Hello, it's that time of year again where everyone posts what they've liked most throughout the past 12 months and for the 10th year in a row, I have compiled an end of year chart, although this is only the 6th year I've done an albums list.

 

Before I start, here are the previous 5 albums that I've found worthy of being my 'favourite album of the year'

 

2006 - Guillemots 'Through The Windowpane'

 

http://www.dailycd.com/articles/2006/photos/throughthewindowpane.jpg

 

2007 - M.I.A. 'Kala'

 

http://s.dsimg.com/image/R-150-1066661-1189539355.jpeg

 

2008 - Elbow 'The Seldom Seen Kid'

 

http://kevchino.com/graffix/releases/elbow_seldomkid.jpg

 

2009 - Animal Collective 'Merriweather Post Pavilion'

 

http://batlyrics.com/v_images/album/0/24/2461/animal_collective-merriweather_post_pavilion-big.jpg

 

2010 - Beach House 'Teen Dream'

 

http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/pe-beach-house-teen-dream-150x150.jpg

 

Two of those released albums this year, so could this be the first year time an act wins twice?

So far:

 

55 Zola Jesus 'Conatus'

54 Givers 'In Light'

53 Glasvegas 'Euphoric /// Heartbreak'

52 Foo Fighters 'Wasting Light'

51 M83 'Hurry Up, We're Dreaming'

 

50 Grouplove 'Never Trust A Happy Song'

49 James Blake 'James Blake'

48 White Lies 'Ritual'

47 Cloud Control 'Bliss Release'

46 Veronica Falls 'Veronica Falls'

 

45 Male Bonding 'Endless Now'

44 Beady Eye 'Different Gear, Still Speeding'

43 Arctic Monkeys 'Suck It and See'

42 Tennis 'Cape Dory'

41 Destroyer 'Kaputt'

 

40 Noah & the Whale 'Last Night on Earth'

39 Coldplay 'Mylo Xyloto'

38 Tune-Yards 'Who Kill'

37 Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds 'Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds'

36 Metronomy 'The English Riviera'

 

35 TV on the Radio 'Nine Types of Light'

34 Lykke Li 'Wounded Rhymes'

33 The Duke Spirit 'Bruiser'

32 Airship 'Stuck In This Ocean'

31 Active Child 'You Are All I See'

 

30 jj 'Kills'

29 Kasabian 'Velociraptor!'

28 Cults 'Cults'

27 Summer Camp 'Welcome To Condale'

26 Gold Leaves 'The Ornament'

 

25 Go! Team 'Rolling Blackouts'

24 Gauntlet Hair 'Gauntlet Hair'

23 Friendly Fires 'Pala'

22 Howling Bells 'The Loudest Engine'

21 Scroobius Pip 'Distraction Pieces'

 

20 Washed Out 'Within And Without'

19 Foster The People 'Torches'

18 Gang Gang Dance 'Eye Contact'

17 Death Cab for Cutie 'Codes and Keys'

16 Kassidy 'Hope St.'

 

15 Elbow 'Build a Rocket Boys!'

14 Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx 'We're New Here'

13 Those Dancing Days 'Daydreams and Nightmares'

12 Example 'Playing In The Shadows'

11 Bombay Bicycle Club 'A Different Kind Of Fix'

 

10 Joy Formidable 'The Big Roar'

09 Drums 'Portamento'

08 Bon Iver 'Bon Iver'

07 Vaccines 'What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?'

06 Wild Beasts 'Smother'

 

05 Fleet Foxes 'Helplessness Blues'

04 Pains of Being Pure at Heart 'Belong'

 

It would appear that in the last couple of years I've reached a peak of how many new albums I can realistically download and form an opinion on in the time I have, last year it was 69, this year I bought or downloaded a total of 67, plus another four from last year I missed. There are 55 that I like enough to rank, so here's a little something about the other 12.

 

To start with, here are the 3 worst.

 

Cold Cave 'Cherish The Light Years'

 

http://www.newalbumsongs.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Cold-Cave.jpg

 

The first time I heard anything by Cold Cave was when Ben included their song 'Life Magazine' in the first Indie/Alt CD swap and I really liked it so a new album this year was something I was keen on listening to, but it was completely different. I only listened to it once, the only thing that stopped me from being completely bored and falling to sleep was the singers horrible voice, which made it painful to listen to instead. Definitely the worst thing I heard all year, one to dump straight in the Recycle Bin!

