In my humble opinion, 2013 has been an annus longplayerus. That's a good year for the album to all you non-latin speakers. Now, my humble opinion may well be tainted by the fact that for nine months of this year I have had to endure 90 minute commutes to Sunny* Scunny, and this time has more often than not been made more bearable by having a new album or two to listen to along the M18 and the M180.
Earlier this year I decided that, in order to fit all of our belongings into one room while Schönberg Central was being re-built, I would box up all my CDs and put them into the loft, effectively consigning all future purchases to 'digital download only'. I thought this would spell the end of full album purchases for me, leaving all future purchases as single tracks of whatever was finding heavy rotation on 6music. How wrong could I have been - maybe the commute helped, or maybe it was the quality on offer, but I have found myself buying two or three albums per month during the year - a similar frequency to the heady days of 1991.
With so much good music out there then picking a top 10 for the year has been very difficult. Do I choose the coolest 10? Or the 10 most obscure? (as you know, I am a music snob). Or do I choose the ones that I would want you to know that I like? In the end, I have decided to let my laptop decide. I have graded my top 10 based on how many plays each has had on my copy of iTunes. It was the only way I could differentiate between some of them.
Here goes....
10 Desire Lines - Camera Obscura 9 Ships - Sweet Baboo 8 Walking on a Pretty Daze - Kurt Vile 7 Delta Machine - Depeche Mode 6 AM - Arctic Monkeys 5 Trouble Will Find Me - The National 4 Holy Fire - Foals 3 II - Unknown Mortal Orchestra
2 Corsicana Lemonade - White Denim
1 Random Access Memories - Daft Punk
No real surprise with the No.1, but the extent to which it came out on top really surprised me. Most albums get about 10-20 listens on my iTunes, but the Daft Punk album was a full 30 listens ahead of it's nearest rival. This I put down to the versatility of the album, equally at home being listened to at full blast in the car, or background dinner party music, or even on the outdoor speakers for a barbeque. Anyway, if you don't own it then you should.
Honourable mentions must go to Public Service Broadcasting, John Grant, Suede, Drenge and Midlake, who could have featured higher in the ratings if I'd acquired them earlier.
*interestingly, Scunthorpe does seem to be sunnier than Sheffield
The Schönbys are fictional, made-up awards for me to let you know what I've enjoyed listening to during 2011. Winners and nominations are drawn from music I have seen, heard or bought during the preceding 12 months.
2010, to me, seemed a poor year for music. When it came to choosing my top albums of the year I struggled to come up with a top 5. Was it a general dearth of good music, or just the fact that having a young baby meant I had other things on my mind? Maybe both these things transpired to cause me to buy precious little music. In order to make sure 2011 didn't go the same way I vowed to purchase at least 12 albums in the year, one a month if possible, so that I could get to this point in the year with a considered view on the best album of the year to share with you.
In the end I bought 18 albums, and had access to a few more, so here, for your delight, or ridicule, or (hopefully) comments, is my top 10 of the year.
10. Young Knives - Ornaments From a Silver Arcade
Young Knives' third full-length album may have only reached #80 (and lasted only 1 week) in the official album charts, but displays a progression from their early rawness, whilst still keeping the infectious riffs and humorous lyrics.
9. Elbow - Build a Rocket Boys!
I would get lynched if I didn't include Elbow in my top 10 of the year. Could easily have been a shadow of 2008's Seldom Seen Kid, but stands up well. A poignant, compelling story throughout.
8. The Vaccines - What Did You Expect From...
Initial disappointment that The Vaccine's debut album was not 11 versions of 'Wreckin' Bar' was slowly but surely replaced by an appreciation of the indie pop melodies. Not punk, but still well worth a listen.
7. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
I came late to the Mercury Music Prize winner, but listened to it almost continuously whilst on business in the South of Italy. Wilfred Owen with a guitar, this album is classic Polly Jean; sad, soulful and uplifting all at the same time.
6. White Lies - Ritual
It seems an age since White Lies released their second album. To many this was not a patch on the debut album but to me it was an obvious progression towards a more electronic feel to the music. Think more Depeche Mode than Joy Division.
Stand out track: Is Love
5. The Horrors - Skying
Another band attempting to better a previous Mercury Prize nomination this year were The Horrors. I guess there was quite a bit of hype surrounding this release, and when 'Still Life' was released I knew that the album would be close to another classic. The Horrors are become somewhat of a chameleon band, the style of each of their three albums so far have been distinctly different, and some compared this particular incarnation to Simple Minds. There are some early Simple Minds influences in the album, yes, but why is that a bad thing?
