Martedì 20 Dic 2011, 14:20

hello. here is my super duper end of year list. the one you've all been waiting for.the breakfast crumpet of all end of year lists.

ok enough chatter. time for the list.

20. Feist - Metals
this is the first feist album i have ever listened to (that i liked) so just for the achievement of being something i could like it is my least favourite best album of 2011.

19. Tennis - Cape Dory
this one came out right at the start of the year. i remember listening to it alot so it must have been semi brilliant. then i went watching them double headling with sleigh bells (and you wont see sleigh bells on my best of 2011 list (er cos they came out in 2010 and they were awful. soz)) and they wore distractingly battered up shoes. this album makes me feel like taking my yacht and sailing round the coast of america. which i -think- is what tennis is trying to sell me here…

18. Misty Miller - Misty Miller
nice background album which i seem to have listened to on repeat a million times which is enough to get it on my list.

17. Class Actress - Rapproacher
ok so all the songs on this album are about being sad that someone is gone and also about how much they are gonna miss you when you're partying out at the weekend. well thats cool, but i really like all the sharp electronic beep boops.

16. Adele - 21
i needed a good pop album on the list to make it credible and inclusive. also i listened to it alot.

15. Death Cab for Cutie - Codes and Keys
umm maybe the worst dcfc album, yet i still dont wanna let them go. poor ben, he was so happy and married when he wrote this album. now he is heartbroken and alone so the next album is gonna be good. my grandad hates dcfc.

14. Samantha Savage Smith - Tough Cookie.
this is one that i've only just 'discovered'. i listened to it because the album cover was really nice.

13. Florence + the Machine - Ceremonials
ok so i actually really like flo. she has toned it down on this album in terms of over singing and upped it in terms of dramatic moaning and musical expresionisms (not a word).

12. Bright Eyes - The People's Key
oh connor if only you hadn't put all those annoying soundbites at the end of half the songs then you would so be # 11. as it is, you did. i loved the singles from this album, it's probably my 2nd favourite BE album if i am honest (iam)

11. The Kills - Blood Pressures
rough.

10. Laura Marling - A Creature I Don't Know
ah laura i am guaranteed to love anything you do, but this is probably my least favourite of your albums. i think its the least accessible of the three but songs like 'dont ask me why' & 'night after night' keep me coming back.

9. Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
really solid follow up to 'youth novels'. poor lykke she always sounds so down bless her. she is right moody though irl and she mumbles sooo much when she sings live.

8. Cults - Cults
pretty hyped up earlier this year but surprisingly really good. saw them about 2 months ago, put on a good show (except they played for 30 mins and i still had to miss the end cos of stupid public transport!) even though the guitarist was wasted and forgot his lines, bless.

7. Big Deal - Lights Out
boy/girl duo, only use 2 guitars singing about heartbreak and unrequited love / break up, move away. sounds so familiar.

6. los campesinos! - hello sadness
usually loscamp would always be in the top 3 atleast for my end of yr lists. sadly i dont think this one packs the same punch as the previous 2. best song they ever recorded is on this record though (its 'to tundra' for those who need it spelling out for them).

5. braids - native speaker
the title track is probably my favourite song of the year. makes me feel like im stuck in a swamp surrounded by ghosts who want to lure me into the water. or something. i love everything about this album: the vocals, the lyrics, the production evvvvvertything.

4. The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar
even though this came out at the start of the year, I completely ignored it until about october. im dumb. this is brilliant. sometimes i think the lyrics make no sense, and they do suffer from the annoying habit of naming the songs something irrelevant. i could name my favourite songs but its pretty much the whole album (ok why not? cradle, the greatest light the greatest shade, heavy abacus, whirring….)

3. Emmy the Great - Virtue
so when i first heard this one i was so disappointed. why isnt emmy singing about fake babies and first love and reformed bands? then i read the intent behind the album and it clicked and i loved it. if you haven't already, find the "japanese bonus tracks" as she seemingly left the best track (paper forest "birds") off the standard release. stick with this one its a grower.

2. Slow Club - Paradise
this year ive been a sucker for songs about sadness and break ups and general antilovesong ness. this album has plenty of that. perfect balance of slow and upbeat, plus they added a band. i know most people are 'against' duo's adding anyone extra to their set but for slow club it really works.

1. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
i want to be annie clark so thats why she is number 1.

tune in next week for worst of 2011 (dont)