055 -

35-31-25-18-09-06-07-10* (8 weeks) *debut*

 

Loads of songs that I love here, will post a full summary after the countdown has finished, but I mainly came here to :wub: this track!

 

It misses out (just) on my Top 20 of the year due to it not finishing it's chart run yet (my EOY chart is based purely on personal chart points). The live version from

is stunning.

Thanks, a good varied selection there. I thought the same about Girls Names. Seance... is quite nice but listened to a couple of others on Youtube and wasn't anywhere near as impressed.

Try Black Saturday by them, it's as good as Seance.

The Cashier No.9 album was released over the summer. It's called 'To the Death of Fun.'

Thanks. I'll have to have a listen.

Loads of songs that I love here, will post a full summary after the countdown has finished, but I mainly came here to :wub: this track!

 

It misses out (just) on my Top 20 of the year due to it not finishing it's chart run yet (my EOY chart is based purely on personal chart points). The live version from

is stunning.

 

Thanks! :D

 

'Song of Los' is a great song, I downloaded it because I saw it was number one in your chart and then high in Dandy's too. I liked the song you sent to UP too, but not quite as much. Think I might have to check out more.

Abducted by the Cults is probably my favourite track on their album with Go Outside a close second, actually I found their album surprisingly good for a new act, the only let down with the album the album tracks are pretty short, a couple of tracks are just over 2 minutes 40 secs long. They could have experimented more, anyho its only their debut I just hope they stick around, their music is fairly light on the ear.

'Song of Los' is a great song, I downloaded it because I saw it was number one in your chart and then high in Dandy's too. I liked the song you sent to UP too, but not quite as much. Think I might have to check out more.

 

 

"Song of Los" I did the same I saw it on Dandy's personal chart and it clicked with me straight away, I was checking some of their material on you tube last week and I was rather impressed.

035 -

35-29-16-08-03-02* (6 weeks) *2nd hit* *PEAK*

 

History:

'Everybody's Under Your Spell': #70, 2011

 

034 -

27-05-01-01-01-03-06-11-12-21-33-40-39 (13 weeks) *2nd hit* *PEAK*

 

History:

'Things Will Never Be The Same Again': #78, 2009

 

033 -

32-11-04-02-02-03-04-08-12-16-20-24-27-35 (14 weeks) *2nd hit* *PEAK*

 

History:

'Swimmhaus Johannesburg': #97, 2011

 

032 - Those Dancing Days 'I'll Be Yours' DNC *2nd hit* *PEAK*

 

History:

'Those Dancing Days': #61, 2009

 

 

031 - The National 'Think You Can Wait' 37-37-34-28-34-27-13-05-05-09-20-31 (12 weeks) *3rd hit*

 

History:

'Bloodbuzz Ohio': #28, 2010

'Conversation 16': #02, 2010

 

Four acts here who all get their second ever entry in my End of Year charts and all of them are higher than their previous entry was. Two are second entries this year, first for female fronted The Duke Spirit with their album highlight and current single 'Don't Wait', much more laid back and mellow for them, and an introduction that reminds me very much of equally lovely 'Seattle' by The BPA & Emmy The Great which ended up just three places lower in 2008. The other is for Fixers and it's not their last. Taken from their EP 'Here Comes 2001 So Let's All Head For The Sun' it's their most lively song to date as they continued to show their excellent potential as a band.

 

Sweden's jj released their 'Kills' mixtape almost a year ago exactly, and 'Die Tonight' is my highlight from it, sampling both Robyn's 'Hang With Me' and Taio Cruz's 'Dynamite' and adding their usual sound, it's far better than it sounds and works exceptionally well. Fellow Swede's Those Dancing Days also released the highlight of their album 'I'll Be Yours' but I wasn't aware it was ever released at the time so didn't make my personal chart. Finally The National continue where they left off in 2010 by releasing excellent material, 'Think You Can Wait' was certainly a grower but it's typical National and sounds like it could've been from last years 'High Violet' album.

030 -

24-13-02-01-01-01-05-08-12-21-25-26-32 (13 weeks) *3rd hit*

 

History:

'Young Blood': #99, 2010

'Punching In A Dream': #29, 2010

 

029 -

33-21-15-10-06-02-03-06-12-22-30-39 (12 weeks) *7th hit*

 

History:

'Come Saturday': #69, 2009

'Higher Than The Stars': #24, 2009

'Young Adult Friction': #06, 2009

'Heart In Your Heartbreak': #39, 2010

'Say No To Love': #06, 2010

'Belong': #93, 2011

 

028 -

30-23-17-09-06-02-01-01-04-09-12-19-29 (13 weeks) *7th hit*

 

History:

'California Waiting': #68, 2004

'The Bucket': #22, 2004

'Fans': #62, 2007

'Use Somebody': #41, 2008

'Sex On Fire': #15, 2008

'Radioactive': #72, 2010

 

027 -

DNC *2nd hit* *PEAK*

 

History:

'The Bay': #89, 2011

 

