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Journal Excerpt

I was thinking about this word melancholy. I wanted to defend it, to wrestle or distinguish it from the word depressiing or navel gazing and introspection with which it is often confused. Melancholy is something that I think can be defined as much by its great beauty and sense of rapture as it is by sadness and introspection.

This sentiment seems to me to be exemplified in the music of Leonard Cohen. If it is sad (and often it is) it is sadness elevated to an art form, and one that does not fail to admit the light as well as the dark; broadly life’s sense of wonder as well as it’s disappointments and absurdities.

In this way it seems to me one of the most balanced and ultimately honest and of all sentiments – who has not at some point of great euphoria wondered why life is not always such? And in that thought encapsulated a kind of melancholy that cannot be called sad?

A sad or melancholy song that successfully communicates what is not an uncommon feeling seems to me to be ultimately positive and edifying. Conversely there will always be music that seems utterly compromised by its mode of coming into being – derivative or commercial schlock in any idiom or style that seems bereft of its own voice. This is what I think of as 'depressing music'.

I'm glad I got that off my chest.

Leonard Cohen

It occurs to me that I've yet to fill out a "questions about ___" questionnaire. Times are changing.

1. What is your favorite song by 29? (DJ Shadow)
Building Steam With A Grain Of Salt
It was also the first I heard, and I loved it the first time I heard it.

2. What was the first song you ever heard by 22? (Dead Can Dance)
How Fortunate the Man With None, I think.

3. What is your favorite album by 33? (Judas Priest)
Unleashed in the East
It has several of my favorites from the band, Exciter, Diamonds And Rust, and Victim of Changes, plus the energy and production were a lot better than the original studio tracks.

4. What is your favorite album by 49? (High on Fire)
Blessed Black Wings. for merely Devilution and The Face of Oblivion.

5. How many albums by 13 do you own? Waylon Jennings)
Only this one: Nashville Rebel, but it's a four disc box set.

6. What is your favorite song by 50? (Portugal. The Man)
Bellies Are Full

7. Is there a song by 39 that makes you sad? (Buena Vista Social Club)
Not really. They are pretty feel good music.

8. What is your favorite song by 15? (Deep Purple)
When A Blind Man Cries

9. What is your favorite song by 5? (Leonard Cohen)
Avalanche

10. Is there a song by 6 that makes you happy? (Buzzov*en)
fucked up, drugged out, hateful, misanthropic sludge... all of their songs make me happy?

11. What is your favorite album by 40? (Burial)
Burial

12. What is your favorite song by 10? (Evil Army)
Evil Army
Once the irritating intro march is out of the way, that track blazes through, one of the best thrash songs ever written.

13. What is a good memory you have involving 30? (Amorphis)
Listening to them.

14. What is your favorite song by 38? (The Builders and the Butchers)
either Bottom of the Lake or Spanish Death Song
Hard to choose between them. Bottom Of The Lake is usually what I would choose to listen to first, but Spanish Death Song is so frantic and I love the lyrical theme.

15. Is there a song by 19 that makes you sad? (Begushkin)
not really. Some of his songs are pretty gloomy. Stroll With Mine sounds pretty down to me.

16. How many times have you seen 25 live? (Eyehategod)
I haven't.

17. What is the first song you ever heard by 23? (Banco del Mutuo Soccorso)
750.000 Anni Fa... L'amore?

18. What is your favorite album by 11? (Saver Tiger)
None in particular. their only material was live recordings, and the three albums I have had in the past had pretty much the same material. The production was terrible on all of them, and the only reason they're so high in my library is because I was really into them for a while.

19. How did you get into 1? (X JAPAN)
Once upon a time, I started using blogspots to discover new music. I downloaded ART OF LIFE from a blogspot many years ago, after like a ten paragraph description which basically had me at "epic metal from Japan." It got lost in inexplicable circumstances, and a year or two later I ran across it again along with I'll Kill You from another blog, which fortunately re-introduced me to the band.

20. Have you ever seen 14 live? (Dismember)
Unfortunately not.

21. What is a good memory involving 27? (Neil Young)
I got laid off work in 2006 for the first time and drove home at 3 am listening to Down by the River

22. What is your favorite song by 16? (Burzum)
Key To The Gate
I could've went with some I highly enjoy from the self-titled album, but the last half of Key is one of the most perfect songs in the black metal genre.

