http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm82/TheMagicPosition86/df98_zps974d4f3e.png

 

021 Foals "Inhaler" (2012) [1,297]

 

28-16-06-03-03-01-01-02-02-03-05-07-13-19-17-24-31-37-45-49-49 (21 weeks)

 

Time for some FULL ON rock now, and its from a band who emerged from the 'land-fill indie' scene back in late 2006 but with something a little bit different and a lot more exciting in the electronic charged "Mathletics" and "Hummer" that preceded their debut Antidotes released in 2008. They scored their 3rd number 1 when the heavier and altogether more rock infused single "Inhaler" charged up the chart in December 2012 ahead of their 3rd LP Holy Fire. The band are still very much on the ascendency, and managed to propel the albums' popiest moment, the fantastic "My Number" into the UK singles chart at #23 giving them their 2nd and biggest ever hit. "Inhaler" is a track about claustrophobia, Yannis explained "It's about feeling under attack. I tapped into that feeling of rush-hour claustrophobia, wanting to scream everybody away and gain space for myself. On a more personal level it's about wanting to push away at people and at everything."

Before the Top 20, here is a re-cap of 100 through to 21:

 

021 Foals "Inhaler" 28-16-06-03-03-01-01-02-02-03-05-07-13-19-17-24-31-37-45-49-49 (21 weeks)

022 Bon Iver "Calgary" 45-25-11-05-03-02-01-03-04-07-09-09-12-15-19-26-32-37-40-44-47-49-50 (23 weeks)

023 Deerhunter "Revival" 44-29-18-08-05-02-02-01-01-02-04-06-10-15-21-27-34-34-39-43-46 (21 weeks)

024 Disclosure ft. AlunaGeorge "White Noise" 39-22-11-04-01-02-03-04-06-09-10-13-19-23-26-28-31-37-37-40-40-43-48 (23 weeks)

025 The Joy Formidable "Whirring" 29-16-11-09-05-01-01-01-03-05-05-08-10-13-17-24-29-33-40-47 (20 weeks)

026 Daft Punk "Get Lucky" 26-09-05-01-01-01-02-02-03-03-05-06-08-08-13-21-34-48 (18 weeks)

027 Gold Panda "Snow & Taxis" 38-25-15-11-06-04-03-02-02-02-03-03-05-08-12-15-21-29-38-50 (20 weeks)

028 Hooray For Earth "No Love" 35-24-13-06-02-02-01-01-03-04-07-09-10-11-16-21-28-33-43-50 (20 weeks)

029 The Count & Sinden ft. Mystery Jets "After Dark" 39-21-13-08-04-01-01-01-01-02-03-05-07-11-16-22-32-44 (18 weeks)

030 Woodkid "Run Boy Run" 49-31-21-12-06-01-02-03-06-08-13-19-20-23-27-30-35-41-38-37-35-40-46 (23 weeks)

 

031 The Horrors "Still Life" 34-17-12-08-06-03-01-02-02-05-08-13-13-20-24-29-29-36-39-44-50 (21 weeks)

032 iamamiwhoami "Goods" 34-22-11-05-02-01-01-01-01-02-05-08-10-13-18-27-37-48 (18 weeks)

033 Kanye West "Runaway" 43-24-13-11-08-06-04-02-02-04-05-07-08-11-17-23-29-34-38-45-49 (21 weeks)

034 The Drums "Money" 49-37-26-17-11-07-02-01-01-02-04-08-14-20-24-28-33-37-40-41-46 (21 weeks)

035 Foster The People "Pumped Up Kicks" 36-20-12-06-03-03-01-01-03-05-06-08-10-16-21-27-35-44-48 (19 weeks)

036 Disclosure ft. Sam Smith "Latch" 48-25-09-05-03-02-03-05-06-10-11-17-19-25-30-36-38-39-39-44-44-48 (22 weeks)

037 Esben and the Witch "Marching Song" 47-32-21-09-03-01-01-01-03-05-06-09-11-13-21-27-35-42-48 (19 weeks)

038 Adele "Rolling In The Deep" 28-15-06-03-01-01-01-02-03-05-07-10-16-21-29-36-41-47 (18 weeks)

039 Florence + The Machine "Shake It Out" 27-15-11-06-02-02-02-03-03-04-07-10-15-19-26-34-39-43-48 (19 weeks)

040 Gang Gang Dance "MindKilla" 38-21-09-03-02-01-01-02-03-04-06-09-15-22-27-36-45-50 (18 weeks)

 