 

Jon Fratelli 'Psycho Jukebox'

 

http://payplay.fm/disc_covers/033469150/CD.jpg

 

The Fratellis were always a band I liked more than most people seemed to, I felt they got far too much stick and they really weren't that bad at all, although their second album was nowhere near as good as the first and I did lose a fair bit of interest in them. They split up and Jon formed the 50s inspired Codeine Velvet Club, their debut album making my top 10 of 2010, they didn't last either but my interest had at least been sustained enough to welcome a solo album. Two fairly decent if not spectacular singles made me want to listen to it but they were the only two half decent things on it.

 

Katy B 'On A Mission'

 

http://hitparade.ch/cdimg/katy_b-on_a_mission_a.jpg

 

It's perhaps hard to justify saying an album with a trio of debut singles I loved and which all made my top 60 of last year could be in a category of 'worst' but I find this album completely baffling. She was billed as the person who would take dubstep to the top of the charts and at one point looked like doing that, but as every track passes it just gets more dull and lifeless. A complete turn off and as a result I barely listen to the three songs on it I actually love anymore.

Now for three which have got nothing on past glories.

 

Gorillaz 'The Fall'

 

http://i1.cdnds.net/11/14/150x_music_gorillaz_the_fall.jpg

 

Gorillaz have been one of my favourite acts since 'Demon Days', anything that involves Damon Albarn is always likely to get me interested. This, their fourth album, was recorded entirely on Damon's iPad and given away between Christmas and New Year last year before gaining a physical release in 2011. There's nothing particularly bad about it, but you can tell that it hasn't had a great deal of work go into it and there's nothing about it that makes me want to go back to it.

 

Chemical Brothers 'Hanna OST'

 

http://imgcdn.nrelate.com/image_cache/www.unfinishedman.com/510ad3a3c5742a30d2fd95385c388946_thumb_0.jpg

 

After the release of their 7th studio album 'Further' last year, which was their best album in a long time, they released the Soundtrack to the film Hanna less than a year later. Although it is very Chemical Brothers it's also quite far removed, with 20 songs and interludes in 50 minutes everything is too short and it just doesn't flow like a Chemical Brothers should do, there's only really both versions of 'Hanna's Theme' and 'Container Park' that I think are worth listening to.

 

Guillemots 'Walk The River'

 

http://static.dvd.co.uk/images/standard/2756935.jpg

 

In 2005 & 6 Guillemots were one of the bands that I loved most, their debut album was superb and was home to some of the decades finest singles. Their second album 'Red' was a huge step down if still a fairly decent album, whilst Fyfe's solo effort last year bored me to tears. I held hope that they could still one day recreate some of the magic that was on 'Through The Windowpane' but they most certainly couldn't here. It's too samey and far too long.

The trio of dullness

 

Feist 'Metals'

 

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/s3578938.jpg

 

I've never been a huge fan of Feist as she doesn't tend to make the type of music I listen to, but her last album was fairly decent and well worth a listen. This one just doesn't have anything to stand out, there's no 'My Moon, My Man', 'Sea Lion Woman' or 'I Feel It All', let alone a '1,2,3,4'. Instead it spends 50 minutes plodding along trying its best to send me to sleep.

 

Ed Sheeran '+'

 

http://static.101cd.com/images/standard/5249864652.jpg

 

I've known about Ed Sheeran for quite some time now, in student circles he's been big for the entirety of 2011 and before, I could've met him last year and many times I drunkenly walked past Nando's singing that I like Nando's more than your Mum does before last Christmas. His 'Collaborations No. 5' was an excellent piece of work which combined grime and typical Ed Sheeran singer-songwriter stuff, this album is just poor in many ways. Individually songs are alright but it seems to try far too hard to be something its not, it tries to be varied but it just isn't and some of the lyrics really are poor. 'The A Team' and 'Lego House' are the only ones worth keeping.

