#36

 

Fever Ray -- Mercy Street

 

Picking a Peter Gabriel track (and a quality one at that) was always going to score points off me and this adds just enough individuality whilst retaining the atmosphere and vibe of the original. Definately an artist I need to investigate properly as everything I've heard so far is great. Any suggested tracks people??

#35

 

Hole -- Skinny Little Bitch

 

The album may have been essentially a solo record and decent if unspectacular in the end but it certainly had its moments and this was one of them that was every bit deserving of the name Hole. Courtney remains a figure of polar opinions. Personally I'm in the pro camp. She's not a super talent and she's not neccessarily the sanest person in the world either but she's all rock star and there are far too many dullards in music these days. And notice how I didn't mention Kurt once. Oh bugger...

Edited December 29, 201014 yr by Severin

#34

 

Blood Red Shoes -- Light It Up

 

Brighton's finest released this cracker earlier this year and it became a bit if a summer anthem for me and I probably scared half of Cornwall blaring this out of my car speakers. It's about time they had a bona fide hit

#33

 

The New Pornographers -- Silver Jenny Dollar

 

Yes it's twee and oh so mid 90s but Lauren Laverne played this one morning as my sleepy eyes opened and then I just had to find out who it was. Thank God for LastFM. Don't care much for them otherwise but feel I should.

Edited December 29, 201014 yr by Severin

#32

 

Arcade Fire -- We Used To Wait

 

The Suburbs is a fine album and every bit equal to their previous two. Well, maybe not quite as good as Funeral but that remains one of my all time favourite albums so that's a tough task. This was the first proper single from it.

#31

 

Biffy Clyro -- God & Satan

 

Biffy rather bore me when it comes to their big 'Rock' singles but I do find they do acoustic and ballad tracks very well. Not sure what that says about me but this was my 2nd favourite Biffy song of the year so they will reappear later. Couldn't agree more with getting the balanced view sentiment of this song.

I've been a little disappointed with the Arcade Fire this year. I think the problem is they have so much potential to be a hugely interesting band, but the likes of We Used To Wait just seems so pedestrian by their standards.

50. Alkaline Trio – This Addiction

49. Stone Sour – Mission Statement

48. Muse – Neutron Star Collision

47. The Drums – Best Friend

46. Arcade Fire – Month Of May

45. Band Of Skulls – I Know What I Am

44. Avenged Sevenfold - Nightmare

43. Zola Jesus – Night

42. Belle & Sebastian – Write About Love

41. Strange Boys - Be Brave

 

40. Mystery Jets - Dreaming Of Another World

39. Die So Fluid - Mercury

38. Chromeo - Don't Turn The Lights On

37. Stone Sour - Say You'll Haunt Me

36. Fever Ray - Mercy Street

35. Hole - Skinny Little Bitch

34. Blood Red Shoes - Light It Up

33. The New Pornographers - Silver Jenny Dollar

32. Arcade Fire - We Used To Wait

31. Biffy Clyro - God & Satan

I've been a little disappointed with the Arcade Fire this year. I think the problem is they have so much potential to be a hugely interesting band, but the likes of We Used To Wait just seems so pedestrian by their standards.

I agree they've not moved forward since Funeral but for me them treading water is still superior to most bands out there

#30

 

In This Moment -- The Gun Show

 

Few women in Rock have all the right ingredients for a frontwoman but Maria here is one of them. Too often all they do is shout or try to do Operatic or Symphonic Metal but she can do it all. Here they've taken a killer riff and made it catchy and heavy. Best thing they've ever done.

Edited December 31, 201014 yr by Severin

#29

 

The Ting Tings -- Hands

 

Liked this immediately but it took a while to really grab me. Sounding once again very 80s but in a good way. Probablynot a band I'll ever adore but singles wise they're very strong and this is no exception. Always thought they missed a trick by not putting a pair of handclaps in the chorus but maybe that's a good thing.

#28

 

Eliza Doolittle -- Pack Up

 

Unashamed Pop alert! I can imagine this raising a few eyebrows but I think this is a fabulous cheesy pop gem. It's te title line that makes it and despite the horrible tweet tweet section I still really like this.

#27

 

Senser -- End Of The World Show

 

Back in 1991/92 they were nigh on my favourite band and tipped for huge things. Then male singer Haitham left and the momentum was lost trying to follow up their brilliant debut and the thunder was stolen by people like Rage Against the Machine - their natural cousins. This was the 2nd single of their long awaited album since his return. He still raps just the way he did then and lyrically they seem just as relevant as ever given the current political state.

#26

 

Goldfrapp -- Rocket

 

Sounding like a complete rip off of Ladyhawke this is again 80s inspired but has an excellent melody and some engaging vocals. I tend to prefer her more upbeat synth driven numbers than stuff like A&E but both styles are superbly done.

#25

 

Cee Lo Green -- f*** You

 

Despite potential awfulness of a Soul Pop track bing titled f*** You this actually works because the melody is so strong and the lyrics are clever enough to avoid the obvious pitfalls. This kind of came out of nowhere and I first heard it through a friend on Facebook. I actually thought it was an older track but then about 3 weeks later released it was due for release.

#24

 

Creature Feature -- Grave Robber At Large

 

This band are basically akin to listening to a Tim Burton film. In fact member Curtis is currently working on a project with the director himself. This isn't on their debut album The Greatest Show Unearthed but style-wise it's no great departure.

Eliza Doolittle sticks out like a sore thumb among the rest. :lol: Will comment further once the full top 50 is posted, hope you return the favour some time.

I agree they've not moved forward since Funeral but for me them treading water is still superior to most bands out there

 

I think this is it for me - they're not moving forward.

 

Now Lord knows I'm not exactly a champion of progression and innovation in music - my I-Pod is basically MOR heaven, and I've always maintained that a pleasant but dull listen is infinitely preferable to something "exciting and new" but totally unlistenable.

However in the case of the Arcade Fire even I'M disappointed by the lack of progression - when they arrived in '05 they were SUCH an exciting proposition that it almost felt like you were listening to the future revolutionaries of music. And six years on they're not really delivering.

#23

 

Zola Jesus -- Poor Animal

 

Here she is again with this fairly low key release from late on in the year. When I started compiling this list this particular track was lower down but it has been bumped up due to much recent love. Stand alone single from the Valusia EP

#22

 

Vampire Weekend -- Holiday

 

Not a band I'm keen on at all and usually I find them overrated and rather annoying but his and Oxford Comma I like and this is easily my favourite of theirs. Pretty much soundtracked my holiday this year. How cheesy of me