041 Vampire Weekend "Giving Up The Gun" 33-18-04-02-02-01-02-04-07-09-12-15-21-27-32-35-37-40-47 (19 weeks)

042 James Blake "Retrograde" 34-10-03-01-01-01-02-04-06-09-13-16-19-24-29-39-47-50 (18 weeks)

043 Patrick Wolf "Time Of My Life" 36-24-10-05-03-03-02-02-03-03-07-10-15-20-27-34-39-44-50 (19 weeks)

044 Florence + The Machine "No Light, No Light" 30-15-07-04-02-01-01-02-02-03-05-10-16-23-29-36-42 (17 weeks)

045 Bat For Lashes "All Your Gold" 39-22-12-04-01-01-01-02-03-05-07-10-13-19-22-31-44 (17 weeks)

046 Crystal Castles "Baptism" 34-19-10-04-01-02-04-06-08-11-17-18-20-25-28-35-40-42-44-48 (20 weeks)

047 Villagers "The Waves" 38-21-14-09-04-01-02-02-04-05-08-11-16-24-32-34-39-44-50 (19 weeks)

048 Grimes "Oblivion" 36-16-11-08-05-03-02-04-03-03-05-10-15-21-28-33-39-44-50 (19 weeks)

049 Röyksopp ft. Susanne Sundfør "Running To The Sea" 49-22-14-07-07-05-03-01-01-03-05-08-14-18-25-30-38-46 (18 weeks)

050 Apparat "Song Of Los" 37-22-16-09-04-01-01-03-05-07-07-09-12-16-22-28-37-47 (18 weeks)

 

051 London Grammar "Wasting My Young Years" 40-22-13-10-08-06-04-01-01-03-05-10-15-20-23-27-35-39* (18 weeks... so far)

052 Vampire Weekend "Step / Diane Young" 47-30-18-06-03-01-01-02-03-04-07-11-16-22-28-35-39-46 (18 weeks)

053 Of Monsters and Men "Little Talks" 40-29-17-11-10-09-07-05-03-05-08-10-11-15-19-25-30-36-45-48 (20 weeks)

054 Public Service Broadcasting "Everest" 48-28-15-08-04-02-02-01-03-05-05-08-11-16-25-34-41-49 (18 weeks)

055 Kele "Tenderoni" 40-28-18-11-06-04-02-01-01-02-03-07-13-18-24-27-43 (17 weeks)

056 Santigold "Disparate Youth" 36-20-13-08-05-02-01-03-05-05-06-09-13-18-24-30-42-47 (18 weeks)

057 Florence + The Machine "Cosmic Love" 38-23-13-05-01-01-01-03-06-06-11-15-20-26-33-42-49-49 (18 weeks)

058 Fuck Buttons "Olympians" 31-19-14-11-05-01-02-02-02-03-05-07-14-21-28-38-48 (17 weeks)

059 The Pains of Being Pure at Heart "Belong" 32-18-11-05-03-01-01-03-03-06-09-11-17-24-31-39-50 (17 weeks)

060 Yuck "Holing Out" 33-15-07-03-01-01-02-05-07-07-10-14-21-26-30-36-45 (17 weeks)

 

061 Oliver Tank "Last Night I Heard Everything In Slow Motion" 49-32-20-12-06-02-02-03-03-03-05-07-15-20-29-35-43-46 (18 weeks)

062 Lykke Li "I Follow Rivers" 37-22-15-08-06-04-04-02-03-04-06-10-15-21-28-37-44-44 (18 weeks)

063 Jessie Ware "Strangest Feeling" 48-32-17-10-05-03-01-02-02-05-09-13-19-25-30-38-44-48 (18 weeks)

064 Fixers "Here Comes 2001, So Let's All Head For The Sun EP" 35-24-15-09-04-02-03-02-02-04-07-10-12-19-27-35-45 (17 weeks)

