evil_stu

To T or Not to T?

Indeed, that is the question. Since my *ahem* lost weekend of 1999 I have missed T in the Park only twice. Once in 2000 when I was still scarred from non-memories of the previous year and in 2007 when I was meant to be going to a wedding in Valencia, but then was meant to be going to my my Nanny's funeral. But then she didn't die when she was expected to, so I ended up scowling at TV coverage all weekend.

But enough morbid digressions. This first wave of this year's line-up has been announced and I've met it with my usual mix of annoyance and optimism. It's full of mainstream shite that I won't touch with a ten foot pole but peppered with a handful of bands that leaves me optimistic that it'll once again be a great weekend.

I should point out that the above title is a rhetorical question. Subject to nailing the tickets on Friday, of course I'll be going. But every year I wonder if it will be my last, even though the responsibilities of fatherhood have seriously limited my gig going opportunities and cramming a year's worth into one weekend has to be the way to go.

So here are my thoughts on most of the acts announced so far.

Muse - Last album was dross but still an incredible live spectacle and it'll take some real quality to pull me away from the Main Stage for this.

Eminem - Is anyone actually listening to this nasty, misogynist wanker? I'm not.

Kasabian - actually don't mind the music. Just don't want to be covered in beer and piss from the crowd they'll draw.

Faithless - Why????

Black Eyed Peas - Jesus wept.

Prodigy - New stuff's ok, but rather doubt I'll be there.

Jay Z - Much more respect for him than the above rap 'superstar'. But it's still a no.

Stereophonics - Snoooooooooooooore.

Paolo Nutini - Fuck off you stupid hat wearing dipshit. It's like this country is programmed to like you just because you're Scottish.

Biffy Clyro - Still love 'em. Count me in.

Florence - Bat for Lashes and Ladyhawke do it better. My beloved will undoubtedly go but I'll be looking for something else.

Dizee Rascal - Not for me, thanks.

Vampire Weekend - Their undoubted Main Stage slot will be off-putting but I like them.

30 Seconds to Mars - Jared Leto should stick to acting. They're TERRIBLE!

Calvin Harris - Next!

David Guetta - WHO???

Mumford & Sons - Yes please!

The View - Cut your hair, stop turning up pished and write some tunes. And then come back to me. Until then, get the fuck out of my sight.

Hot Chip - Still making decent music, but not great live. It's a maybe.

Cribs - Like them a lot. I'm in.

Courteeners - No thanks.

Proclaimers - Again??? FFS.

Plastikman - Something to do with the Slam tent?

Skunk Anansie - You have GOT to be kidding me.

Newton Faulkner - Ginger twat.

The Coral - Scouse twats.

Rise Against - Beats me. Men with guitars shouting?

Gossip - Lip up, fatty.

Temper Trap - Saw them last year and wasn't hugely impressed.

Stranglers - Christ, my pizza's still in the oven.

Broken Social Scene - YEEEESSSSSS!!!!! A truly brilliant band.

Carl Cox - I think he's actually really famous but he means fuck all to me.

Dirty Projectors - Hurrah! They should be great to watch.

Four Tet - Could be really, really interesting live.

Two Door Cinema Club - Know nothing about them other than the Norn Irn connection.

Black Mountain - Riffs! Power! Rock! Get in!!!!

And that's that. I'll be at my laptop at 9am sharp on Friday buying tickets, seething about the amount of mainstream bollocks on the bill but secretly excited about another weekend of beer, booze and Biffy.

So who's just missed out?

- HEALTH - Your Mum would have called this 'just noise'. And she'd be right. But what glorious, glorious noise.
- Flight of the Conchords - Straight-faced Kiwi folktronica.
- Bill Callahan - Uplifting melancholia. Lovely.
- St Vincent - Not quite as good as Annie Clark's debut but a fine record nonetheless.
- Clues - Whackjob Canadian indie makes a successful return.
- Thee Oh Sees - Rattly, lo-fi LA Punk. Great stuff.
- Biffy Clyro - No wait, come back, they're better than you think!
- PJ Harvey & John Parish - PJ back to her best. Nasty, tuneful and vulnerable all at the same time.
- The Gothenburg Address - Great record, but inclusion would have been shameless nepotism!

