What's left?

 

2009 - 5

2008 - 2

2007 - 4

2006 - 4

2005 - 4

2004 - 3

2003 - 3

2002 - 3

2001 - 2

2000 - 1

 

Solo Males - 3

Solo Females - 2

Male Fronted Bands - 21

Female Fronted Bands - 3

Bands That Aren't Really Fronted - 1

Robyn's Cobrastyle >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> the original. By miles and miles and miles.

 

Phoenix and M83. :wub:

 

101 Stereophonics 'Language. Sex. Violence. Other.'

95 Goldfrapp 'Supernature'

91 Coldplay 'Parachutes'

87 Bloc Party 'Intimacy'

86 Bat For Lashes 'Two Suns'

84 Rilo Kiley 'More Adventurous'

83 Blur 'Think Tank'

77 Long Blondes 'Couples'

76 Santogold 'Santogold'

75 Little Boots 'Hands'

74 Interpol 'Our Love To Admire'

73 Long Blondes 'Someone To Drive You Home'

69 Jenny Lewis 'Acid Tongue'

66 Razorlight 'Up All Night'

64 Franz Ferdinand 'Franz Ferdinand'

63 Muse 'The Resistance'

60 Red Hot Chili Peppers 'By The Way'

59 Gorillaz 'Demon Days'

57 Imogen Heap 'Speak For Yourself'

56 Franz Ferdinand 'You Could Have It So Much Better'

55 Los Campesinos! 'Hold On Now, Youngster'

54 Rilo Kiley 'Under The Blacklight' :wub:

53 Arctic Monkeys 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not'

52 Yeah Yeah Yeahs 'It's Blitz!'

50 Simian Mobile Disco 'Attack Decay Sustain Release'

49 Muse 'Origin of Symmetry'

48 Goldfrapp 'Felt Mountain'

46 Coldplay 'Viva La Vida or Death and All of His Friends'

44 Idlewild 'The Remote Part'

43 Kings of Leon 'Aha Shake Heartbreak'

40 Arcade Fire 'Neon Bible'

39 Robyn 'Robyn'

33 Foo Fighters 'One By One'

32 Kings of Leon 'Becuase of the Times'

 

Like/Love all of these!

That's rather a lot there, thanks! :D

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The Pains of Being Pure at Heart 'The Pains of Being Pure at Heart' (2009)

 

I think these are definitely the best new band of the year. Their sound is quite retro and it's very shoegaze/twee and it makes for wonderful listening. Fantastic harmonies between the male and female vocals and some great tunes to go with it. Their EP 'Higher Than the Stars' released later in the year was just as good.

 

Contender

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Stellastarr* 'Stellastarr*' (2003)

 

Coming from the same New York post-punk scene as the likes of Interpol and The Strokes these were always somewhat ignored which is a huge shame. They may have lost their way a bit after (although I still quite liked them) but this debut is a marvellous album.

 

Somewhere Across Forever

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Maximo Park 'A Certain Trigger' (2005)

 

To say I was obsessed with Maximo Park in 2005 would be something of an understatement. From when I first heard 'Apply Some Pressure' I was hooked and could not wait for this album. It didn't disappoint, full of great three minute indie pop songs. I think it came out at the right time, before the market became generic and saturated, which is pretty much what they've become now. This years album was awful. :(

 

Going Missing

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Monkey Swallows the Universe 'The Casket Letters' (2007)

 

I loved 'Bloodline' so much that I had to buy this album when I saw it (if they hadn't just split and I wasn't living in their hometown I doubt I'd have been able to!) and it lived up to any expectations I might have had. Whilst nothing on the album is quite as fantastic or as beautiful as 'Bloodline' is it's still a marvellous effort full of great little pop songs.

 

Matterhoney

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Elbow 'Asleep in the Back' (2001)

 

After loving 'The Seldom Seen Kid' so much it made sense to delve further into Elbow's back catalogue. I started with this, their debut, and it turned out to be my favourite of the three. I recognised a couple of the songs off it from when they were released but like I'd always continued to do, I didn't really like them enough to pay more attention to them. Even though their sound remains fairly similar to this now you can still see the progression they've taken over the decade. This album definitely possesses some of their best and most beautiful songs; 'New Born', 'Any Day Now' and moreso 'Powder Blue'.