 

Yelle 'Safari Disco Club'

 

http://images.juno.co.uk/150/CS1792917-02A.jpg

 

Her previous album 'Pop Up' was always an album I was going to listen to, but never did get round to. The few songs I've heard from it are all great, but when listening to this there's nothing to grab me, there's nothing that sticks out. I'm not averse to listening to music in foreign languages although I don't really have much music sung in a non-English language, so I feel that maybe it's because that it's in French, but then I listen to the likes of 'Mal Poli' and 'À cause des garçons' and I realise that isn't the reason, it's just an incredibly dull album.

Battles 'Gloss Drop'

 

http://kevchino.com/graffix/releases/Battles_GlossDrop_CDpackshot.jpg

 

I love their debut album 'Mirrored', it's a piece of work which is unique to my own collection, like nothing else I own. There's technically nothing wrong or bad with this album either, it's still a bunch of good well crafted songs, but every part of it is not as good as their debut. Everytime I attempt to listen to this, I realise that one Battles album is enough for me.

 

Panda Bear 'Tom Boy'

 

http://www.absolutepunk.net/geek/gars/images/1/6/2/6/3/2/panda-bear-tomboy.jpg

 

Again, this isn't a bad album, it's technically good and is home to a very good single, but it's just not something I can get into, there's very little about it that can sustain my interest and make me want to return to it, a bit like a lot of Animal Collective's work really, which I find a bit of a shame.

 

Caro Emerald 'Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor'

 

http://www.jazzfm.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Caro-Emerald-2-150x150.jpg

 

I quite like a couple of the songs I'd heard from this so I wondered if the whole album was worth a listen. Again, it isn't bad but apart from 2 or 3 tracks, it's just not for me at all, which I don't think will surprise anyone.

55 - Zola Jesus 'Conatus'

 

http://thesilvertongueonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/zola-jesus-conatus-2011-150x150.jpg

 

Zola was someone I missed in 2010, and it wasn't until the beginning of this year I listened to her rather wonderful debut 'Stridulum II'. It was barely a year before she followed it up with second album 'Conatus'. It's very much in the same vein and it's still a good album, but it was perhaps too quick a turnaround, there's nothing that stands out on a level that 'Night' and 'I Can't Stand' did on the debut.

 

Track: 'Avalanche'

 

54 - Givers 'In Light'

 

http://www.iomoio.com/covers/150/03/173903.jpg

 

When single 'Up Up Up' was released in the summer I'd seen them billed as being very similar to Vampire Weekend, but with a female singer. It wasn't a poor comparison, and you could easily see the song being by Vampire Weekend but it's definitely their best track. The rest of the album is decent enough, if a bit long. Only one song doesn't go over 4 1/2 minutes and that's my main gripe with the album, 10 tracks over 50 minutes, but it seems like it goes on for a fair bit longer.

 

Track: '

'

 

53 - Glasvegas 'Euphoric /// Heartbreak \\\'

 

http://www.noripcord.com/files/imagecache/cover-image/files/albumreview/cover/Glasvegas-album_0.jpg

 

Glasvegas debut album was one that was well worth listening to. Half of it was excellent and the other half was alright, perhaps unsurprisingly the great songs were all released as singles making it one of the best singles albums of recent times. This album is all very much in the same vein of the debut, with James Allen's thick Scottish accent the main focus. Like on their debut there are some wonderful moments, the best of which is the 7 minute epic 'Lots Sometimes', together with some which are merely fairly decent,

 

History:

'Glasvegas': #06, 2008

 

Track: '

'

 

52 - Foo Fighters 'Wasting Light'

 

http://i2.cdnds.net/11/14/150x_music_foo_fighters_wasting_light.jpg

 

Foo Fighters have always been an act who at some times I will absolutely love and others I can quite happily leave them. First single 'Rope' was decent enough but it didn't really stand out from any of their other material as being particularly strong, it wasn't until third single 'Arlandria' was released that I thought about giving the album a listen. It's pretty much what you'd expect from a seventh album by the Foos. A decent effort, their signature sound, but nowhere near what they were once capable of.

 

Track: '

'

 

51 - M83 'Hurry Up, We're Dreaming'

 

http://www.musicraws.com/cover/M83-Hurry-Up-Were-Dreaming-260x260-150x150.jpg

 

When I found out M83 were returning with a new album I became excited. When I found out it would be with a double album the excitement pretty much disappeared, but upon hearing lead single 'Midnight City' I began to at least anticipate the album again, but hearing it it just confirmed by initial fears, that double albums never work, they're far too drawn out, go nowhere and are full of filler. It's exactly what happens here, I can only really listen to one half or the other, which surely isn't the point of it. If I listen to both sides together then it only takes two or three songs of the second side before I'm waiting for it to finish. It's all fairly decent music, but there's too much of it and too little that actually comes close to standing out. I should probably try and make it into a decent single album, but I feel I'm already too bored of it as a whole.

