End of year list: Dave

The time of year has come again, with the new year fast approaching, to stop and take a look at our fortunes over the last year, with new albums from artists old and new, firm favourites and new discoveries. So without further ado, some of my personal favourite releases of the last twelve months…

65daysofstatic - We Were Exploding Anyway

65 have long been a favourite of mine, and the latest album has done nothing to change this opinion. A brooding whirlwind of electronics, noise, static and guitars. Rather than writing more here, though, check out my review of 65’s Heavy Sky EP, the follow-up release taken from the same recording sessions.

Metric – Fantasies

A new discovery for me, and a brilliant blend of indie, synths and the beautiful voice of Emily Haines all mixed together into a fantastic record. Bonus marks also go to Metric for the track Black Sheep on the Scott Pilgrim soundtrack which I am very sad to say was written just too late to be included on Fantasies.

Marina and the Diamonds - The Family Jewels

Your eyes are not mistaken, this is undoubtedly a pop album rather than the somewhat more alternative music elsewhere in this list. This is one of those albums that when broken down to component parts is just wrong – her style is the annoying brand of pop ‘quirky’ that seems to be popular these days, her vocals are stunning but often somewhat annoying, and overall it just stands as the sort of pop artist I try to avoid. Yet somehow I ended up listening to Marina and the Diamonds and falling in love…

Blood Red Shoes - Fire Like This

Pretty much the antithesis to my last choice, Fire Like This is that tricky second album from stripped down alternative band Blood Red Shoes. With only guitar, drums and two vocalists they manage to create a sound that flicks between a thunderous roar and simple yet intricate playing that takes the stripped down feeling of the band and uses it to its fullest. 

Anamanaguchi - Scott Pilgrim the Game

Perhaps not your traditional album, but a soundtrack album of the music used throughout the videogame tie in to Scott Pilgrim Vs The World. Written by New York chiptune artists Anamanaguchi on the Nintendo Entertainment System, this blasts from the speakers as a whirlwind of blips, bleeps and noise built into a relentless swathe of some of the most enthusiastic music I have heard in a long time. An album you will need to sit down for a rest after listening to.

Meursalt – All Creatures Will Make Merry

Another band entirely new to me, and one of the most unique albums I have heard this year. A very lo-fi and distorted sound capturing almost folky indie music backed up by a mix of traditional and electronic instrumentation and swathes of noise into a sound I have done absolutely no justice in describing, but which will draw you in and have you hooked until the final notes.

Frank Turner – Rock & Roll

Looking to keep us satisfied until the new album is released next year, Rock & Roll keeps to Frank’s sound built out of punk rock sensibilities, acoustic folk, rock and roll and stories from real life that are so completely identifiable to the ever expanding group of people heading out to catch him playing live across the country.  

DL