AS MUSIC becomes ever-more a commercial concern modelled around how to be more successful by sounding more like Artist X or Y, it’s always nice to look back at the end of the year and think of the albums that have bucked that trend. Whether they offered something fresh and trod new ground, or whether they simply offered a wee bit of fresh air among the dense fug of a hit factory churning out shallow pop pap by the skipload, these are my top 10 records for the year that was.
10. CANT – Dreams Come True
Having released the universally acclaimed Veckatimest and then done the requisite tours and TV appearances, Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor might have been due a break. But instead he’s come out with this fearlessly eclectic collection which brings together elements as disparate as synth-laden R&B, Peter Gabriel-esque collages and lonely piano compositions. It doesn’t always work, but when it does it is a pleasure to hear.
9. Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie XX – We’re New Here
If We’re New Here is to be a requiem to a unique and under-valued talent, then it’s a hell of a way to send off Gil Scott-Heron, who died in May. The achingly-beautiful and spare arrangements that have become Jamie XX’s signature perfectly match Scott-Heron’s pained utterances, and the result is darkly compelling.
8. Starfucker – Reptilians
Starfucker? What kind of name is that? They could be called Uncle Hitler’s Bagpipe Womp Band and this would still be a musical equivalent of going down the rabbit hole – kaleidoscopic, breezy and melodic.
7. Cults – Cults
Madeline Follin and Brian Oblivion’s debut effort could easily have been disregarded as more sunny pop pap, but it’s full of well-crafted brain-worms that have more than a catchy hook behind them. Rave On indeed.
6. Cut Copy – Zonoscope
Though I won’t go down the contrived route of saying that just because Cut Copy are Aussies they’re bound to have a bright outlook, Zonoscope is certainly one of the sunniest albums of the year, and contains some of the sleeper anthems of the past 12 months – a perfect festival soundtrack.
5. The Horrors – Skying
For a band whose debut album, Strange House, was as cartoonish a mix of black and white (yet still massively underrated) as could be conceived, their third effort is a remarkably colourful, symphonic effort. It’s a rather different facet of Gothic they’ve channelled this time round, all 80s atmospherics and broad soundscapes, and easily their best album yet.
4. The Weeknd – House Of Balloons
Plunging you into dark, ice-cold atmospherics which manage to be both sensual and something far chillier and lonelier, House of Balloons was one of the year’s biggest and most pleasant surprises. Abel Tesfaye’s debut is all that modern R&B isn’t, but should be.
3. Memory Tapes – Player Piano
If there was one album that summed 2011 up as a year, this is it. Melding blissed out pop crescendos, fuzzy, warm electronica bliss and uncomplicated, tempo-driving beats, Davye Hawk’s most confident collection yet represents the zeitgeist unlike any other album on this list.
2. The Rapture – In The Grace Of Your Love
Previously best known for scratchy indie-dance favourite House of Jealous Lovers, The Rapture returned with a long-anticipated third album that channels 90s dance, sultry brass and a chorus of hallelujahs. Luke Jenner’s unmistakeable howl underpins what is by far their most accomplished, yet eclectic, release yet.
1. Metronomy – The English Riviera
Fusing moments of down-right old-fashioned whimsy with the jittery electronica of the band’s first two albums, The English Riviera is an album that straddles the past and future of British music. Frontman Joseph Mount’s seaside hometown gets more than a little nod on an album which pleasingly jars and marries very different influences at the same time. Crack out the neon cucumber sandwiches, it’s a veritable disco picnic.
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