Albums Of 2009

Here's the second part of my year in lists - my favourite albums of the year.

This should probably come with a few proviso's

I feel guilty for not including Merriweather Post Pavillion (Animal Collective) and Veckatimest (Grizzly Bear) but I'm just not that in to you

I feel like I should have listened to Tarot Sports (Fuck Buttons) and These Four Walls (We Were Promised Jetpacks) more

In a few weeks, Beast Rest Forth Mouth (Bear In Heaven) would probably chart a lot higher

1. Röyksopp – Junior

Royksopp feels like an odd choice, but it is an album that really has so muched. Prompted to listen by collaborations with Fever Ray and Lykke Li amongst others, it seems to do master the duo's famous electro sound, and with some awesome contributions create some dark, dance-pop masterpieces

Listen to 'Junior' on Spotify here

2. Magnolia Electric Co - Josephine

It was hard to work out how to place Josephine, another great album from Jason Molina, but without perhaps as much of a focal point as some previous albums, and a slightly more 'blissed out' feeling. Upon consideration, it's still better than pretty much anything else this year

Listen to 'Josephine' on Spotify here

3. The XX - XX

XX is certainly the hipsters record of choice - they were everywhere in Berlin earlier this year. It's rare an album and band create such an atmosphere on a record, and this album does more than that, backed up with some haunting gems with a unique (I said it) mix of sounds

Listen to 'XX' on Spotify here

4. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

From breathless start to finish, the size of tunes on this album is massive, with a beatiful interlude in the middle with the atmospheric two-parter Love Like A Sunset. Grammy nominated it as always seems a shame they haven't been able to breakthrough quite so much in the UK - Phoenix are the indie-pop band we need

Listen to 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix' on Spotify here

5. Swan Lake - Enemy Mine

The first of two Spencer Krug contributions, despite this album being very much a side project affair, and suffering from the potentially schizophrenic contributions of numerous writes, this is a quirky Canadian indie at it's best, and filled a whole in my world for a while

Listen to 'Enemy Mine' on Spotify here

6. Rock Plaza Central - ...At The Moment Of Most Needing, Or If Only They Could Turn Around, They Would Know They Weren't Alone

Rock Plaza Central's follow up to 2006's 'We Are Not Horses' would've been hard matched to improve on that, and 'At The Moment' takes a more laid back approach, further away from the psycadelic imagery of it's predecessor. In the process it gains a level of subdued beautiful to revel in

Listen to '...At The Moment Of Most Needing' on Spotify here

7. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

Truely there is like no other as Dirty Projectors' immense vocal acrobatic harmony's. Sometimes distracting, always enticing, the melody's really are like no other

Listen to 'Bitte Orca' on Spotify here

8. Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer

Sunset Rubdown's Dragonslayer, Spencer Krug's true sole side project, was a veritable mix sounds and songs, that grew with every listen and utterly bombastic live

Listen to 'Dragonslayer' on Spotify here

9. Kong - Snake Magnet

First delivered to me in 2007 by the hands of Biffy Clyro (I plugged them as a Band For 2008), it took a while getting released, but it's riffs are the size of massive bollocks only these screams could emanate from

Listen to Kong on Myspace here

10. School Of Seven Bells - Alpinism

Strictly released in late 2008, before a re-release this year - one of the most intense live bands I saw this year, the sonics and songs make me warm and fuzzy inside

Listen to 'Alpinism' on Spotify here

...and the best of the rest:

11. Tegan & Sara - Sainthood / 12. Wild Beasts - Two Dancers / 13. Fanfarlo - Reservoir / 14. Grammatics - Grammatics / 15. Sometree - Yonder / 16. Editors - In This Light And On This Evening / 17. Sonic Youth - The Eternal / 18. Bear In Heaven - Beast Rest Forth Mouth / 19. Blue Roses - Blue Roses / 20. Riceboy Sleeps - Jonsi & Alex / 21. Micachu & The Shapes - Jewellery / 22. Monsters Of Folk - Monsters Of Folk / 23. Karen O & The Kids - Where The Wild Things Are Soundtrack / 24. Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions - Bavarian Fruit Bread / 25. Fever Ray - Fever Ray

And, finally, looking at my forever interesting Last.FM stats, my actual most listened to albums released in 2009, are the following:

1. The XX - XX

2. School Of Seven Bells - Alpinism

3. Rock Plaza Central - ...At The Moment Of Most Needing

4. Magnolia Electric Co - Josephine

5. Röyksopp – Junior

6. Swan Lake - Enemy Mine

7. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

8. Grammatics - Grammatics

9. Sometree - Yonder

10. Bat For Lashes - Two Suns

With a little note to say that Kong's 'Snake Magnet' would be at #8 in the last fm list, had I not recieved it in 2007!