065 Robyn "Dancing On My Own" 40-25-14-04-02-02-04-04-06-08-09-13-16-25-31-37-37-45 (18 weeks)

066 I Blame Coco ft. Robyn "Caesar" 49-35-20-10-05-02-01-02-04-06-09-13-20-25-30-37-44-50 (18 weeks)

067 AlunaGeorge "Your Drums, Your Love" 45-28-17-11-06-05-04-04-04-07-09-14-16-19-26-34-43-48-47 (19 weeks)

068 Charli XCX "Nuclear Seasons" 29-18-05-02-01-01-01-04-06-08-13-18-27-31-37-45 (16 weeks)

069 Gorillaz "On Melancholy Hill" 38-27-17-10-05-02-01-01-02-03-07-11-16-22-28-41 (16 weeks)

070 Cut Copy "Need You Now" 36-19-07-01-01-02-02-04-06-08-09-13-19-27-35-45 (16 weeks)

 

071 Crystal Castles "Celestica" 38-25-16-07-03-02-02-03-04-06-08-10-15-22-28-33-46 (17 weeks)

072 Disclosure ft. Eliza Doolittle "You & Me" 44-29-16-06-03-01-01-02-04-07-10-16-23-29-35-42* (16 weeks... so far)

073 The Black Keys "Lonely Boy" 43-33-18-12-07-05-03-01-03-04-08-13-17-27-35-39-45-49 (18 weeks)

074 Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Sacrilege" 35-22-13-07-03-02-02-02-04-07-10-14-19-25-33-39-46 (17 weeks)

075 Kate Boy "Northern Lights" 44-29-17-07-03-02-01-01-02-04-07-11-20-29-39-49 (16 weeks)

076 The Maccabees feat. Roots Manuva "Empty Vessels" 46-28-15-06-01-01-02-04-06-07-13-16-21-29-37-43-49 (17 weeks)

077 Kindness "That's Alright" 41-27-17-09-05-03-02-03-03-07-10-14-20-29-38-47-47-49 (18 weeks)

078 Arctic Monkeys "Suck It And See" 46-33-21-16-11-05-02-01-03-05-08-09-11-17-26-38-46 (17 weeks)

079 James Blake "Limit To Your Love" 33-17-13-07-06-04-02-04-04-06-08-14-18-24-28-38-43 (17 weeks)

080 Purity Ring "Fineshrine" 46-30-19-15-11-09-06-07-05-03-06-10-13-16-21-30-40-47 (18 weeks)

 

081 Dog Is Dead "Glockenspiel Song" 43-27-15-08-05-02-01-01-03-05-09-12-18-27-37-49 (16 weeks)

082 Friendly Fires "Hawaiian Air" 30-13-09-06-03-03-02-03-05-09-17-22-25-28-38-44-49 (17 weeks)

083 PJ Harvey "The Words That Maketh Murder" 38-25-16-09-05-02-02-03-06-08-09-13-21-27-35-44-50 (17 weeks)

084 Lana Del Rey "Born To Die" 50-35-23-10-01-01-02-03-06-09-15-22-29-35-38-44-50 (17 weeks)

085 Radiohead "The Daily Mail" 42-30-14-05-03-01-01-03-05-08-13-20-26-32-39-45 (16 weeks)

086 The Joy Formidable "Austere" 48-28-12-05-02-01-02-04-06-09-10-15-21-28-37-45 (16 weeks)

087 Cee-Lo Green "F**k You" 44-25-12-07-03-02-02-04-07-10-16-21-26-32-36-41-49 (17 weeks)

088 Sigur Rós "Brennisteinn" 50-34-19-11-08-06-04-04-06-10-16-22-28-32-30-26-36-42 (18 week)

089 iamamiwhoami "Play" 30-18-09-04-02-02-03-04-06-11-14-20-27-33-39-45 (16 weeks)

090 Magnetic Man ft. Katy B "Perfect Stranger" 39-18-10-05-05-05-04-04-07-10-14-15-15-16-26-38-48 (17 weeks)

 

091 Kanye West "All Of The Lights" 39-25-18-12-05-04-04-06-06-05-08-15-24-29-35-39-50 (17 weeks)

092 Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs "Garden" 42-20-14-10-06-02-05-07-07-09-13-16-20-25-32-45-50 (17 weeks)

