The Musical Advent Calendar - Door Number Nine

Welcome to door number nine, behind which Guy tries to tease Dollard into giving away part of his top five.

Pranam Mavahalli

Charanjit singh - Ten Ragas To A Disco Beat (Bombay Connection)

Track - Raga Madhuvanti



I have to thank awesome online record shop Boomkat for bringing this to my attention. Recorded in 1982 on old school Rolands, it combines traditional Indian ragas with electro-disco, and according to some pre-dates acid house by five years. I’m not so sure about the whole acid house thing – but if it’s true, it makes Singh the coolest Indian dude since Amitabh Bachan (that’s a reference for the Bollywood fans out there).

John Skilbeck

Betty & The Werewolves - Tea Time Favourites (Damaged Goods)

Track - David Cassidy



Pop so fizzy you wouldn’t dare shake the bottle. Starting with their name, Betty & The Werewolves were born to raise eyebrows, but rather than being shape-shifting creatures the three-girl, one-boy band came across as cuddly as a teddy bear on their debut album. They explored well-mined indiepop territory on a heaps-of-fun LP, their sound smeared with cheap lipstick and doused in snakebite, and it was hardly a surprise to learn they’d had a career leg-up from scene matriarch Amelia Fletcher. A touch of Kenickie here, Talulah Gosh there, Tea Time Favourites was also probably the only album this year to proclaim its love for 70s pin-up David Cassidy.

Steve Pill

The Morning Benders - Big Echo (Rough Trade)

Track - Pleasure Sighs



This Brooklyn-based quartet might have a name that sounds like a perfect Inbetweeners-style insult (“Morning, benders!”) but their technicolour brand of indie pop is more consistently tuneful than Grizzly Bear and less affected than The Shins, making it a perfect iPod album. Winner.

Matt Collins

Kathryn Williams - The Quickening (One Little Indian)

Track - 50 White Lines



Kathryn Williams has been bubbling away beneath the surface for years, with no more than a Mercury Prize nomination to show for her considerable efforts. Such a beautiful voice, way with words and gentle way with a picked acoustic guitar can’t be ignored forever, and The Quickening is another collection of insistently catchy and beautiful songs.

Andy Welch

Gold Panda – Lucky Shiner (Notown)

Track – Same Dream China



Sometimes you love an album because you understand where the artist is coming from; their influences, their background and their intention. With me and Lucky Shiner, it’s almost the exact opposite. I don’t know anything about the artist, or indeed the genre as a whole. I often find electronic music cold and uncomfortably claustrophobic, but there’s a warmth and comfort to Lucky Shiner that I adore, while the samples used are sparingly but to dazzling effect.

Guy Atkinson

LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening (EMI)

Track - Drunk Girls



Dollard will have this in his top five and offer up a far more astute review than I, but I'll give it a shot anyway. Following Sound of Silver was never going to be an easy task and so it proves because only rarely does James Murphy touch upon those dizzying highs again. But when he does, he shows the countless imitators how this 'dance-punk-electro' shit is done.

Dom Farrell

The Dead Weather - Sea of Cowards (Third Man Records)

Track - Blue Blood Blues



The Jack White/Alison Mosshart ensemble returned with a speedy follow-up to 2009's well-received Horehound. Sea of Cowards might lack the light and shade of its predecessor, but any complaints about the record being a tad one-paced are offset by the sheer visceral intensity on display. White takes a greater share of the vocal duties but, when allowed to, the duo work wonderfully off one another. The guitars are speaker-shredding and frankly, it's hard to remember keyboards sounding so downright angry.

