Albums of the Year: the Top Ten

So, we finally come to the top ten and the number one. It's been a great year for music, and each one here in the ten is a brilliant album in its own right. There are no losers here...except for the other nine that aren't number one! Honk! I jest, so I'll shut up and get on with it...

10. The Walkmen - Heaven

There's no better voice in music - probably - than the one that belongs to The Walkmen's frontman Hamilton Leithauser. That's a bald fact right there. I've loved The Walkmen from the moment I saw them supporting Tanya Donnelly at King Tuts in Glasgow in 2002, and they've just got better and better. Generally gone is the high-octane rush of songs like 'The Rat' (but they still kill it on stage), replaced with swooning ballads and thoughtful electric slow-burners. Heaven is the band's most "mature" effort to date, but that's no bad thing. Songs like 'Heartbreaker' and 'We Can't Be Beat' are among their best songs, and the rest of the band have never sounded better. Quiet genius from one of America's greats.



9. Cloud Nothings - Attack On Memory

Dylan Baldi's bedroom project expanded, and got better in 2012. Produced by Steve Albini, this record was a mix of emo and hardcore that Albini himself would be proud to say he'd written. Baldi shreds his throat across a collection of visceral and angry tracks, barely letting up for the 33 minute running time. Combine this with a brilliant live EP Live From the Grog Shop, then 2012 confirmed that guitar music - in some form at least - has some life left in it.



8. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!

Out of nowhere, ten years on from their last record, the Canadian collective surprised us all with four new tracks that proved Godspeed still have what it takes. Genuinely close to being as good as F#A#∞ and Skinny Fists, these tracks burn with rage and passion, symphonic beauty and dark menace. They continue to make music that's unmatched and incomparable, so familiar yet unquestionably new: while bands try to ape the Godspeed sound, no-one will ever come close to matching the sheer exhilarating brilliance of tracks like 'Mladic' on this album. The originators are back, cower all ye who wished to usurp.



7. Daniel Rossen - Silent Hour/Golden Mile

*Whispers* this was better than the Grizzly Bear album. There, said it. While we waited on Shields to drop, Dan Rossen decided to use up demos intended for GB as an outlet for his compelling solo work. Recalling Elliott Smith, George Harrison and 70s singer-songwriters yet staying instantly recognisable as Rossen's own work, the tracks on this EP showed off not just his song writing talent but his amazing skills as an electric guitarist. Freewheeling, carefree and choruses to die for, it says something for the record that at just 20mins long and really an EP, it still makes my top ten for the best releases in 2012.



6. Liars - WIXIW

There's an argument for Liars being the most consistently brilliant and inventive band of the last ten years. From the punk-funk of They Threw Us All In a Trench, to the love-it-or-hate-it (but it is complete genius, by the way) They Were Wrong, So We Drowned, and through the solid 8/10s of Drums Not Dead, Liars and Sisterworld, Angus Andrew and co have proved they've always got something up their sleeve. This time the band went mainly electronic, and gave us a sinster-yet-warm record laden with synths, samples, the occasional analogue instrument and Andrew's traditionally cryptic lyrics. Once more, Liars have succeeded in their experimentation.



5. Julia Holter - Ekstasis

Now, THIS is lovely. Probably the most gorgeous and atmospheric record of 2012, and that says a lot for Holter's talent as Ekstasis is yet another home-recorded piece of music. Recalling, in places, Laurie Anderson and Julianna Barwick, this was experimental music at its most accessible and beautiful, forcing Holter's soundscapes into "proper song" form and managing not to lose anything in the process.



4. Japandroids - Celebration Rock

It begins and ends with the sound of fireworks, and in between it's the sound of a band letting off musical fireworks across eight blistering tracks of good time rock n roll music. Loud, laden with killer riffs and lyrics that attempt to fend off time, the morning and anything else that'll come in the way of the party, Celebration Rock is an utterly joyous experience. Life-affirming, raucous music made by just two guys with a drumkit and a guitar, it's one of the best rock records in recent memory...and to think Japandroids were going to call it quits before this album. Thank the maker they nixed that notion.



3. Mission of Burma - Unsound

While Japandroids occupy the opposite end of the age scale, these Boston post-punk vets just seem to get better and better with age. Splitting up in 1983 after one stunning album and EP (Vs, and Signals, Calls and Marches) and reforming nearly 20 years later in 2002, Clint Conley, Roger Miller and Peter Prescott have managed - incredibly - to sound as good as they were back in the 80s. They're now at a point where the reunion has produced double the output of first time around (Unsound is their fourth album since 2002) and yet the band's punk anger remains intact. 'Dust Devil' is classic angry Miller, complete with jerky time-signatures, while '7s' is probably one of the best songs that Conley's ever written, sounding like it's been plucked straight from 1981. Full of energy, Unsound shames those bands who reunite and simply re-hash the old tunes.



2. Sharon Van Etten - Tramp

A giant leap forward from Epic, Van Etten's third release has pushed her right into the big league: sell out shows, tours with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds....runner-up in 78sDW albums of the year list. Recorded in Aaron Dessner's garage studio and containing appearances from members of The Walkmen and The National, Tramp showcased a more aggressive Van Etten, plugging in yet still saving space for tender strums that show off her wonderful singing voice. The gorgeous waltz of 'Leonard' was pretty close to the song of the year, 'Serpents' and 'Warsaw' showed off new found confidence...and live, she's an absolute treat, self-effacing yet completely passionate about what she does. It's the album as a whole that really shines: a confessional record that avoids being downbeat or "woe is me" for the sake of it, Sharon Van Etten is here to stay. I cannot wait to see what she does next.



