I’ll be posting my fave albums of the year today and I nearly sneaked in Too-Rye-Ay (As It Should Have Sounded). It doesn’t really qualify though so it gets a post of its own.
I love the ‘new’ feel to what was already a classic.
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Happy New Year for 2022. My favourite albums of last year:
50-41:
Lana Del Rey - Chemtrails Over the Country Club
Kitten - Personal Hotspots
Halsey - If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power
Me Not You - Do You Feel The Same?
Japanese Breakfast - Sable (Original Video Game Soundtrack)
Lil Nas X - MONTERO
IDestroy - We Are Girls
Demi Lovato - Dancing With The Devil…The Art Of Starting Over
Pom Poko - Cheater
Kississippi - Mood Ring
40-31:
Slothrust - Parallel Timeline
Thirty Pounds of Bone - whence, the
Liz Phair - Soberish
Magdalena Bay - Mercurial World
Olivia Rodrigo - SOUR
Pale Waves - Who Am I?
Billie Eilish - Happier Than Ever
Hayley Williams - FLOWERS for VASES / descansos
Eliza Shaddad - The Woman You Want
Julien Baker - Little Oblivions
30-21:
Adna - Black Water
The Go! Team - Get Up Sequences Part One
Colleen Green - Cool
Goat Girl - On All Fours
Julia Stone - Sixty Summers
Natalie Imbruglia - Firebird
Lorde - Solar Power
ABBA - Voyage
Middle Kids - Today We’re The Greatest
Elaine Mai - Home
20-11:
Madi Diaz - History of a Feeling
Dave - We’re All Alone In This Together
Billy Bragg - The Million Things That Never Happened
Black Honey - Written & Directed
MARINA - Ancient Dreams In A Modern Land
The Anchoress - The Art of Losing
Kylie V - Big Blue
Allie Crow Buckley - Moonlit and Devious
The War On Drugs - I Don’t Live Here Anymore
CHVRCHES - Screen Violence
10 TORRES - Thirstier
9 Desperate Journalist - Maximum Sorrow!
8 Juliana Hatfield - Blood
7 Wolf Alice - Blue Weekend
6 The Weather Station - Ignorance
5 Linn Koch-Emmery - Being the girl
4 Self Esteem - Prioritise Pleasure
An absolute revelation for me. Appearing at Latitude as a last minute replacement in an early afternoon slot, Rebecca and her dancers stole the show, despite not having fully rehearsed. No surprise this album has dominated end of year polls. She put everything into this.
3 Orla Gartland - Woman on the Internet
A festival discovery. Loved hearing these songs at Latitude and ordered the LP as soon as I got home. A brilliant debut that gets better with each listen.
2 Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
In many other years this would have topped my list. Simbi’s always been excellent, but this album is something else. Huge and ambitious.
1 Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee
“Be Sweet” is my favourite song of the year. I smile every time I hear the first note on the radio.
“Posing For Cars” is a very close second fave. The perfect album closer. The acoustic version is beautiful, and the album’s big electric guitar outro version is everything.
I haven’t loved an album this much since Art Angels.
My annual list of my favourite albums from the preceding year:
50-41:
Phoebe Ryan - How It Used to Feel
Bruce Springsteen - Letter To You
Lane 8 - Brightest Lights
Soccer Mommy - Color Theory
Courtney Marie Andrews - Old Flowers
Beach Bunny - Honeymoon
Haim - Women In Music Pt. III
Best Coast - Always Tomorrow
Such Small Hands - Carousel
The Big Moon - Walking Like We Do
40-31:
Waxahatchee - Saint Cloud
Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia
Run The Jewels - RTJ4
Jessie Ware - What’s Your Pleasure?