093 Frank Ocean "Pyramids" 45-29-19-10-06-06-04-02-02-03-06-13-21-30-40-49 (16 weeks)

094 Autre Ne Veut "Play By Play" 37-23-14-09-03-02-03-03-05-08-12-16-22-30-39-48 (16 weeks)

095 Friends "I'm His Girl" 37-22-12-06-05-03-02-05-07-13-19-23-28-34-40-44-50 (17 weeks)

096 Django Django "Default" 40-32-23-14-09-07-05-03-04-07-09-15-19-28-35-44-50 (17 weeks)

097 HAERTS "Wings" 32-22-13-10-05-02-03-04-06-09-12-17-24-31-37-46 (16 weeks)

098 AlunaGeorge "Attracting Flies" 43-26-16-12-08-07-05-04-06-08-09-16-20-28-36-44-50 (17 weeks)

099 Zola Jesus "Night" 28-16-11-02-01-02-05-07-12-17-21-24-33-39-48-50 (16 weeks)

100 The Drums "Let's Go Surfing" 45-29-17-10-06-02-02-04-07-10-14-24-32-36-45-49-49 (17 weeks)

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/312si98Oe9L._SL500_AA500_.jpg

 

020 Yeasayer "O.N.E." (2010) [1,312]

UK chart peak: #190

 

39-25-15-04-02-01-01-01-01-02-04-05-08-10-16-24-30-35-40-40 (20 weeks)

 

Yeasayer first arrived in 2007 with All Hour Cymbals, but only broke through to the mainstream in 2010 with their follow-up Odd Blood (an album that pretty much summed up my first few months of the decade, whilst I was living in Lincolnshire on detachment for work). I loved the first single "Ambling Alp" which went to #1 with ease (sadly not charting here because most of its chart run was in 2009), but the second single "O.N.E.", which takes its title from the opening lyrics "One's not enough", blew me away. The track is written about addiction, and specifically battling with addiction to alcohol - the band have always admired electronic dance music and wanted to experiment with the progressive and creative aspects of dance (from Eighties dance pop to trippy psychedelia and tribal tunes) without the empty lyrics. What transpired was one of the most unique and interesting hits of the decade.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/518RMGpD7qL._SL500_AA500_.jpg

 

019 Grizzly Bear "Yet Again" (2012) [1,313]

 

48-31-21-11-04-01-01-01-01-02-04-06-08-10-14-19-27-35-40-40-45 (21 weeks)

 

Previously only charting with "Two Weeks" (incidentally one of the most melancholy and beautiful tracks of the 2000s), in 2012 the New York band returned with the outstanding Shields. First single from it, the brooding "Yet Again" became one of my most-played songs of late 2012 and rapidly ascended to #1. The track was written by the band as one of the first tracks for the album along with "Sleeping Ute". According to lead singer, Ed Droste, the single is apparently "about the overarching sensibility where you really want to be autonomous and alone all the time, but at the same time you're afraid of being alone and feel you need to find a partner, couple up and get domestic. It's about navigating that tricky terrain and finding the balance where you're happy in between." They played this at Latitude over the summer and I was totally spell-bound by it, it continues to grow on me even now!

'O.N.E.' is absolutely superb. One of my favourite songs of the decade for sure.

 

Most of what I've heard here is very good, so I should really listen to those I haven't. I didn't listen to Shields as much as it deserved me to, so I can't recall 'Yet Again' offhand.

^ Cool, Shields is a really great album - I also particularly love "A Simple Answer" from it, it has an amazing change of pace around the 4 minute mark!

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/414jt42OxSL._SL500_AA500_.jpg

 

018 Alt-J "Tessellate" (2012) [1,322]

 

45-34-19-10-05-02-02-01-01-01-01-02-04-07-10-18-27-39-38-43 (20 weeks)

 

First off for anyone who isn't a total Mac and maths nerd, Alt-J is the name of the Leeds band because Alt-J pressed together on your Mac keyboard gives you '∆' - the greek letter delta which in mathematics represents 'rate of change'. Now this, and the fact that the album opens up like some kind of origami bird may seem a bit arty and pretentious for some but it doesn't detract from what is a brilliant debut - the utterly addictive An Awesome Wave. "Tessellate" is the standout for me, a track which opens with a doom-stricken piano chord almost sounding like a clock chiming midnight that signals a change in pace of the album to a cleverly mixed song with contemporary lyricism - the protagonist of which has an almost autistic obsession with triangles and finding mathematical ways to fit together in order to form relationships with people ("Toe to toe and back to back let's go, my love it's very late/Till morning comes let's tessellate"). Some will not like Joe Newman's warm and rich voice, and understandably this has made the album rather divisive - I however, love it.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51HACN3StkL._SL500_AA500_.jpg

