Tuesday 9 December 2008

The MFAGW Top 10

It's the end of the year, and sure as eggs is eggs there are music lists, polls and debates galore. I'm a sucker for a good end-of-year list, so I'm sure as hell gonna contribute my own. So without further ado, here are my top ten albums of the year:

10. Does It Offend You, Yeah? - You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into
A triumph of genre crossovers, from Daft Punk to '80s pop, there was hardly a dud track on here.

Does It Offend You, Yeah? - Weird Science

9. Ida Maria - Fortress Around My Heart
Explosive, effervescent pop-punk from the amazing Miss Maria, her live show is just as good.

Ida Maria - Stella

8. Lightspeed Champion - Falling Off The Lavender Bridge
Dev Hynes truly manages to shake off the Test Icicles tag to mould himself as a brilliant, twisted folk troubador.

Lightspeed Champion - Galaxy Of The Lost

7. Flight of the Conchords - Flight of the Conchords
I know comedy records shouldn't count, but this is such a well-formed album, the fact that it's funny doesn't even matter that much.

Flight of the Conchords - The Most Beautiful Girl (In The Room)

6. Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires
The perfect blend of house, indie, funk and any other genre you want to name, this album manages the seemingly impossible task of making a hugely coherent album without ever becoming samey.

Friendly Fires - Photobooth

5. Mumford and Sons - Lend Me Your Eyes EP
Alright, it's an EP not an album, but all four tracks are just so beautiful, so unbelievably heart-wrenching and glorious that I can't not include it.

Mumford and Sons - Awake My Soul

4. Laura Marling - Alas, I Cannot Swim
New-folk's true pioneer, this album delivered exactly what everyone wanted, the old demos produced beautifully, as well as some wonderful new tracks.

Laura Marling - Night Terror

3. Johnny Flynn - A Larum
Three new-folk albums in a row eh? I'd been waiting for an album from Johnny Flynn since his first demo of Tickle Me Pink, and the album was everything I'd wanted and more.

Johnny Flynn - Leftovers

2. Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip - Angles
Hip-hop doesn't have to be corporate, gangstafied shite, it can be poetry, it can be dance music, it can be funny or tragically sad. In short, this album's brilliant.

Da
n Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip - The Beat That My Heart Skipped

1. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
To be honest, I don't think there was ever a doubt in my mind that this would be first place. When it came out it was just so different. Totally summery, totally African and totally incredible.

Vampire Weekend - Bryn

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great list!

Anonymous said...

Great to see Dan Le Sac up there. Expect Raphaels' album to be there next year - heard a promo copy yesterday, pretty amazing.

loschristianos said...

Hi Joe...its Christian, I know you from NSR. Stumbled across your music blog on hype machine, I remember you told me you had one in freshers week...couldnt recall the name!Check mine out if you get the chance,
www.next-goal-wins.blogspot.com
happy christmas sir!

Hanan said...

love your list.

Anonymous said...

AA very respectable list!