So here's the final countdown:

5. Mew – No More Stories Are Told Today, I'm Sorry They Washed Away, No More Stories the… aw fuck it!!!!

Ridiculously pretentious album titles aside, the four year gap seems to have done everybody’s favourite Danish angel-voiced indie proggers (No? Just mine?) the world of good as they’re back with probably their best album yet. ‘Repeaterbeater’ is the poppiest thing they’ve done, but the rest of the album builds nicely on the epic nature of previous work. If there was any justice they would be huge.
Spotify – Introducing Palace Players

4. The xx – xx

I’m always a little suspicious of hoodie-clad London teenagers making music, never less than when they’re in NME’s Radar section. Such prejudices were swept aside the first time I heard this magnificently understated record. They look like they should be peddling sub-Libertines waffle but instead have crafted a beautiful album full of lilting boy/girl vocals, sparse instrumentation and genuine sense of foreboding about the whole thing.
Spotify – Crystalised

3. Bat for Lashes – Two Suns

Natasha Khan is without question the best female singer/songwriter in Britain. Sorry Flossy fans, but Ms Welch pales in comparison to the second Bat for Lashes album which matches its outstanding predecessor right up to the last song for sheer twinkling quality.
Spotify – Siren Song

2. Fever Ray – Fever Ray
If you’ve heard of The Knife you’ll know who Karin Dreijer Andersson is and what her voice sounds like – and you’ll obviously love it. If you haven’t, then it’s only a matter of time. This is 10 tracks of her sweetly sinister Scandinavian tones cooing over dark, minimalist electronica that makes the Knife look like Fatboy Slim. A wonderful album.
Spotify – When I Grow Up

1. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest

This is a simply beautiful album – melodic, haunting and layered in swathes of guitar noise, They’ve only really come to my attention in the last year but I fell in love with this album after a single spin and can’t see that I’ll ever get bored with it.
Spotify – While You Wait for the Others

I wish I had more time to listen to…

Christ, where to start? Having acquired so many albums this year I haven’t been able to do many of them justice. Honourable mentions to Pelican, Monsters of Folk, Rain Machine, Wild Beasts, Yo La Tengo, the Mountain Goats, Richard Hawley, Russian Circles and lots more who all sound great but time was against me in giving them any more than a cursory listen.

Ah, now where was I...

10. Modest Mouse – No-one’s First and You’re Next

There aren’t many bands out their who could cobble together eight cast-offs from album sessions a few years ago and turn it into one of the year’s best records but Modest Mouse are clearly one of them. This is the perfect introduction to a great band combining the trippy, unhinged Mouse-sound of old with their recently discovered pop nous, with Isaac Brock’s hissed vocals bringing the whole thing together into a surprisingly coherent record.
Spotify – The Whale Song

9. The Joy Formidable – A Balloon Called Moaning

At eight tracks and barely half an hour long this is hardly an album at all, but what’s here is a joyous blend of pop hooks and thrashy, distorted guitars.
Spotify: The Last Drop

8. Manic Street Preachers – Journal for Plague Lovers

‘Send Away the Tigers’ was better than anything they’d done in years but still didn’t quite hit the heights of their pre-1996 work. This most certainly does. I won’t dwell on the fact that they’ve dug out Richey’s old lyrics or that this is a perceived sequel to the Holy Bible (a label that I don’t really think fits). Their political sensibilities never really left them despite peddling radio-friendly indie for a decade but now they’ve finally translated them into an seriously aggressive album, both lyrically and musically. While it’s not a sequel to the Holy Bible, it’s certainly the best thing they’ve done since then.
Spotify – She Bathed Herself in a Bath of Bleach.

7. And You Will Know Us By the Trail of the Dead – The Century of Self

They lost their way badly on 2007’s ‘So Divided’, so it’s great to see them back to their best with some serious thrash-rock going on here. There’s a strong whiff of prog rock about some of the arrangements but that wouldn’t stop the likes of ‘Isis Unveiled’ provoking some serious moshing.
Spotify – Isis Unveiled

6. Sonic Youth – The Eternal

Ok, so Sonic Youth don’t exactly do bad albums, but where exactly did this come from?? The Eternal is by far their most satisfying album since ’92 combining ear splitting feedback and melody to great effect.
Spotify: Anti-Orgasm

This year I haven't even bothered with a few things that a few years back would have been high on my 'to buy' list. Undoubtedly a reflection on how my music tastes have changed, and dare I say, improved...

I didn’t even bother with…

Editors – Loved the first album. Follow-up put me to sleep. Couldn’t be arsed with this.