 

Powder Blue

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Bloc Party 'Silent Alarm' (2005)

 

It took me quite a while to get properly into Bloc Party. Their singles were good but most were unspectacular. But I got their album anyway and over time they've become one of my favourite bands and this has become one of my favourite albums. I still stick by thinking the single weren't the strongest songs on it, although I have grown to love them more, especially 'Banquet' which I wasn't overly fond of when it was released. 'She's Hearing Voices', 'This Modern Love' and 'Like Eating Glass' not getting mainstream single releases was poor. They deserved to be heard by the masses.

 

This Modern Love

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The Go! Team 'Thunder, Lightning, Strike' (2004)

 

When I first heard The Go! Team I loved them because they were completely different to anything else, and they still are to be fair. The sheer volume of different sounds was so interesting, and on the songs where vocals are present, Ninja provides them brilliantly.

 

Panther Dash

 

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Arctic Monkeys 'Humbug' (2009)

 

I definitely seem to be a minority in thinking that this is Arctic Monkeys finest album, and by a long distance too. It perhaps takes longer to get into than their previous albums but I find it so much more interesting, it's far more varied and shows and excellent progression and refining their sound. It's never going to win over fans of 'I Bet You Look Good....' because there aren't the shouty, jumpy anthems that they'd previously had, but musically it's at another level and lyrically Alex Turner is as brilliant and witty as ever, how 'Cornerstone' wasn't a massive hit I'll never know.

 

Cornerstone

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Sufjan Stevens 'Illinoise' (2005)

 

It's sometimes hard to get caught up in hype and there was always a lot of hype surrounding Sufjan and this album, but it was all completely deserved. A wonderfully crafted album complete with beautifully brilliant songs.

 

Come On! Feel The Illinoise!

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The Hold Steady 'Boys and Girls In America' (2006)

 

I'd seen these praised no end in reviews and various websites and magazines, but often described as 'bar-rock' and 'an ode to Bruce Springsteen' they didn't exactly make me want to check them out. Then I heard 'Boys & Girls In America' on the radio and I thought it was great, I made sure I listened after it finished to find out who it was. I was mildly surprised at who it was, but it did fit the descriptions I'd seen, but much better than I ever imagined. It was the best track on the album but the rest is certainly great too.

 

You Can Make Him Like You'

30 The Pains of Being Pure at Heart 'The Pains of Being Pure at Heart'

29 Stellastarr* 'Stellastarr*'

28 Maximo Park 'A Certain Trigger'

27 Monkey Swallows The Universe 'The Casket Letters'

26 Elbow 'Asleep In The Back'

25 Bloc Party 'Silent Alarm'

24 The Go! Team 'Thunder, Lightning, Strike'

23 Arctic Monkeys 'Humbug'

22 Sufjan Stevens 'Illinoise'

21 Hold Steady 'Boys & Girls In America'

 

30 The Pains of Being Pure at Heart 'The Pains of Being Pure at Heart'

28 Maximo Park 'A Certain Trigger'

25 Bloc Party 'Silent Alarm'

24 The Go! Team 'Thunder, Lightning, Strike'

23 Arctic Monkeys 'Humbug'

22 Sufjan Stevens 'Illinoise'

 

Rather good sir.

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Noah & The Whale 'The First Days of Spring' (2009)

 

Without a doubt the biggest surprise of the year, if not the decade itself. Their debut album was a pleasant enough album but it was only ok, it had too much filler and didn't really know what it wanted to be. Then lead singer and chief songwriter Charlie Fink split from Laura Marling, what resulted was a wonderfully heartfelt bunch of love and breakup songs. The instrumentation is better than previous and the lyrics are just gorgeous.

 

The First Days of Spring

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LCD Soundsystem 'Sound of Silver' (2007)

 

I'd quite liked the singles off LCD Soundsystem's debut album but I could never get into the album. Whilst I don't think this is a massive change in style, I think it's a lot better. It has the right mix of styles too, making it constantly interesting.

 

Sound of Silver

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The Futureheads 'The Futureheads' (2004)

 

I did listen to their early singles a bit but it wasn't until I heard 'Hounds of Love' that I really paid any proper attention to the Futureheads and decided to buy the album. I bought it at the same time as a lot of other albums from far more successful similar (mainstream indie) bands (Kaiser Chiefs etc.) but this was always the one the stood out. 45 minutes of short, catchy songs.

 

Le Garage

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The Pipettes 'We Are The Pipettes' (2006)

 

Whilst they might not have had the sales that other girl bands this decade have had The Pipettes are by far and away my favourite. The album is jam packed full of short and catchy pop songs with brilliant harmonies. It was the soundtrack to my summer of '06, and every summer since. It never fails to make me smile!

 

Because It's Not Love (But It's Still A Feeling)