Mourn - Self Worth
Margaret Glaspy - Devotion
Swamp Dogg - Sorry You Couldn’t Make It
Harkin - Harkin
Grimes - Miss Anthropocene
Indian Queens - God Is A Woman
30-21:
Miley Cyrus - Plastic Hearts
Porridge Radio - Every Bad
Thurston Moore - By The Fire
Lady Gaga - Chromatica
Juanita Stein - Snapshot
beabadoobee - Fake It Flowers
Torres - Silver Tongue
Hayley Williams - Petals For Armor
Another Sky - I Slept On The Floor
Georgia - Seeking Thrills
20-11:
Charli XCX - how i’m feeling now
Nana Adjoa - Big Dreaming Ants
Nadine Shah - Kitchen Sink
Sophie Hunger - Halluzinationen
Denai Moore - Modern Dread
Samia - The Baby
Rina Sawayama - SAWAYAMA
POLIÇA - When We Stay Alive
Halsey - Manic
Taylor Swift - folklore
10 Taylor Swift - evermore
9 Bruce Hornsby - Non-Secure Connection
My Resolve - YouTube
8 Kelly Lee Owens - Inner Song
On - YouTube
7 Catherine Anne Davies & Bernard Butler - In Memory Of My Feelings
Sabotage - YouTube
6 Låpsley - Through Water
Womxn - YouTube
5 Bryde - The Volume Of Things
4 Dream Nails - Dream Nails
Kiss My Fist - YouTube
3 Dream Wife - So When You Gonna…
2 Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher
1 Kathleen Edwards - Total Freedom
Happy New Year! My favourite albums of 2019:
50-41:
Idlewild - Interview Music
Van Morrison - Three Chords and The Truth
Salad - The Salad Way
The Murder Capital - When I Have Fears
Anna Of The North - Dream Girl
Sigrid - Sucker Punch
Joris Voorn - Four
Better Oblivion Community Centre - Better Oblivion Community Centre
W.H.Lung - Incidental Music
Taylor Swift - Lover
40-31:
Purple Mountains - Purple Mountains
Heather Woods Broderick - Invitation
Solange - When I Get Home
The Highwomen - The Highwomen
Woman’s Hour - Ephyra
Sir Babygirl - Crush On Me
Hælos - Any Random Kindness
FONTAINES D.C. - Dogrel
Ariana Grande - thank you, next
Laura Jean Anderson - Lonesome No More
30-21:
Bon Iver - i,i
Mavis Staples - We Get By
Sarah Bethe Nelson - Weird Glow
Stormzy - Heavy Is The Head
Nilüfer Yanya - Miss Universe
Carly Rae Jepsen - Dedicated
Tamaryn - Dreaming In The Dark
Broods - Don’t Feed The Pop Monster
Pom Pom Squad - Ow
Bat for Lashes - Lost Girls
20-11:
MARINA - Love + Fear
Angel Olsen - All Mirrors
Cherry Glazerr - Stuffed & Ready
Desperate Journalist - In Search of The Miraculous
Ride - This Is Not A Safe Place
The Soft Cavalry - The Soft Cavalry
Sleeper - The Modern Age
Clairo - Immunity
Juliana Hatfield - Juliana Hatfield Sings The Police
Juliana Hatfield - Weird
10 MUNA - Saves The World
9 Shura - forevher
8 Charly Bliss - Young Enough
7 Black Belt Eagle Scout - At The Party With My Brown Friends
6 Billie Eilish- WHEN WE FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?
5 Tegan & Sara - Hey, I’m Just Like You
4 Bruce Hornsby - Absolute Zero
3 Marika Hackman - Any Human Friend
2 Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell!
1 Hatchie - Keepsake
The list is back! A lot of my new music listening in 2018 came via Spotify’s Discover Weekly, and probably skewed this list even more towards white / female vocal / guitar than my default taste.