 

017 Lana Del Rey "Video Games" (2011) [1,333]

UK chart peak: #9

 

34-20-09-05-02-03-02-03-04-02-01-03-05-08-13-20-26-32-37-34-40 (21 weeks)

 

11 weeks to reach #1 is still the slowest climb to the top so far in the 2010s, and it was all (rather uninterestingly) because it took me so long to get an HQ copy of the single - though somewhat blocking it for 5 weeks was an amazing song, which is still to come - though it eventually relented and allowed Lana to rightfully nab the #1 slot. "Video Games" was the debut single by Elizabeth Grant and it still remains to-date her finest moment, she wrote it with Lincolnshire writer, Justin Parker. Grant's lyrics were inspired by two broken relationships in her past. "The verse was about the way things were with one person, and the chorus was the way that I wished things had really been with another person, who I thought about for a long time". "'Swinging in the backyard, pull up in your fast car, whistling my name'. That was what happened, you know? He'd come home and I'd see him. But then the chorus, 'Heaven is a place on earth with you, tell me all the things you wanna do' wasn't like that. That was the way that I wished it was – the melody sounds so compelling and heavenly because I wanted it to be that way."

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41ov1u3VxjL._SL500_AA500_.jpg

 

016 Hurts "Wonderful Life" (2010) [1,343]

UK chart peak: #21

 

{2009 chart run}..-06-02-03-04-06-09-16-26-36-44-50-XX-46-34-20-12-06-03-05-08-13-17-22-34-43 (24 weeks)

 

Manchester band Hurts are synthesiser player Adam Anderson and vocalist Theo Hutchcraft - they met in 2005 and soon after joined the band Daggers (who were FAMOUSLY nominated in 2008 for the PopJustice £20 music prize - but as Girls Aloud won it every year they failed to win). Leaving Daggers, and streamlining the band to just the two of them, the name changed to Hurts in 2009 and they gained some moderate popularity after their amateur black-and-white video for "Wonderful Life" took their lushly mournful electro-pop to the internet. The track namechecks Bristol's Temple Meads train station, and is a song based on two extremes, contrasting a man who wants to take his own life (jumping off a bridge across the Severn on a Saturday night), against that of the love at first sight of the woman who sees him and tries to convince him to not jump "Don't let go, never give up - it's such a wonderful life". The singe is a heart-piercing classic that easily transports the listener back to the 1980s without sounding dated or contrived. BRAVO hurts.

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm82/TheMagicPosition86/a6d6_zpsfb6719c9.png

 

015 WU LYF "We Bros" (2011) [1,357]

 

40-18-08-03-01-01-02-01-02-03-06-09-12-16-18-23-30-33-33-39-43-47 (22 weeks)

 

Oh. The Drama! Ellery James Roberts dramatically left the band late last year - but before that happened they released one of the most captivating albums of the decade in Go Tell Fire to the Mountain, blissfully beautiful - many of the highlights combine organs, walls of echoed percussion and the beautiful vocals of Ellery Roberts - all recorded in a church. If you've not heard of them then I urge you to check this out, and if you like it - the album. "We Bros" was the only WU LYF (World Unite Lucifer Youth Foundation) single release and really just tries to get across the beauty in the animal being within humanity, it is built around the anthemic chorus chant of "We bros you lost man / we bros sing so long / put away your guns man / And sing this song". The band are still going without Roberts and are now called Los Porcos.

Great to see two of my favourite 2010 tracks (Wonderful Life & O.N.E) in the top 20!

