My Top 12 Albums of 2010: #12-7

So it's that time of year! I love end of year lists and have been quite excited about writing and publishing my own for a while. Now. I thoroughly belief that there is music that is objectively good and objectively bad. It does not come down to opinion. Fact. There are lots of things that go into that, but it's fact. I considered compiling a list of the objectively best albums of the year and those I personally prefer, but couldn't be bothered... so these are my favourite albums of the year, painstakingly put in rough order or preference. Though all of them are objectively very good music it would seem! And bear in mind this is only the albums that I've heard this year. There's always plenty we miss. Oh to have time to listen to them all! So I hope you enjoy, agree and disagree. Do feedback to me :)


Honourable Mentions:
'One Life Stand' by Hot Chip
'Teen Dream' by Beach House
'Plastic Beach' by Gorillaz
'The End of Irony' by Captain Ahab
'Belle & Sebastian Write About Love' by Belle & Sebastian
'Go' by Jónsi

12. 'The Family Jewels' by Marina & The Diamonds



Marina Diamandis is the best thing to happen to pop music this side of GaGa. She's clever, witty, perceptive, original and incredibly sexy - all hallmarks of a great popstar. And those qualities spill over into a phenomenally accomplished debut that is both a posing pastiche but also incredibly human. The album is basically about fame, the obsession with ("Hollywood", "Shampain", "Are You Satisfied?") and the vacuous underbelly of the commercial 21st century ("Girls", "Numb", "I Am Not A Robot"). "It's been done!" right? Maybe. But lyrically, this album is something else. Marina is so fantastically self aware - critical of fame and commercialism but fully aware of how enamoured she can be by it all. Spectacular, sparkling, seductive pop - a hard thing to come by in 2010.

11. 'I Speak Because I Can' by Laura Marling


Laura Marling is arguably a very strong contrast with Marina Diamandis, but is still endlessly deserving of a spot in my top albums. I fell in love with her and her debut, and her sophomore album is so much more than just a good second album. This album is beautifully and quiveringly personal, a beautiful memoir into the mind of a young girl becoming a woman (she's only 20!) She sings about independence ("Made by Maid", "Rambling Man"), urban alienation ("Alpha Shallows") and recounts memories of men in her life across the whole spectrum of emotional experience ("Goodbye England (Covered in Snow)", "What He Wrote", "I Speak Because I Can"). Her delivery is downbeat and subtle, beautifully vulnerable, allowing the emotion to push through with ease. The arrangements are more traditionally folky than the last album, and her guitar ability has become more accomplished and a more central part of the sound. Lyrically, she's only gotten better and is one of the most mind blowingly talented song writers. And she's hardly unattractive...

10. 'Romance is Boring' by Los Campesinos!


Los Campesinos! are a fantastic example of a band who have refined their sound through successive albums, working out what they're best at, where they excel, where they hit the mark, and then putting all of that into a fantastic record. This album is undoubtedly the best thing they've recorded, for so many reasons. A lot of it is mile a minute indie rock, and quite simply makes you want to thrash and jump around ("These Are Listed Buildings, Romance is Boring") but the band have a new grasp of texture and scale back for unbelievably earnest and tearful slower numbers ("The Sea is a Good Place to Think of the Future", "Who Fell Asleep In") though it all remains euphorically noisy. Frontman and songwriter Gareth has long been gestating as one of the UK's best lyricist, and that shines through in his musings about love, sex, football and religion. Gareth writes about his differences with religion in a way that is very candid and sceptical, though never outwardly biting or critical. As a Christian, I find it refreshing that a non-Christian is able to write about the church in such a way, without descending into offensive and childish Dawkins style insults. A truly accomplished record from an increasingly individual and inspiring band.