Ian Parker

The Dave Rawlings Machine - A Friend of A Friend (Acony)

Track - Monkey And The Engineer



After years of hiding off to one side of the stage, whether it be alongside his partner Gillian Welch, Ryan Adams or Conor Oberst in Bright Eyes mode, Rawlings stepped to the front on A Friend of A Friend. Released late in 2009 (but late enough to be eligible for this year's advent calendar), is is an album largely co-written with Welch, who sings throughout. There is also a re-recording of To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High), which Rawlings wrote with Adams and which opened the classic Heartbreaker album, as well as a sprawling cover of Conor Oberst's Method Acting that then merges into Neil Young's epic Cortez The Killer. It's gorgeous. But the one that brings the biggest smile to my face is his take on Jesse Fuller's classic Monkey And The Engineer.

Rory Dollard

Gold Panda – Lucky Shiner (Notown)

Track - You



I came into Gold Panda totally cold via some obscure podcast on a dreary east Yorkshire evening but apparently he is one of both ‘much hyped’ yet still ‘underground’ types. I think that means 10 people being reallllllly excited about it. If so, they were right. Lucky Shiner is a bedroom dance album of rare wit and accomplishment, buggering of in new and exciting directions at every turn and hanging together amazingly well for a record that combines so many elements, seemingly on a whim.

Ali Mason

Broadcast 2000 – Broadcast 2000 (Groenland)

Track - That Sinking Feeling



When I first heard That Sinking Feeling, the swoonsome harmonies made me quite certain I was going to love Broadcast 2000. In fact, the harmonies are the main reason why I don’t quite love them. There’s a law of diminishing returns operating here: nearly every moment of every track is in harmony and, oddly, it starts to get in the way of the tunes. Having said that, it’s lovely stuff – just a bit lacking in variety.

The Musical Advent Calendar - Door Number Eight

No, you're not stuck behind the eight ball. You're behind door number eight of the Musical Advent Calendar, where you'll find the No. 17s on our album of the year lists.

Pranam Mavahalli

Liars – Sisterworld (Mute)

Track - Scarecrows On A Killer Slant



Not quite as out there as Drum’s Not Dead, nor as instant as their eponymous album and therefore not meriting a place higher up the list for me. Nevertheless, the highs are very good indeed, including this monstrous ditty about gangs and murder on the streets of LA. Turn this mother up.



John Skilbeck

Standard Fare - The Noyelle Beat (Melodic/Thee SPC)

Track: Nuit Avec Une Ami



When pop music boffins look back on 2010 in years to come, Sheffield's Standard Fare will probably be less than a footnote to a footnote. Yet their raison d'être was not to smash musical boundaries and impress the chin-stroking self-appointed pop professor Paul Morley, but in getting the kids dancing. They succeeded in a field in Derbyshire in July, when they played a great set at Indietracks, gathered from this debut LP. Singers Emma Kupa and Danny How front up against each other like Kate Jackson engaging in word-play with Stuart Murdoch, and the Blondes/Belles likenesses don't stop there but extend to the band's jangle-pop sound. There were some midget gems here, the friends-go-to-bed romp of Nuit Avec Une Amie and the joyous Dancing to highlight but two.

Steve Pill

Toro Y Moi - Causers Of This (Car Park)

Track - Blessa



This is about the millionth great, sunbleached-electro-meets-shoegaze-indie album released this year, following in the footsteps of last year's Memory Tapes and Neon Indian, while cosying up nicely with a few other selections still to come. Blessa is the stand out, not only for the general swoony dream pop ambience it kicks off with, but also the way the band appear to fall apart at the end, through sheer blissed-out disinterestedness.

Matt Collins

Paul Weller - Wake up the Nation (Island)

Track - She Speaks



Very late in his career, Paul Weller has put out his Sgt Pepper. Wake Up The Nation is a massive collection of rock psychedelia that shows Weller in cantankerous yet justifiably angry form at the laziness of Generation Facebook. The title track is him back to his stompy rock best, summing up his dismay and urgency all at once.

Andy Welch

Sarah Blasko – As Day Follows Night (Dramatico)

Track – All I Want



We’ve all had painful break-ups and done a bit of wallowing, but few of us manage to channel that anguish into something quite as mesmerising as As Day Follows Night. It’s the third album from Australian singer Sarah Blasko, who has one of the purest, most delicate voices I’ve heard all year, while pitch-perfect orchestration and clever production by Bjorn ‘Peter, Bjorn & John’ Yttling rightly let her greatest asset steal the show.

