A God-awful Small Affair

Now, for the best bit... It's common sense that the album is the most rewarding and complete phenomenon within music, and that's why the whole prediction that the mp3 would kill it off turning out to be a load of nonsense overjoyed me. Sure, there's been a lot of deviation from the format: download-for-free EPs and mixtapes and so on - but these have always existed since the cassette generation. Maybe it's with the benefit of hindsight that I scoff at that, but it's mostly preamble to my painstaking and largely arbitrary decision to crown my favourite fifty albums of 2012. I haven't quite got around to reviewing as many albums as I did in 2011 - 50 fewer, in fact, as it stands, although I endeavour to close that gap by at least five over the festive period - and in all honesty I've not really been wowed in 2012 with as much frequency as I was in 2010 or 2011. For that reason, a lot of the first twenty are filler albums, and aren...

When Sandie Shaw sang about a puppet on a string in 1967 it seemed highly unlikely that there'd ever be a day when a band named after a lesbian sex act would enjoy #1 hits and albums in the United Kingdom. And yet, even from their debut album, the band have continued to bother UK charts with their risqué music videos and flamboyant sounds. Whether it was the photograph of Peter Reed's arse or a lack of mainstream pop songs, 'Night Work' was the band's first album not to top the charts. Then again, we have Eminem to blame, so no shame there. There is the worrying fear that the band have now become an alternative disco pop outlet. Sure, album #4 earned a #4 place over here but that was behind the rather unexciting Paloma Faith, Gary Barlow and Rumer. Their earlier sound of quirky, infectious Elton John derivatives has made way for hands-in-the-air electropop and whilst there've still been some fantastic moments - the Ian McKellen verse on Invisible Light - t...

The current popular music climate is drowning in electronic synths that all blend together into one repetitive and boring strand. Step forward Scissor Sisters, purveyors of camp, infectious and feel-good anthems. Their previous two albums have topped charts worldwide and springboarded phenomenal songs such as I Don't Feel Like Dancin', Take Your Mama and Filthy/Gorgeous. Now with a change of musical scene you'd expect them to thrive given the rather stereotypical view of a group of homosexuals from New York and its supposed experiences with dance music. And they do. "Night Work" is jam-packed with what most current albums and artists are not: memorable tunes, poetically outrageous lyrics (no disco sticks or show me where your dick's at here) and consistency. The titular track is an immediate fast-paced reflection on the mood of the album, keeping with their quirky and honky-tonk lyrical delivery that Jake Shears is able to slip into with ease. "Wh...