Idlewild – A band in terminal decline since 2002. Unsure why they’re still bothering.

La Roux – Catchy singles. Stupid hair.

Dot Allison – Two good albums at the start of the decade but the last one was a bit of a yawnfest. Reviews for this weren’t promising and she’s hanging round with that dirty junkie Doherty.

The Big Pink – Overhyped and overexposed. They’ve already sold their biggest song for a TV ad. Nein danke.

*****WARNING, WARNING ANTI-X FACTOR RANT IMMINENT*****

Any kind of music that you watch on telly on a Saturday night and vote for – Anyone who knows me will undoubtedly be aware that I wouldn’t piss on Simon Cowell if he was on fire – in fact I’ll probably have been the one to strike the match in the first place. But please, can we all just stop watching his formulaic, lowest common denominator, exploitative garbage and maybe show an interest in some musicians/singers with ACTUAL talent and charisma??? All we’re doing is LINING THE CUNT'S POCKETS!!!! Even by watching the show we're justifying the existance of this wank. Are there really 19 million windaelickers in the UK??? Aaaaaargh!!!!

Anyway, where was I...

15. Mumford and Sons – Sigh No More

I was a bit sceptical about this bunch when I started to read their press, but here they are. This album has more banjos than a wedding on Benbecula and is a folky joy from start to finish.
Spotify: Little Lion Man

14. The Horrors – Primary Colours

Yes, that’s right, THE HORRORS. The same talentless Shoreditch chancers who released an utterly dreadful debut album a few years back. This is a brilliant about turn though, and with Geoff Barrow (Portishead) behind the mixing desk, they’ve completely reinvented themselves and produced a glacial, claustrophobic drone of an album influenced by My Bloody Valentine, Suicide and Can.
Spotify – New Ice Age

13. Silversun Pickups – Swoon

Yes, yes, so they sound a bit like the Smashing Pumpkins, so what. This is an accomplished, mature set of songs that builds on the blueprint of 2006’s ‘Carnavas’. It’s not a massive leap in sound – fragile vocals and grungy riffs are still very much the forefront of their sound, but it’s not like that was a bad thing in the first place.
Spotify – There’s No Secrets This Year

12. The Phantom Band – Checkmate Savage

One of the best bands to come out of Scotland in the last few years, and given how packed a field that it is, that’s a brave statement. This is a schizophrenic blend of folky melodies, twitchy electronica and tuneful indie rock that demands repeated listening.
Spotify – Folk Song Oblivion OR Left Hand Wave - I just couldn't decide!

11. My Latest Novel – Deaths and Entrances

It seems like their last ages since their last album ‘Wolves’ and while the lengthy gap has done little to help record sales, it does seem to have helped develop their sound. Accusations of a Caledonian Arcade Fire were always a little unfair, but here they sound a little like Death Cab for Cutie before they went mainstream, but always with a Scottish accent to the fore.
Spotify – The Greatest Shakedown

And to quickly return to the themes covered at the start of this post (assuming you're still reading and that I haven't offended everyone)... I've been disappointed in the following:

I’ve been disappointed in…

Green Day – “I’ve got this great idea, guys! Let’s make a critically acclaimed and hugely successful political album, flog it like a dead horse then wait almost five years before releasing… exactly the same album!!! Brilliant!!!”

Muse – Ok, we get it. YOU LIKE QUEEN! Now can you please extract your heads from up your own arseholes and get back to the killer riffs please!

Maps – I had high hopes for James Chapman’s second album after really enjoying We Can Create. But it was exceptionally dull. NEXT!!!!

Animal Collective – Don’t get me wrong I do like Merriweather Post Pavilion – but album of the year (according to Uncut, The Skinny and others)? Don’t think so. Don’t believe the hype.

Speech Debelle – Yet another undeserving Mercury winner. If this is the best of UK hip hop in 2009 then I’m quite happy to stick to my indie strummers, thanks.

