Top Fifteen Albums Of The Year: 15 – 11

December has cometh and thus, so does the annual round up. We’re beginning with albums, and opting for a top fifteen only. Whittling down this list has been tough, but we’re finally happy with our choices, so, let us commence.

15. Solange – True

Solange’s ‘True’ is latecomer to the album of the year stakes, having only been released a couple of weeks back, and in actuality, is an EP rather than a full album. However, it’s very much worthy of a nod owing to its generous portion of seven tracks, each with their own charm. Production duties for this were shared between Solange and Dev Hynes (AKA Blood Orange / Lightspeed Champion) and the resultant vibe is one with a certain amount of nostalgia – 70’s disco, 80’s funk and 90’s R&B all being checked sonically. These are reference points really though, and in fact, the sound is very current, reflected by Jessie Ware’s recent success in similar territory. Lead single ‘Losing You’ is the sunniest thing here, with ‘Some Things Never Seem To Fucking Work’ equally cheery, even if its message is less so. ‘Locked In Closets’ follows with an upbeat, electronic feel, then the second half of the EP gives way to three songs that we think owe Aaliyah a bigger debt than anyone else – ‘Lovers In The Parking Lot’, ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ and ‘Bad Girls (Verdine Version)’. Showcasing Solange for the artist she obviously wants to be, let’s hope that ‘True’ finally puts her on the map.

Bad Girls (Verdine Version)

14. Echo Lake – Wild Peace

If we were awarding a prize for ‘dreamiest album of the year’, Echo Lake’s ‘Wild Peace’ would win, no contest. What really seems to have impacted upon us is the amazing consistency in the aesthetic of the record – whilst varying in tempo and instrumentation, the loose, hazy, heavenly vibe remains the overwhelming characteristic throughout. There’s also an acute focus on songwriting, even if you can’t quite make out Linda Jarvis’ largely unitelligble, multilayered, reverb-heavy vocals. As with many great albums it’s also one which takes you on a journey, from the cascading organ line of opener ‘Further Down’ all the way through to knowingly overblown guitar solo that finishes closer ‘Just Kids’. En route you’ll also find numbers that are scuzzier (‘Even The Blind’, ‘Breathe Deep’, ‘Young Silence), psych and kraut influenced (‘In Dreams’, ‘Last Song Of The Year’) and even a homage to Beach House on the title track. As far as guitar-led albums went this year, this was undoubtedly our favourite.

Even The Blind

13. The Staves – Dead & Born & Grown

We’ve been writing about The Staves for some time now and are delighted to see them getting the recognition they deserve as the year comes to a close. ‘Dead & Born & Grown’ is a record that draws it’s influences from a few places – most notably the folk and pop of the 1970s, with Joni Mitchell the shining influence here. What makes this record truly exceptional however is two key things; firstly, the stunning harmonies sung by the three Stavely-Taylor sisters – ‘Wisely And Slow’, ‘Pay Us No Mind’ and ‘Mexico’ are three of the best examples of the bliss that can be created when three voices blend. The second string to this record’s bow is the largely restrained techniques that have been applied during production, allowing every small element to make itself matter and be heard. This light touch also means that on ‘Winter Trees’, our album highlight, the crescendo it reaches has all the more impact – indeed, the girls described it as their “club banger” at Bestival this year. ‘Dead & Born & Grown’ has been the soundtrack to much of our winter so far, and if you’re looking for something cosy, reflective and soothing to see you through the coming months, you’ll struggle to find better than this.

Winter Trees

12. Santigold – Master Of My Make Believe

‘Master Of My Make Believe’ was a long time coming, with the danger being that fans would have lost their enthusiasm for Santigold in the four years that preceeded its arrival. To combat waning interests, Santi proved herself once again to be the ultimate chameleon taking the album in about 10 different directions, ensuring a thoroughly engaging listen at all times. Those trajectories include the punk battle march of ‘Go’ featuring Karen O, tropical ska ballad ‘Disparate Youth’, the Buraka Som Sistema-produced tribal madness of ‘Big Mouth’ and dancehall banger ‘Freak Like Me’. Also staying true to her earlier guitar leanings, ‘The Keepers’ and ‘The Riot’s Gone’ provided some delicious bittersweet indie pop. For us though, the album’s pinnacle comes in the form of ‘This Isn’t Our Parade’, which combines all the best elements of a Yeah Yeahs Yeahs ballad (thanks to Nick Zinner), TV On The Radio funkfest (thanks to Dave Sitek) and a leftfield anthem (thanks to Santigold herself). ‘Master Of My Make Believe’ had a lot to live up to, but absolutely delivered. Bring on album number three.