Guy Atkinson

Les Savy Fav - Root For Ruin (Wichita)

Track - Dirty Knails



If this advent calendar was judged on the band's live performances, Les Savy Fav would have stomped their way to victory dressed like Sherlock Holmes, sweating profusely and trying to bum everyone on the front row. Tim Harrington is truly one of the most fascinating, euphoric, captivating and grotesque performers of our times - you must see this band live before you die. Who gives a shit what the records sound like when they're this mesmeric in a live setting? Well I do. And it's friggin' awesome. It's the sound of a grown man burying your head in his ample, sweaty bosom and that's good enough for me.

Dom Farrell

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Beat The Devil's Tattoo (V2)

Track - Half-State



Sometimes maligned leather-clad San Francisco feedback merchants BRMC gave us their sixth LP, with a new drummer in tow and the welcome return of vocals after 2008's instrumental drone-dirge The Effects of 333. Now, this is far from reinventing the wheel, but the overall lack of flabby filler makes it Black Rebel's most consistent album to date. Raveonettes drummer Leah Shapiro is the new face on the stool and her backing vocals provide a timely lift in places. From the bluesy stomp of the lead-off title track, to the tender lightness of The Toll and space-rock odyssey Half-State, there is plenty to enjoy here.

Ian Parker

Allo Darlin' - Allo Darlin' (Fortuna Pop)

Track - Let's Go Swimming



Flitting seamlessly between twee love songs like Heartbeat Chilli to the pop of My Heart Is A Drummer to the wistful dreaminess of Let's Go Swimming without even trying, Allo' Darlin's debut is a joyful way to pass 40-odd minutes. It's remarkably accomplished for a first crack, and you only hope we've not already had the best this band will offer.

Rory Dollard

The Roots – How I Got Over (Def Jam)

Track - How I Got Over



If 2008’s Rising Down was The Roots’ tired, over-earnest mis-step, this follow-up is their rebuttal. They have taken a step back from humourless politicising and have rediscovered tunes. No mainstream US hip-hop band utilises live instruments as well as they continue to do, especially ?uestlove’s roomy drumming, and there is a sense of old school positivity at play here that brings a smile to the face.

Ali Mason

Arcade Fire – The Suburbs (Mercury)

Track - City With No Children



If Arcade Fire’s career had gone in reverse, they’d probably be the best band in the world: you’d’ve been impressed by the ambition of their sprawling debut The Suburbs, you’d’ve noted the definite improvement and increased coherence of follow-up Neon Bible and seen The Funeral as a perfect, glorious realisation of their potential. As it is, The Suburbs just sounds like a bit of a bloated mess, punctuated by moments of brilliance.

The Musical Advent Calendar - Door Number Seven

Seven. Lucky seven. Today, we see that Ali's continuing left-field approach means we have two different releases by the same artist on the same day.

Pranam Mavahalli

Janelle Monae – The Archandroid III (Bad Boy)

Track – Tightrope



Blessed with the voice of Beyonce, the moves of James Brown and the face of an angel she even puts Erik Hassle’s mighty vertical ‘fro to shame. God, whoever she might be, was in a generous mood when distributing talents to Ms Monae. Thankfully for the listener, Monae has put these gifts to good use in creating most batshit bonkers concept album the year. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next, and after seeing this, you might feel the same.

John Skilbeck

Marnie Stern - Marnie Stern (Kill Rock Stars)

Track - Nothing Left



Accomplished guitarists can be such crushing bores, impressive musical on-stage furniture but when energy, passion and vision - and perhaps fury - are absent then precisely what is the point? New Yorker Stern is a virtuoso shredder with a sense of adventure and eccentricity, and her third album, self-titled, was another walk-in wardrobe of quirks and delights. Art rock was it? Maybe, each song a carefully textured work of sometimes savage beauty. Her phenomenal playing, her sloganeering vocals and Zach Hill's majestic drumming amounted to a bouncing bomb of an album, her best yet and you were never far from the next violent explosion of magnificent colour.