20. The Low Anthem – Oh My God, Charlie Darwin

This Rhode Island three piece seem to have come from absolutely nowhere to land a nomination for the Uncut Award. They’ve been compared to Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver, and while fans of both will appreciate what’s going on here, The Low Anthem are less about the swirling funereal folk of those artists and more about driving country blues with more than a hint of backwoods menace.
Spotify – The Horizon is a Beltway

19. Brand New – Daisy

Not quite the promised complete change of direction, but this does at least move one of America’s best rock bands further and further away from their alleged (truthfully non-existent) emo roots. One or two weak moments but enough crunchy riffs, shouting and reflective moments to keep it well above average.
Spotify: You Stole

18. Dananananaykroyd – Hey Everyone

If by looking at the name you’re thinking slightly silly throwaway pop shenanigans you’d only have half the story. They’re a bunch of slightly unhinged Glaswegians, who while dressing in bright t-shirts and daft hats also possess riffs that Black Flag and Minor Threat would have been proud of. Play loud.
Spotify: Some Dresses

17. Noah and the Whale – The First Days of Spring

Need a bit more heartbreak in your life? Thought the last Elbow album was a bit ‘meh’? Well this is the album for you. The whole album documents singer Charlie Fink’s break-up with folky songstress Laura Marling and while it’s a bit grueling in places, it’s never anything less than compelling, and thankfully a million miles away from ‘Five Years Time’. Incidentally Ms Marling is now going out with one of Mumford and Sons, so expect a tear-soaked emotional epic from them in 2010.
Spotify – Blue Skies

16. The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love

I found ‘The Crane Wife’ a bit too much like hard work in 2006 so when I read tales of a 17 track concept album, brimful of sea shanties and sonic exploration, I sighed and chucked this near the bottom of my ‘to buy’ list. Thankfully it found it’s way to me in the end and while all the above is true, ‘they’ forgot to mention the superb songs, thunderous riffing and driving percussion. Also Colin Meloy’s least annoying set of vocals in years.
Spotify: The Wanting Comes in Waves\Repaid

Blogging my list for the first time. Will undoubtedly still be met with the usual wave of indifference, criticism and shouts of "WHO????"

But first:

Compilation of the year…

Various Artists – Dark Was the Night

All multi-artist compilations have a few dogs amongst their tracklisting and this is no exception. It’s particularly disappointing that heavy hitters like Arcade Fire and Cat Power aren’t pulling their weight with the latter offering a dreary version of ‘Amazing Grace’. That said, within these 31 tracks, there’s a near perfect 20 track album trying to get out. Particular highlights come from Yeasayer, Bon Iver and the magnificent sprawling epic ‘You Are the Blood’ by Sufjan Stevens. It’s all for charity too. So why haven’t you bought your copy yet?
Spotify: You Are the Blood by Sufjan Stevens

So here goes...

25. Flaming Lips – Embryonic

Wayne Coyne originally pitched this as a set of semi-improvised psychedelic freak-out jams rather than a collection of songs – and he’s not wrong. It’s a really challenging listen, a million miles away from ‘Race for the Prize’ or ‘Yoshimi…’. Persisting with it will reap rewards, however, particularly in the second half when they let their guard down, allowing such things as conventional song structures and discernable melodies into the mix. Also features Karen O on random animal noises…
Spotify – Silver Trembling Hands

24. Wye Oak – The Knot

December 1 was the first time I heard this and I was immediately taken with it. It put me in mind of 2007’s great lost album The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse – slow burning riffs, delicate vocals… I must confess I know next to nothing about them but I want to hear more. I’m quite sure this would have been much higher in the list if I’d had more chance to listen to it.
Spotify: Take It In

23. Malcolm Middleton – Waxing Gibbous

Scotland’s favourite miserable ginger is back with his fifth album in six years and, if you believe the reports being bandied about, his last for some time. For all the bleakness of his lyrics, there’s always been a playful sense of humour about his material, and much of what’s here feels increasingly upbeat. If there’s a complaint to be made, it’s simply that with most of songs touching five minutes, some do outstay their welcome. But that’s that a minor gripe, and here’s hoping he’s back to make us think about topping ourselves in an amusing way soon.
Spotify – Kiss at the Station

22. The Twilight Sad – Forget the Night Ahead

While it doesn’t quite live up to the promise of their stunning debut, running out of steam a little towards the end, this is still a really good sophomore album. They’ve reigned in the tinnitus-inducing noise a little but the effects pedals still get quite a work-out. A brooding, piano-led ‘The Room’, however, is the stand-out track here.
Spotify – The Room

21. Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes – Up From Below

Take one struggling LA troubadour, and a pseudonym and assorted random musicians. Mix well. Pour in some sun-soaked Californian folk, topped up with the Beach Boys, Arthur Lee and Big Star. Add a dash of eastern mysticism and Mariachi brass. Serve up with a whiff of religious cult on the side. Enjoy.
Spotify – Desert Song

10. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever to Tell

Let's get one thing straight - Karen O is one of the greatest female performers there has ever been. On this, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs full length debut, she purrs like a kitten and yelps like a sexed-up banshee in equal amounts, backed by the filthiest guitar sound of 2003.