I ran out of time this year so there are no notes about the top ones but it’s very important to get this posted on January 1 in accordance with tradition :)
50 Wax Idols - Happy Ending
49 The Carters - Everything Is Love
48 KT Tunstall - WAX
47 The Orielles - Silver Dollar Moment
46 Martha Ffion - Sunday Best
45 Lucy Dacus - Historian
44 Courtney Marie Andrews - May Your Kindness Remain
43 Roma di Luna - We Were Made To Forgive
42 Dragon Inn 3 - Double Line
41 Skating Polly - The Make It All Show
40 Black Honey - Black Honey
39 She Drew The Gun - Revolution Of The Mind
38 Weakened Friends - Common Blah
37 Belly - Dove
36 Black Belt Eagle Scout - Mother Of My Children
35 Meg Myers - Take Me To The Disco
34 Liza Anne - Fine But Dying
33 Middle Kids - Lost Friends
32 Metric - Art of Doubt
31 Mastersystem - Dance Music
30 Anna Calvi - Hunter
29 Emma Ruth Rundle - On Dark Horses
28 Snail Mail - Lush
27 CHVRCHES - Love Is Dead
26 Jon Hopkins - Singularity
25 Muncie Girls - Fixed Ideals
24 Pale Waves - My Mind Makes Noises
23 Le Galaxie - Pleasure
22 Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really Feel
21 Hinds - I Don’t Run
20 Marie Davidson - Working Class Woman
So Right - YouTube
19 Goat Girl - Goat Girl
The Man - YouTube
18 Lykke Li - so sad so sexy
utopia - YouTube
17 Kate Nash - Yesterday Was Forever
Twisted Up - YouTube
16 Christine and the Queens - Chris
Girlfriend - YouTube
15 Eliza Shaddad - Future
My Body - YouTube
14 Brandi Carlile - By The Way, I Forgive You
The Joke - YouTube
13 She Makes War - Brace For Impact
Devastate Me - YouTube
12 Charlotte Hatherley - True Love
11 Exitmusic - The Recognitions
Iowa - YouTube
10 Our Girl - Stranger Today
Our Girl - YouTube
9 Juliana Hatfield - Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John
8 Sophie Hunger - Molecules
7 Mitski - Be The Cowboy
6 Poliça & s t a r g a z e - Music For The Long Emergency
5 Buffalo Tom - Quiet and Peace
4 Juanita Stein - Until The Lights Fade
3 Bryde - Like An Island
2 Dream Wife - Dream Wife
1 Idles - Joy As An Act Of Resistance
Lists! They're back.
Marvel at my narrow taste in music with my top 50 albums of 2017. In reverse order of course:
50 Angel Olsen - Phases
49 Lydia Ainsworth - Darling of the Afterglow
48 Jane Weaver - Modern Kosmology
47 Torres - Three Futures
46 Jay-Z - 4:44
45 The Charlatans - Different Days
44 Little Dragon - Season High
43 Widowspeak - Expect the Best
42 Diet Cig - Swear I’m Good At This
41 Kendrick Lamar - DAMN.
40 Menace Beach - Lemon Memory
39 Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott - Crooked Calypso
38 Tired Lion - Dumb Days
37 Denai Moore - We Used To Bloom
36 The Hayman Kupa Band - The Hayman Kupa Band
35 Gary Numan - Savage (Songs from a Broken World)
34 Stormzy - Gang Signs & Prayer
33 Lana Del Rey - Lust for Life
32 Bully - Losing
31 The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Echo Of Pleasure
30 Juanita Stein - America
29 This Is The Kit - Moonshine Freeze
28 Public Service Broadcasting - Every Valley
27 Aimee Mann - Mental Illness
26 J Hus - Common Sense
25 Pale Honey - Devotion
24 Sarah Slean - Metaphysics
23 Halsey - hopeless fountain kingdom
22 Miley Cyrus - Younger Now
21 Blondie - Pollinator
20 Kesha - Rainbow
Given the horrific background, what a comeback song Praying was.
19 Kalela - Take Me Apart
Taking R&B in an electronic direction will never be wrong. A stunning debut.
18 Waxahatchee - Out in the Storm
Consistent songwriting here. 10 songs at just over 30 minutes. Like all albums should be.
17 The Blue Aeroplanes - Welcome, Stranger!
I wrote a review of this back in January for the final edition of Norwegian e-zine Luna Kafé:
...an album full of big noise, big guitars and a new set of songs that are perfect for Wojtek, the band’s legendary dancer, to excel at. 10 songs that will reward multiple listens with magnificent lyrics, outstanding production and musicianship.
A career highlight, Welcome, Stranger! is easily the most enjoyable Blue Aeroplanes record for over 20 years.
16 Ride - Weather Diaries
Lovely to have them back.
15 Stars - There Is No Love In Fluorescent Light
Saturdays are lonely
And Sundays you're alone
Still checking for the signal
For the bars on the phone, phone, phoneYou can travel for a thousand miles
You can spend a thousand nights alone
You can lose your way so easily and never ever make it homeso come out with me tonight
out with me tonight
no-one falls in love under fluorescent light
14 Sylvan Esso - What Now
It's taken me a while to get into Sylvan Esso, but this is the one that's drawn me in. Loved their live set at Latitude this year.
