A God-awful Small Affair

In any other year, a lot of these LPs would've slotted in quite nicely to the top ten. 2013 was such a strong year for albums, though, that it resulted in them just falling short. #20 - "Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action" - Franz Ferdinand It didn't exactly set the world on fire and that's a little upsetting. The Scottish band put out one of their finest albums to date last year and it was worth the wait. #19 - "Bankrupt!" - Phoenix Another band we'd been waiting since 2009 to hear from again were the Frenchmen Phoenix - time spent probably accumulating all of those seventy one tracks for the deluxe edition's second disc. You'd be forgiven for sticking to the first, though, since it was a bag of electronic goodness and fist-pumping anthems. #18 - "Torres" - Torres An album that sits perfectly on the fence between poignant balladry and ballsy grunge sounds, I'd heartily recommend this to a

This'll be split into three parts: the first fifty, the second thirty, and the top twenty. I hope there's at least something here you may enjoy. #100 - "Sonnentanz" - Klangkarussell A bit of a surprise hit around September, this German sundance isn't exactly the liveliest thing imaginable but it sure is gorgeous. I prefer this version to the vocal one that charted. #99 - "I Appear Missing" - Queens of the Stone Age I found it difficult to pick a song from the album to feature on this list, but this one just about stands out as the most dramatic. #98 - "Flatline" - Mutya Keisha Siobhan It was a little unfortunate releasing this in the wake of HAIM, I guess. Not Dev Hynes' finest contribution to pop, not even in the past 12 months, but still largely more enjoyable than anything by the Sugababes since 2007. #97 - "Move" - Little Mix I've said many times that the build-up to the chorus is a touch disapp

    If I'm honest, there haven't been many albums this year that have stood out in record stores or made me stroke my iPod with small fits of affection - out of their sheer appearance, at least. Here, I compile ten that're at least "quite pretty" and OH BOY ARE THEY. #10 - "Nothing Was the Same" - Drake I didn't go much on the album itself, with the exception of a few singles, but the way in which this double-whammy was parodied on t'internet was mildly amusing.   #9 - "Old" - Danny Brown Is it a dig at Macklemore's Heist record? Is it a Napoleon reference? Either way, it's pretty b old ha ha ha ha hahaha hahaha ha. #8 - "Paracosm" - Washed Out It's a matter of time before this pattern is on a T-shirt I buy, I suppose. #7 - "Long.Live.A$AP" - A$AP Rocky Don't really consider myself a fan of him after how drawn out his breakthrough was and how 'm

L.A. gentleman Will Wiesenfeld comes to me at a time when the most prominent influence of Los Angeles, upon me, is that of Grand Theft Auto V . My first initiation with the musician better known as Baths , who'd already put out two albums prior to this one, the initial impression is that this Californian phenomenon won't be quite as fun. It's something of a morale boost though when you read about musicians born in shitty, dull areas making something of themselves artistically. Throw in the sexuality-based lyrical content and a dangerously aloof sound and you've got yourselves a GSA favourite in the works. Not to build too much expectation of it, of course... Intro 'Worsening' is a bleak, soul-searching monstrosity lashing out randomly with jerky, cluttering beats and a dragging vocal, occasionally bursting into small verses of "Where is God when you hate him the most? When the mouths in the earth come to bite at my robes?" - it might just be