9. 'Treats' by Sleigh Bells


There's not a VAST deal to say about this album. But that's not a disadvantage. Quite the opposite. Sleigh Bells are probably the most enjoyable band of the entire year. This album has one setting- REALLY FRIGGIN' LOUD AND REALLY FRIGGIN' AWESOME!!! Lead songwriter Derek Miller takes pop music structures and melodies and bastardises them with terrifying heavy metal guitars and insurmountably huge beats ("Tell 'Em", "Infinity Guitars", "Crown on the Ground" - heck, every bloody song) and then the absurdly attractive front woman, Alexis Krauss, laces the mixture with a voice like poison bubblegum made from fire. This album is balls out, amps up, heads thrashing, bodies brawling. Hell yes.

8. 'Contra' by Vampire Weekend


It's safe to say that the indie community fell a little bit in love with Vampire Weekend when they released their debut a couple of years ago. That coupled with "A-Punk" soundtracking everything from Come Dine With Me to The Inbetweeners made me wonder how they could successfully follow it up. But they delivered. Oh yes they did. Thematically, it's not as unified as their debut, songs here based on rice drinks ("Horchata"), Joe Strummer ("Diplomat's Son") and Japanese history ("Giving Up The Gun") But that doesn't matter. Every song on this album is irresistibly melodic; the whole thing is bursting with hooks. At the same time, it's all exquisitely arranged and proves that Vampire Weekend are sublimely talented musicians. This is truly progressive pop music. Call them pretentious, preppy, whatever you will. Something tells me these guys don't care. And when the music is as upbeat, original and funky as this, I'm inclined to side with them.

7. 'Total Life Forever' by Foals


No one could quite believe it when new Foals material appeared. The shouty, prickly sounding landfill indie band of yesteryear had vanished. They'd been submerged beneath a warm tide of oceanic guitar, enveloping bass, funky drums and full, tender crooning. The transformation was sublime and the British indie world fell to its knees. This album is just brilliant to listen to. Standout, massive tracks like "Miami", "Total Life Forever" and "After Glow" are just incredibly well written indie pop songs, stamped with the intoxicating dance vibe that Foals have cracked into on this album. Then there's the magnificent beauty of "Blue Blood" and "This Orient", marked by some superbly emotional and vulnerable lyrics. The album ends in the stop-dead-in-your-tracks threesome of "Alabaster", "2 Trees" and "What Remains". This album is such an accomplishment for the band, but is also an enveloping, comforting piece of music. Sublime.

Sleigh Bells Rang. I Was Listening.

Sleigh Bells
XOYO, London
Sunday 21st November 2010



I really hope you've heard Sleigh Bells before. If you haven't then turn your speakers up as loud as possible. Literally louder. No louder. Now right click on the little speaker icon on the bottom right of your computer screen and make sure EVERYTHING is as loud as possible. Done? Now click here. Wait for 2:03. And now here.

Understand?
Good.

So last night my friend Will and I set out- both clearly a little tired still from a party the night before- to go and see Sleigh Bells at XOYO. We had no sodding idea where the venue was so left in plenty of time... and found it straight away. We were less than encouraged though as it was down some dingy back street in North London and the only other people hanging around outside reminded me of the opening credits of Shaun of the Dead. After a wee bit of fretting for our middle class lives (ok, maybe just our phones) we got into the club, bought an overpriced drink each and waited for the support acts. First up were Teeth, who were fantastically noisy. I just spent a good while trying to discover their MySpace, and FINALLY got there! Click here, and you can also read this interview. Their frontwoman looked like Knives Chau from Scott Pilgrim when she goes all kick-ass towards the end. Swaggered onstage looking every inch the unassuming but clearly bat crap insane front girl- complete with plaid shirt tied around her waist. The club was only just filling up so the bands frenetically noisy sounds and Veronica So's crazed thrashings and screaming seemed a little bit wasted, and I felt for them. Kudos to them though- they played on and rocked out through that as well as Veronica being clearly sick as a dog and what looked to me (a musician) like a few cunningly concealed technical hitches. I'm definitely checking these guys out more, and they got me and Will warmed up even if the rest of the venue seemed a touch apathetic. Twats.