Soundtrack to this post: Bear In Heaven

Welcome 2009

Happy New Year everybody, I'm only a bit late

I currently have a list as long as my arm of things I wanted to write blogs about, but I've really struggled to find time the last few weeks - the new years is treating busy and there's so much more I wanted to do. I'm not working entirely as hard as I should be though, and have managed to spend most of the last 2 nights watching telly. Including the last few episodes of Gilmore Girls which managed to chalk up mentions for Midlake, Tokyo Police Club, My Morning Jacket and many more

2008 and was a funny year for me, and this time last year I was completely lost... Infact, a few months ago I was a bit lost. Right now, I have a bit of work to continue doing, and finishing producing these new songs by The ABC Club (pretty much done) and Die Video Die (sounding good). Then I might do something for me

Anyway, as is customary, I've had a list of 'hot new bands' growing for a while, and now everyone else has tipped them, please allow me to join the bandwagon

TIPS FOR 2009

This year, it's clear nobody knows who's gonna be big from the tips, bar the bleedin' obvious - that might still bomb completely through complete over hype and over exposure (hello White Lies). BBC Sound Of... poll is always a good barometer of the industry perception of what's going to be big. Last year, yes Adele, Duffy and others piled to the top of the pile, but there were other interesting features, like Santogold who never quite crossed into the mainstream.

BBC SOUND OF 2009  

There seem a few top tips, specifically on the BBC year's list, that seem very much of this Santogold ilk - I'm thinking mainly Little Boots and Empire Of The Sun. Two bands who I think are great, but I'm not sure I see them reaching Duffy style levels of mainstream success. Will talk a bit about that in a minute, but my great showbiz mate Steve Lamacq has written a great blog on the current state of tipping for the new year (and I agree on the shoegaze revival)

STEVE LAMACQ - Flaming Tips

Here's some new bands I like that will release records this year:

LITTLE BOOTS

Yes, she's everywhere - but in her former incarnation as lead singer of Dead Disco, Dance To The Radio released her first efforts, and they were infact the last band to release a single on Fierce Panda unless I'm much mistaken. She's the nu-rave Madonna, or something, and her collaboration with Joe Hot Chip, 'Stuck On Repeat' is a bonafide Disco Anthem. Will she become huge? I don't know, she has an immense pressure behind her from her label (679) who are rumoured to be dropping bands left, right and centre, and the build up to her push has been going on for absolutely ages. And of course I'm sure the songs I prefer least will be the ones to break her... You can't deny her star quality on Jools Holland though:

http://www.myspace.com/littlebootsmusic

EMPIRE OF THE SUN

Let's get the big guns out of the way. This is the Aussie collaboration between the singer of The Sleepy Jackson (remember their New Rock Revolution anthem - 'Miniskirt'? No?) and modular nu-rave heroes PNAU - responsible for the awesome track 'Embrace' with Ladyhawke. Anyway, they've created this odd world, but the songs sound great, though quite cheesy. I'm suprised they're getting hyped as much as they are, but hey it's pretty cool

http://www.myspace.com/empireofthesunsound

SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS

Actually, this is more retrospective, as they're album came out last year, but they're coming over for a proper tour at the end of February. These guys are ex-Secret Machines guitarist Ben Curtis, and indentical twins Alejandra and Claudia Deheza. This is the one band I am most excited about it has to be said - their track 'Connjur' is one of my favourites at the minute

School Of Seven Bells - Cunnjur @RCRDLBL.com

http://www.myspace.com/schoolofsevenbells

Right, I have other things to do now, but put those in your pipe and smoke them. Not very interesting or new really I know, but things I wanted to write. Maybe see you tomorrow

Soundtrack to this post: lots