21.
Russian Circles
Russian Circles
Station
Intricately crafted post-rock, with crushing riffs chucked in every so often to spice it all up. An album that really needs to be listened to in its entirety to get the best out of it. A superb piece of music.
22.
Dengue Fever
Intricately crafted post-rock, with crushing riffs chucked in every so often to spice it all up. An album that really needs to be listened to in its entirety to get the best out of it. A superb piece of music.
22.
Dengue Fever
Venus On Earth
Cambodian rock mixed with Americana, this is as odd as it is brilliant. Sung half in English and half in Khmer, this is exotic, cool and utterly barmy.
23.
Snow Patrol
23.
Snow Patrol
A Hundred Million Suns
Unfortunately not as good as their previous effort, Eyes Open, this is still a strong piece of work from a quality band. Having said that, it does all get a little too Coldplay on occasion.
24.
Weezer
Weezer (The Red Album)
Somewhat inevitably, this is a great collection of pop gems. Easily their best record since the masterful Weezer (The Green Album), way back in 2001.
25.
The Music
Strength In Numbers
High quality dance rock from ‘up norf’, this is my favourite of The Music’s albums. High octane stuff.
26.
Her Name Is Calla
The Heritage
Beautiful post-rock with a dark, twisted heart. Well worth your time and money – pretty, but also evil. So, well, pretty evil.
Unfortunately not as good as their previous effort, Eyes Open, this is still a strong piece of work from a quality band. Having said that, it does all get a little too Coldplay on occasion.
24.
Weezer
Weezer (The Red Album)
Somewhat inevitably, this is a great collection of pop gems. Easily their best record since the masterful Weezer (The Green Album), way back in 2001.
25.
The Music
Strength In Numbers
High quality dance rock from ‘up norf’, this is my favourite of The Music’s albums. High octane stuff.
26.
Her Name Is Calla
The Heritage
Beautiful post-rock with a dark, twisted heart. Well worth your time and money – pretty, but also evil. So, well, pretty evil.
27.
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds
Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
A slight disappointment, given the heights that Nick Cave and his band have reached in the past. Having said that, they’re far too talented to release anything that is in any way bad. This just isn’t as good as it could be.
28.
The Gutter Twins
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds
Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
A slight disappointment, given the heights that Nick Cave and his band have reached in the past. Having said that, they’re far too talented to release anything that is in any way bad. This just isn’t as good as it could be.
28.
The Gutter Twins
Saturnalia
Q: What type of rock are The Gutter Twins? A: gravel. Excellently grimy rock from this two man supergroup. The soaring riffage of ‘Idle Hands’ is the pick of a pretty good bunch.
29.
Santogold
Santogold
Q: What type of rock are The Gutter Twins? A: gravel. Excellently grimy rock from this two man supergroup. The soaring riffage of ‘Idle Hands’ is the pick of a pretty good bunch.
29.
Santogold
Santogold
A mixed bag of hip-hop-electro-rock-pop, with some tracks of absolute genius (‘You’ll Find a Way’) and others that are really not that great (‘Unstoppable’). Enough on show to suggest she’s capable of releasing a record of real quality, but she’s not there yet. To keep an eye on.
30.
Hello, Blue Roses
The Portrait Is Finished And I Have Failed To Capture Your Beauty...
Hippy two-piece from Vancouver: more chilled than an Inuit’s unmentionables. Lovely and, occasionally, a little odd (in a Kate Bush kinda way). This is well worth a listen. Plus, what a great album title…
31.
The Last Shadow Puppets
30.
Hello, Blue Roses
The Portrait Is Finished And I Have Failed To Capture Your Beauty...
Hippy two-piece from Vancouver: more chilled than an Inuit’s unmentionables. Lovely and, occasionally, a little odd (in a Kate Bush kinda way). This is well worth a listen. Plus, what a great album title…
31.
The Last Shadow Puppets
The Age Of The Understatement
An intriguing side project for Alex Turner (and that other guy), this is one part 60s pop, one part post-millennial British street poetry (a la The Libertines or the Arctic Monkeys themselves), and one part Bond themes of the 70s and 80s. Interesting and lots of fun, but I think I prefer the day job (unless we’re talking about the other guy).
