100 Best Albums Of '2009'

[YI]

:::THE BEST 11 LIVE ACTS OF "DECEMBER 08-NOVEMBER 09":::

:::(fuck metalman for being a pedantic ponce):::

ARTISTS SEEN

A Wilhelm Scream

Adam Green

AFI

Alexisonfire

Apologies, I Have None

Arctic Monkeys (for like 3 songs...it counts damnit)

Astro-Chimp

Austin Lucas

BATS

Beasts (x2)

Blakfish

Bloc Party

Blood Red Shoes

Blur

Bridge & Tunnel

Broadway Calls

Calvin Harris

Calvinball

Castro

Chuck Ragan

Come On Gang!

Dananananaykroyd

Defeater

Defiance, Ohio

Deftones

Detroit Social Club

Dot Allison

Efterklang

Electric Six

Ellen & The Escapades

Example

Fashanu

Finding Atlantis

Florence & The Machine

Former Cell Mates

Frank Turner (x2)

Friendly Fires (x2)

Funeral For A Friend

Grammatics

Hapsberg Braganza

In Case Of Fire

In Oceans

In This Moment

InMe

Jack Lewis

Jamie Allen

Jeniferever

Josh Small

Kaiser Chiefs

Kids In Glass Houses

Kings Of Leon

Ladyhawke

Laughing In The Face Of

Lights

Lisa Lashes

Little Comets

Lost Prophets

Love Bites & Bruises

Mad Caddies

Madeline

Madina Lake

Marina & The Diamonds (x2)

Me Vs Hero

Mike Hale

Municipal Waste

New Found Glory

Newbridge Downfall

Offshore Radio

One Night Stand In North Dakota (x3)

Paige

People Get Real

Pete Doherty

Poison The Well

Polar Bear Club (x4)

Posset

Pure Graft

Random Hand

Red Light Company

Rise Against (x2)

Ruiner

Sona Di

Spy Catcher

Streetlight Manifesto (x2)

Symphony Cult

The Acrobatic Society

The Chevrolites

The Cribs

The Gaslight Anthem

The Get Up Kids

The Gloom

The Human League

The Lock & Keys

The Long Lonesome Go

The Prodigy (x2)

The Rakes

The Saint & The Cynics (x2)

The Thermals

The Wombats

This Is A Standoff

Thursday

Tragedy

Tripdash

VersaEmerge

White Lies

Whole Wheat Bread

Wild Beasts

Writhe

Yuksek

+ about a dozen or so local bands who haven't been worth remembering/I've been too drunk to remember

4. THE PRODIGY

SEEN: 6/4/09 - The Prodigy (w/Dizzee Rascal) - Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle

28/8/09 - LEEDS/READING FESTIVAL - Main Stage, Leeds

Sweet Jesus, The Prodigy are back and aren't they back with a bang!?! "Invaders Must Die" is quite probably their most consistent release to date but it's been their live show that's really won me over. These guys are pushing their 40's, for all intents and purposes they should not be able to get away doing this kind of shit. Most other aging rock bands who try to act like they did 15-years ago look ridiculous, yet Prodigy just seem to get cooler and cooler.

I saw them with Dizzee Rascal (who I once again missed) at Newcastle Arena in April and honestly, words cannot describe the experience. The fact I didn't even pay for my tickets makes it even sweeter. It was just an utterly intense experience. The pounding, the light show, just the whole atmosphere of the place, it's just something that has to be witness. At Leeds they were good, but they were nowhere near the same level, the outdoors, the fact it wasn't pitch black, it all affected things, at Newcastle they were just out of this world.

They played a little longer in Newcastle, filling the set with a bunch of songs from "Invaders Must Die" as well as a bunch of their classics. You honestly forget how many amazing songs they have in their back catalogue and the fact they're making these tracks relevant once again is an amazing thing, more people should appreciate Prodigy. "Omen" is such a massive tune, when it's tied together with "Breathe", as it is in their setlist it becomes even bigger. It's impossible not to love these guys in a live environment, they are absolute masters.