 

Track: 'Reunion'

50 - Grouplove 'Never Trust A Happy Song'

 

http://www.iomoio.com/covers/150/84/180384.jpg

 

It was just under a year ago that I first heard anything by Grouplove, their single 'Colours' which went on to give me a 2nd top 3 finish in Unknown Pleasures. It's a fairly decent album but the three singles are the main standouts from it.

 

Track: '

'

 

49 - James Blake 'James Blake'

 

http://blogs.independent.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/James-Blake-Album-Cover-300x300-150x150.jpg

 

If there was an album released this year that defined the phrase 'hit and miss' then this is it. When it's on form it really is stunning, but when it's not, it's self-indulgent nonsense.

 

Track: 'I Never Learnt To Share'

 

48 - White Lies 'Ritual'

 

http://www.statichukd.com/images/threads/984015_1.jpg

 

This is essentially a continuation of their debut album 'To Lose My Life'. It's all in the same vein and everything sounds like it could be on it, but therein lies the problem. They haven't shown any real progression and the majority of tracks are inferior to those on their debut. I'd say opener 'Is Love' is the best, but it has nothing on the likes of 'Death', 'From The Stars' and 'Farewell To The Fairground'.

 

History:

'To Lose My Life': #07, 2009

 

Track: 'Is Love'

 

47 - Cloud Control 'Bliss Release'

 

http://hitparade.ch/cdimg/cloud_control-bliss_release_a.jpg

 

Debut album from Aussie folk-inspired indie band that sounds reasonably similar to many other bands around at the moment, if not quite as good. It doesn't make it a bad album by any means and it's worth a listen, but it's fair to say they don't really stand out at all. And some of the tracks have been around for quite some time, mid 2008.

 

Track: '

'

 

46 - Veronica Falls 'Veronica Falls'

 

http://netstorage.metrolyrics.com/albums/1311272211cover-homepage-large.jpg

 

Penalised for being the most recent album (in terms of when I first listened) I do think this is an album that will grow on me, but it may also take a while. A band that were first introduced to me by being entered into Unknown Pleasures with the song 'Beachy Head', I loved it as it reminded me of early Long Blondes. They led the album with the much more poppy 'Bad Feeling' and the majority of the album sits nicely and comfortably between the two.

 

Track: 'Found Love In A Graveyard'

45 - Male Bonding 'Endless Now'

 

http://media.avclub.com/images/media/musicalwork/5/5756/Male-Bonding__jpg_150x1000_upscale_q85.jpg

 

Last years debut album 'Nothing Hurts' was one of the best discoveries I'd made in a long time, paying to download an album by a band I'd never heard of, let alone anything by, but its short punchy guitar songs were brilliant and worked so well as a collection. This second album, less so, the sound has changed and at parts I listen thinking they now sound like parts of Ash's A-Z series, and although this is decent enough, I'd rather just listen to Ash to be honest.

 

History:

'Nothing Hurts': #11, 2010

 

Track: 'Tame The Sun'

 

 

44 - Beady Eye 'Different Gear, Still Speeding'

 

http://s.dsimg.com/image/R-150-2742611-1298995034.jpeg

 

This could be so much better if it was shorter. I never really expected much from either Gallagher brother this year, Oasis had gone so far down hill I reached the point where I couldn't have cared less about them, but I thought I'd give Beady Eye a whirl. I'd say the best here is on par with the best on High Flying Birds, but its quality control that lets this album down. Badly. There are 5 songs I really don't care for. If this were a 10 track album it could've been challenging for a top 20 place.

