So here we are at last, List-o-mania is nearly complete as we look at part one of Alphabet Bands favourite albums of the year, part one. That’s right, we’re dragging this out over two days!
So far Adam S and I have looked at our favourite tracks (part one & part two), gigs and EPs of the year.
Today we will count down in simple list form albums 50 -11, before looking in more detail at albums 10 – 6 and tomorrow we will look at the Top 5. As with all of these lists, no science has been used in any way, shape or form. We’ll leave that to the guys looking for the fabled Higgs Boson. This is all just opinion, specifically mine.
Here is the big list.
50. Young The Giant – Young The Giant
49. The Civil Wars – Barton Hollow
48. Lamb – 5
47. LykKe Li – Wounded Rhymes
46. Wolf Gang – Suego Faults
45. St. Vincent – Strange Mercy
44. Lanterns On The Lake – Gracious Tide, Take Me Home
43. Iron & Wine – Kiss Each Other Clean
42. Anna Calvi – Anna Calvi
41. Blouse – Blouse
40. Hercules & Love Affair – Blue Songs
39. Danger Mouse & Danielle Lupi – Rome
38. Mogwai – Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
37. Washed Out – Within and Without
36. WU-LYF – Go Tell Fire To The Mountain
35. The Decemberists – The King is Dead
34. Raekwon – Shaolin VS Wu-Tang
33. Radiohead – The King of Limbs
32. Braids – Native Speaker
31. Cashier No.9 – To The Death Of Fun
30. Twin Sister – In Heaven
29. Treelight For Sunlight – A Dream Before Sleep
28. The Phoenix Foundation – Buffalo
27. Ennui – Formation Of Tide
26. Destroyer – Kaputt
25. Friendly Fires – Pala
24. Fenech-Soler – Fenech-Soler
23. Nerves Junior – As Bright As Your Night Light
22. Cults – Cults
21. Arctic Monkeys – Suck It And See
20. Nicola Roberts – Cinderella’s Eyes
19. Apparat – The Devil’s Walk
18. White Denim – D
17. SBTRKT – Sbtrkt
16. Mara Carlyle – Floreat
15. Yuck – Yuck
14. Talib Kweli – Gutter Rainbows
13. Youth Lagoon – The Year Of Hibernation
12. Kyle Andrews – Robert Learn Love
11. Holy Ghost! – Holy Ghost!
And now, we start our look at the Top 10…
10. Ladytron – Gravity The Seducer
Nettwerk
Full of haunting, evocative melodies Gravity…, like many a Ladytron album, has the feel of a record that has been buffed and polished until you can see your face in the shine. The smooth synth-rock soundscapes worm their way into your soul, a kind of Kraftwerk meets ride electro-shoegaze if you will. However you choose to label it, it’s just wonderful.
Get the album here
9. Caveman – CoCo Beware
Magic Man!
We’ve talked briefly in the past about Caveman and our love of their late summer evening sound. For all the swooping guitars, incessant drums and dreamy lo-fi feeling to the album, the overwhelming and most pleasant aspect is just how far this is a pop record. The choruses and delicate falsetto are to die for and it’s no wonder that this Brooklyn band is generating such buzz. I said before that they sound a bit like Pavement mixed with the Beach Boys, which frankly is ridiculously exciting.
Get the album here
8. Joan As Policewoman – The Deep Field
Reveal Records
Warm, rich, witty, Joan Wasser’s latest record is a beautifully sung cornucopia of emotion and fragility. What at first may appear to be an album of self-indulgence is actually a sumptuous, multi-layered affair that offers both dark and light. It is an album that will resonate with the listener long after the less textured but more widely enjoyed soft-pop of the day has long since been forgotten.
Get the album here
7. Summer Camp – Welcome to Condale
Apricot/Moshi Moshi
There is something undeniably charming about Summer Camp, the English indie-electro duo made up of Jeremy Warmsley and Elizabeth Sankey just exude warmth and tenderness. This debut album, written about the fictional Californian town of Condale and the various lives within it, is full of super-infectious, foot-tapping, pants-swinging retro-pop tunes. It makes you want to sway from side to side like a kid at a disco in the 80’s and bizarrely, that doesn’t feel even remotely weird. It probably helps that Elizabeth has one of the warmest, most amiable voices in pop.
Get the album here
6. Metronomy – The English Riviera
Because Music
There is something quintessentially British about The English Riviera, not least the title of course. No, it’s more that Metronomy have produced an album steeped in escapism, like that traditional rush to the seaside we Brits used to make, back when kids would play out on the street until it got dark and everyone went on holiday at the same time and to the same place. But the escapism felt here is not to a white sandy beach, bathed in dazzling sunlight. No, this is an album that conjures a much more realistic and down to earth image, that of sitting on the front, watching the sea through the rain spattered window of a quaint but dilapidated B&B. In that respects it is the ultimate summer album for the UK, in all other respects it is a magnificent album of understated but wonderfully crafted downbeat dance-pop.
Get the album here
So there you have it, Part one is complete. Feel free to comment below on the list so far, tell us what you think of some of the albums and what you have liked as well this year. Hey, you could even try and guess what will be in the Top 5. Bet you can’t. Join us tomorrow to find out.
Alphabet Bands 
some very interesting thoughts….interesting means good by the way.