23. What is the first song you ever heard by 47? (Old Crow Medicine Show)
Wagon Wheel
Isn't that the first song everyone has heard from them? I mean the Bob Dylan connection...

24. What is your favorite album by 18? (Nitzer Ebb)
Body of Work

25. What is your favorite song by 21? (Rage Against the Machine)
Too difficult to choose. Anything from Evil Empire or half the tracks on The Battle of Los Angeles

26. What is the first song you ever heard by 26? (Lightnin' Hopkins)
Big Black Cadillac Blues

27. What's your favorite lyric by 3? (Electric Wizard)
Damn, that's tough. Perhaps the second verse of Return Trip. The whole Cannibal Ferox thing, and the fact that it's so well stated,
"I hope this fuckin' world fuckin' burns away
And I'd kill you all if I had my way
But I'll live forever, questions curse me why
Oh Lord above, why won't you let me die"

28. What is you favorite song by 2? (Led Zeppelin)
Impossible.

29. What was the first song you ever heard by 32? (Django Reinhardt)
Nuages

30. What is you favorite song by 8? (Taken By Cars)
Uh Oh
The mood, the bass, the drum beat, fucking fantastic.

31. How many times have you seen 17 live? (Asin)
haha, I haven't.

32. Is there a song by 44 that makes you happy? (Stereolab)
not really.

33. What is you favorite album by 12? (Church of Misery)
Early Works Compilation (disc 1) because it contains several of my favorites from the band.

34. What is the worst song by 45? (Elliott Smith)
I couldn't pick. As much as I enjoy many of his songs, he does tend to have just as many that annoy or frustrate me to hear.

35. What was the first song you ever heard by 34? (Last Harbour)
Saint Luminous Bride

36. What is your favorite album by 48? (Motörhead)
the two disc, 39 songs Essential. As much as people tend to hate on compilations like that, I'll be honest and straight up say it's my favorite because it really did put most of their strongest songs altogether.

37. How many times have you seen 42 live? (Death in June)
None.

38. What is your favorite song by 36? (Between the Buried and Me)
either More of Myself to Kill or Use of a Weapon
It's a labor picking from them as well. The first album has magic that none of their other albums do. Then again, I was at the cd release show, and that material has sentimental value to me.

39. What was the first song you ever heard by 28? (UFO)
Doctor Doctor

40. What is your favorite album by 7? (Muse)
Black Holes and Revelations although Origin Of Symmetry is right behind it.

41. Is there a song by 31 that makes you happy? (Spiritual Front)
Not in comparison to any others.

42. What is your favorite album by 41? (Johnny Cash)
The box sets that usually have a quarter of everything he ever did.

43. What is your favorite song by 24? (Portishead)
Glory Box
Epitome of chill.

44. What is a good memory you have involving 46? (The Crown)
Angering christians by posting their lyrics on message boards.

45. What is your favorite song by 35? (Grant Green)
Possibly No. 1 Green Street

46. Is there a song by 9 that makes you sad? (Eluveitie)
Not really.

47. What is your favorite album by 4? (His Hero Is Gone
Definitely Monuments to Thieves
Like Weeds is one of the most intense songs in hardcore.

48. Who is a favorite member of 37? (Sielwolf)
...the fuck kind of question. I wouldn't know any of them.

49. What is the first song you ever heard by 43? (Morphine)
Buena

50. How many albums do you own by 20? (Exhumed)
four. Gore Metal, Slaughtercult, Anatomy Is Destiny, and the Platters of Splatter two disc compilation.