026 - Edwyn Collins ft. The Drums 'In Your Eyes' 18-08-05-05-05-02-03-07-12-16-22-26-28-38 (14 weeks) *debut* / *5th hit*

 

History (The Drums):

'Let's Go Surfing': #94, 2009

'I Felt Stupid': #23, 2009

'Forever And Ever Amen': #32, 2010

'How It Ended': #64, 2011

 

 

Three singles here that were all from albums released in 2010, The Naked And Famous were an act I adored at the turn of the year but as the year went on their album began to wear thin, but 'Girls Like You' always remained a standout and shot to the top of my Personal Chart at the beginning of the summer. Kings of Leon topped it the other end of summer, with what's by far their best song on 'Come Around Sundown', 'Back Down South', it sounded quite different for them with its country/folk feel.

 

There's also a 5th appearance overall for The Drums who feature on 'In Your Eyes', from Edwyn Collins 2010 album 'Losing Sleep'. Best known for mid 90s success 'A Girl Like You' he was someone who'd escaped my notice ever since but a song with The Drums was something I wanted to hear and their styles complement each other well. 'The Look' was something that completely passed me by until I saw them do an acoustic performance for the BBC at Glastonbury, it was brilliant and I instantly fell for it, so minimal and beautiful. The Pains of Pure at Heart continue to rack up hits with 'The Body' at #27.

025 - Wu Lyf 'We Bros' 28-18-13-10-07-03-04-02-04-06* (10 weeks) *debut*

 

024 -

24-14-05-02-02-02-04-06-07* (9 weeks) *2nd hit* *PEAK*

 

History:

'Friend Crush': #62, 2011

 

023 -

38-31-22-15-12-09-06-04-04-04-04-04-09-15-24-38 (16 weeks) *10th hit*

 

History:

'Handle Me': #95, 2007

'With Every Heartbeat': #01, 2007

'Dream On' (ft. Christian Falk): #80, 2008

'Be Mine': #64, 2008

'The Girl And The Robot (ft. Royksopp): #07, 2009

'Indestructible': #56, 2010

'Hang With Me': #36, 2010

'Caesar' (ft. I Blame Coco): #17, 2010

'Dancing On My Own': #07, 2010

 

022 - Sleigh Bells 'Rill Rill' 29-25-21-16-11-08-12-16-06-04-08-13-20-33 (14 weeks) *2nd hit* *PEAK*

 

History:

'Tell 'Em': #33, 2010

 

 

021 -

32-23-16-13-06-03-03-03-05-09-14-22-32 (13 weeks) *5th hit*

 

History:

'Whole New Way': #88, 2009

'Sea Within A Sea': #10, 2009

'Who Can Say': #05, 2009

'I Can See Through You': #37

 

'We Bros' is one of the best from Wu Lyf's superb debut album 'Go Tell Fire To The Mountain', chanty and anthemic. Friends dream pop gives them a second entry with recent single 'I'm His Girl' and Robyn becomes the 4th act to reach 10 hits, as 'Call Your Girlfriend' extends her run to reaching the end of year chart in five consecutive years, here's hoping for some material to make it a 6th! 'Cal Your Girlfriend' is classic Robyn, a superb pop hit showing off her great voice, one of the finer moments of the 'Body Talk' project.

 

Sleigh Bells 2010 album 'Treats' was one of the best albums of the year, and singles continued coming from it, including the second of the two main standout moments 'Rill Rill'. It's a bit more poppy and accessible than most of their material but certainly no less brilliant. The Horrors top entry this year is at #21 for lead single 'Still Life', it was certainly a grower of a single, its repetitive beating slowly working its way into my head.

Four fantastic singles in that last bunch, "We Bros", "I'm His Girl", "Call Your Girlfriend" and "Still Life" were all massive hits for me this year. "Still Life" especially is absolutely wonderful from the reverse guitars at the start to the very Tears For Fears/Simple Minds vocals. Love it! :D

020 - James Blake 'The Wilhelm Scream' 30-18-10-03-03-03-06-06-07-10-15-18-26-35 (14 weeks) *debut*

 

 

Although I found James Blake's debut album to be a bit patchy, something that was very hit and miss, it never hit higher than with 'The Wilhelm Scream'. The thing I like most about it is that I love the vocal and the music equally. His vocal is superb on here, so light and dreamy and the music is better than on any other song, really taking the acoustic sounding electronic dubstep to fantastic new levels. 'All that I know is I'm falling, falling, falling.... might as well fall in' :wub:

019 - Ben Howard 'The Fear' 33-25-18-08-05* (5 weeks) *2nd hit* *PEAK*

 

History:

'Old Pine': #47, 2011

 

 

The second of three entries from my album of the year is its current single 'The Fear', highly likely to become my first personal chart #1 of 2011, down to a lack of competition if nothing else. Typical of his other songs, a catchy singalong chorus to go along with toe tapping music, he's just wonderfully uplifting!