 

Track: '

'

 

43 - Arctic Monkeys 'Suck It And See'

 

http://www.antiquiet.com/wp-content/uploads/aq_albums/31vdma1w3RL-150x150.jpg

 

An unpopular opinion perhaps but 'Humbug' is easily my favourite Arctic Monkeys album, so perhaps their fourth offering was something I should really have been anticipating fairly highly, but for some reason I never did, I just always had a feeling that this would be one album too many. And I was right. Almost. Whilst most of it plods along doing not very much they still show that they're still capable of writing a cracking tune on occasion, four occasions in total. The opening two tracks and two of the singles, but not 'Don't Sit Down Cos I Moved Your Chair' obviously, who knows what possessed them to write that. They can still be lyrically strong too, I adore the title track.

 

History:

'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not': #13, 2006

'Favourite Worst Nightmare': #14, 2007

'Humbug': #13, 2008

 

Track: '

'

 

42 - Tennis 'Cape Dory'

 

http://indiefuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/tennis-cape-dory-150x150.jpg

 

If I were to pick one word to describe this album it would be pleasant. It's very nice and it's an enjoyable listen, certainly nothing bad on here, but it just never really gets going, and before you know it it's finished. As individual tracks this album is fine, but as a body of work it's not not quite cohesive enough.

 

Track: 'Marathon'

 

41 - Destroyer 'Kaputt'

 

http://images.discogsmp3.com/150/CS1737386-02A.jpg

 

Until this year I'd never heard of Destroyer, but this is the 7th offering from the Canadian group. It's certainly an album I find works best when in the right frame of mind as otherwise it tends to blend into the background a little too much, but on the whole it's strong set of songs backed up by the rather gorgeous voice of Dan Bejar.

 

Track: '

'

40 - Noah & The Whale 'Last Night On Earth'

 

http://www.beatuk.co.uk/ekmps/shops/beatuk/images/noah-and-the-whale-last-night-on-earth-mp3--946-p.jpg

 

If ever there was an album that I overplayed, this was it. When it first came out I adored it and thought it could be an album of the year contender, but it didn't stand up to the test that great albums need to, regular plays. Come the summer I was completely over this. Standout track 'Waiting For My Chance To Come' being released as a single renewed some of my interest in them, but not a great deal.

 

History:

'The First Days Of Spring': #03, 2009

 

Track: '

'

 

39 - Coldplay 'Mylo Xyloto'

 

http://i1.cdnds.net/11/32/150x150_artwork_coldplay_mylo_xyloto.jpg

 

Like Arctic Monkeys Coldplay came into this album campaign on the back of what is easily my favourite album of theirs, and just like Arctic Monkeys they disappointed, however with Coldplay I wasn't really expecting it. I thought they'd grown as a band and would continue to show progression, the frankly excellent 'Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall' was released and I didn't think for one minute they'd disappoint. Another similarity to 'Suck It And See' is that there are four great songs on here, but after that it's all OK but a bit limp and lifeless, it's music to play right into their critics hands.

 

History:

'Viva La Vida Or Death To All Of His Friends': #04, 2008

 

Track: '

'

 

38 - Tune-Yards 'W H O K I L L'

 

http://hitparade.ch/cdimg/tune-yards-whokill_a.jpg

 

There are times on this album where Tune-Yards (solo artist Merrill Garbus) blows me away, there are others where I'm bored to tears waiting for the song to end. It's a very hit and miss album, when it hits it's superb, when it doesn't it's far from it, however the 6 hit songs are certainly good enough to make this album a decent one overall.

 

Track: '

'

 

37 - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds 'Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds'

 

http://i1.cdnds.net/11/39/150x150_noel_gallaghers_high_flying_birds.jpg

 

As I said with Beady Eye, I wasn't expecting much at all from either Gallagher brother this year, and whilst both surprised me with how good they actually are, neither are particularly great and both try to recreate past glories, certainly seen here with the 'Importance of Being Idle' knock-off debut single 'The Death Of You And Me'. Whilst there's certianly some decent songwriting in here it does on occasion get a bit boring. It's great to be able to finally hear 'Stop The Clocks' in all of its glory though.

 

Track: '(Stranded On) The Wrong Beach'

 

36 - Metronomy 'The English Riviera'

 

http://blogs.marieclaire.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/cover_Metronomy-The-English-Riviera-2011_www.lylybye.blogspot.com_-150x150.jpg

 

Until this year Metronomy had only been in my consciousness as an alright band but not one I wanted to investigate at all, but the run of singles from 'The English Riviera' was fairly good so I thought the album would be worth a listen and it is. It's a decent and consistent effort of charming tales of the English seaside. It does lack standouts though, 'The Look' being the only great song on here.