I'll now squeeze in something from my 'live review' thread I said about them - People talk about 'rock & roll', what is 'rock & roll'...this, to me is what rock & roll is all about. Look at Keith Flint, he's like what, 40 now? In the last 15 years he has not aged a day. He's just strutting around the stage, couldn't give a fuck, giving off the vibe that in the last 24 hours he's had more cowies than the 10,000 strong audience have in their entire lifetime. He looks immortal/fucking mental.

They're just larger than life, they'll never die. Long live The Prodigy!

Edited December 11, 2009 by YI

[YI]

80. "Land Of The Freaks" by Freak Kitchen

MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/freakkitchenmusic

Freak Kitchen are a hard-rock/prog-metal 3-piece from Sweden, known for general awesomeness and onstage shenanigans (such as guitar solo's played with a vibrator). In 2000, after 4 albums they went through a line-up change leaving Mattias Eklundh, the guitarist and frontman as the only founding member still in the band. However, this turned out to be a fantastic change as in 2002 the band released their best album to date "Move", following it up with "Organic" in 2005. Since then it's been a long wait for this album and while not as good as the two previously mentioned efforts, it is still damn good. Nowhere near as melodic as "Move" or "Organic", the band have taken a darker edge, so a lot less cheesy chord progressions, and there's nothing as instantly catchy, as those two albums were choc-ful of poppy choruses. The humour is still here though and the musicianship is just as tight as ever, if not more so. Bloody good album.

SOUNDS LIKE: Faith No More, Bumblefoot, Dream Theater

SHIT HOT SONGS: "Teargas Jazz", "Honey, You're A Nazi", "Hip Hop Hoorah" and "Murder Groupie"

79. "Ocean Eyes" by Owl City

MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/owlcity

Holy fuck does this feel low! Before I start, I'm going to have to say "Cave In" and "Umbrella Beach" are two of my most played tracks of the year (even if "Umbrella Beach"'s intro sounds like something from an overbroad relocation property program). But for the album as a whole, first of all, like the Lights album (but worse) it does the annoying thing of regurgitating old tracks on the album. With Lights it was okay, they were EP tracks (which is why I won't say anything about "Hello Seattle" being on here, plus, the ending now sounds HUGE) but there's no excuse for him putting "On The Wing" and "The Saltwater Room" on here (and cutting out the acoustic bit before the chorus in the latter). Now what makes this more annoying is that these tracks aren't needed, the album's 14 tracks, he also has two fan-dabi-dozi 'stand-alone' singles released before the album which would fit perfectly on here, in fact "Hot Air Balloon" is the best track he's every produced. There's also a really fucking pointless remix, which disrupts the flow of the whole thing. But all in all, the tracks are nice. It's still a fun album. Musically, when it's catchier, it's dancier than "Maybe I'm Dreaming" and when it's quieter, it's more laid back than "Maybe I'm Dreaming", but all in all, nowhere near as good. However, it still sounds like The Postal Service covering the theme music from The Sims...what the fuck is not to love about that? Off your tits on happy.

SOUNDS LIKE: The Postal Service covering the music from The Sims, PlayRadioPlay!, I Hate This Place, Plushgun

SHIT HOT SONGS: "Cave In", "Umbrella Beach", "The Tip Of The Iceberg" and "Meteor Shower"

78. "The Invisible" by The Invisible

MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/theinvisiblethree

Up next is Mercury Prize nominated trio, The Invisible. One of the most effortlessly cool bands of 2009. Sounding like TV On The Radio covering Prince songs, it's down tempo and often eerie sounding, but at the same time it's just so fucking funky! Their sounds is incredibly diverse, but incredibly contained, unlike a lot of bands who do the whole 'genre hopping' thing they don't seem to go "HEY! THIS TRACK IS SOLID FUNK! NOW THIS IS A GLITCHY PROGRESSIVE-ELECTRONIC TRACK! AND WE'RE GOING TO FOLLOW IT WITH AN ACOUSTIC TRACK! HOW DIVERSE ARE WE!". Whilst there is a 3-track run like that on the album, it all flows perfectly and the songs really feel like they belong together. Beautiful album to listen to first thing on a dark winter morning, trust me.

