absolutely makes this album. Fuck the dream pop (only the sweet The Missing by Lockett Pundt fits in that tag). Distorted guitar, distorted voices, distorted noises in the background. See Leather Jacket II: I concede it doesn't happen too much in the song, but the first time I listened to it I thought it was amazing.
And it also sounds like The Strokes, the early ones. Sleepwalking channels that ability to create undeniably obvious but equally great hooks. That song, Back To The Middle and Monomania complete a golden trident, I remember watching them playing the title track in some tv show (see link below) and all I could do was nodding. It's one of those songs you wish it never ends.
Seeing them playing most of it live at their first Primavera gig increased my love to the record, and also made me reconsider trying their previous work.
www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com/video/deerhunter-monomania/n34639/ 
I DON'T THINK SO
