Albums of the Year 2010 - Honourable Mentions

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MGMT: 'Congratulations' for the honourable mention

It's that time of year again! Over the past couple of weeks, music hacks the world over have been holing themselves up in dimly lit bedrooms, agonising for literally moments over whether they prefer The National or Arcade Fire's chord changes, or desperately racking their brains for that obscure, enigmatic pick that will impress the people on the tube who have clear lens glasses and one side of their hair shaved off. Me? I've gone with the heart in compiling my favourite 25 records of the year, which means there are a few returning favourites, a handful of distinctly anti-zeitgeist picks, and above all: a lot of guitar. For the record, I think it's been a fair to middling year for music, lacking any life changing ephiphanies of sound, but nonetheless chock full of many fine records.

Anyway... before I post my 25 Albums of the Year 2010 (coming in three parts later in the week), I thought it necessary to honour some of the LPs that didn't quite make the cut, for reasons too numerous too mention here. Music should be about celebration, not exclusion, and each one of the good to very good 29 records listed below has provided prolonged enjoyment or touched me in some way. They all come highly recommended, and you should check them out, particularly those that fall under your spectrum of musical taste. I've also included a handful of compilations, which were barred from the final list, but are still very worthy of mention.

Here's the list, in no particular order, with a link provided to one of the records' choice cuts [or, if you're lazy, here's a link to a Spotify playlist]:


Mystery Jets - Serotonin (Rough Trade)
'Flash A Hungry Smile' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuzqD_ymV60

Kings Of Leon - Come Around Sundown (RCA)
'Pickup Truck' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51LozvKPDs8

Robyn - Body Talk [see also Body Talk Pts 1, 2 + 3] (Konichiwa)
'Hang With Me' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3a2qoyONVA

Yeti Lane - Yeti Lane (Sonic Cathedral)
'Lonesome George' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thzfS3oHlTE

Massive Attack - Heligoland (Virgin)
'Girl I Love You' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2InDdOsvtA

High Wire - The Sleep Tape (Grandpa Stan)
'Hang From the Lights' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKJMvcdQmA4

MGMT - Congratulations (Sony)
'Song For Dan Treacy' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LP7r7bRgBzg

Wavves - King of the Beach (Bella Union)
'Linus Spacehead' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdkp67_JOiQ

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Let It Sway (Polyvinyl)
'Critical Drain' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vGd5Sneq88

No Age - Everything In Between (Sub Pop)
'Valley Hump Crash' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fPGn2RARSo

Edwyn Collins: Unlikely to be 'Losing Sleep' over failing to make the final cut

Edwyn Collins - Losing Sleep (Heavenly Recordings)
'Losing Sleep' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2x64tqDrHgM

Manic Street Preachers - Postcards From a Young Man (Sony)
'Billion Balconies Facing the Sun' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKr2xQVuaME

Good Shoes - No Hope No Future (Brille)
'City By the Sea' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvKRy1mmVXQ

V/A - Afro-Beat Airways: West African Shock Waves [Ghana & Togo 1972-78] (Analog Africa)
Majirata - 'Break Through' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9wD86nHZg0

The Hold Steady - Heaven Is Whenever (Vagrant)
'Weekenders' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=744-m7CXs6E

Kelis - Flesh Tone (Interscope)
'Scream' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-F5t7KMTgk

The Young Veins - Take A Vacation (One Haven)
'Young Veins (Die Tonight)' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofs24w2_GiE

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs (Mercury)
'City With No Children' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9riPB-OR0nU

Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest (4AD)
'Revival' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uowHgu2ZYSg

Rihanna - Loud (Island/Def Jam)
'Only Girl In The World' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa14VNsdSYM

V/A - Tropicalia: A Brazilian Revolution In Sound (Soul Jazz Records)
'A Minha Menina' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEpSFOibJho 

Fool's Gold: Not fooling anyone

Fool's Gold - Fool's Gold (IAMSOUND)
'Nadine' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mbkl-GzVYbI

Dinosaur Pile-Up - Growing Pains (Friends Vs)
'Never That Together' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiSZGbRhk0k