SOUNDS LIKE: TV On The Radio, Hercules & The Love Affair, Radiohead

SHIT HOT SONGS: "London Girl", "Monster's Waltz", "OK" and "Passion"

77. "This World" by Activa

MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/activamusic

So how do you follow a band as 'weird' as The Invisible? With some uplifting trance of course! "This World" is a double disk set and is Activa's debut album. The first CD is all new material (as far as I'm aware), clocking in at just under 80-minutes. It basically all runs on from each other. After an introduction track which sounds vaguely like the noise that comes from the cosmic key in the fantastically shit 1987 live action film "He-Man: Masters Of The Universe" the album really kicks in with fantastic track after fantastic track. The production is top notch and the main synth lines are out of this world, standouts being the bleepy riff during "Atlantic", "Don't Leave Me" and the absolutely MASSIVE "Affirmation". Unfortunately, like lots of these kind of albums suffer from, the run-ins from one 'track' to the next really don't work a lot of the time, and in all honesty sitting down and listening to 80 solid minutes of trance can be a bit much. The 2nd CD is mostly throwaway stuff, tracks not good enough to make the final cut etc. But there is a FANTASTIC remix of Gary Maguire of an older Activa track, "End Of Summer". And album guaranteed to get you in a good mood and want to dance like a twat.

SOUNDS LIKE: Fast Distance, U-Recken, Ephedrix

SHIT HOT SONGS: "End Of Summer (Gary Maguire Remix)", "Affirmation", "Atlantic" and "Another Day"

76. "Chasing Hamburg" by Polar Bear Club

MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/polarbearclub

What a band. Honestly, what a band. Their EP was an absolute work of art, 5 of the most perfectly crafted punk-rock songs I've ever heard. Their debut album was absolutely fantastic placing highly in my list last year and it's grown on me even more since then. Live they're an absolute phenomenan. Leeds Festival was the 4th time I'd seen them in just over 6-months and whilst their weakest performance, they were still one of the best bands of the entire weekend. This, just doesn't really fully click with me. There's not a song I dislike, it just, doesn't really get me. Although to be honest, "Sometimes Things Just Disappear" took a while to grow on me as much as it did. But as things stand right now, even "The Light Of Local Eyes" and "Living Saints", two killer tracks just don't compare to their best songs from the EP or debut album. Maybe after seeing this crop of songs live (in March, fingers crossed) I'll appreciate them more, but as things stand, PBC slot in nicely at 76.

SOUNDS LIKE: Small Brown Bike, Million Dead, Latterman, Hot Water Music

SHIT HOT SONGS: "The Light Of Local Eyes", "Living Saints", "The Old Fisher Burial Ground" and "Boxes"

Edited December 12, 2009 by YI

[The Kraig]

You've seen a lot of shit bands this year, YI.

I enjoyed Mad Caddies live, but they kind of ruined it when they stole the hot girl I'd been hanging around with all night. Rage.

I hope to see Rammstein's Liebe ist für Alle Da, NOFX's Coaster (or Frisbee if it's the vinyl edition), Muse's The Resistance, Billy Talent's Billy Talent III and maybe even Deathstars' Night Electric Night. Oh, and Them Crooked Vultures as well.

Billy Clyro's Only Revolution was another one of my picks. As is The Prodigy's Invaders Must Die (which I expect will come in the top 10).

Actually Wolfmother's Cosmic Egg was pretty good too.

Edited December 12, 2009 by The Kraig

[YI]

I've also seen a bunch of fucking awesome bands, so it evens out...and I think you're going to be disappointed by the lack of albums mentioned.

[Xand]

I'm quite liking Owl City. But I actually thought it was Ben Gibbard when I first heard it...