1. I drive alone, home from work and I always think of her
2. I wanna be in another place, some other body and someone's else's face
3. Come over to the window, my little darling - I'd like to try to read your palm
4. You'd think the people would have had enough of silly love songs
5. JoJo was a man who thought he was an loner, but knew it couldn't last
6. When I was young, I'd listen to the radio waiting for my favourite songs
7. I feel tears wellin' up, cold and deep inside like my heart's sprung a big leak
8. Honestly what will become of me? Don't hide reality, it's way too clear to me
9. And through the wire I hear your voice, and through the wire I touch the power
10. Wake up you sleepy head, put on some clothes, shake off your bed
11. It isn't the way that you look and it isn't the way that you talk
12. In my eyes, in disposed, in disguise:as no one knows
13. She plays "Wipeout" on the drums, the squirrels and the birds come
14. Cause he gets up in the morning and he goes to work at 9
15. Baby, baby when I look at you I get a warm feeling inside
16. Back through the years I go wandering once again, back to the seasons of my youth
17. They were gonna meet on a Rocky Mountain street, two bashful heart beat in advance
18. I can feel it when you walk, even when you talk it takes over me
19. Got a wife and kids in Balitmore jack, I went out for a ride and I never went back
20. You're trying to make your mark in society, you're using all your tricks that you used on me
21. Don't get mad if I'm laughing - blame the caffeine for all the 5 AM phone calls
22. This year's crop of kisses don't seem as sweet to me, this year's crop just misses what kisses used to be
23. When I'm feeling blue, all I have to do is take a look at you then I'm not so blue
24. The fishing boats go out across the evening water, smuggling guns and arms across the Spanish border
25. Well my time went so quickly, I went lickity-a-splickly out to my ol' 55.
26. Please beware of them that stare, they'll only smile to see you while your time away
27. I don't want nobody always sittin' around - me and my man
28. Someday he'll come along - the man I love - and he'll be big and strong, the man I love
29. I`m young enough to still see the passionate boy that I used to be
30. Meet you downstairs in the bar and heard your rolled up sleeves in your skull T-shirt

Al Stewart
Amy Winehouse
Aretha Franklin
The Beatles
Ben Folds Five
Billy Joel
Bruce Springsteen
Cameo
Camper Van Beethoven
Carpenters
Chaka Khan
David Bowie
Dolly Parton
Dusty Springfield
George Jones
Hot Hot Heat
The Kinks
Lena Horne
Leonard Cohen
The Monkees
Nelly Furtado
Nick Drake
Nina Simone
Paul McCartney
Paul Westerberg
Peter Gabriel
Phil Collins
Soundgarden
Tom Waits
Tony Banks

My favorite artists by genre. Just making this so later on I can see how my taste has changed. At least 2 artists per genre, no more than 10. Artists can appear more than once if they work with many genres.


Ambient:

1. Solar Fields
2. Carbon Based Lifeforms
3. Banco de Gaia
4. Solar Quest
5. Cell
6. Aes Dana
7. Yagya
8. Hol Baumann
9. Adham Shaikh
10. Asura

General Chillout:

1. Adham Shaikh
2. Kaya Project
3. Moby
3. Angel Tears
4. Chicane
5. Enigma
6. SnakeStyle
7. Gaudi

Classical:

1 .Ludwig van Beethoven
2. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
3. Antonio Vivaldi
3. Johann Sebastian Bach
4. Frédéric Chopin

Dubstep:

1. Burial
2. Boxcutter

Hip- Hop:

1. Kaliber 44
2. Paktofonika
3. O.S.T.R.
4. Cannibal Ox
5. Coolio

IDM:

1. Kettel
2. Secede
3. Hibernation
4. Nalepa

Metal (all sub-genres included):

1. Iron Maiden
2. Falkenbach
3. Summoning
4. Arkona (Pol)
5. Korpiklaani
6. Blind Guardian
7. Burzum
8. Ensiferum

Neofolk:

1. Current 93
2. Blood Axis
3. Of the Wand and the Moon
4. Nature and Organisation
5. Kiss the Anus of a Black Cat
6. Death in June

Psychill and Psydub:

1. Shpongle
2. Ott
3. Androcell / Distant System
4. Slackbaba
5. Phutureprimitive
6. Puff Dragon
7. Aural Planet
8. Celtic Cross
9. The Peaking Goddess Collective
10. Tripswitch

Punk:

1. Misfits
2. Dezerter
3. Kazik
4. The Analogs
5. KSU

Rock:

1. Pink Floyd
2. Led Zeppelin
3. Dire Straits
4. The Rolling Stones
5. Guns N' Roses
6. The Doors
7. Kult / Kazik
8. The Who
9. Lynyrd Skynyrd
10. Queen