As the club gradually filled up, the second warm up act took to the stage- The Knocks. I'd heard of these guys in passing somewhere, but only knew that they were in some way electronic. Well bugger me, were these guys good! Their set began with two dancers- who looked like Cell Jr equivalents of Lady GaGa (if you don't get the Dragonball Z reference, watch this)- spreading huge plastic Icharus wings across the stage, then shedding them and freestyling either side of the stage whilst The Knocks- a US dance duo- launched into their stunning set! Seriously. They got the whole venue moving and dancing in a couple of minutes! Hands in the air, hips shaking all around- it was magical! Click here for their MySpace. I grabbed a copy of their single from the merchandise stand straight after they finished. I had to shove it down the front of my trousers for safety though.

Because I knew.
I knew the onslaught was only a brief way over the horizon.

By this time I was PUMPED for Sleigh Bells. Will was PUMPED for Sleigh Bells. The whole crowed was visibly getting PUMPED for Sleigh Bells. Which reminds me- the crows was absurdly diverse. There was a massive dude at the front who looked like Hurley from Lost. Three incredibly lanky lesbians stood right in front of me and Will. A large amount of muggish looking indie types who were making painful attempts to look like Yannis from Foals. A buxom black girl with a MASSIVE afro who for some reason was with a blonde, mid-50s white woman who clearly had no idea what she was in for. But I didn't care. I was there for Sleigh Bells.

Everything I had heard about Sleigh Bells live just had my mouth simply FLOODING in salivation.
It was meant to be glorious, sweaty, chaotic, intense, thrashing euphoria, all crammed into a 35 minute set. It was meant to be a true experience.

And it was.



From the minute Derek Miller sprinted onto the stage, wielding his guitar in a way that would make Thor sheepishly conceal his thunderous hammer, there was just this feeling that the stakes were high, that we were all there to just go nuts. Alexis Krauss strutted our gloriously onto the stage like some tattooed, leather clad raven. It was go time. They launched into "Tell 'Em" and we the crowd were off. Thrashing, jumping, sweating, literally screaming the words back at Alexis. Hell, most of the time we were just screaming. There was no barrier between stage and crowd, and with a band like Sleigh Bells there couldn't be. The whole tiny venue was pressing onto the stage, and Alexis was giving it right back. I managed to work my way RIGHT to the front. All of our hands went up, and she returned in kind, constantly grabbing and stroking hands, pressing them up against her (I can say though that I didn't get a grab on any sensitive areas, which is more than I can say for the girl next to me) She would lean right into the crowd, ruffling her own jet black hair, and the crowd were more than content to give her several dozen hands. There was a massive surge to get even a finger on that gorgeous woman, who prowled, leapt, slunk and thrashed around the stage and over the audience. I got more than a few ruffles of her hair and strokes of her arm. It was just so intense! I've not been to a gig like that before- where the crowd are just baying for the front woman who's more than content to lean in, share the microphone and just scream inaudibly with you and at you, with none of us caring because it's so friggin' awesome. It would be hard to pick a particular song as a highlight because Sleigh Bells only have one album of material and all the songs on that have one setting- LOUD AND AWESOME. In the final song though, I had the privelege of being right underneath Alexis Krauss as she leapt from an amp, stagediving into the crowd. Good grief it was unbelievable.

This gig was just such a brilliant experience. It really brought music alive for me in a way that lots of gigs don't. Musicians who make brilliant music that I love and respect were RIGHT THERE, literally inches away from me, most of the time even less than that- so close that I could touch them, carry them over my head and feel their sweat. Awesome. That's how it should be.

I don't know what the future holds for Sleigh Bells. Their album Treats is one of my highlights from 2010 and it's a masterpiece, a lesson in taking pop music and shaping it into something unrecognisable, new, exciting and just bloody awesome. Maybe there's bigger things. Unlikely mainstream success. I don't know. I don't REALLY care. All I know is that I got to see them in a tiny London venue, playing songs from a brilliant album, in a crampt, sweaty gig and I managed to get my hands on Alexis Krauss. Epic.