13 Charlotte Gainsbourg - Rest
Her best album yet, by far. Luscious.
I'll forgive her for making Deadly Valentine twice as long as it needs to be. When you hit a sound like this, you've got to milk it I guess.
12 Wolf Alice - Visions of a Life
In the hands of many other bands, such a wide range of different styles would make for a bit of a mess of an album. Wolf Alice are no ordinary band though. They shine with everything they take on here - from punk to dreampop, taking in some shoegaze (!) too.
11 Nadine Shah - Holiday Destination
Political yet uplifiting, Nadine Shah restores humanity to the dehumanised.
10 Marika Hackman - I’m Not Your Man
Moving away from the stripped back folk sound of the her earlier work, this is an album I've been returning to a lot.
9 Daughter - Music from Before the Storm
A score from a game, mostly instrumentals, with no physical release and little or no publicity might not count officially as Daughter’s 3rd studio album but it should do.
It’s an atmospheric soundtrack based around a 16-year old character in a game - and is a work of beauty.
8 The Big Moon - Love in the 4th Dimension
Joyful indie guitar pop, reminiscent of Sleeper era Britpop. Marvellous.
Also, this is sort of their second entry in this list - they feature as the band on Marika Hackman’s album.
7 Japandroids - Near To The Wild Heart of Life
8 tracks. 8 anthemic bangers.
I love the noise these two generate. So exciting live.
6 MUNA - About U
“I Know A Place” is the standout track. One of many that speak of overcoming pain and fear set to the most joyful of melodies. Defiant and hopeful.
Given added poignance after Manchester and California, this song - oh god this song. Music is everything.
After the album’s release this year, it’s become even more of an LGBTQ anthem, now with added lyrics:
Even if our skin or our gods look different
I believe all human life is significant
I throw my arms open wide in resistance
He’s not my leader even if he’s my president
Watch Katie Gavin sing these extra lines, starting 3:50 in here. It gets to me every time.
There are songs of relationship trauma and other personal pain - yet when they're all delivered through big pop escapism and empowerment, there's such joy to it.
I love this.
5 Kelly Lee Owens - Kelly Lee Owens
Electronic and dreamy, this is the album that has grown on me most this year. Given another month or two I wonder if I'd have placed this even higher up.
4 Juliana Hatfield - Pussycat
My favourite musician of all time™ released a remarkable album in 2017.
In April I wrote a track-by-track review describing "Pussycat" as "the most exciting music Juliana has made since 2008's exceptional How To Walk Away" and "her most political since 2005's Made In China".
An outlet for anger unambigously "inspired" by the US Presidential election of 2016, and touching on all related issues of male privilege and abuse of power, the themes would become ever more relevant towards the end of the year as a soundtrack to the #metoo stories of mysogyny, assault, and harassment.
3 Slowdive - Slowdive
The shoegazer's shoegazers back even better than before. I still can't believe they reformed.
2 Lorde - Melodrama
Inevitably, all the (brilliant) songs on Melodrama are overshadowed by Green Light. 10 months on, whenever I play this track I still have an urge to play it again immediately.
Oh yeah, Juliana Hatfield loves it too. She wrote a whole article about Green Light for Talkhouse:
I always want music to be a tangible thing that I can wrap my actual arms around (I have hugged my boom box before), but it isn’t. I want what I can’t have. I want to sink my teeth into the sound of that rich, strong, honest voice. I want to drink and drink and gulp it down; that is the magic of a well-built and -performed and -recorded pop song. You get filled up, and sometimes you overflow with cleansing tears and cathartic shouting-along — if only temporarily — until the song is over, and then you play it again. It’s like a drug or a sugar rush. “Green Light” is ear candy.
By some distance my favourite song of the year.
1 Phoebe Bridgers - Stranger in The Alps
'Smoke Signals' and 'Motion Sickness' draw you in to this album from the start.
These opening two songs highlight the compelling storytelling and beautiful songwriting that continues throughout this record. Then it hits you. Track 3. 'Funeral'
The most perfectly sequenced track on an exceptional album. No other moment in 2017 hit me quite like the first time I heard it.