Adam Green - Minor Love (Rough Trade)
'Buddy Bradley' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGUcS5Auiac

Sky Larkin - Kaleide (Wichita)
'Still Windmills' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbGXAbYtoLY

Stereolab - Not Music (Duophonic UHF Disks)
'Supah Jaianto' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaaOuwtEMSw

V/A - The Best of Fried Egg Records [Bristol 1979-80] (Fried Egg Records)
The Various Artists - 'Original Mixed Up Kid' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nJzF3yOUy8

Charlotte Gainsbourg - IRM (Because)
'In the End' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jayt8szqSDU

John Legend and the Roots - Wake Up (Getting Out Our Dreams/Sony)
'Shine' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnLUCry0DqY 

Agree or disagree? Should any of these picks made my top 25? Leave your comments below

Short Cuts! April New Releases Round-up

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April's album releases, including The Futureheads, Laura Marling, MGMT, Black Francis and loads more...

5/4

Laura Marling – I Speak Because I Can
Indisputably the most vital and most talented amongst her ‘nu-folk’ (yeesh) contemporaries, Marling’s tender years continue not to be a hindrance, either with her husk-augmented register or her intricate grasp of how to weave commercial and credible into hit after hit. That said, the age does betray her sometimes unfathomable life lessons, not to mention neutering their authenticity. Meanwhile, though she’s better at Joni Mitchell (‘Made by Maid’) than she is at Stevie Nicks (Devil’s Spoke), she’s most accomplished at being Laura Marling (‘Darkness Descends’). A triumph.
Choice Cuts: ‘Made By Maid’, ‘Darkness Descends’, ‘Goodbye England’
9/10

Black Francis – NonStopErotik
Get past the recurring mental image of the portly Francis manoeuvring himself around the 24-hour vice den which apparently constitutes his life in NonStopErotik, and you’re left with a startling return to Pixies-esque ingénue. In short: seamless key changes, twisted chords and backhanded melodies, all drenched in a knowing sense of noir – Noir Francis, that is.
Choice Cuts: 'Cinema Star', 'Corinna'
8/10

Ted Leo – Brutalist Bricks
After the outright disappointment of 2007’s sprawling misfire Living With The Living, sprightly 30-something social-idealist punk Ted Leo goes back to basics on his Matador debut. Save for hip-shaking soul-rocker ‘One Polaroid a Day’, the tracks here are short, sharp and direct, bustling past in a head-rush of instantly claimable hooks and intricate guitar stabs. As usual, the political moments (‘The Stick’, ‘ Ativan Eyes’), whilst brimming with passion and conscience, are only ever a fist-pump away from a toe-curling lyric; as usual, the personal as political cuts (‘Bottled Up Inwith  Cork’, ‘Even Heroes Have to Die’) jumpstart head and heart with cracked-macho displays of vulnerability.
Choice Cuts: ‘Bottled Up In Cork’, ‘Gimme The Wire’, ‘Even Heroes Have to Die’
8/10

Dr Dog – Shame, Shame
Presumably as bored as we were with the agricultural approach to psyche-outs championed hitherto, Fido and chums return with their tails wagging and a pop-sheened charm offensive. Just a pity it’s taken until now to get them house-trained.
Choice Cuts – 'Shadow People'
7/10

Harper Simon – Harper Simon
Daddy, daddy cool – and at 37 Harper finally realises it. The only thing that’s missing is Art.
Choice Cuts: 'Wishes and Stars', 'Ha Ha'
6.5/10

12/4

MGMT – Congratulations
There’s a lot of Love in this room – Arthur Lee looms largest over this startling re-imagination. For synths, read: guitars; for ecstacy, read: LSD. For electro-pop throwaway, read: surf-psychedelia tour de force.
Choice Cuts: ‘Song for Dan Treacy’, ‘Flash Delirium’, ‘It’s Working’.
9/10