32.
Flight Of The Conchords
Flight Of The Conchords
Genius, of course, in every way, but comedy albums are always difficult to really get into. Plus, I knew all of these tracks very very well already, from the TV show, the radio show or trawling the internet. So this hardly felt ‘new’ when I finally got my hands on it.
33.
Sigur Rós
Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust
A more adventurous work than previous efforts, this is Sigur Rós spreading their wings. An ethereal journey which is well worth taking, but one that certainly doesn’t reach the heights of their masterful ( ) album. Plus, it’s just too long…
34.
Portishead
Third
Returning (finally) after an eleven year break. It’s extremely high quality stuff, no question. It’s also a brave departure. I just never fully warmed to the new doom-electronica vibe. Great, but ultimately disappointing.
35.
Mogwai
The Hawk Is Howling
It’s a while since Mogwai released anything that really blew me away. Having said that, I prefer this more stripped down sound to their previous effort, 2006’s Mr Beast. Flashes of what they’re capable of, most notably on the thumping ‘Batcat’, but not their best work.
36.
The Zutons
You Can Do Anything
Extremely enjoyable but short-life pop-rock (with sax, of course) which sounds exactly like their last two albums. I played it loads for four days and then haven’t touched it since…
37.
Yoav
Charmed And Strange
Multi-instrumentalism from the wandering Israeli electro-minstrel. ‘Club Thing’ is the album’s stand out track, with its muted and slightly camp approach to pop, but the whole album swaggers along with the confidence of someone who knows how to make music.
38.
British Sea Power
Do You Like Rock Music?
This is the first British Sea Power album I’ve ever got, in spite of being aware of them for ages. It’s a really strong record, featuring a mixture of straight 90s-style rock songs and more orchestral tunes. Every track here is really good, but something is missing from the album as a whole.
39.
Leo Abrahams
The Unrest Cure
A varied, experimental and challenging record, but unfortunately one that misses the mark more often than it hits it. It has to be said that ‘City Machine’ (featuring KT Tunstall) is one of the best stand alone tracks of the year. However, overall, this album is an admirable but inconsistent piece of work.
40.
The Dandy Warhols
...Earth To The Dandy Warhols...
This doesn’t even come close to the glory days of The Dandy Warhols’ career (See Welcome to the Monkey House, from 2003, for that), but equally, it’s a vast improvement on 2005’s frankly awful Odditorium or Warlords of Mars. Not sure whether that makes this a success or not.
41.
TV On The Radio
32.
Flight Of The Conchords
Flight Of The Conchords
Genius, of course, in every way, but comedy albums are always difficult to really get into. Plus, I knew all of these tracks very very well already, from the TV show, the radio show or trawling the internet. So this hardly felt ‘new’ when I finally got my hands on it.
33.
Sigur Rós
Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust
A more adventurous work than previous efforts, this is Sigur Rós spreading their wings. An ethereal journey which is well worth taking, but one that certainly doesn’t reach the heights of their masterful ( ) album. Plus, it’s just too long…
34.
Portishead
Third
Returning (finally) after an eleven year break. It’s extremely high quality stuff, no question. It’s also a brave departure. I just never fully warmed to the new doom-electronica vibe. Great, but ultimately disappointing.
35.
Mogwai
The Hawk Is Howling
It’s a while since Mogwai released anything that really blew me away. Having said that, I prefer this more stripped down sound to their previous effort, 2006’s Mr Beast. Flashes of what they’re capable of, most notably on the thumping ‘Batcat’, but not their best work.
36.
The Zutons
You Can Do Anything
Extremely enjoyable but short-life pop-rock (with sax, of course) which sounds exactly like their last two albums. I played it loads for four days and then haven’t touched it since…
37.
Yoav
Charmed And Strange
Multi-instrumentalism from the wandering Israeli electro-minstrel. ‘Club Thing’ is the album’s stand out track, with its muted and slightly camp approach to pop, but the whole album swaggers along with the confidence of someone who knows how to make music.
38.
British Sea Power
Do You Like Rock Music?
This is the first British Sea Power album I’ve ever got, in spite of being aware of them for ages. It’s a really strong record, featuring a mixture of straight 90s-style rock songs and more orchestral tunes. Every track here is really good, but something is missing from the album as a whole.