[YI]

75. "The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion" by Dredg

MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/dredg

Dredg's 3rd album, "Catch Without Arms" is one of my favourite albums of all time. It's been a long 4-years since I first heard that and finally they came out with a brand spanking new release. Ultimately, all you need to know about Dredg is that they manage to make the "U2 guitar effect" cool, so therefore, they deserve to be worshipped like gods. This album didn't really sit right with me to begin with, the short/snippet tracks that were gone from the last album have made a return, and I always thought they messed with the flow in "El Cielo" and it kind of does the same here. But fuck it, the good tracks are all absolutely outstanding. From the pounding chorus of "Information", to "Mourning This Morning" which sounds more like a WHAM! song than a progressive-rock track, to Muse-esque "Saviour", there are some cracking tracks on here, all very different. If I am honest, they were never going to produce an album that would live up to "Catch Without Arms" to me, but this is definitely a good attempt.

SOUNDS LIKE: Rx Bandits, Mew, Aereogramme, Muse

SHIT HOT SONGS: "Information", "Mourning This Morning", "Gathering Pebbles" and "Ireland"

74. "Isle of Now" by Montée

MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/monteemusic

Okay, how the bloody hell do you describe Montée, besides that Norwegian's write the motherfucking cheesiest music of all time. A little bit Earth, Wind & Fire, a little bit Sting & The Police, a little bit Jamiroquai, a little bit Toto...it's just god damn fucking cheese, but it's absolutely fantastic. Opening track and personal favourite "Entity", builds and builds with a groove, falsetto vocals shine through, offset against guitar that sounds like it's lifted from the background of a "Starsky & Hutch" episode. Then it just explodes with synth-horn craziness and the bassline thumps away, it is one of the most awe inspiring things I've heard all year. Unfortunately the quality isn't kept up throughout, but there's a massive number of brilliant songs on here. What I love about Montée is, that whilst other 'throwback' disco sort of artists, like The Whitest Boy Alive are really quite downplayed, there's no such thing here, Montée are so ridiculously over the top, without shame, it's glorious.

SOUNDS LIKE: Jamiroquai, Earth Wind & Fire, all those 80's one hit wonders, Kennedy

SHIT HOT SONGS: "Entity", "Amazona", "Secrecy" and "Isle Of Now"

73. "Junior" by Royksopp

MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/royksopp

Royksopp are just absolutely fantastic. They're one of those eletronic/dance artists that can seamlessly make the transition from home headphone listens to music that makes you want to dance in a club, the tracks are just so well structured and fan-dabi-dozi, however you're feeling. The album sees the group going into overload with guest appearences with Norwegian singer Anneli Drecker reprising the role of guest from their debut "Melody A.M" and Karin Dreijer Andersson (The Knife/Fever Ray) returning after her fabulous work on "The Understanding" single, "What Else Is There?". These two women definitely provide the better tracks, but Royksopp have also drafted in help from two currently very popular artists, Robyn and Lykke Li. However, the tracks with these two girls seem to fall a bit flat (the Robyn track especially) and are two of the weakest on here. In my opinion not as strong as the two CD's that came before, but still a nice little album.

SOUNDS LIKE: The Knife, Vitalic, Daft Punk

SHIT HOT SONGS: "You Don't Have a Clue", "Tricky Tricky", "Happy Up Here" and "This Must Be It"

72. "Anthology" by Colour

MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/colouruk

I dip into the Big Scary Monsters roster for the 2nd time so far in this list, with Colours earning the #72 spot on the list. "Anthology" is both their debut and final album, the band splitting shortly after announcing the CD. Missing them on their farewell tour, playing with Blakfish is something I'll probably never forgive myself for, but I was hammered and thought going to play snooker as apposed to heading to Sunderland on my lonesome was a better plan at the time. So, the band itself. Twiddly, clean guitar parts, no distortion. The sort of 'floating' vocals you get from bands like This Town Needs Guns and American Football, almost as if it's just another instrument in the mix. Lots of synchopation, the songs chop and change a lot, but in a good way. Much like hardcore bands, these sort of bands don't seem to have a long life-span, and much like pioneers American Football and fellow label mates The Tupolev Ghost and Wintermute, Colour are another band to unfortunately bail out after one album. But thankfully it's an album full of absolute gems.

