(My) Albums of the Year
These are my favourite albums of the year. You will invariably disagree. If you do, I care not for your opinion, as you are an ass. Spotify links included where available, of course.
Honorary mentions:
Abbey Road (reissue) - The Beatles; Paul’s Boutique (reissue) - Beastie Boys; Album - Girls; Kings and Queens - Jamie T;
The ‘five’:
A man goes beserk with a selection of electronic instruments, and you can never tell what’s coming next. That’s because nobody knows. Packed full of surprise and invention, and noises that make your ears prick up and the hairs on the back of your neck stand to attention.
4. Tarot Sport - Fuck Buttons
No Spotify, sorry! The follow up to my favourite album of 08, and it removed the worst bits of that one (the screaming and wailing) and replaced with a more dance oriented flavour, helped along by Andrew Weatherall’s production skills. More of the same, but much, much better.
3. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix - Phoenix
I’ve loved Phoenix for a long time, but this is where it all came together, at last. Guitar and synth rock with a lazy French touch. Like the Strokes ‘Is This It?’, but with cheap fags and cognac.
2. Where were U in ‘92? - Zomby
Oh Jesus, how did I miss this? It’s been out for ages, and it somehow succeeds in sending me back 17 years, to the heady days of double chemistry, poorly recorded ‘Fantazia’ bootleg tapes, listening to the Prodigy through one half of a headphone and being YOUNG again. Only a shoddy dubstep bit stopped it from top spot.
1. XX - The XX
A couple flirt across an empty room. Just beautiful. It sounds great loud, but is a totally different record when quiet. The way they use the silence, the emptiness as an instrument in itself is incredible. I must have listened to this a thousand times in the last two months alone, and I’m still to tire of it.
