And here we go...50. These New Puritans - Hidden
One of the first albums I heard this year, it continues to grow and expose new sounds and landscapes through the music. We Want War is one of my favourite songs of the year, and while I enjoy listening to the album, there are a few moments where I think "this song could be better", but those are minor complaints, as this is a great listen from start to finish - combining Foley techniques to make every detail heard, and every sword strike deadly. This was NME's number 1 album of the year, and even though this is way down in 50th for me, it definitely deserves the praise it gets.
49. Interpol - Interpol
It seems you either love or hate this album judging by the reaction. For me, it's probably tied 2nd favourite alongide Antics (behind Turn on The Bright Lights of course) and why I like it so much is because it's a lot darker than its predecessors. Some songs do feel flat (Try It On (The "no fucking way" line...really!?)) but the highlights make it up. Always Malaise and The Undoing both provide the dark undertones that I like from Interpol, and for all the flak it recieves, I like this album so much that I'm going to see them next March!
48. Warpaint - The Fool
One of the bands to watch in 2011 - all girl-group Warpaint has made an impressive debut album that has some beautiful songs. Undertow is certainly one of them, and it's recently grown a lot on me that it's one of my favourite songs of 2010. How do you know when a group is very good? When your Westlife loving sister sees them live on telly and calls them "crap"! You know they've done something right if they offend Westlife fans.
47. Yeasayer - Odd Blood
Weird pop at its best. It tails off second half of the album, but the first half could've pushed it into the top 25. The Children, Ambling Amp, O.N.E....all fantastic songs that made me fall in love with Yeasayer's music. Such a shame it went downhill after Love Me Girl.
46. 65daysofstatic - We Were Exploding Away
Seeing these guys live made this album really come alive. The energy it gives out is incredible, and it's packed with great songs to dance to. Your brains will explode away if you're not careful enough.
45. No Age - Everything In Between
This made a late dash to cross over the top 50 border, but I think it fully deserves to be here. A great album that I wasn't keen on at first, but like all great albums it grew on me until I could feel comfortable with the songs and style.
44. Glasser - Ring
A great album that was one of the surprises of the year! Glasser - AKA Cameron Mesirow - creates a beautiful Electro Pop album that sounds like a less intense Fever Ray. A great album that really needs more attention than it's currently getting.
43. Laura Marling - I Speak Because I Can
An album full of great little treats. Not the most original artist in the world, but for her age she's incredibly talented and writes such beautiful songs. I can't wait to hear what she does in the future.
42. The Black Keys - Brother
Slightly overlong, but within the album lies a lot of great melodies and songs that stay with you for a long time. The album cover is witty and just states the bleedin' obvious, but don't let that put you off - it's popping up a lot in the "End of Year" charts everywhere, and rightly so.
41. Jonsi - Go
Jonsi live is something else entirely - Tornado is one of my favourite songs of the year, and it was incredible live too. It's just a wonderful album from start to finish - creating wonderful sounds and imagery through some of the most inspiring music. Iceland finally has a male Bjork to treasure.
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