Steve Pill

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs (Mercury)

Track - Modern Man



Okay, so it isn’t a patch on Funeral, Win Butler’s references to “the kids” are depressing, concept albums are for wimps, and there are at least five tracks too many. Still, The Suburbs has a handful of tracks that still set the pulse racing and would be highlights of any Arcade Fire collection. Month of May still burns with a little of the old righteous fire, The Suburbs takes a stab at Kinks-ian pop and even Rococo manages to be irritatingly addictive.

Matt Collins

Caitlin Rose - Own Side Now (Names Records)

Track - New York City



Own Side Now is why country is cool again. It isn’t just packed with heartbreak and harmonies but hummable tunes from the honey voiced Rose. New York City is a particular personal highlight of an afterthought, sandwiched between the single material of brass led stomp Shanghai Cigarettes and head-shaking fun of Spare Me.



Andy Welch

Belle & Sebastian – Write About Love (Rough Trade)

Track – I’m Not Living In The Real World



A friend and I were arguing about Belle & Sebastian recently, and he said he hated them because they’re “twee and smug.” I’m inclined to agree – not that tweeness is something to be ashamed of – but those characteristics are the reasons I love the band so much. I love that they annoy some people so violently and I think they’ve earned the right to be comfortable in their ability. Write About Love isn’t adventurous, but it brims with confidence and, just as the very best bands carve out their own genre, Write About Love couldn’t have been made by anyone else.

Guy Atkinson

Tokyo Police Club - Champ (Memphis Industries)

Track - Favourite Colour




The debut album, Elephant Shell, from these unfeasibly young Canadian upstarts failed to improve upon the fuzzy brilliance of their seven-track EP, A Lesson in Crime, but this second effort goes some way to recapturing the thrilling energy they lavished on us in those early, heady days. With more pop hooks than ever before, this is their shot at the big time - they might just get there...shudder.

Dom Farrell

Dum Dum Girls - I Will Be (Sub Pop)

Track - Lines Her Eyes



Gritty bubblegum pop may seem like a contradiction in terms, but it is something Dum Dum Girls have stumbled upon with full-length debut I Will Be. Obvious new-wave and Ronettes influences are offset by various nods towards Joy Division, PiL and the Velvet Underground. A tight, crisp rhythm section underpins Kristin Gundred's vision, which impressively pulled together by Richard Gotterhrer's lo-fi production of this clattering, menacing half-hour.

Ian Parker

She & Him - Volume Two (Double Six)

Track - Thieves

A quirk of timing meant it took me longer to fall for Volume Two than it did for One. It was released right before I went away, and ended up on a pile of records I'd not listened to for too long. But all that meant was that by the time I finally did get to it, it almost had the feel of a lost treasure. Volume Two elevates what at first felt like a part-time hobby into a serious band. I won't wait so long to play Volume Three.

Rory Dollard

Janelle Monae – The Archandroid (Bad Boy)

Track - Dance or Die



With the wholehearted backing from the likes of Outkast and P Diddy and guest appearances from the likes of Saul Williams and Of Montreal, Monae is unsubtly being primed for the big time. She certainly looks and sounds like a star – albeit one more at home in the American market than the British – and this record collates electronica, r&b, rap, strings, jazz and pop to fascinating effect.

Ali Mason

Caitlin Rose – Dead Flowers (Names Records)

Track - Shotgun Wedding



I’m not sure I really agree with choosing an EP for this list, but I so loved Dead Flowers and was so disappointed by Caitlin Rose’s subsequent album I was determined to put it in somewhere. Dead Flowers is country music pure and simple, done with such wit and warmth and joie de vivre it warms your bloody cockles. Somehow by the time Own Side Now was released later in the year, all the character had been ironed of her. Which was a shame, really.