This Isn’t Our Parade

11. Grimes – Visions

Arriving at number eleven is yet another lady – Grimes – proving what a strong year 2012 has been for female artists. We reckon it’s probably a mark of excellence that ‘Visions’, Claire Boucher’s third album proper, didn’t initially seem all that. Riding arguably the biggest wave of hype experienced by any artist this year, our preliminary reaction to the record was “three incredibly strong singles, quite a lot of filler”. But, as with many great releases, over the course of the last 10 months, tracks that initially left us cold have slowly revealed their intricacies and inner workings. Musically, ‘Visions’ is definitely a pop record more than anything else, but imagined through the eyes and ears of someone pulling ideas from anywhere and everywhere. ‘Genesis’ and ‘Symphonia IX (My Wait Is You)’ are two of the prettiest songs this year, whilst ‘Oblivion’ has been possibly the most ubiquitous song heard on the indie disco dancefloor in the same time period. Weirder moments include the demon robo-pop of ‘Eight’, the acid collage of ‘Circumabient’, and spazzy trance experimentation on ‘Vowels = Space And Time’ and ‘Be a Body’. Ultimately though, the key component holding the whole album together is Grimes’ vocals – beautiful, unique and unrivalled by any other artist this year.

Symphonia IX (My Wait Is You)

Santigold – The Keepers (Duke Dumont Remix)

As alternative popsters go, you’d struggle to find someone more creative and unrestricted by genre than Santigold. Duke Dumont has a similar outlook on things, having started his career as an exponent of bass-laden booty house and since forging paths into techno, dark brooding electro and joyous disco.

Such broad scope in The Duke’s previous work means we never know quite what to expect from a new remix and this latest, a reimagining of Santigold’s forthcoming single ‘The Keepers’, takes him in yet another new direction. On first listen, you’d be forgiven for thinking this was the work of the Erol Alkan, with a prominent bass guitar melody providing the anchor for an engaging slice of indie dance. Dumont’s touch is gentle throughout – whilst additional waves of distortion, melodic chimes and a significant amount of vocals make their presence known, this is still most definitely an exercise in restraint and, it would seem, an exercise in what will sound excellent during the nearly-upon-us festival season.

We’re including two more of The Duke’s remixes here. Firstly, his ominous take on the Mystery Jets ‘Two Doors Down’, and then his recent rework of Canyons ‘When I See You Again’. These are two distinctly different remixes which showcase an expansive vision and as a back-to-back duo are the musical equivalent of riding Nemesis (dropping into a thrilling pit of despair after one of the best breakdowns of recent years) and then emerging the other side into a sundrenched swimming pool (all light, cocktails and bliss).

Santigold – Big Mouth

A quick post before we head home from work, but a highly necessary one.  If you, like millions of others, have been sitting around twiddling your thumbs getting extremely bored of waiting for Santigold to drop some new material, then praise be, for SOME IS HERE.  Although we were blessed with the Karen O-featuring ‘Go’ almost a year ago, that’ll barely prepare you for the earth shattering bombast that is ‘Big Mouth’.

No one does globally influenced raggacumindiecumweirdbasslacedpop quite like Santi and this new track has stepped things up several notches.  Having witnessed her show at Bestival, we were excited about the new songs which were very much orientated in the ‘shitloads of insane carnival percussion’ camp and this is one such beast. On first listen we thought ‘Big Mouth’ sounded like Buraka Som Sistema meets Major Lazer meets a Rio street parade – which’ll come as no surprise then, as Switch and the aforementioned BSS took the reigns on this.

With a suitably ridiculous cartoony video to suit what is definitely a rather overblown, ridiculous song this sets a very excitable tone for new album “Master Of My Make-Believe”, due imminently in the coming months.  Watch the video below, then head over to Santigold’s website where you can pick up the track for free.

Spank Rock – Cool S#@! / #1 Hit

Spank Rock‘s new album “Everything Is Boring and Everyone Is a Fucking Liar” is incredible.  But we wouldn’t have expected anything less from the person responsible for one of our favourite ever records (“YoYoYoYoYo”), nor from an album that was in large part helmed by Boys Noize, alongside some other very talented collaborators and producers including Leif, XXXChange, Mark Ronson, Santigold and New Orleans bounce Kingpin (Should that be Queenpin?) Big Freedia.  Having already posted once today we’ll keep this short but draw your attention to what are in our opinion two of the most interesting tracks out of a very strong collection.

“Cool S#@!” (no, we didn’t censor that ourselves) harks back slightly to older Spank Rock material, we’re thinking “Sweet Talk” especially, certainly in it’s funk-driven yet electronic instrumental and its straight-up hip-hop vibes.  However, where “Sweet Talk” soared off into a glorious northern soul as it ended, “Cool S#@!” takes a very different direction in it’s latter stages, straight into delicious squelchy acid house.  It’s similarly grin-inducing, but for rather different reasons.

“#1 Hit” bangs much harder.  Beginning with a UK funky drum beat before being accompanied by a bit of trademark Boys Noize electro bosh, the song then slightly weirdly turns into 80s synthpop, somewhere between Prince and The Human League.  Then back to UK electro bosh, then 80s synth once more.  In the hands of a less talented producer this could’ve been an absolute mess, in the hands of Alex Ridha however, it’s potentially going to be one of our favourite songs of 2011.  You can watch the accompanying video below, which we won’t even attempt to explain.

“Everything Is Boring and Everyone Is a Fucking Liar” is out now, so get downloading and prepare to make friends with what may well become your favourite party album of the next few months.

Spank Rock – Cool S#@!

BONUS: Because it’s one of our favourite songs of all time and Amanda Blank doesn’t make an appearance on the new album AND because her rap is one of the best of all time…

Spank Rock – Bump (Feat. Amanda Blank)