 

expecting either 'Not in Love' or 'Shuffle' to get the #1 here <3

 

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/315AnHJPZgL._SL500_AA500_.jpg

 

014 Cults "Abducted" (2011) [1,360]

 

33-20-13-07-03-01-01-01-01-02-05-08-08-11-16-25-30-34-40-45-48-48 (22 weeks)

 

Cults are a New York based indie pop band consisting of Brian Oblivion and Madeline Follin - who met in 2010 at The New School university in New York. First brought to my attention with the quirky "Go Outside" - it was the brilliant "Abducted" which made me fall in love with the band. I love the contrasting vocals in this track, which work really well here amongst the frantic beat and heartbroken lyrics of unrequited love. The video is run backwards to leave it ambiguous to the viewer about who was being abducted - but first sees a woman being 'abducted' by a heartless kidnapper, which at the end leads her to become the heartless kidnapper - forming an endless cycle.

Great to see two of my favourite 2010 tracks (Wonderful Life & O.N.E) in the top 20!

 

expecting either 'Not in Love' or 'Shuffle' to get the #1 here <3

 

Ooh, you will have to wait 'n' see. I can confirm that both are inside the Top 10. :D

 

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41UwevEWoKL._SL500_AA500_.jpg

 

013 James Blake "The Wilhelm Scream" (2011) [1,388]

 

40-27-14-08-04-02-01-01-01-01-02-02-04-07-11-16-23-28-35-40-46 (21 weeks)

 

Blake was only 17 when he sang this - yep, SEVENTEEN - he is unbelievably talented and this song display Blake's ability to interpolate emotion and texture into a song - it speaks of his percieved lack of direction in life ("I don't know about my dreams"), and it causes him to give up ("might as well fall in"). The production starts quiet as it begins, but as the song progresses, it slowly builds into an interesting climax of heavy synth lines and a kick drum pattern. This was my number 1 of 2011 for absolutely ages but was overtaken within the dying weeks of the year; 'The Wilhelm Scream' actually refers to a stock sound effect used in countless films, and was first used in 1951 for the film 'Distant Drums'. The title comes from the fact that the song is actually a reworking of Blake's fathers song "Where To Turn" referencing his father's influence/voice echoing through time. It's a bizarre track which gradually builds distortion and echoes before exploding out of recognition halfway through - you'd think this was difficult to recreate live but his live rendition of this is spellbinding. Wonderful!

I really hope Genesis is still to come.

 

Exceptional countdown so far from what I know! An Awesome Wave is a beauty of an album and even though I like The Wilhelm Scream, I much much prefer Retrograde.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Afyd72JiL._SL500_AA500_.jpg

 

012 Alabama Shakes "Hold On" (2012) [1,398]

UK chart peak: #104

 

36-23-15-08-04-02-01-01-01-01-02-04-05-06-08-11-18-25-31-39-46 (21 weeks)

 

The husky vocals of Brittany Howard, a twentysomething from Athens in Alabama make this, the debut single "Hold On" from Alabama Shakes. The band were formed in 2009 when Brittany met bassist Zac Cockrell during a high school psychology class - they quickly found common ground and wrote a lot of great songs together including the riff for "Hold On" but struggled to put any lyrics to it. They debuted the song at The Brick in Decatur and Howard explained the meaning of the, "never thought I'd make it to twenty-two years old," line to NME: "It's not necessarily that I didn't think I was going to make it to 22," she explained. "It's just like, you know when you're younger and you can't imagine yourself ever being grown? I didn't like my job and I didn't like where I was living and I didn't like the way my world was. You're holding on but at the same time you're tired of waiting for things to get better. Why have you always got to want something better."

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm82/TheMagicPosition86/f928_zpsc2ccf3c4.png

 

011 Groove Armada "Paper Romance" (2010) [1,405]

UK chart peak: #196

 

34-21-12-05-03-03-02-01-01-01-03-04-06-09-14-17-21-25-29-33-39-47 (22 weeks)

 

The British duo's 8th studio album Black Light (which is a brilliant return to form IMO) was largely ignored both by the public and their core fanbase but included some absolutely brilliant singles, including the collaborations with Will Young, Saint Saviour and on this track both Saint Saviour and the wonderful Fenech-Soler (named after the keyboardist Dan's full Maltese surname). Tom Findlay and Andy Cato have been making music together for well over a decade now and created some classic and unforgettable hits - it is just a shame that this will be completely forgotten in their discography. Catchy, melodic, and also a bit angry "Paper Romance" would have made the perfect comeback for the guys and remains one of my most regretted 'didn't become a hit' of the 2010s.