The Musical Advent Calendar - Door Number Six

Pranam is clearly out to claim Skillers' crown as our random music merchant. What can he come up with today?

Pranam Mavahalli

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Before Today (4AD)

Track – Menopause Man



Insidious grooves that get better with each listen. Smooth but hinting at danger and recorded on what sounds like absolutely ancient equipment, I like Mr Pink’s soundworld very much indeed. Not 100% convinced by his song titles though.



John Skilbeck

The Corin Tucker Band - 1,000 Years (Kill Rock Stars)

Track - Doubt



Until I heard the first songs from Carrie Brownstein's Wild Flag in November, I reasoned her Sleater-Kinney bandmate Corin Tucker's very fine debut solo album would be the clear standout post-'hiatus' record by a member of the Portland band. Tucker's album was a band effort to an extend, but it also bore her name and these were her songs, her lyrics, and that forceful voice draped across it was unmistakeable hers. Released on the label which put out most of S-K's best work, it carried the hallmarks of that band in parts, but Tucker, who emerged in the 1990s at the forefront of the riot grrrl movement, is now a mother-of-two, so new experiences informed the songwriting she had returned to, restless from playing next to no guitar while she raised her young children. It was not all driving electric guitar - a twanging acoustic patrolled It's Always Summer, and the closing Miles Away was a lovely, yearning piano-led ballad. Eight out of ten then, easily, but then came Wild Flag, and the suspicion they might top 1,000 Years. Not that there's any competition. Is there?

Steve Pill

Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record (City Slang)

Track - All To All



Yes, yes, they are a modern day, Canadian indie rock supergroup, friends with Feist and Metric and all that. That's all well and good, but supergroups are supposed to produce triple albums full of novelty songs, coked-up jams and stadium-sized displays of ego, not modest, inventive records like this. From the spaced-out opener World Sick onwards, FRR never fails to impress, particularly on the gentle throb of their apologetic little anthem, All To All. The presence of producer John McEntire, a member of post rock legends Tortoise, makes perfect sense.

Matt Collins

Tired Pony - The Place We Ran From (Fiction/Polydor)

Track - Held In The Arms of Your Words



Tired Pony is a supergroup led by Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody, and features members of REM, Belle and Sebastian and Editors, among others. Gary writes the songs, giving the album the feel of an acoustic Snow Patrol album. But wait! The Place We Ran From lacks the would-be rock pretensions of Snow Patrol, and instead boasts shimmering production and simple songwriting that loops themes and choruses into a beautiful swirl of strings, backing vocals and melody.

Andy Welch

Band Of Horses – Infinite Arms (Columbia)

Track – Compliments



Often when bands move from cult indie concerns to bona fide major label players, they lose something in the transition. Not so with Band Of Horses, who made the leap to Columbia for their third album seem completely natural. Ben Bridwell’s stunning voice comes to the fore on Infinite Arms; haunting in parts, yearning in others, while the melodious hooks are impossible not to fall head over heels for.

Guy Atkinson

Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles II (Polydor)

Track - Baptism



Where their debut was like a bug-eyed, jaw-grinding shot of adrenaline to the veins, this second album is more akin to eating a particularly sordid batch of magic mushrooms. 'Tasty'.



Dom Farrell

The Strange Death of Liberal England - Drown Your Heart Again (The Strange Death of Liberal England)

Track - Like A Curtain Falling



I saw this lot giving it some serious beans in front of about 25 people in York a couple of months back. In fact, they were almost as into the sparsely populated gig as the solitary lunatic at the front who treated those in attendance to a one man moshpit come alternative dance freak-out. However, when songs from new record Drown Your Heart Again were played, his enthusiasm wained. This must only have been down to unfamiliarity, as tracks such as Like a Curtain Falling and Shadows showcase an exhilarating devil-may-care attitude to what is, at times, rampant miserablism. Fittingly named, Drown Your Heart Again is the sound of disappearing beneath the waves with a fist clenched defiantly in the air. When he knows the words, York's answer to Bez on crack will doubtlessly be bouncing off the walls once more.