39.
Leo Abrahams
The Unrest Cure
A varied, experimental and challenging record, but unfortunately one that misses the mark more often than it hits it. It has to be said that ‘City Machine’ (featuring KT Tunstall) is one of the best stand alone tracks of the year. However, overall, this album is an admirable but inconsistent piece of work.
40.
The Dandy Warhols
...Earth To The Dandy Warhols...
This doesn’t even come close to the glory days of The Dandy Warhols’ career (See Welcome to the Monkey House, from 2003, for that), but equally, it’s a vast improvement on 2005’s frankly awful Odditorium or Warlords of Mars. Not sure whether that makes this a success or not.
41.
TV On The Radio
Dear Science
A far more accessible effort than the acclaimed but somewhat impenetrable Return to Cookie Mountain. What Dear Science makes up for in accessibility, though, it loses in scope. In other words, it replaces the flaws of its predecessor with a whole new set of problems. Having said that, ‘Half Way Home’ and ‘Red Dress’ both kick ass.
42.
Feeder
Silent Cry
This is exactly what Feeder were doing 15 years ago, and, as such, I haven’t really played it. If I want this sound, I’ll just dig out 1999’s highpoint, Yesterday Went Too Soon. On its own merits, though, this is actually pretty good. Just a little behind the times…
43.
Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan
Sunday At Devil Dirt
The second very enjoyable album to feature Mark Lanegan this year, but, as with The Gutter Twins, not one that was good enough to get a top 20 place. Nonetheless, this is, for me, an improvement on their debut. The Nick Cave-esque, ‘Come On Over (Turn Me On)’ is particularly good.
44.
Coldplay
Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
Everything on this record is perfectly listenable, and the last track ‘Death And All His Friends’ is absolutely superb. Having said that, the rest of it is all so calculatingly bland that it’s hard to appreciate that they can clearly still write good songs. The last Coldplay album I’ll ever buy.
45.
Youthmovies
Good Nature
Part of the same math-Oxford scene as Foals, Youthmovies have been knocking about for a while, and have been likened to Amlifier and Oceansize. Turns out that, whilst there are some superficial similarities to those bands, Youthmovies are not in the same league (or even playing the same sport).
46.
Nine Inch Nails
The Slip
There is a reason that this was released free on the Nine Inch Nails website. I wouldn’t have gone near this horrible ‘industrial’ noise it if it had cost me anything more than a click of my mouse. Utter pants.
A far more accessible effort than the acclaimed but somewhat impenetrable Return to Cookie Mountain. What Dear Science makes up for in accessibility, though, it loses in scope. In other words, it replaces the flaws of its predecessor with a whole new set of problems. Having said that, ‘Half Way Home’ and ‘Red Dress’ both kick ass.
42.
Feeder
Silent Cry
This is exactly what Feeder were doing 15 years ago, and, as such, I haven’t really played it. If I want this sound, I’ll just dig out 1999’s highpoint, Yesterday Went Too Soon. On its own merits, though, this is actually pretty good. Just a little behind the times…
43.
Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan
Sunday At Devil Dirt
The second very enjoyable album to feature Mark Lanegan this year, but, as with The Gutter Twins, not one that was good enough to get a top 20 place. Nonetheless, this is, for me, an improvement on their debut. The Nick Cave-esque, ‘Come On Over (Turn Me On)’ is particularly good.
44.
Coldplay
Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
Everything on this record is perfectly listenable, and the last track ‘Death And All His Friends’ is absolutely superb. Having said that, the rest of it is all so calculatingly bland that it’s hard to appreciate that they can clearly still write good songs. The last Coldplay album I’ll ever buy.
45.
Youthmovies
Good Nature
Part of the same math-Oxford scene as Foals, Youthmovies have been knocking about for a while, and have been likened to Amlifier and Oceansize. Turns out that, whilst there are some superficial similarities to those bands, Youthmovies are not in the same league (or even playing the same sport).
46.
Nine Inch Nails
The Slip
There is a reason that this was released free on the Nine Inch Nails website. I wouldn’t have gone near this horrible ‘industrial’ noise it if it had cost me anything more than a click of my mouse. Utter pants.
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