I haven’t been too kind to this little old blog in the 2nd half of this year but it has been music that’s pulled me back, so seems fitting to end the year with a best-of as I’m something of a fan of lists.
Now, for someone who buys a lot of music this might be surprising but this year saw my first iTunes purchases. The dropping of DRM inspired me to grab an album that I’d have otherwise had to import, but since then I’ve been seduced by the convenience and immediacy on more than one occasion. I also moved house, to a place with no furniture and I realised how much space I need to store all those I have already, without adding to the collection. I’m sure this won’t be the end of CD-buying for me, as I do love shiny packaging, but I can see physical purchases becoming reserved only for those albums that do put some effort into their appearance.
I was able to put together a playlist for last year’s list on Spotify, picking one track from each of the artists. It turned out that I couldn’t get most of the albums though, and looking back at the playlist even more have become unavailable. As much as I love Spotify, and can’t imagine finding new things to listen to without it, I don’t see it stopping me from buying albums (whether iTunes or CDs). It has meant though, that this year I have favourite albums that I haven’t got around to buying.
So for a list (album names link to Spotify, tracks to Hype Machine)…
- Humbug by Arctic Monkeys - Cornerstone
- It’s Blitz by Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Dragon Queen
- Travels with myself and another by Future of the Left- Arming Eritrea
- Temporary Pleasure by Simian Mobile Disco - Audacity of Huge
- xx by The xx - Crystalised
- Dance Mother by Telepathe - In Your Line
- For lack of a better name by Deadmau5 - Hi Friend!
- Album by Girls - Laura
- Bitte Orca by Dirty Projectors - No Intention
- East of Eden by Taken by Trees - Day by Day
10 Julian Plenti Is… Skyscraper by Julian Plenti
I wrote a bit about this one in the previous post here…back in August. It’s a shame there’s been nothing since, as it would be a bit weird to wax lyrical about it all over again. It’s like Interpol, but different. And when you here Interpol being used to advertise perfume, “but different” is a good thing.
Listen to: Only if you Run
9 Jewellery by Micachu (& The Shapes)
I think this ones wins the prize for the most-fun album of the year, it’s really bouncy and frantic, not one to listen to while trying to do anything else but the shifts in style and tempo, alongside amusing lyrics make for an enjoyable listen.
Listen to: Calculator
8 A Woman A Man Walked By by PJ Harvey & John Parish
I love listening to PJ Harvey sing so much, and to have an album that’s almost as mesmerising as White Chalk, but with the jerky riffs of the earlier albums makes me a happy listener.
Listen to: Black Hearted Love
7 Merriweather Post Pavilion by Animal Collective
This was the first Animal Collective album I’ve listened to and having heard others since I’m not really seeing what I’ve missed…but I do love some of the songs on this album, and I can stare at the album cover for longer than is probably good for me.
Listen to: My Girls
6 Fantasies by Metric
I was made redundant in April of this year and until June was busy looking for a job. Too busy in fact, and more than a little afraid of spending money, that I didn’t go and see Metric when they were playing in Coventry, and I regret that quite a lot. Fantasies is a lovely set of songs, and I hope they come back to England soon.
Listen to: Gimme Sympathy
5 Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion by Fight Like Apes
I was introduced to this lot by my friend Holly (who puts them at #2 on her list…) and they are so much fun. Nearly as fun as Micachu, but not quite. The lyrics are amazingly weird and the songs are more than a bit catchy. The 8 seconds that make up the track Megameanie basically some up this band.
Listen to: Lumpy Dough
4 Two Suns by Bat For Lashes
When Elbow won the Mercury prize last year I was a little bit surprised but they were a band that I’d always liked-just-not-very-much, and so I didn’t question the decision. This year’s joke of a choice baffles me entirely. There’s plenty of precedent for using prizes to encourage future greatness, but it’s not like most of the other nominations were too swamped with exposure to benefit from it. Anyway, this is a long, ranty way of saying that Bat For Lashes should have won. Sothere.
Listen to: Daniel
3 Lovetune for Vacuum by Soap&Skin
I was intrigued initially here by the artist’s name. Then finding out that she was Syrian made me think about whether I’d ever listened to any Syrian music before, and I realised I hadn’t. Then I re-read the wikipedia article, and realised that she’s actually from Styria in Austria, not Syria, and then I thought about whether I’d ever listened to any Austrian music before, and I don’t think I have. So. I found some music from a country that isn’t particularly well known for its music, and it’s lovely.
Listen to: Thanatos
2 Manners by Passion Pit
I read on Pitchfork (I think) about how the singer in this band put together an EP as a valentines present for his girlfriend last year and thought it a bit soppy, but as I tend to do when reading music-sites, stuck the band’s name into Spotify to give them a listen. The EP didn’t immediately jump out at me as being anything brilliant, until Sleepyhead came on. Ordering the albums here took me a while (and should still be considered flexible), but the Guardian had a survey on their site today asking for favourite albums, bands and songs, and for the last box, I didn’t even have to think twice - I love it so much.
Listen to: Sleepyhead
1 JJ No. 2 by JJ
This is another band that I wrote about in the previous post, and I called it ‘uninspiring’. To go from that, to my favouritest album of the whole entire year would seem like quite a change of heart, and I am fickle like that. I think my love stems mostly from Ecstasy, which is just adorable, but I just love the Hawaiian/Balearic-style pop beats.
Listen to: Ecstasy
