Can’t believe how late I am with this. I have been busy…promise. In keeping with the “busy” theme, I won’t be giving a little track description/review – just know that I love them all.
So as 2010 winds to a close (not before Xmas/my birthday!!) and 2011 comes into view it’s time for the old blogaroo to name the best albums of the year. Here goes.
13. Massive Attack – Heligoland
This one kinda came out of left field for me. Paid absolutely fuck all attention to it around the release date and it probably would’ve slid under the rug were it not for True Blood using one of the songs from it (‘Paradise Circus’) in a key scene. I had to find out who it was and when I did I got the album. I’ll admit it took a few spins before I really got into it, but when it clicked it was like magic. An absolute welcome return to form.
This one was a no-brainer that ticked all my boxes. Chiming guitars? Check. Wistful lyrics? Check. Hazy vocals low in the mix? Check. An absolute KILLER single? Fuck yah! Ideal while listening on the bus to/from work.
Another great headphones album. Also really seamless – it’s hard not to (and I’d advise you to) listen to the thing as a whole. Inventive, dubby, low-key, and at 35 mins long it’s gone long before it outstays its welcome. I’m really paying attention to what these guys release from now on.
With probably my favourite album cover of the year, ‘Before Today’ sounds like it was recorded in 1978 in a basement somewhere. Paying homage to – rather than poking fun at – music from decades past, this album is so hook-filled and stuffed to the brim with ideas that you can forget it’s 2010 while listening to it.
“Play me some kind of new sound,
Something true and sincere.” ‘None Of Dem’
Not only did Robyn come back after not releasing an album in 5 years, but it was like she had been hoarding pop gems and decided this was the year to blow her wad! Not only were these songs HUGE on the dancefloors, but they were also filled with meaning! Case in point is ‘Call Your Girlfriend’, a stormer about the ‘other woman’ giving break-up tips to the new boyfriend. Too clever by half.
Released back in February, I remember this album didn’t leave my ears for about 3 weeks. Completely overplayed this album to death. Catchy, precise, poppy and with hooks coming out of its arse this album is a fantastic debut from a band who (I hope) carry on making fantastic indie-pop/rock gems.
It seems to me that you can be an absolute arsehole with a twitter account but you’ll only get shit on, and told to get your act together if you’re a woman (Hi M.I.A.) yet be praised for much worse if you’re a man – “live breakdowns, the Horus chain, the free-MP3 stunt(ing), the press blitz, the breakups, the make-ups, the dick pics” (Hi Kanye). Discuss.
After initially avoiding /\/\ /\ Y /\ after the dismal review it received on P4k (yeah, I know I’m obsessed) I finally got round to listening to it. What a surprise. I actually think it’s my favourite album of hers. Sure she acts like a bawbag sometimes, but who cares when the music’s THIS good!?
Every time I think this band has hit its creative peak they come back and sucker-punch my kidneys. Sounding like they can write these laid back pop prizes in their sleep (literally sounding like this on ‘Helicopter’) they could have rested on their laurels and pumped out any old shite. Instead they continue to grow with each album/EP and I, personally, cannot wait to hear new material from these guys. And the cover’s not bad either.
Did not expect this either! Kinda avoided this album thinking it would be a retread of their last album (which I wasn’t too fond of). Like Massive Attack, this was another case of discovering an album through the medium of television. Played as the outro to an episode of Eastbound & Down (which btw had THE best soundtrack to a TV show I’ve heard for years), I had to find out who it was. Turns out it was ‘I’m Not The One’ from ‘Brothers’. This album is such a return to form and, in my opinion, the best album they’ve ever released. Any other year this could easily make the number 1 spot.
I trust James Murphy to know what’s best with music like I trust Christopher Nolan to know what’s best with movies. At no point am I worried that he might conjure up a steaming turd of a song, especially when he keeps releasing stone-cold classic albums. I respect the man as much as Bowie, and by the sound of the influence in some of his songs I’d imagine he’d take that as the highest honour.
Probably the biggest surprise of the year for me, this one. Was never that big on the whole Gorillaz sound/cartoon gimmick. That all changed when I played ‘Plastic Beach’ into the ground. Looks like I also picked the right Britpop band leader to idolise. If Damon Albarn can still write songs as good as these, all the while recruiting some of the biggest names in music to collaborate then he deserves a fecking knighthood or something. ‘White Flag’ pitches London rap besides a fucking Lebanese oriental arabic orchestra FFS! What’s more though, IT WORKS! It’s not perfect, but then again none of my favourite albums ever are.
To be honest, this could easily have been number 2 but I think it just pips ‘Plastic Beach’ through sheer pop-songwriting chops! I can’t name a single duffer on this album. Cribbing from all the greats – the Beach Boys, 60s girl groups, Phil Spector’s cavernous production – they make retro-sounding jangly haze gaze that slotted in nicely with the chillwave boom of 2009/10. Couple that with one of the best female voices I’ve heard for years, the fuzzy buzzy sound (thanks Hipster Runoff) and the topics of her songs (love, weed, being lazy and her cat) and it makes the album of 2010 for me. Instantly repeatable. It being my “summer” album probably didn’t hurt its chances either…
So that’s it. Do you agree with the list? Not the number 1 you hoped for? Tough titty it’s my blog hahaha. Let me know what your album of the year is and I’ll get back with a witty reply maybe/probably/definitely.
Anyway, this post took aaaaages to write and I’ll have another struggle doing the ‘Best Songs Of 2010′ countdown but that’ll probably be after Christmas sometime, maybe not, we’ll see.
I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas and I wish you all the best for 2011! Don’t be a stranger.
Been meaning to post about Big Boi for a while because the more I hear Shutterbug the more I think it’s a fecking groundbreaking sound! He also pops up on Janelle Monáe‘s sassy ‘Tightrope’. Grum‘s album has also been getting a lot of plays on my iPod recently and I’ve attached the splendidly-soporific standout ‘Want U’ so check it oot! I’ve sandwhiched these 3 gems with 2 tracks I heard on TV (well…I say TV…I really mean what I’ve torrented) one of which was the M.I.A. track ‘Space’ which was featured at the end of the latest Entourage right when Vince jumps out the plane; the second of which (is actually the first track here) is the best song I’ve heard used on a TV show and was featured on True Blood when Bill goes to the strip club and Massive Attack‘s ‘Paradise Circus’ is playing while he’s watching a Miley Cyrus-look-a-like work the pole. The hand-claps are key. Absolute prize of a track.
As you can probably tell from the picture on the right I am a….whisper it….jaunge*. Yes, I’d probably have a bullet in my arse now if I was in M.I.A.‘s new 9-min banned video for ‘Born Free‘. At least I’m not this guy though!
The internet is a fast moving beast, so the streaming MP3s that are posted may not work after a while due to them being taken down. And since I can't be arsed uploading them all again it's tough shite. I'll always post a link to a downloadable MP3 though. As always, if you like what you hear - away and buy it eh!
p.s. if I've put up a song you'd rather not see here then let me know, you can email me here