 

Track: '

'

I haven't bought, nor listened to as many full albums as in previous years, so I admire that you've been able to find the time to listen to over 60 and rank 55 of them. Hopefully we'll be seeing The Pains of Being Pure at Heart in this countdown. It's probably been my favourite of the year.

It would appear that in the last couple of years I've reached a peak of how many new albums I can realistically download and form an opinion on in the time I have, last year it was 69, this year I bought or downloaded a total of 67, plus another four from last year I missed. There are 55 that I like enough to rank, so here's a little something about the other 12.

 

To start with, here are the 3 worst.

 

Cold Cave 'Cherish The Light Years'

 

http://www.newalbumsongs.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Cold-Cave.jpg

 

The first time I heard anything by Cold Cave was when Ben included their song 'Life Magazine' in the first Indie/Alt CD swap and I really liked it so a new album this year was something I was keen on listening to, but it was completely different. I only listened to it once, the only thing that stopped me from being completely bored and falling to sleep was the singers horrible voice, which made it painful to listen to instead. Definitely the worst thing I heard all year, one to dump straight in the Recycle Bin!

 

Battles 'Gloss Drop'

 

http://kevchino.com/graffix/releases/Battles_GlossDrop_CDpackshot.jpg

 

I love their debut album 'Mirrored', it's a piece of work which is unique to my own collection, like nothing else I own. There's technically nothing wrong or bad with this album either, it's still a bunch of good well crafted songs, but every part of it is not as good as their debut. Everytime I attempt to listen to this, I realise that one Battles album is enough for me.

I beg to differ with both of these! Cold Cave isn't really my thing, but I find it to be a very decent album and the vocals never stood out as being particularly dislikeable. The closing track "Villains of the Moon" is certainly the highlight.

 

And oddly, I actually prefer Gloss Drop to Mirrored. This is so much catchier / addictive. I find it more accessible, but that doesn't come at the expense of it being interesting. In my top 5 albums of the year!

 

Plenty of albums I haven't heard there, in fact, I'm pretty sure I've only listened to around 30, and bought just 10 or so.

Shame to see Ed Sheeran and Caro Emerald outside the chart but I'm surprised that you even took a chance on the latter :o I get your criticisms about + but for all he says about staying true to himself to hit the mainstream, it's clear that + isn't quite the album that he would have wanted to put out, it has a touch of James Blunt too it in places, i.e. too MOR for it's own good. I do still love it personally but it only shows one, maximum two sides to a multi talented performer. Shame it's not more varied as he's shown that he's capable of it but obviously the force of the major label was one that he couldn't battle against...

 

Noah's album has definitely stood the test of time for me and is a certainty for my EOY top ten. As for the number of new albums I've listened to at least once this year, it's around 150+, I'm in the process of compiling a top 40 and my shortlist contains 48 of these, so a lot of them are 'one listen and never again' affairs that I don't take to at all...

I haven't bought, nor listened to as many full albums as in previous years, so I admire that you've been able to find the time to listen to over 60 and rank 55 of them. Hopefully we'll be seeing The Pains of Being Pure at Heart in this countdown. It's probably been my favourite of the year.

 

Yes, it is quite a lot although some on here certainly listen to a lot more. I can't ever seeing me downloading more albums in a single year, unless there's a lot of rubbish which I don't listen to that often. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart will definitely be here somewhere, but not for a while yet....

I beg to differ with both of these! Cold Cave isn't really my thing, but I find it to be a very decent album and the vocals never stood out as being particularly dislikeable. The closing track "Villains of the Moon" is certainly the highlight.

 

And oddly, I actually prefer Gloss Drop to Mirrored. This is so much catchier / addictive. I find it more accessible, but that doesn't come at the expense of it being interesting. In my top 5 albums of the year!

 

 

Cold Cave might be an alright album but I definitely couldn't get past the voice. There was a track like that in the recent Unknown Pleasures too, The Handsome Voice, I just couldn't get past how terrible I felt the voice was, but plenty of others voted for it.

 

The Battles album again may be better but they're certainly not the type of thing I ever usually listen to, and I don't really feel that the type of music it is can be that different, but that's just perhaps because I listen to hardly any of it.