1. Father John Misty - Fear Fun

Casting off the cloak of miserablism that shrouded his gothic country work as J.Tillman, and quitting Fleet Foxes in the process, Josh Tillman jumped in a van, headed to Laurel Canyon and tried to write a novel. Yeah, like that'll work out. It didn't, but you can read those aborted efforts in the liner notes to the first release from Tillman as Father John Misty, Fear Fun. If you ever wondered what a Harry Nilsson/Neil Young collaboration might sound like, wonder no more. This record is a joy from start to end: the swooning 'Funtimes In Babylon' charts the ups and downs of Tillman's decadence, the stomp of 'Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings' showed he could do electric rock with the best of them, the freewheeling 'I'm Writing A Novel', references Young and philosophy with tongue firmly in cheek, and closing track - and album high point - 'Everyman Needs a Companion' proved that Tillman could do tender and self-referential in one fell swoop. It was the record I turned to the most in 2012, the most enjoyable, but also the artistic and creative high point of Josh Tillman's career so far. Better than Fleet Foxes, better than J. Tillman, and without question (in my book) the best album of 2012. It makes me happy to listen to Fear Fun, and I can give it no higher praise than that.

Albums of the Year: Numbers 17 - 11

And on we go....

17. Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music

The best rap album of the year, Mike and El-P (along with Big Boi, T.I and others) mixed classic dirty South rap with East Coast brutalism to produce the sleekest hip hop album in many a year. From the moment 'Big Beast' clatters into your ears with primitive 808s and punishing raps from KM, you know this is going to be great. Shorn of any unnecessary skits or starry guest spots, it's a politicised record that avoids being heavy-handed and even Obama comes in for some KM criticism, putting the Prez in the same bracket as Reagan and Bush, just another "talking head on a teleprompter". An unforgiving experience, and all the better for it.



16. Efterklang - Piramida

The reason that the Danish band's latest excellent album is so far down the list is that I've been spoiled by the live version of the recording. Witnessing Efterklang with the Northern Sinfonia in Edinburgh's Usher Hall in October of this year was one of the most thrilling live experiences I've had. Taking the tracks from Piramida and adding an orchestra and choir took the album to another level, a wonderful place full of wonder and symphony. On record, it's still great, an extension of the work we heard on Parades and Magic Chairs: the sound of a band willing to experiment but keeping a melodic pop heart at the core of what they do.



15. Sun Kil Moon - Among the Leaves

Mark Kozelek rarely ever puts a foot wrong. Continuing the stripped down approach of Admiral Fell Promises, it's mainly the former Red House Painter and his nylon-stringed guitar again, singing tales of what it's like to be on the road: groupies, leaving his home and having to endure bad food and weather in the UK. It's scattered with Kozelek's dark humour as always, yet there's always loss and sadness just around the corner. What's often ignored, among the beautiful playing and poetic lyrics, is how good a voice Kozelek has, and his current minimal approach means its as naked as it's ever been, and better than it's ever been. An artist that's prolific without losing quality control, some acts could take a leaf out of Sun Kil Moon's book.



14. Jens Lekman - I Know What Love Isn't

Everyone's favourite lovelorn Swedish troubadour returned in 2012 with some of his strongest work to date; as witty and lyrically clever as he's always been, Jens this time makes us work for the goods rather than give us hook and chorus after hook and chorus. From beautiful solo piano interludes, through the saxophone of 'Erica America' to the gorgeousness of the string-laden 'The End of the World Is Bigger Than Love', the album is always sweetly swoonsome. In a world where lovelorn troubadours rule, Jens Lekman would always be top of the charts.



13. Team Me - To The Treetops!

This is the happiest record of 2012, by a long way. Back in March I wrote that this album from the Norwegian six-piece would either make you sick with twee or giddy with joy, and that still stands. A combination of Broken Social Scene, Sufjan Stevens and Arcade Fire on Prozac, To The Treetops remains a brilliant blast of pure fun, everything-and-the-kitchen-sink instrumentation and killer tunes.



12. Divine Fits - A Thing Called Divine Fits

Of all things, a "super group" that doesn't collapse under the weight of egos on show. Dan Boeckner of Handsome Furs/Wolf Parade met Spoon's Britt Daniel backstage after a show, joking they should work together...and so they ended up doing just that. Combining the taut sparseness of recent Spoon records with the glam paranoia of Boeckner's work, A Thing... is an unqualified success unworthy of being passed off as an occasional side-project. From the synth banger 'My Love Is Real' to the raw rock n roll of 'What Gets You Alone', everything the band turns its hand to comes off as a complete success, leaving more records from Divine Fits a near-certainty.



11. Grizzly Bear - Shields

Everyone knows what a wonderful band this lot are, and the only reason that the album isn't in the top ten is due to the fact that for whatever reason I've not been able to devote enough time to it. Live, they were fantastic once again a month or so ago in Glasgow and I've so much time for each member of the band (a pointer to another record that does make my top ten), and the songs on here are near-perfect: the electric clatter of 'Sleeping Ute' and 'Yet Again' show a band capable of harnessing a powerful sound, just as 'A Simple Answer' and 'Sun In Your Eyes' show off their ability to create symphonic wonders. Impeccably played, produced and constructed, they might well be the best US band we've got right now. A top three record in a world where I have more time...