9. Elbow - Asleep in the Back

I was delighted to see Elbow win the Mercury last year - it's just a shame that it was for their weakest album. The accolades should have been bestowed on this, their debut from 2001, an epic, heartfelt set of slow burning ballads. Every bit the five star classic and I can't see them improving on it.

8. Battles - Mirrored
A jaw-dropping debut album from a band that features both the former drummer from Helmet AND jazz (yes, jazz!) alumni. This is one album I found pretty difficult to describe in a short paragraph first time round and it's not much easier now. Only listening to it can truly do it justice.

7. Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight

Last year's best album is still pretty much on repeat play. This is a fraught, emotional collection of break-up songs penned by the only great songwriter ever to come from Selkirk. The Modern Leper is one song I will never, ever tire of.

6. Aereogramme - Sleep and Release

Marginally pips the Rabbits for Scottish album of the decade. It roared out of the blocks with Indiscretion #243 and slamming riffs were the order of the day over the course of its ten tracks. But there was subtlety here too - A Simple Process of Elimation brought a tear to this glass eye when it soundtracked a short film about famine a few years back.

5. LCD Soundsystem - The Sound of Silver

I liked this on release. But nearly three years later, I absolutely love it. A dance record with cynical indie sensibilities, James Murphy put his name forward as the spokesman for a generation of jaded, thirty-something clubbing casualties. And therein lies the key reason why I keep coming back to this.

4. Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary

Dan Boeckner and Spencer Krug contributed a massive body of work to the Canadian indie scene this decade under a variety of guises but nothing even came close to matching this unbelievable album. While it followed the trail blazed by Arcade Fire it chose tinny synths over sweeping orchestration to soundtrack its multi-part harmonies and in I'll Believe in Anything they pretty much had the song of the decade up their sleeve.

3. The White Stripes - White Blood Cells

Amazingly the Detriot duo released FIVE albums in the noughties - and let's not forget Jack White's work with the Raconteurs, Dead Weather and various production duties. But fuck me if I'm not desperate to see him back dressed in red, white and black. The White Stripes are by far and away his best outlet and this, their breakthrough album is the pick of the bunch. The others were good too but from the feral blues of Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground to the delicate outro of This Protector this is damn near perfect.

2. Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights

The best band to emerge from the NYC renaissance in the early part of the decade. They wore their influences - Joy Division, Bunnymen and the Smiths - right on their sleeves and turned it all into a collection of dark melodic angst, with a constant sense of foreboding. All the while underpinned with Paul Banks’ wonderful baritone even if his lyrics made fuck all sense.

1. Arcade Fire - Funeral

The winner! Head and shoulders above everything else released in the noughties and in my opinion one of the greatest albums ever made - no exaggeration. When this appeared, its bombastic, folk-infused thunder set the tone for the rest of the decade. One of the most unlikely bands ever to sell out Glasgow's SECC but deservedly so.

Closer, closer...

20. Interpol - Antics

My favourite of 2004 doesn’t quite stand up to its predecessor in hindsight (more on that later) but there’s some cracking tunes on this, and it moved Interpol from playing dark, seedy clubs up to huge venues like the Glasgow Academy. And on hearing Evil on the dancefloor I would shuffle like I’d never shuffled before.

19. And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead - Source Tags and Codes

Trail of Dead have been one of my favourite bands since I heard '99's Madonna. They refined the feral noise of their early work onto a major label album but maintained plenty of the raw aggression to ensure that their flirtation with stardom didn't last long - and that has to be a good thing. They still remain a hugely unpredictable but fascinating concern.

18. Brand New - Déjà Entendu

Someone must have broken Jesse Lacey's heart pretty badly judging by the spiteful, hate-filled lyrics audible here. There's a whiff of 'emotional hardcore' about the whole thing but if you can put the angst to one side, this is a fine American rock record, a million miles away from anything else badged as emo.