018 - M83 'Midnight City' 24-14-07-05-05-12-36-40-31-38 (10 weeks) *4th hit*

 

History:

'We Own The Sky': #68, 2008

'Kim & Jessie': #02, 2008

'Graveyard Girl': #64, 2009

 

 

As 'Saturdays = Youth' went on to become one of my favourite albums of all time I was always going to anticipate M83's return. It came in the summer in the form of 'Midnight City' and I was instantly hooked, but I played it too much and within 4-6 weeks I was pretty much completely over it, but as the years finished its become much more fresh again. The synths throughout, the vocals and the saxophone at the end make for one of the best pop songs of the year.

017 - Fleet Foxes 'Helplessness Blues' 30-21-13-09-03-03-04-08-13-17-20-27-23-28-34-40 (16 weeks) *debut*

 

 

Surprising even myself that they've never made my End of Year list before, particularly with 'White Winter Hymnal' and 'Mykonos', Fleet Foxes finally make a deserving entry for the title track from their recent album 'Helplessness Blues'. It sounded exactly like I wanted a new Fleet Foxes song to sound, like it wanted to fit onto their debut but different enough to make it sound fresh, its everything that makes Fleet Foxes music beautiful.

 

 

016 - David Guetta ft. Sia 'Titanium' 33-24-16-04-03-07-12-15-25-31-39 (11 weeks) *5th hit* *PEAK* / *debut*

 

History (David Guetta):

'Love Don't Let Me Go (Walking Away)' [vs. The Egg]: #86, 2006

'One Love' (ft. Estelle): #93, 2009

'Sexy Bitch' (ft. Akon): #68, 2009

'Memories' (ft. Kid Cudi): #50, 2010

 

 

In 2009 I quite liked David Guetta's generic beats and even though they've only got more generic over the past two years I still find him worryingly listenable. 'Who's That Chick?' is pretty decent despite it being released in Rihanna overload and I even think 'Where Them Girls At' is quite good, but as he was releasing promotional singles for his album in the summer one escaped that was much better than most, 'Titanium'. The music didn't seem as lazy or rehashed and instead of getting another big name star from the urban world to sing yet another song about the club in came Australian Sia, best known for her work with the downbeat ambient act Zero 7, and she sung and shouted her way through what ended up being the best song he's ever done. It's now got a video and will be released as a proper single so here's hoping for a big early 2012 hit! It's Guetta, it surely has to be?!

015 Death Cab For Cutie 'You Are A Tourist' 37-32-28-16-08-04-01-01-01-01-03-06-10-14-19-26-30-37 (18 weeks) *3rd hit*

 

History:

'Soul Meets Body': #71, 2005

'I Will Possess Your Heart': #06, 2008

 

 

Death Cab have a habit of including one excellent song on an album and this year their 7th album was no different, it took a little while to grow but eventually lead single 'You Are A Tourist' did, its many layers adding to its charm.

 

 

014 - The Vaccines 'Nørgaard' 28-22-14-10-05-04-02-05-09-16-27-37 (12 weeks) *2nd hit* *PEAK*

 

History:

'If You Wanna': #51, 2011

 

 

When I first listened to their album this song was immediately a highlight of it, taking everything that was good about 'Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)' and making it that little bit better, there's nothing particularly original about it but for the 1 minute and 38 seconds it transforms you to another place, full of life and energy. The song typifies what's good about British indie of the 21st century. It's also the shortest song in my top 100 by over a minute.

013 - Summer Camp 'Better Off Without You' 26-22-17-10-08-06-02-02-02-05-08-12-19-25-30* (15 weeks) *debut*

 

 

One of the best singles of the latter part of the year, Summer Camp's take on breezy indie pop sounds like it could've been released as in the previous season, its retro summery feel and stick-in-the-head chorus making it the perfect summer soundtrack. Its refreshing to hear a break up song that isn't a soppy ballad too, the subject of 'Someone Like You' should play this to Adele and tell her to fuck off.

012 - Friendly Fires 'Hawaiian Air' 33-17-09-03-01-01-01-03-07-11-17-18-24-32-40 (15 weeks) *2nd hit* *PEAK*

 

History:

'Paris': #93, 2008

 

 

As I first listened to their album 'Pala' this was the immediate highlight from it, and so was delighted it was announced shortly after that it was the second single from it. A perfect sound for the summer, this tale of flying hell sums up everything great about Friendly Fires.

011 - Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx 'I'll Take Care Of You' 34-29-22-17-14-09-04-04-04-05-08-14-22-14-22-33 (16 weeks) *debut's*

 

 

I'd heard a few things by Gil before this year but never really liked them enough to delve further into his music, it's not really the type of thing I'd usually listen to, but Jamie Smith from The xx remixing his entire album from last year was intriguing if nothing else. It turned out a huge success too and I think this is the best of the song on the album, with Gil's vocals sounding so perfect over the dance beat. It may have been taken to a new audience in the last couple of months thanks to Drake and Rihanna and it's not a band version, but it's not a patch on this and it will always take me back. Too recent a song to mess with.