51 - M83 'Hurry Up, We're Dreaming'

 

http://www.musicraws.com/cover/M83-Hurry-Up-Were-Dreaming-260x260-150x150.jpg

 

When I found out M83 were returning with a new album I became excited. When I found out it would be with a double album the excitement pretty much disappeared, but upon hearing lead single 'Midnight City' I began to at least anticipate the album again, but hearing it it just confirmed by initial fears, that double albums never work, they're far too drawn out, go nowhere and are full of filler. It's exactly what happens here, I can only really listen to one half or the other, which surely isn't the point of it. If I listen to both sides together then it only takes two or three songs of the second side before I'm waiting for it to finish. It's all fairly decent music, but there's too much of it and too little that actually comes close to standing out. I should probably try and make it into a decent single album, but I feel I'm already too bored of it as a whole.

 

Track: 'Reunion'

 

 

Actually I agree with you regarding the album, Midnight City is one of the best tracks on the album, I just felt there was just too much to listen and I've been put off to listen to the album again, its just far too long for a double album

Shame to see Ed Sheeran and Caro Emerald outside the chart but I'm surprised that you even took a chance on the latter :o I get your criticisms about + but for all he says about staying true to himself to hit the mainstream, it's clear that + isn't quite the album that he would have wanted to put out, it has a touch of James Blunt too it in places, i.e. too MOR for it's own good. I do still love it personally but it only shows one, maximum two sides to a multi talented performer. Shame it's not more varied as he's shown that he's capable of it but obviously the force of the major label was one that he couldn't battle against...

 

Noah's album has definitely stood the test of time for me and is a certainty for my EOY top ten. As for the number of new albums I've listened to at least once this year, it's around 150+, I'm in the process of compiling a top 40 and my shortlist contains 48 of these, so a lot of them are 'one listen and never again' affairs that I don't take to at all...

 

Yeah I'm not sure why I bothered with Caro's album really, I heard Stuck on Radio 2 a few weeks ago and thought it was divine, and I quite like A Night Like This' too but the album was pretty much entirely as I expected, not for me at all.

 

I do kind of feel the same way about Ed, I don't think I was ever going to be a huge fan of his, but I do listen to the album and think it could've been so much better.

 

I do try and listen to every album at least a few times, even if it's over a fairly long period, apart from Cold Cave I listened to all of these at least twice. I've still got at least some time for the five singles on Noah's album, but after that there's not really anything that would keep me going back to it now, which is a shame. It might be something I get back into a year or two down the line, as I did love it at one point.

35 - TV On The Radio 'Nine Types of Light'

 

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It wasn't a good year for TV On The Radio, with the loss of band member Gerard Smith to lung cancer in April. 9 days before his death saw the release of their fourth album 'Nine Types of Light', and after the success and quality of previous album 'Dear Science' it was somewhat hyped in indie circles. I've been a fan for quite some time but never a particularly big fan, their last album had some brilliant songs on it but was something I got a bit bored of towards the end. This album isn't really any different, the likes of 'Second Song', 'Repetition' and 'No Future Shock' are all amongst their best work, but there are times where the album is simply decent, including the only single 'Will Do', which I got bored of reasonably quickly.

 

Track: '

'

 

34 - Lykke Li 'Wounded Rhymes'

 

http://hitparade.ch/cdimg/lykke_li-wounded_rhymes_a.jpg

 

Sweden's Lykke Li was someone who I never really got into as much as I'd probably have liked with her first album, she had decent singles but I struggled to find much I liked past those, but this album is much better, and as with a lot of albums around here, has some great songs but is letdown by a lack of consistency. The opening trio is brilliant but apart from the album tends to go a bit downhill from there, and I know 'Sadness is a Blessing' is a fan favourite, but I can't get into it at all, find it very boring.

 

Track: '

'

 

33 - The Duke Spirit 'Bruiser'

 

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The Duke Spirit have for some time been an act I've enjoyed quite a lot. Their albums aren't perfect but a mixture of punchy indie-rock songs and some slower tempo not too dissimilar to the Long Blondes is always going to go down well. First single 'Everybody's Under Your Spell' is as good as anything from their previous album but standout track is certainly the current single 'Don't Wait', certain to be one of my favourites as we we nter the new year.