17. PJ Harvey - Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea

Polly Jean's career has taken some twists and turns - her last two albums, for example, have moved from minimalist piano ballads to snarly ball breaking. This is probably her most accessible set of songs - poppy, even - and still sounds fresh to this day.

16. The Besnard Lakes - ...Are the Dark Horse

One of the great forgotten albums of the decade. Led Zeppelin-esque riffs, woozy rhythms and yearning vocals combined to create eight meandering epics. More people need to hear this.

15. Stars - Set Yourself on Fire

Ahhhh, Canadian indie, circa '05. Those were wonderful times but few albums summed it up better than this. Like all the great bands of the scene, most of the players had they fingers in other pies but here they came up with terrific pop album themed around the break-up of two central characters. Deserved to be huge, but instead Snow Patrol seemed to get all the music slots on ER and Grey's Anatomy and we all know what happened there.

14. The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in America

A banging set of party tunes soundtracked Craig Finn's tales of Minneapolis teenagers up to no good. Springsteen comparisons aside they're undoubtedly one of the bands of the decade and Separation Sunday and Stay Positive (see no. 48) weren't half bad either.

13. Mclusky - Mclusky Do Dallas

Weird and wonderful. Noisy and nasty. This is an outrageous album of punishing Welsh hardcore peppered with absurd, ridiculous lyrics. It's a pity that no-one seemed to be listening at the time but they've become a popular cult concern years later.

12. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

With a few more years to listen to this, it could well have topped the list. For now though, I look forward to many more years of enjoying this beautifully melodic piece of work. I heard that they recently performed with the London Symphony Orchestra and I can't imagine a more perfect way in which to capture the sweeping majesty of this album.

11. Bat for Lashes - Fur and Gold

I rather missed this until I saw in the Mercury nominations a few years back. I'm glad I made the effort to investigate it as Natasha Khan is probably now my favourite female singer-songwriter. This is a sparse, sometimes sinister album which allows her incredible voice to soar.

C'mere. There's more...

30. Fever Ray – Fever Ray

If you’ve heard of The Knife you’ll know who Karin Dreijer Andersson is and what her voice sounds like – and you’ll obviously love it. If you haven’t, then it’s only a matter of time. This is 10 tracks of her sweetly sinister Scandinavian tones cooing over dark, minimalist electronica that makes the Knife look like Fatboy Slim. A wonderful album – the live version given away by the Guardian a few months back is a treat too.

29. Portishead - Third

Portishead successfully ditched their coffee table trip-hop reputation with their awkward eponymous album back in 1997… and promptly disappeared. How nice it was to have them back last year and in such incredible form. Beth Gibbons’ voice could easily out-haunt any ghost and Geoff Barrows shuddering arrangements were superb.

28. Regina Spektor – Mary Ann Grave Vs the Gravediggers and Other Stories

This could easily be deemed as cheating as it’s not really an album at all, rather a collection of songs from Soviet Kitsch and its two preceding US-only albums. But it feels like a coherent piece of work and really comes into its own in the second half with the likes of Lacrimosa, Chemo Limo and the magnificent Us. Begin to Hope and Far are good, but anyone investigating Regina for the first time should start here.

27. Malcolm Middleton - A Brighter Beat

Other people will doubtless pick other Malcy albums. The Skinny have talked up Into the Woods and Stuart Braithwaite picked out 5:14… as his favourite of the decade. Both are great, but I’ve plumped for his most accessible work to date. The first half is a frenetic bunch of upbeat indie rock songs; the second catches him in a more reflective mood. Great stuff, and We’re All Going To Die was the subject of the unlikeliest Christmas number one campaign EVER.

26. Cat Power - The Greatest

This record’s appeal has waned a little for me since I voted it my favourite of 2006, but there’s still no doubting its quality. Chan has tried to replicate its rough, piano bar blues feel on 2008’s covers album and her Dark Was the Night contribution but neither has come close to touching this. Perhaps its time to return to the scuzzy grunge of What Would the Community Think and get off the catwalk?

25. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

For all my adoration of the Flaming Lips’ live shows this decade, their albums haven’t quite hit the heights, and certainly none have come close to touching The Soft Bulletin (best album of the 90s?). This is their best since then though and brought them to mainstream attention despite the album being full of songs about death, science and Japanese girls fighting giant robots.