Singer-Songwriter kind of thing (I don't like this tag, but it works well here):

1. Bob Dylan
2. Lou Reed
3. Cat Stevens
4. Leonard Cohen
5. Iggy Pop

Sung Poetry:

1. Stare Dobre Małżeństwo
2. Raz Dwa, Trzy
3. Wolna Grupa Bukowina
4. Pod Budą
5. Grzegorz Turnau

Non-psychedelic Trance:

1. Art of Trance
2. Union Jack
3. L.S.G.
4. Cygnus X
5. Underworld
6. Orbital
7. Cosmic Baby

Psychedelic Trance (including goa, psytrance etc.):

1. Hallucinogen
2. Dimension 5
3. Blue Planet Corporation
4. Cosmosis
5. X-Dream
6. Filteria
7. Transwave
8. Jaïa
9. Man With No Name
10. Khetzal

crazycaz123's top albums (3 months)
1. Slowdive - Souvlaki (141) 2. Nirvana - Incesticide (115) 3. Fever Ray - Fever Ray (93) 4. Hole - Live Through This (93) 5. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (92) 6. X-Ray Spex - Germfree Adolescents (75) 7. Joy Division - Closer (71) 8. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles (70) 9. Blonde Redhead - Fake Can Be Just as Good (60) 10. The Smashing Pumpkins - Greatest Hits - Rotten Apples (57) 11. Television - Marquee Moon (54) 12. The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico (54) 13. The Stooges - Raw Power (52) 14. Vaselines - The Way Of The Vaselines: A Complete History (49) 15. Nirvana - In Utero (48) 16. L7 - The Beauty Process: Triple Platinum (48) 17. Pixies - Doolittle (45) 18. Pixies - Death To The Pixies (Disc 1) (43) 19. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless (42) 20. Jane's Addiction - Ritual de lo Habitual (42) 21. The Smashing Pumpkins - Gish (41) 22. Gang of Four - Entertainment! + Yellow EP (37) 23. Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral (37) 24. B.B. King - His Definitive Greatest Hits Disc 1 (36) 25. L7 - Bricks Are Heavy (34) 26. Talking Heads - Talking Heads: 77 (34) 27. The Knife - Silent Shout (34) 28. Kitty Daisy & Lewis - Kitty, Daisy and Lewis (32) 29. The Jam - Snap! (Disc 2) (32) 30. The Cure - Greatest Hits (CD1) (32) 31. The Clash - The Essential (32) 32. Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine (31) 33. Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures (31) 34. Frank Zappa - Zoot Allures (28) 35. PENS - Hey Friend! What You Doing (28) 36. Siouxsie and the Banshees - Kaleidoscope (27) 37. The Smiths - The Sound Of The Smiths (27) 38. Huggy Bear - Weaponry Listens to Love (27) 39. The Smashing Pumpkins - Adore (27) 40. Broadcast - Tender Buttons (26) 41. Leonard Cohen - The Essential Leonard Cohen Disc 2 (26) 42. Gang of Four - Entertainment! (25) 43. Telepathe - Dance Mother (24) 44. Hole - Celebrity Skin (24) 45. The Jesus and Mary Chain - The Sound Of Speed (24) 46. My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything (23) 47. Sonic Youth - Washing Machine (22) 48. The Doors - The Very Best of The Doors (22) 49. L7 - Smell the Magic (21) 50. Jefferson Airplane - Platinum & Gold Collection (20)

Which bands/artist do you own the most albums by?
*counting from memory* four Alanis Morissette ... five Queen ... five Håkan Hellström ... six Rufus Wainwright ... Yeah, Rufus it is.

What was the last song you listened to?
Leonard Cohen - So Long, Marianne

What's in your CD player right now?
My CD player is on the other side of the sea, so nothing. Latest album I bought and uploaded to my laptop was Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You.

What's your favorite local band/group?
The Lloyd, I guess.

