Среда 10 Дек 2008, 17:11

I defy anyone to be able to directly compare, for the purposes of placing in a chart, the warm emotional wash they get from listening to an amazing piece of modern classical music to the prickly, teenage rush they get from blasting 3 minutes of pure unhooked indie rock, or to the angular urban shapes a low end slab of dubstep forces their body into and ever hope to make a definitive decision that one is 'better' than the other.

Such is usually the dilema with my year ender, and this year has been a particularly tough year as modern classical has well and truly taken its place in my heart. At the same time the electronic scene, primarily centred around all things dub has fractured and splintered into yet more sub genres and, well, gone all wonky.

At times I've found myself wanting to acquire a decent bit of indie rock to keep that flame alive for me and have more often than not found it challenging to find stuff that gets my eric tripping, though the stuff I have found (or been recommended) has been high grade.

So what you see below is more of a league system than a chart - an idea i've nicked from various last fm friends as a way of loosely grading releases without being too clinical about it. I initially did an A-D system and then a ***** - ** system but couldn't honestly bring myself to rate some of the amazing albums in the 16-25 section as a lowly D - it just sounded like an injustice.

So go ahead, try to tell me Deerhunter was better than Atlas Sound or that Fleet Foxes really should have been higher, but I'd rather you tell me about something thats not even here that you thought was amazing that I really should hear or ask me about, for instance, Ólöf Arnalds and then go and check out her beautiful album or anything else you don't recognise…enjoy.

(note: all categories in alphabetical order .. unless numbered stupid!)

1-5

Aerial
2562
Dubstep blending with dub techno was a dream come true for me this year and this was an early strike.

For Emma, Forever Ago
Bon Iver
With the rush of discovering the latest best thing its easy to forget a quiet classic that came out all those months ago. It'd be a crime to overlook such a gorgeous album.

24 Postcards in full Colour
Max Richter
I'd been waiting a long time for more Max Richter material and while the format of the abbreviated sketches mapped out over these 24 pieces takes some getting used to, every single one could fill an album with their rich, emotional textures.

Laulu Laakson Kukista
Paavoharju
This would probably have been number one were we dishing out places. A hazy wash of rural Finnish folk filtered through an ever moving radio dial being operated by someone smoking more grass than would normally be encouraged.

Við og við
Ólöf Arnalds
Lovely.

6-10

Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel - Atlas Sound
Shoegaze/indie/electronic

Diary Of An Afro Warrior - Benga
Dubstep

Rabbit Habits - Man Man
Unhinged indie

Third - Portishead
Definitely not trip hop anymore…

Hometowns - The Rural Alberta Advantage
Indie rock

11-15

The Battle of Land and Sea - The Battle of Land and Sea
Folky melancholy

Roots and Wire - Deadbeat
Dub techno

Fordlandia - Johan Johansson
Modern classical

Out My Window - Koushik
Dream-hop

Float - Peter Broderick
Modern classical

16-25

Rivers Arms - Balmorhea
Modern classical

Kondens - Erik Levander
Modern classical/ambient/experimental

Ferndorf - Hauschka
Modern classical

Hush Arbors - Hush Arbors
Psych folk

Litany of echoes - James Blackshaw
Modern psych-classical

Lost Wisdom - Mount Eerie , Julie Doiron , Fred Squire
Indie rock

All We Could Do Was Sing - Port O'Brien
Indie rock

All is Well - Sam Amidon
Folk

Moonbeams - Throw Me the Statue
Indie rock

Alopecia - Why?
Indie- hop

Singles

1. Sun Giant - Fleet Foxes
2. Ghost Glacier EP - Breathe Owl Breathe
3. CCTV - LV
4. I never cried a tear - Bvdub
5. Zomby EP - Zomby

10 Favourite Tracks

I built the sea - The Battle of Land and Sea
Re: Stacks - Bon Iver
Oliver James - Fleet Foxes
CCTV - LV
Top Drawer - Man Man
San Bernardino - The Mountain Goats
Italialaisella laivalla - Paavoharju
The Crook Of My Good Arm - Pale Young Gentlemen
The Rip - Portishead
Four Night Rider - The Rural Alberta Advantage
Englar og dárar - Ólöf Arnalds

Also enjoyed:

My Get Up And Go Just Got Up And Went - Ass - Instrumental (mostly) acoustic
Coyotes - Brian Borcherdt - Acoustic Singer/songwriter
Motion To Rejoin - Brightblack Morning Light - lazy Rhodes psych
Microcastle - Deerhunter - Indie rock
Visiter - The Dodos - Indie rock
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes - Folk/Indie rock
The Orion Songbook - Frontier Ruckus - Acoustic indie rock
Night Falls - Hecq - Excellent modern classical/ambient
Cyclical - iTal tEK - Dubstep on the crunchier side
Treny - Jacaszek - Modern classical
Die Soundboy Die - Kid 606 - Fun bass raves.
Dauw - Machinefabriek - Ambient/modern classical/ field recordings
We Live in Houses Made of Wood - Small Sur - Folk
Ephemeral Exhibits - Starkey - Dubstep/grime
Naked Acid - Valet - Psych

Liked but too late to make it

Hazyville - Actress - Woozy electronic
Kids Aflame - Arms - Indie rock
Black Sea - Fennesz - Ambient/modern classical
The Orchard - Fire on Fire - Folk/rock
Na Na Ni - Frederick - Indie/laptop folk
Minatures - Matthew Robert Cooper - Modern classical/ambient
Black Forest (Tra La La) - Pale Young Gentlemen - Indie rock with strings.
Fallen Arches - Sunken Foal - Experimental electronic
Shallow Grave - The Tallest Man on Earth - Dylanesque acoustic

The year's disappointments for me….

City of refuge - Castanets
Heretic Pride - The Mountain Goats
Carried to dust - Calexico
Mountain Battles - The Breeders
Made in the Dark - Hot Chip