24. The Strokes - Is This It

Thankfully the skinny tie and tight jean look never quite suited me (Too fat? Too ugly? Probably both actually) so I avoided the hipster trends that the Strokes emergence prompted. Thankfully it wasn’t all style over substance, and here you’ll find 11 glorious lo-fi NYC anthems – each and every one of them a Television rip-off, but a great listen all the same.

23. TV on the Radio – Return to Cookie Mountain

Not sure this would be many people’s favourite TVotR album but it’s certainly mine, albeit by one of Kyp Malone’s whiskers. It had everything – Bowie vocals, Massive Attacks samples, floor fillers and moody electro. Marginally better than last year’s Dear Science.

22. Idlewild - 100 Broken WIndows

Ten years ago I adored Idlewild, saw them countless times live and practically wore out my copy of this. The band went into terminal decline as they aimed for the mainstream and lost key members but this is still a pleasurable listening experience.

21. Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther

I had gotten utterly sick of this and deliberately hadn’t listened to it for a few years until I heard a few tracks recently and remembered why I liked it so much in the first place. Lovely, countrified backwoods strumming held together by Tim Smith’s incredible voice.

Hadn't quite planned on two posts in a day but I'd planned to get all this up a lot sooner!

40. The Twilight Sad - Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters

This was an unrelenting barrage of beautiful feedback from Kilsyth of all places. They broke the States before their homeland but their Scottishness is obvious and not just through James Graham's rough croon. Cold Days From the Birdhouse is simply magnificent and live they will make your ears bleed.

39. David Holmes – Bow Down to the Exit Sign

Hadn't touched this for years until a few weeks back and remembered just how good it is. Homer has found fame as Hollywood's soundtracker of choice but here he picks up the themes of urban paranoia hinted at on Lets Get Killed, adds some vocals, and turns the whole thing into a rounded, and frankly creepy, trip/hip/hop/pop classic.

38. Radiohead – I Might Be Wrong

What’s that you say… “that’s not a proper album”? A fair cop I guess, but felt that while Kid A and Amnesiac represented a powerful volte-face they weren’t perfect. Hail to the Thief was packed with filler and while In Rainbows didn’t have a bad song on it, it wasn’t exactly brimful with classics either. This is were the modern Radiohead started to really make sense with the recordings of Everything In Its Right Place and Idioteque, in particular, capturing the frenetic energy of 00s Radiohead live performances.

37. Sigur Rós – Takk…

Glósóli still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and Hoppípolla could reduce any man to tears despite its over-use for TV ads. I think this even surpasses Ágætis Byrjun as their finest work and everything that’s wonderful about Sigur Rós is contained within these 11 songs.

36. Mogwai – The Hawk is Howling

Mogwai unquestionably had to feature here somewhere and I reckon this, their most recent album, is their best - at least since Young Team anyway. Batcat is the heaviest thing they've done and you could almost dance to The Sun Smells Too Loud. Almost... but not quite.

35. Boards of Canada – The Campfire Headphase

I’d almost call this ‘falling asleep music’ but that’s not meant as an insult. 1998’s Music Has the Right to Children is an all time classic but this pushes their sound on and adds a little dash of acoustic guitar to the dreamy soundscapes. Blissed out - but still a little unsettling.

34. Elliott Smith – New Moon

Figure 8 was so-so and From a Basement on a Hill wasn’t the wonderful epitaph it was meant to be, so it was a relief to see this doubler released in 2007. It successfully captures everything that was great about Elliott Smith from his introspective vulnerability to his punky sensibilities over its 24 tracks. RIP.

33. Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand

Oh-so-clever angular pop from Scotland was the order of the day in the middle of the decade. Looking back, it’s fascinating to note that the Franz were headlining festivals and selling out huge venues twice over despite the willful awkwardness of the tunes and dark lyrics. Kapranos and co really did have an ear for a catchy melody though and this is still a great album, the success of which they’re really struggling to repeat.

32. Les Savy Fav - Let's Stay Friends

Barking but glorious punk rock delivered by a band who had been bubbling under for years. Every song here is different but it still holds together as a seamless album. I’m far too old for moshing and crowd surfing now (or am I?) but I’d have been down the front ten years ago for this.

31. Muse - Absolution

This is Muse at their absolute peak. Scorching riffs on Stockholm Syndrome, overblown bombast on Butterflies and Hurricanes and a singalong classic in Time is Running Out. 2009 finds them on the verge of being consumed by their own ridiculousness, so come on guys, enough with the Queen pastiche and strip things back a bit please.