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10 - Crystal Castles '(III)'

 

Finishing 11 places higher than '(II)' did two years ago is the third offering from Crystal Castles. They're a band that continue to improve, have gone from someone I could barely tolerate for album 1 to one that made a very good but slightly patchy album for album 2 to a far more consistent and flowing record for album 3. It's fairly mindblowing in places, particularly on opener and lead single 'Plague'.

 

'Violent Youth'

 

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09 - The Enemy 'Streets In The Sky'

 

When The Enemy first emerged in 2007 I was clearly a bit fed up of the sound they represented as I paid them almost zero attention, which was unfair because their debut album was actually far better than any other British chart indie band had made in the same 12-18 month period. 2009s 'Music For The People' was a decent attempt but this is truly a return to form. It's typically Enemy, highly unlikely to convert anyone who didn't like them before, but it's hard to imagine anyone who is a fan not thoroughly enjoying this. Highly uncool these days perhaps but they're still capable of writing incredibly uplifting and catchy anthems, and they still know how to get a crowd going.

 

'Gimme The Sign':

 

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08 - Django Django 'Django Django'

 

The first of three debut albums in the top 10, and the best self-titled album released this year. Highly praised throughout the industry this year and if it weren't for their fellow "it's cool to like them" band, they may well have scooped the Mercury Prize, and it would've been fully deserving if they had. It's one of a couple of albums in this top 10 that I feel works far better as an entire body of work than the songs do individually. There aren't really any true standouts on the album, and almost everything here sounds so much better in the contest of the album than they do alone.

 

'Zumm Zumm':

 

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07 - Reverend & The Makers '@Reverend_Makers'

 

Whilst in 2007 I just ignored The Enemy, I thought Reverend & The Makers were absolute toss. Apart from their one hit and breakthrough single 'Heavyweight Champion of the World' they were everything that was wrong with what noughties indie had become. Unlike some bands of that are (The View, The Maccabees) they were no better two years later for album #2. Infact, they'd got even worse.

 

I don't even know why I bothered to listen to 'Bassline' when they offered it for free at the beginning of the year, there was nothing to suggest I'd like it. But it was an incredible song which, had they released it at their peak, or even if they weren't so outspoken and hadn't pissed off everyone in the industry, would've been their biggest hit by some distance. They then released a mixtape which is probably better than this album is, so maybe they had turned the corner. And they had. 10 conventional tracks barely touching over half an hour, each of them good in their own right and forming a well constructed album in the process. The lyrics and subjects are common but they're not as cliched as you'd imagine, things that reach the majority of people, vanity, living for the weekend, dreaming of being rich. "I dream of Euro Millions, I dreamed I scooped the lot, I'd have to words for my boss and the second one is off". We've all been THERE. It's also impossible for me to not like an act more when they sing in a regional accent.

 

Perhaps weird given I'd known about them as long as anyone, but given my previous opinions of them I'd consider Reverend & The Makers to be my find of the year.

 

'Shine The Light':

 

Oh, I have some catching up to do here... it's a mixed bag so far for me. Not specifically of albums I like and dislike, more a case of albums I like or have not heard. Pleased to see Crystal Castles in the top 10 though, I actually ignored the album for the first couple of weeks but have fallen in love with it over the past fortnight or so...

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06 - Santigold 'Master of My Make-Believe'

 

It's not uncommon to be most impressed by albums you have absolutely zero expectations for, and that was exactly the case with 'Master of My Make-Believe'. I loved her debut, but she left it quite a long while and given how awful M.I.A. had got over a similar period of length of time, and topped off with lead single 'Big Mouth' being rather poor (still the weakest song on the album) it's safe to say my expectations for this amounted to sweet f*** all and I could quite easily have never listened to or downloaded it. But it was a good thing I did, because it's an even better album than her self-titled debut, better songs and incredibly varied. There's nothing to get bored about and the different styles on the album work so well. 'Go!', 'Fame' and 'Freak Like Me' are all brilliant songs.

 

'Go'

 

Oh, I have some catching up to do here... it's a mixed bag so far for me. Not specifically of albums I like and dislike, more a case of albums I like or have not heard. Pleased to see Crystal Castles in the top 10 though, I actually ignored the album for the first couple of weeks but have fallen in love with it over the past fortnight or so...

Thanks, not quite sure it seems as Dandy*-friendly as usual, though I hope you'd like the top 5 a bit more, well a couple of them at least.

Oh I do really rather love the Santigold album, The Keepers remains the highlight for me but I guess that's quite the obvious choice.

 

Have you not had much time to source new music this year? That sounds more rude than I intend it to be but it does strike me that there's a lot of albums here by acts that have been successful before and not much by new acts from 2012. Or maybe you have but were just not that impressed?

Reverend & The Makers are a bit of a surprise inclusion there. Having said that, The Wrestler is a half-decent song.

 

Hoping that Lucy Rose has made it, and possibly Japandroids as well.

Oh I do really rather love the Santigold album, The Keepers remains the highlight for me but I guess that's quite the obvious choice.

 

Have you not had much time to source new music this year? That sounds more rude than I intend it to be but it does strike me that there's a lot of albums here by acts that have been successful before and not much by new acts from 2012. Or maybe you have but were just not that impressed?

Well you're probably not wrong, it would make sense really. I have 75 albums that were released in 2011 with almost all being bought/downloaded then, and only 53 from this year so year... I also work full-time now whereas I didn't last year....

Reverend & The Makers are a bit of a surprise inclusion there. Having said that, The Wrestler is a half-decent song.

 

Hoping that Lucy Rose has made it, and possibly Japandroids as well.