What was the last show you attended?
Peace & Love 2009! Go Borlänge! ;)

What's the most musically involved you have ever been?
I sing. Choirs, mostly. I've had singing lessons, and a few piano lessons. Oh, and cello lessons, waaaay back. I have a standing invitation to sing the solo of "O Holy Night" on midnight mass in my home church and when I was a kid, I used to write little songs to amuse myself. I still make up nonsensical improvs when I'm out walking without my walkman ... I think that's about it.

What show are you looking forward to?
Rufus Wainwright and Family, "A Not So Silent Night" in Royal Albert Hall in December.

What is your favorite band shirt?
For looks and comfort - my David Bowie - Aladdin Sane T-shirt.
For treasured memories - my Bruce Springsteen - Magic Tour T-shirt.

What musician would you like to hang out with for a day?
Oh, dear. Rufus maybe. Or The Boss. Or Leonard Cohen. Too Hard!

Who is one musician or group you wish would make a comeback?
So many people I listen to are dead! :( Can I wish people back from the grave? Cause that'd be Jeff Buckley then.

Who is one band/artist you've never seen live but always wanted to?
Used to be The Boss. Now that I've seen him, I don't know. I'll go for Jeff Buckley again. Or Antony and the Johnsons, among the living.

Name 5 of your favorite songs of all time?
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - Thunder Road
Håkan Hellström - Nu Kan Du Få Mig Så Lätt
Lars Winnerbäck - Nästan perfekt
Simon & Garfunkel - America
The Rolling Stones - Wild Horses

Name 4 flawless albums:
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - Live 1975-85 (Display Box)
Håkan Hellström - Känn Ingen Sorg För Mig Göteborg
Rufus Wainwright - Release The Stars
Queen - A Kind of Magic

How many music related videos/DVDs do you own?
3 (1 Stones concert DVD, Elvis, The Boat That Rocked - I think the music is a huge part of that, ok? Can't think of any more right now.)

How many concerts/shows have you been to in total?
6 (counting Peace & Love as one) that I've decided to go to myself and not just followed my parents or my school to. Or sung at. (Counting all those as well it would be more than I can even guess).

What was your last musical "phase" before you wisened up?
The Buffy phase? :P Listened to - or bought without listening! - a lot of music simply because it had been on the show. I don't regret it though. It widened my musical horizons quite dramtically, introducing me to dozens of bands and singers from The Who and Cream to Sarah McLachlan and Alison Krauss.

What's your "guilty pleasure" that you hate to admit to liking?
Right now: Boyzone - Love You Anyway
Generally everything that I find myself liking that's very nineties (like boybands! :P) or hiphop (like Eminem) or just plain mainstream. Though I guess Håkan is pretty mainstream by now. But I love him anyway (haha).

Who is your favorite musician?
Oh, don't make me! Bruce ... or Håkan ... or Bruce ... or Håkan ... aaargh!

1. How did you get into 31? The Bolshoi
Radio when i was a teen.


2. What was the first song you ever heard by 22? Pavement
Cut your hair, probably.


3. What's your favourite lyric by 29? Suede
Trash


4. What is your favourite album by 49? Nine Inch Nails
The Downward Spiral

5. How many albums by 13 do you own? Lassigue Bendthaus
On CD, two. Downloaded, all of them.


6. What is your favourite song by 50? Altern8
Frequency


7. Is there a song by 4 that makes you sad? Vitalic
Lots of them. Poney pt 2 is the one that makes me saddest.

8. What is your favourite song by 15? Philip Glass
All the Koyaanisqatsi album.


9. What is your favourite song by 5? Belle and Sebastian
Another Sunny Day


10. Is there a song by 6 that makes you happy? Duran Duran
Last Chance on the Stairway.

11. What is your favourite album by 40? Arpanet
Wireless Internet


12. What is your favourite song by 10? Sparks
Academy Award Performance


13. What is a good memory you have involving 33? Thom Yorke
Driving to East Germany to play a concert and listening to the album in the car.