Ian Parker

Frazey Ford - Obadiah (Nettwerk)

Track - One More Cup of Coffee



The Be Good Tanyas are an addiction of mine. Their sweet sounding country and gorgeous voices are a sweet treat I cannot go long without. Frazey Ford's decision to go solo on this album is therefore deeply worrying. There's nothing drastically different about Obadiah from any other Be Good Tanyas album, so does this mean she no longer needs the rest of the band? Are they done? Well, we'll put that worry to one side, if only for a short while, to admire another lovely record. And while they've always been able to write a mean tune, the excellent covers have always highlighted Be Good Tanyas records, so it's great to here One More Cup of Coffee on the end of this one.

Rory Dollard

Chemical Brothers – Further (Virgin)

Track - K+D+B



You remember the Chemical Brothers don’t you? An old museum piece of popular British music. You know superstar DJs and all that jazz. Remember? They pissed it up the wall a few years ago and drowned among the tedium of their rotating cast of collaborators. Okay, forget all that. Further is lean, mean dance music with next to no guest vocals but stacks of huge beats and fascinating diversions that require repeat listens.

Ali Mason

Los Campesinos! – Romance Is Boring (Wichita)

Track - Romance Is Boring



For a band whose lead singer wears his love of the Beautiful South firmly on his sleeve, it seems odd that the major flaw to Romance Is Boring is a lack of tunes. Los Campesinos! are renowned as an intelligent band, but too often it borders on wilful and gets in the way of the music. With plenty of knowing references and just enough shoutalong choruses, though, there’s enough here to remind you that they have been, or maybe could be, a genuinely exciting band.

The Musical Advent Calendar - Door Number Five

*BREAKING NEWS* Ali likes an album. Read on to find out which one...

Pranam Mavahalli

Tame Impala – Innerspeaker (Republic of Music)

Track – Alter ego



I feel slightly guilty for including Impala at the expense of Sweden’s Dungen, whom I feel they’re quite indebted too in terms of sound, and who also released an album this year. But as there’s only space for one psychedelic retro rock album in my list, Impala make the cut. It is lovely, with lots of rolling drums and guitars that phase-and-roll more often than they rock.

John Skilbeck

Robyn - Body Talk pt 1 (Konichiwa)

Track - Fembot



I didn’t go to many nightclubs this year. I turned 33 in November, signed up for a pension. When I had a free Saturday night you’d more likely find me reading a book in bed than taking in the sights, sounds and smells familiar to an inner-city barfly. But I fell hopelessly for Robyn’s fifth album, the first in a Body Talk trilogy, which emerged on her own Konichiwa label in June and could have ruled dance-floors all summer long but ultimately barely dented the charts. Sleazy synths held their ground as sweeping choruses stomped across them, the overtly electro-disco opener Don’t Fucking Tell Me What To Do recalling prime Chicks On Speed before Robyn crimped her own imprint on proceedings with the fabulous Fembot. The pace slowed down towards the end of the eight tracks, with the minor hit Hang With Me followed by a sweetly-sung Swedish folk song Jag Vet En Dejilg Rosa (trans: I Know A Lovely Rose). It was the comedown at the end of a hectic set, quite welcome as I reached to turn off my bedside lamp.

Steve Pill

Grinderman - Grinderman 2 (Mute)

Track - Worm Tamer



Oh dear…Uncle Nick has been at the cooking sherry again. Determined to prove that Grinderman's debut was no one night stand, his quartet have returned with another fierce barrage of cringeworthy innuendo and fuzzy, tribal blues that seeks to desecrate the polite memory of Cave's mid-1990s, Kylie-approved balladry. Never has four randy old goats trying to relive their promiscuous youth sounded so triumphant, repulsive and down right sexy. His worm is not for taming.