Plan B – The Defamation of Strickland Banks
Invoking the spirit of the Winehouse Summer (2007), Plan B heads East not North, hooks up with a Charles and Eddie cover band instead of Mark Ronson, and produces a pleasingly complete soul-pop smash – notwithstanding the reliably superfluous ‘concept’. Note to all the ‘sell-out’ catcallers: alternating between Jamie T and Dizzy Rascal rapping never counted as ‘grit’ in the first place.
Choice Cuts: ‘Love Goes Down’, ‘Stay Too Long’
7.5/10

Darwin Deez – Darwin Deez
Inwhich the moustachioed New Yorker demonstrates he’s fairly good at tackling the Strokes with added noise (‘Lights On’), the Strokes with a serious pop kick (‘Radar Detector’) and the Strokes minus the Ramones (all the others). What he doesn’t establish is if he’s likely to widen his record collection before the next one drops. Still, those sold on a hook certainly won’t begrudge the price of admission.
Choice Cuts: ‘Lights On’, ‘DNA’
7/10

19/4

Caribou – Swim
Plastic-electronic hermit Dan Snaith might be more comfortable at a house party than filling dancefloors, but here he proves he’s just one killer pop loop away from a Billboard breakthrough. Whilst he searches for the right note, the rest of us can enjoy the fact Snaith’s abundance of grey matter hasn’t yet obscured the life (and love) in the wires.
Choice Cuts: ‘Kaili’, ‘Odessa’
7.5/10

Ash – A-Z Volume 1
MOR of the same from the eternally youthful Downpatrick tykes... who are actually old enough to know better these days. Still, as one might expect from what is essentially a singles compilation (comprising the first half of their admirable but inconsequential a-z singles experiment), most of the tracks herein pull you in hook, line and sinker, more than making up for the occasional stinker. Bravo.
Choice Cuts: ‘Joy Kicks Darkness’, ‘Command’, ‘Song of Your Desire’
7.5/10

Kate Nash – My Best Friend is You
Lily Allen sings Billy Bragg – this time with more guitars, and less show-tunes. Lacks ‘Foundations’ but the first and second floors have had significant renovation. That said, entertain the full spoken word rant of ‘Mansion House’ at your own peril, and cringe at the gratuitous swearing and “cocaine” plugs.
Choice Cuts: ‘Do Wah Do’, ‘Paris’
6/10

26/4

The Futureheads – The Chaos
I’ve always had a sneaky suspicion that The Futureheads were a power-pop band – the chunky palm-mutes, the quad-tracked harmonies – hiding under a post-punk veneer, and their fourth long player proves it. Here, they tone down the sparser guitar exchanges and 90 degree angles and instead puff their chests out as they strut through their best choruses (‘Heartbeat Song’, ‘I Can Do That’) since ‘Skip to the End’. As usual, they’re sincere enough to carry it off, even if the tricks are cheap.
Choice Cuts: ‘I Can Do That’, ‘The Chaos’, ‘Dart At The Map’
8/10

Harlem – Hippies
Sticks closely to the garage-rock mantra – “it plays therefore it is” – then adds chorus after chorus, and lyrics about ghosts and people on fire.
Choice Cuts: ‘Number One’, ‘Tila and I’, ‘Poolside’
7/10

Gogol Bordello – Trans-Continental
With some 7 nationalities amongst their 9 full time members, Eugene Hutz’ gypsy-punk jivesters are unlikely to be booked to play a BNP function in the near future – nor, on this evidence, are they likely to disuade Nick Griffin that gypsies should be neither seen or heard. Whilst slow-burning twisted folkies like ‘When Universes Collide’ are pretty enough, the band (and Hutz’ vocal) works best when the eclectic musicianship is twinned with the jolting stop/starts and “hoi hoi hois”, a match-up only infrequently realised here. Time to move to pastures new?
Choice Cuts: ‘Immigraniada’, ‘Sun Is On My Side’
5/10

Hot 5 at 5 - Spotify Playlist

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Spotify Playlist featuring 5 highly recommended tracks that have been tickling THE POPSCENER's eardrums today.

Hot 5 at 5 (3/5)

Harlem - Number One
Hood-winkers

The Besnard Lakes - Albatross
Soaring

The Clash - Guns of Brixton
Takes aim

MGMT - Song for Dan Treacy
Far out

Darwin Deez - Lights On
Naturally selected