Unfortunately not, I do quite like Lucy Rose, but felt her singles got progressively weaker, and I never got round to downloading it. If it were cheap anywhere I'd have bought it, but I've yet to see it, or find a version sourced elsewhere.

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05 - Poliça 'Give You The Ghost'

 

A remarkably consistent album throughout, featuring some wonderful singles in the form of 'Dark Star' and 'Lay Your Cards Out', however I don't consider them to be near the albums best tracks, the opener 'Amongster' and 'Violent Games' are both incredible. It's a great mix of electronic pop and indie with some of the most exceptional percussion, all delivered with a fantastic vocal by Channy Leaneagh.

 

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04 - The Maccabees 'Given To The Wild'

 

It often seems to be the case that an album from the very start of the year will finish highly in my End of Year list, as it takes a while for releases to get going so what is out gets more attention. So it's no real surprise then that the first album of the year, released on the second Monday in January is as high as number 4. In terms of progression and growth as a band, it's hard to say The Maccabees have any real competition from the huge amount of indie bands that emerged in 2004-07, because they're about the only ones who have. Each album has got better and more intelligent. Gone are the days of them being five posh boys with guitars making generic music. Although there was a jump between their debut and 'Wall of Arms', it's a huge leap between that and GTTW. At 13 tracks and 53 minutes it could perhaps have been a bit shorter but half of this album is stunning, much less focus on the guitar in previous albums and the more distorted, shoegaze sound which is often prominent suits them so much. They've a lot to live up to for album 4.

 

'Grew Up at Midnight'

 

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03 - Fixers 'We'll Be The Moon'

 

Tipped for big things that really didn't happen, this release ended up being postponed by over a month. They first appeared on my radar at the beginning of 2011 with the Animal Collective-like 'Iron Deer Dream', which ended the year in my top 10 singles. A couple of EPs and a single were released over the next 12 months and then IDD was re-recorded to lead the album but for one reason or another, it seemed to be what set them back, making the song worse probably didn't help matters. It's bizarre to think I had almost no expectations for a debut album by a band that had had four top 5 singles in my personal chart. But that was the case and so I was surprised by its quality, whether its the incredibly poppy 'Crystals' or 'Pink Light' to the far more challenging 'World of Beauty' or 'Goodnight', it's all rather special and new bits are noticed each time you listen, such a layered album can only be a good thing.

 

'Really Great World':

 

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02 - Bat For Lashes 'The Haunted Man'

 

It took the release of 'Daniel' and 'Two Suns' for me to really get Bat For Lashes, then all of a sudden she finally clicked with me, although 'Two Suns' was only half brilliant. She surpassed herself with that and she's done it again, as this is stunning from the intro of opener 'Lilies' right to the very end. It promised as much with the lead single 'Laura' (what is it about her best songs being Christian names? 'Prescilla', 'Sarah', 'Daniel', 'Laura', 'Marilyn' - all amongst the best on their parent albums) and what followed lived up to any expectation she'd built up. The poppy side of the album ('All Your Gold', 'A Wall', 'Horses of the Sun') is as brilliant she's ever made accessible music, and the more stripped back parts of it ('Laura', 'The Haunted Man') can be truly haunting in places. I was very close to making this my album of the year, but in the end decided it should be the one which works better as a cohesive album.

 

'Horses of the Sun'

 

I shall reveal the number one tomorrow if anyone would like to guess?

 

40 Tennis 'Young and Old'

39 Howler 'America Give Up'

38 The xx 'Coexist'

37 Crocodiles 'Endless Flowers'

36 Blood Red Shoes 'In Time To Voices'

35 Muse 'The 2nd Law'

34 Best Coast 'The Only Place'

33 Cave Painting 'Votive Life'

32 The Vaccines 'Come of Age'

31 Maximo Park 'The National Health'

 

30 Alabama Shakes 'Boys & Girls'

29 Noisettes 'Contact'

28 Grimes 'Visions'

27 Jessie Ware 'Devotion'

26 Yeasayer 'Fragrant World'

25 Purity Ring 'Shrines'

24 iamamiwhoami 'Kin'

23 Jake Bugg 'Jake Bugg'

22 Alt-J 'An Awesome Wave'

21 The Shins 'Port of Morrow'

 

20 Richard Hawley 'Standing On The Sky's Edge'

19 Diiv 'Oshin'

18 2:54 '2:54'

17 Sleigh Bells 'Reign of Terror'

16 The Futureheads 'Rant'

15 Wild Nothing 'Nocturne'

14 Hot Chip 'In Our Heads'

13 School of Seven Bells 'Ghostory'

12 Two Wounded Birds 'Two Wounded Birds'

11 Beach House 'Bloom'

 

10 Crystal Castles 'iii'

9 The Enemy 'Streets in the Sky'

8 Django Django 'Django Django'

7 Reverend & The Makers '@Reverend_Makers'

6 Santigold 'Master of My Make Believe'

5 Polica 'Give You The Ghost'

4 The Maccabees 'Given To The Wild'

3 Fixers 'We'll Be The Moon'

2 Bat For Lashes 'The Haunted Man'

 

trying to think of what's missing and CAN'T. the top 10 so far is pretty damn good, though i don't think any of them will get quite that high 10 for mee.

No chance for Shields to be the number one? :(

THE BRITISH PUBLIC DISAGREE ABOUT BABEL, AS DO I!

THE BRITISH PUBLIC DISAGREE ABOUT BABEL, AS DO I!

In what way? They've bought it, but then I did, doesn't mean they think it's as good as Sigh No More, or even like it. I haven't seen any kind of user review score that gives it a higher average rating than their debut, or critical one. Because it's w***.