Matt Collins

Sea of Bees - Song for the Ravens (Crossbill Records)

Track - Lightfriend (From the Bee Eee Pee)



Artists who sound like the weird girl in your primary school who hung out on her own, and answered all your questions with a snarl, are quite the thing now. Sea of Bees, aka Julie Ann Bee, certainly flies a bit close to that incomprehensible light at times but she nevertheless has created an album of atmospheric driving songs. Gnomes sees Bee declaring “What is my crime?” against a backdrop of driving acoustic rock, while the likes of Fyre are gentler but no less atmospheric, almost anthemic.

Andy Welch

Goldheart Assembly – Wolves & Thieves (Fierce Panda)

Track – The Last Decade



There are few albums I listened to more throughout 2010 than Wolves & Thieves. Despite the number of plays, there still new things to stumble upon. At first, it’ll be the likes of Last Decade, Under The Waterway and King Of Rome that take you in; immediate, gloriously catchy pop songs, while with more time, the likes of Jesus Wheel and Carnival emerge as the album’s real highlights.

Guy Atkinson

Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record (City Slang)

Track - Art House Director



Not a patch on their outrageously good 2002 effort You Forget It In People, but it is an enjoyable romp through what makes Broken Social Scene so glee-inducing at times and so frustrating at others. Rampant pop tunes like Art House Director and Texico Bitches make you want to stroke your nipples, while Sweetest Kill makes you want to chop your nipples off and stuff them in your ears. And therein lies the beauty of Broken Social Scene.

Dom Farrell

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs (Mercury)

Track - Empty Room



As with 2007's Neon Bible, Arcade Fire have spent three years crafting The Suburbs. The obvious, rallying stand-out moments of its two predecessors are absent - there is no Wake Up or Keep The Car Running on here. Instead, The Suburbs is Arcade Fire's most varied effort to date, although the lack of a common thread over a sprawling 16 track collection is sometimes to its detriment. The title track opener shuffles and chimes into view, before being followed by Ready To Start's snare-drum led adrenaline shot. Month Of May provides a gloriously scuzzy high point, but the tender lament of Wasted Hours lies just around the corner.

Ian Parker

Neil Young - Le Noise (Reprise)

Track - Walk With Me



For anyone who doesn't know, my views on Neil Young are fairly simple. He's the greatest musician in the history of ever. The albums he made at his peak are my favourite of all time, and his constant reinvention and endless muse lift him above all others. Not that every album is great. But the ones that aren't are a part of his greatness, his eagernes to experiment, and his devil-may-care attitude to whatever anyone else thinks. There was a part of me that wanted to put Fork In The Road on last year's list because, well, because it was Neil. But it wasn't all that good. There's a part of me that wants to have Le Noise higher, but again, that would just be because it's Neil. In truth, after all the talk of the novel production, I was really excited about this one. But it turned out to be only good, not great. The angry version of Neil is no longer as good as his gentle side. But it's still damn good.

Rory Dollard

Best Coast – Crazy For You (Wichita)

Track - Bratty B



Beth Consentino is the postergirl for the reverb drenched sound that seemingly launched a thousand albums this summer, though few of the pretenders got close to Best Coast’s happy, hippie, hazy, dazy, smokey dopey approach. Surf-rock, doo-wop and smirk-inducing dorky teenage lyrics are a fun mix, though they may not hint at longevity.

Ali Mason

Pearly Gate Music – Pearly Gate Music (Bella Union)

Track - I Woke Up



An oddly ramshackle album, this. With head honcho Zach Tillman the brother of a Fleet Fox it’s no surprise that there are haunting melodies to be found here and occasional rich harmonies, but this is an altogether more freeform and low-fi affair with wit and religious imagery thrown in. Some of the tracks, like opener Golden Funeral, are oddly depressing, but there is lots of loveliness if you persist, with Gossamer Hair and the plaintive I Woke Up particular standouts. Should be higher in my list than 20. Not sure what happened there.