4. White Denim - D
I was amazed to find out that White Denim were formed in 2006 and had six studio albums to date, as previous to the release of 'D' they were not on my radar. That could have something to do with the continuous metamorphosis from punky, garage band to fully fledged 70s americana. The album is a collection of fantastic riffs and cool, lazy vocals.
3. The Strokes - Angles
I've already waxed lyrical about the return of the Strokes. The band won this blog site's album of the decade with it's 2001 debut release, but since then there's been a steady decline in the quality of the bands output. Cue an extensive break and band members' solo projects, and then just when everyone was finally forgetting about The Stokes, bang! They release 'Angles' and they're back to their best. The album returns to the basics of 'Is this It' without the layers of overproduction and has some very catchy tunes.
2. Metronomy - English Riviera
Looking around the internet, I can't add anything to the plaudits that this album has received. The third release from Devon's finest really brought them from electronic experimental instrumentalists to the doorstep of mainstream. Don't take my word for it, this is what the NME wrote; "With this, his third full-length album, Joe Mount has transformed his Metronomy project from a jaunty, brilliant, yet ultimately niche electro outfit into one of the most expansive and visionary pop bands in the country"
1. Pete and the Pirates - One Thousand Pictures
I wasn't interested in Pete and the Pirates' first album release in 2008, I thought they were forgettable indie pop, however after the release of 'Winter' and 'Come to the Bar' I realised that this indie pop had an edge to it, and the more I listened the more I could hear the post-punk suburban rock of The Buzzcocks or The Undertones in there. The album does not have one bad song on it, why it only reached #75 in the official charts is beyond me. Anyway, I hope the stand out track below will change your view of Pete and the Pirates like it did me.
Fairly decent top 10 don't you think? No? Well, if you want to tell me where I went wrong then leave a comment with your top 10 - we can compare and contrast.
The Schönbys are fictional, made-up awards for me to let you know what I've enjoyed listening to during 2011. Winners and nominations are drawn from music I have seen, heard or bought during the preceding 12 months.
2011 has been a great year for the single, so great that I came up with 15 songs for my top 5 singles of the year. It really was difficult to choose, my first attempt at picking my favourite 5 resulted in an all-female line-up. However, I don't want to be accused of sexism like the Sports Personality of the Year people (congratulations Mark Cavendish by the way!) so I had a few more goes at it before finally arriving at my final choice below.
Those not quite lucky enough to make the top 5 are:
Don't Look At Me (I Don't Like It) - The Lovely Eggs
The Lovely Eggs may not make it onto many end of year lists, but "the sausage roll thumb song" was most played on my iPod, primarily down to my 3-year old daughter adopting it as her song of the year. The song is catchy, fun and quirky - perfect for a little girl to jump around to, but delivered with edgy, punky guitars and colloquial vocals (perfect for an ageing rocker like me). You'll either love it or hate it, why not find out?
I loved the last Horrors album, Primary Colours, and was worried that any new material would never live up to their mercury prize nominated 2009 release. When Still Life was aired this year, I knew that I shouldn't have worried. A lot of press likened the single's sound to Simple Minds, which in my opinion wasn't a bad thing. From the backwards, swirling opening to the anthemic chorus, this track is a classic.
Metronomy have already scooped my 'best live act' award this year, but their set at the Leadmill in Sheffield didn't include this track. This, I'm guessing, is because the track would not be the same without the guest vocals of Veronica Falls frontwoman Roxane Clifford. There are many great songs on the English Riviera, but Roxanne's vocals bring another layer to the already complex sound.
White Denim are on their fourth album apparently, but this song was my first taste of them. When I heard it on the radio, with it's prog-rock arrangement and powerful riffs, I just had to hear the rest of the album, and it didn't disappoint. If you like things like Wolfmother and, well, I can't think of anyone else, then you'll like this.
And the winner is...
Video Games - Lana del Rey
In a year when Adele made the album that adorns every middle-class coffee table up and down the country and female vocalists became commonplace in the alternative and indie charts, this track stood out above them all. Should it worry me that Lana del Rey (not her real name) is not the "resident of a New Jersey trailer park recently emerged from smalltown USA" that her record company blog stated, but the daughter of an internet millionaire? Probably, but the song sounds great.