14. What is your favourite song by 37? The Eternal Afflict
San Diego


15. Is there a song by 19 that makes you happy? System of a Down
Lots of them. Not exactly happy anyway.


16. How many times have you seen 24 live? Morrissey
None.

17. What is the first song you ever heard by 23? Skinny Puppy
Smothered Hope


18. What is your favourite album by 11? Leonard Cohen
the Future


19. Who is a favourite member of 1? Manic Street Preachers
Richey.


20. Have you ever seen 14 live? Kraftwerk
Yes, three times.

21. What is a good memory involving 45? Ministry
Dancing it when i was a teenager


22. What is your favourite song by 16? Orbital
Lush


23. What is the first song you ever heard by 47? Joy Division
Love will tear us apart


24. What is your favourite album by 21? Data-Bank-A
The Citadel


25. What is your favourite song by 18? Clock DVA
The Reign


26. What is the first song you ever heard by 38? Dead Can Dance
The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegroove


27. What is your favourite lyric by 3? Radiohead
Pyramid Song


28. What is you favourite song by 2? Depeche Mode
It Doesn't Matter Two

29. What was the first song you ever heard by 32? Air
Sexy Boy


31. How many times have you seen 17 live? Einsturzende Neubauten
Once


32. Is there a song by 44 that makes you happy? Japanese Telecom
Not exactly


33. What is you favourite album by 12? Portishead
Third.


34. What is the worst song by 46? Front Line Assembly
Almost all of them. But I love the rest.


35. What was the first song you ever heard by 34? Giorgio Moroder
From here to eternity


36. What is you favourite album by 42? Harry
Fairy Tales


37. How many times have you seen 39 live? sToa
None.


38. What is your favourite album by 36? Laibach
WAT


39. What was the first song you ever heard by 28? Talking Heads
I Zimbra


40. What is you favourite album by 7? Digitaria
The next one.

35 - Phrazes For The Young - Julian Casablancas 8/10

What 'First Impressions Of Earth' should've sounded like. Like Strokes (ofcourse) but crossed with Bowie-Eno era mixed with a bit of Ratatat. Will be higher up the list by the end of the year.

Standout Track: Glass

34 - See Mystery Lights - YACHT 6/10

disappointing but its Yacht... and theyre great.

33 - Journal For Plague Lovers - Manic Street Preachers 7/10

A pretty solid return from the only good band from Wales.

Standout Track: Jackie Collins Existential Question Time

32 - Dark Was The Night - Various Artists 8/10

A great collections of new and covered songs by some of the finest indie bands around.

Standout Track: Brackett, WI - Bon Iver

31 - Klang - The Rakes 7/10

"I just had a revolution, we've been f**ked by the institution, so we ain't got nothing to lose man"

Can't believe they've split up. Such a great band.

Standout Track: The Final Hill

30 - The Resistance - Muse 7/10

Isn't the classic album i was hoping it would be but still, its Muse. hugely enjoyable as always.

Standout Track: Exogenesis: Symphony Pt 3: Redemption

29 - xx - The xx 7/10

One of the years best debut albums. Be interesting to see where they go next.

Standout Track: VCR

28 - The Kinks Choral Collection - Ray Davies 7/10

The legendary Ray Davies backed by a choir. Bliss!

Standout Track: Picture Book

27 - Live At The Hollywood Bowl - Van Morrison 7/10

Van Morrison plays Astral Weeks in all its full glory. The original album was music perfection and live it sounds just as wonderful. just wish i was there.

Standout Track: Sweet Thing

26 - Wilco (The Album) - Wilco 7/10

A few standout tracks but overall its a bit disappointing. Still, not including Wilco in a best of list would be like making a best of the 60s and not including The Beatles or the Stones. yeah, they're the 00s equivalent.

Standout Track: Solitaire

25 - Live in London - Leonard Cohen 8/10

Fantasmical! I've only listened to this a few times all the way through but each time i've enjoyed it so much. The sound is amazing and his interaction with the audience is so warm and intimate. Such a legend.

Standout Track: Who By Fire

24 - No More Stories Are Told Today, I'm Sorry, They Washed Away - Mew 8/10

Mew have always been one of those bands you have to keep an eye on cos you know they have the protential to make some amazing, and with this album i think they've finally done just that. Pretty stunning effort. Their strongest album by far.

Standout Track: Introducing Palace Players

23 - The Crying Light - Antony and the Johnsons 7/10

Beautiful melodies and the voice is as haunting as ever but overall, a little dull. Disappointing follow up to 'I Am A Bird Now'.