 

History:

'Neptune': #21, 2008

 

Track: '

'

 

32 - Airship 'Stuck In This Ocean'

 

http://www.subba-cultcha.com/album-reviews/images/ddrj.jpg

 

Airship were one of those bands I downloaded something by completely on a whim, their Summer single 'Kids'. It's rather good and I was going to be interested in their debut album when it came out in September. It took me a while to get into but it's one which improves with each listen, and any act that include a 7+ minute track which is half instrumental on an album is always going to go down well with me. The album is currently just £3 on Amazon mp3, certainly worth that!

 

Track: '

 

31 - Active Child 'You Are All I See'

 

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The second of three albums by acts I first became aware of through BuzzJack's Unknown Pleasures competition, and who without it, I'd probably remain blissfully unaware of. His track 'I'm In Your Church At Night' was one of my favourite UP entries this year, the album is very similar to that track and I think that's what stops it from being great for me. It's all very good but as an album it's just a little to samey for me to appreciate as much as I'd like to.

 

Track: '

'

 

45 - Male Bonding 'Endless Now'

 

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Last years debut album 'Nothing Hurts' was one of the best discoveries I'd made in a long time, paying to download an album by a band I'd never heard of, let alone anything by, but its short punchy guitar songs were brilliant and worked so well as a collection. This second album, less so, the sound has changed and at parts I listen thinking they now sound like parts of Ash's A-Z series, and although this is decent enough, I'd rather just listen to Ash to be honest.

 

History:

'Nothing Hurts': #11, 2010

 

Track: 'Tame The Sun'

 

been meaning to listen to this, have heard the last album. Saw them supporting Weezer this year and they were pretty great.

30 - jj 'Kills'

 

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The first of two acts to have entries in three successive album End of Year charts for me, this time for something which isn't a conventional album but a mixtape that was released on Christmas Eve last year. Taking various popular hip hop songs adding jj's recognisable style to them is unusual but very interesting and very rewarding. Some certainly work better than others but it works often enough for it to be a success.

 

History:

'jj no.2': #27, 2009

'jj no.3': #60, 2010

 

Track: 'Pressure Is A Privilege'

 

29 - Kasabian 'Velociraptor!'

 

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Kasabian allowed a pattern to emerge with this, their fourth album, of releasing a great album I love followed by one which is decent enough but some way behind. Whilst 'West Pauper Ryder Lunatic Asylum' ended the previous decade as one of my favourite album of it this fails to live up to its standards, luckily I was never expecting a great deal anyway and introductory singles 'Switchblade Smiles' and 'Days Are Forgotten' were particularly lacklustre. But unlike many albums I own which don't seem to work this is a rarity in that the end result is far greater than the sum of its parts. Aside from the excellent 'Goodbye Kiss' there isn't a track on here that I love, but as an album it seems to work incredibly well and makes even the poor and lacklustre sound good.

 

History:

'West Pauper Ryder Lunatic Asylum': #02, 2009

 

Track: '

'

 

28 - Cults 'Cults'

 

http://www.newalbumsongs.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Cults-album.jpg

 

I'd seen various internet mentions of Cults throughout the year but it took me some time before I bothered to actually listen to anything of theirs at the time they'd issued 'Go Outside' as a single before it appeared on a TV advert. I was impressed enough to download the album and it's certainly an enjoyable listen, I don't think it has the best flow to it but its 11 excellently crafted pop songs on here.

 

Track: '

'

 

27 - Summer Camp 'Welcome To Condale'

 

http://www.subba-cultcha.com/album-reviews/images/Summer-Campwelcome-to-condale-435x435.jpg

 

The wistful charm of 'Better Off Without You' meant it became one of my favourite songs of the latter part of the year, and their debut album would be one of a few I'd anticipate in the final quarter. Whilst nothing is quite as great as 'Better Off Without You' it wasn't something I expected, and the rest of the album is still an excellent and fun listen.

 

Track: 'I Want You'

 

26 - Gold Leaves 'The Ornament'

 

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One half of US indie folk band Arthur & Yu, 'The Ornament' is in the same vein, beautiful alternative folk not dissimilar to the likes of more well know acts yet to appear here. If indie/folk is something you enjoy, this album is well worth a listen.

 

Track: '

'