Albums of the Year: #20-#16
And it’s that time of year again. For me, this is the point where I stop blogging and let it die - but not this year! I promise! Ooh, dear…
Anyway, this year has been fantastic in terms of great music. It’s the first year in forever that the winner of the Mercury Prize actually deserved the title. It’s the first year in forever that the Grammy for Album of the Year went to an album universally accepted as good (well, by most people, anyway).
Anyway, the next four posts will sum up my twenty favourite albums of the year. I would point out that I may well have, uh, kind of forgotten some of them released earlier in the year. If I do I’ll note them at the end, all right? Good.
#20: Friendly Fires - Pala
What a year Friendly Fires have had. A successful trip on the festival circuit - they were great at T in the Park in the pouring rain - followed up by an equally successful album. Personally I don’t think it does as well as their eponymous debut but that was a very tough act to follow. While Pala seems unsure and muddled, there are some seriously catchy tunes on it, and you can ask nothing more of a band who specialise in catchy tunes.
Video: “Hurting”
#19: Kaiser Chiefs - The Future is Medieval
I might get a lot of flak for saying this, but I thought this album was genuinely quite good. Sure, the method of release was strange, probably a stunt, and threw the whole concept of album linearity right out of the window, but The Future is Medieval actually, as a whole, is neatly done and a lot of the music across the twenty tracks is more than listenable. Top job.
Listen: “Man on Mars”
#18: Architecture in Helsinki - Moment Bends
Now I’m not suddenly becoming biased since I moved to Australia (yeah, I did, what of it?). This band have been consistently great while simultaneously riding the twee wave in much the same way as Los Campesinos! have done. Perhaps a bit more understated, though. Moment Bends is more than that, though, it’s an evolution for the group. It’s more accessible and, in my most humble of opinions, excellent.
Video: “Escapee”
#17: Jhameel - The Human Condition
Here it is, the “who the hell?” of 2011’s list… but it’s very sad that this guy’s so under-appreciated. Back when I was first pointed to his YouTube channel (which was only Spring or so, not long ago), his videos were regularly only hitting three digits. Now, though, he’s blown up a bit more. Which is fantastic. His music is spectacularly diverse for one guy’s own work.
Video: “How Many Lovers”
#16: Los Campesinos! - Hello Sadness
“What?! Why is LC! so low in your list, you love them!” Yes, I do. I adore this band. I adore the members of the band, they way they formed, the style of their work, their maturing, and how it has peaked. Only I think it peaked with Romance Is Boring, which compared to this was a much more complete and enjoyable work. This, while still lyrically and musically excellent, doesn’t come close to the levels of their last record and so is stuck here. Sorry, guys.
Video: “By Your Hand”