Standout Track: Aeon

22 - Unmap - Volcano Choir 7/10

Some of the songs and ideas seem a bit unfinished but its Justin Vernon and the guys a genius.

Standout Track: Island, Is

21 - Two Suns - Bat for Lashes 7/10

A beautiful and bewitching album. I love how she writes from the heart and pours herself in to every song.

Standout Track: Daniel

20 - March of the Zapotec - Beirut 7/10

A short but pleasant listen.

Standout Track: Venice

19 - A New Tide - Gomez 8/10

Comeback of the year for me. Gomez have always been consistent in making beautiful, catchy pop songs but not since 'Bring It On' have they brought together such a strong collection of songs in one album. This deserves more attention.

Standout Track: Little Pieces

18 - Manners - Passion Pit 7/10

Its hard not to like this album. Full of infectious vocals hooks, stomping pop rhythms and danceable synth grooves. Its just a little too much like Scissor Sisters than MGMT for me, and I always confuse the names of their songs because they all kinda sound the same.

Standout Track: To Kingdom Come

17 - The Ecstatic - Mos Def 8/10

The finest Hip-hop album of the year.

Standout Track: Quiet Dog Bite Hard

16 - Pourriture - Mr. Oizo 8/10

Mr. Oizo remixes some of his best songs from 'Lambs Anger'. Sound better than the originals.

Standout Track: Steroids (Mr. Oizo Remix)

15 - Kings & Queens - Jamie T 8/10

The boy from Wimbledon has done it again creating another polished album of modern pop brilliance.

Standout Track: The Man's Machine

14 - The Uninvited Guest - Siriusmo 9/10

This is seriousl dance music. I'm sure this guy will soon be recognized as one of the biggest names in the genre. Incredible stuff!

Standout Track: High Together

13 - Elvis Perkins In Dearland - Elvis Perkins 8/10

Folk album of the year.

Standout Track: Doomsday

12 - Jewellery - Micachu 9/10

Such an exciting album to listen to. So many different genres covered. Micachu is gonna be big.

Standout Track: Ship

11 - Resevoir - Fanfarlo 8/10

Standout Track: I'm A Pilot

When i first heard this i was overly critical thinking it was a poor British attempt at doing a Beirut but the more i listen to it the more i love it.

10 - Tarot Sport - Fuck Buttons 9/10

" A clusterfuck of noise and emotion".

Standout Track: olympians

09 - The Invisible - The Invisible 9/10

A great British debut worthy of the TVotR comparison. Should of won the Mercury Prize this year.

Standout Track: Ok

08 - Bitte Orca - Dirty Projectors 8/10

Songs like Stillness Is The Move and Two Doves are so beautifully crafted. The whole album is just breathtaking.

Standout Track: Stillness Is the Move

07 - Veckatimest - Grizzly Bear 8/10

It's not 'Yellow House' but still a brilliant album. Keeps you coming back for more.

Standout Track: Two Weeks

06 - It's Blitz - Yeah Yeah Yeahs 9/10

Every song is a gem.

Standout Track: Hysteric

05 - Flashmob - Vitalic 9/10

Its been over 4 years since 'OK Cowboy' but this was so worth the wait! Monster electronic future anthems. French music rules the dancefloor.

Standout Track: Terminateur Benelux

04 - Two Dancers - Wild Beasts 9/10

I was expecting something good after their promising debut but never thought it would be this good. Beautiful falsetto vocals, glittering guitars and shifting rhythms. Its an astounding piece of work. Best British album of the year.

Standout Track: All The King's Men

03 - Power - Boys Noize 9/10

Listening to this album, and' Jeffer' especially, i finally realise why so many people in the blogosphere hold them in such high regard. These guys are incredible.

Standout Track: Jeffer

02 - Merriweather Post Pavilion - Animal Collective 10/10

For most of the year it's been my favourite album of '09 but after seeing them twice headlining this year and both times leaving disappointed ive kinda lost a bit of love for AC. Still, theyre one of the most exciting and creative bands out there and this album is already a classic.

Standout Track: My Girls

01 - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix - Phoenix 10/10



Just an awesome indie-pop album. A pop masterpiece.

Standout track: Love Like a Sunset