I really hope Genesis is still to come.

 

Exceptional countdown so far from what I know! An Awesome Wave is a beauty of an album and even though I like The Wilhelm Scream, I much much prefer Retrograde.

 

 

Thanks Tom!

 

You will be pleased to hear that "Genesis" is indeed still to come. Is it #1? :o

 

 

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010 Jagwar Ma "The Throw" (2013) [1,409]

 

38-18-09-05-02-01-01-01-01-01-02-04-06-09-12-16-26-33-35-39-45 (21 weeks)

 

Kicking off the Top 10 is the biggest song of 2013 (so far), though whether it is overthrown before the end of the year remains to be seen - but an insane 5 week run at the top through late March and April by the Sydney trio is a more than impressive debut. The bands name apparently originates from the name of the guitar that lead singer Gab Winterfield plays, 'Fender Jaguar' as well as band member Jono Ma. "The Throw" is a delicious slice of early '90s throwback, particularly reminiscent of the Madchester scene of 1989/1990 perpetuated by the Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays. When the beat/bass comes in at around the minute and 5 second mark, that's when it is impossible to keep yourself from dancing! It is also an Unknown Pleasure entrant from earlier in the year, though funnily enough I had already heard it before it was entered. Saw the band live this summer and was not disappointed, they have got a lot to offer I think!

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009 The National "Bloodbuzz Ohio" (2010) [1,434]

 

47-34-24-17-07-03-01-01-01-01-01-01-03-04-05-08-12-18-26-34-48 (21 weeks)

 

Matt Berninger, along with two pairs of brothers: Aaron and Bryce Dessner, and Scott and Bryan Devendorf are The National; A band I first discovered in 2007 when they released the fantastic "Mistaken For Strangers". Skip forward to 2010, and along came the outstanding High Violet, their 5th studio album - but only their first to give them worldwide success including a Top 5 album in the UK. "Bloodbuzz Ohio" was the lead single - a gorgeous melancholy and textured beauty of a song filled with remorse and regret - all packaged together by Matt's awesome Baritone vocals. "I still owe money to the money to the money that I owe" - really does sum up the mood of the world in debt ridden 2010, and it duly went on to spend SIX weeks at the top of my chart- I loved it to pieces. I am seeing them live in London this November, and "Bloodbuzz.." is bound to go down a storm!

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008 Bon Iver "Holocene" (2011) [1,461]

 

40-27-11-03-01-01-01-01-01-03-04-04-06-07-11-13-16-20-25-31-39-46 (22 weeks)

 

This song for me sums up the season of Autumn, which is probably why I love it so much - Autumn is my favourite of the seasons. 'The Holocene' referred to is the name given to the current climatic era, which started 12,000 years ago after the last major Ice-Age (ask Crazy Chris about it, he'll remember) - it is also the name of a Portland bar where Justin Vernon recalls "a dark night of the soul". The single "Holocene" was easily my favourite from their self-titled LP, a song about redemption and realizing that you're worth something. The track has the perfect combination of Justin's falsetto vocals, and breathtaking instrumentation. Philip Sherburne described it best "muted vibraphones, weary handclaps, a quiet squall of clarinets. The rising and falling chord changes create a sense of motion that develops throughout the whole song, a tide-like ebb and flow that ends with an abrupt denouement, so swift it withholds almost as much pleasure as it yields."

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007 Autre Ne Veut "Counting" (2012) [1,469]

 

42-28-17-09-06-03-01-01-01-02-03-05-06-06-10-12-17-22-27-33-34-39-42-48 (24 weeks)

 

Autre Ne Veut very loosely translates from French as ‘I want no other’ - and is the pseudonym for 30 year-old New York musician Arthur Ashin; his self-titled debut was released in 2010 and in February this year his second LP Anxieties was released. The first single to be taken from it "Counting" was actually written for his aging grandmother and with the main theme of the album exploring Arthur's own anxieties, it explores his anxieties about losing his grandmother and avoiding calling her because he worries that the next time he talks to her will be the last. It is a brilliant track packed full of rapid arpeggios, saxophone squeals, and booming bass drum hits - making it one of the most accomplished and exciting singles of the past decade!