Video: Los Campesinos! - Hello Sadness

Probably a bit far behind, but whatever. Great idea, executed bloody well.

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”

Albums of the Year: #5-#1

Well, we tried to give a little bit more of a suspense-filled gap, but we’ve decided to just get a move on and reveal our top five albums of the year.

All five are, obviously, much more than worthy of a listen. Enjoy…

#5: Everything Everything - Man Alive

The rise and rise of Everything Everything has been phenomenal - this time two years ago they were releasing studio work for nothing to friends and online fans. Now, they have a charting debut, a legion of supporters, and, if you’re the lead singer, a whole lot of Lemsip. Octave-defying art-pop at its very best.

Video: “MY KZ, UR BF”

#4: Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles (II)

This is the only band in this list that strike proper, absolute fear into the vast majority of people. Perhaps that’s why they don’t sell well; the leak of the album emerged a good few months before it was supposed to. It’s not an easy listen, but if you bear with it it can stick with you for a long, long time. Euphoric yet immensely frightening electro.

#3: Los Campesinos! - Romance is Boring

The second-or-possibly-third album from Los Campesinos! was just as difficult to get into as the ones preceding it; Gareth’s shouty, heavily laden vocals laid over some grating guitar and really quite weird synthwork. It’s all from the very bottom of the heart, and the stories weaved into the work are so down to earth you just have to sympathise. That, for us, makes this a great record.

Video: “The Sea is a Good Place to Think About the Future”

#2: These New Puritans - Hidden

Actually, what I said about Crystal Castles, I take that back. Even if they’re a bunch of unassuming young adults, These New Puritans can write some stunningly foreboding pieces of music. The amount of innovation is astonishing - bassoon solos, a children’s choir and a particularly haunting refrain throughout. Hidden is less an album and more a work of art.

Video: “Attack Music”

#1: The National - High Violet

The National aren’t amateurs. They don’t do things by halves. For their fifth album, they deferred to some fairly heavy themes, the album seeming to reflect that; it’s the musings of a man in a venomous city, a new terrain… it’s unmistakably the same band, but everything is so delicate, so airy, and at the same time uneasy, not quite sure of itself, and softly nudges your shoulder to ask for a name. A joy to listen to, with enough substance to go back again and again and again.

Listen: “Afraid of Everyone”

Honourable Mentions

Stuff that nearly got in…

Caribou - Swim

Warpaint - The Fool

Broken Bells - Broken Bells

Laura Marling - I Speak Because I Can

Foals - Total Life Forever