SOUNDS LIKE: This Town Needs Guns, American Football, Pennines, Foals

SHIT HOT SONGS: "Over The Moon", "Unicorns", "Shamu" and "Dinosaurs"

71. "Happiness" by Dance Gavin Dance

MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/dancegavindance

This is the 3rd album from post-hardcore outfit, Dance Gavin Dance, and their 2nd with their current singer (the original vocalist is now fronting Emarosa, who placed well on my list last year). Dance Gavin Dance seem to follow the At The Drive-In post-hardcore playbook, it's so busy and frantic, you'll probably only be able to fully appreciate the album if you have a mental illness. The easiest way to sum it up is that it's basically the musical equivalent of an epileptic fit. It catches you totally off guard, you have no idea what the fuck's going on and half an hour later you come round, no idea where you are but you feel invinsible. And even though you think it might be bad for you, you just want to keep going back for that rush. Because, to bring the shitty metaphor full circle, whilst Dance Gavin Dance themselves are fine, you're one small step away from 'never coming back around' and then finding yourself listening to bands like Confide (those fucks who did the Postal Service cover).

SOUNDS LIKE: At The Drive-In, Fear Before (The March Of Flames), Chiodos

SHIT HOT SONGS: "Carl Barker", "I'm Down With Brown Town", "Happiness" and "Don't Tell Dave"

Edited December 14, 2009 by YI

[WrightStuff]

Will definitely have to give Colour a spin since I love This Town Needs Guns. Any chance of some hip-hop on the list? Raekwon, Mos Def, and K'naan put out some really dope albums.

[YI]

Will definitely have to give Colour a spin since I love This Town Needs Guns. Any chance of some hip-hop on the list? Raekwon, Mos Def, and K'naan put out some really dope albums.

Not really much of a hip-hop fan, there's been some albums I've enjoyed like Jay Z or Two Fingers, but haven't really enjoyed them enough to get on here. That being said, there is an album with a strong hip-hop vibe in the top 10, whilst not a pure hip-hop album.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Heh I actually like Junior the most out of Royksopp's albums so far and also like Robyn's contribution. No complaints about you listing Happy Up Here, Tricky Tricky and This Must Be It as strong tracks though. But yeah, I also like What I Want and The Girl And The Robot.

[YI]

:::THE BEST 11 LIVE ACTS OF "DECEMBER 08-NOVEMBER 09":::

:::(fuck metalman for being a pedantic ponce):::

ARTISTS SEEN

A Wilhelm Scream

Adam Green

AFI

Alexisonfire

Apologies, I Have None

Arctic Monkeys (for like 3 songs...it counts damnit)

Astro-Chimp

Austin Lucas

BATS

Beasts (x2)

Blakfish

Bloc Party

Blood Red Shoes

Blur

Bridge & Tunnel

Broadway Calls

Calvin Harris

Calvinball

Castro

Chuck Ragan

Come On Gang!

Dananananaykroyd

Defeater

Defiance, Ohio

Deftones

Detroit Social Club

Dot Allison

Efterklang

Electric Six

Ellen & The Escapades

Example

Fashanu

Finding Atlantis

Florence & The Machine

Former Cell Mates

Frank Turner (x2)

Friendly Fires (x2)

Funeral For A Friend

Grammatics

Hapsberg Braganza

In Case Of Fire

In Oceans

In This Moment

InMe

Jack Lewis

Jamie Allen

Jeniferever

Josh Small

Kaiser Chiefs

Kids In Glass Houses

Kings Of Leon

Ladyhawke

Laughing In The Face Of

Lights

Lisa Lashes

Little Comets

Lost Prophets

Love Bites & Bruises

Mad Caddies

Madeline

Madina Lake

Marina & The Diamonds (x2)

Me Vs Hero

Mike Hale

Municipal Waste

New Found Glory

Newbridge Downfall

Offshore Radio

One Night Stand In North Dakota (x3)

Paige

People Get Real

Pete Doherty

Poison The Well

Polar Bear Club (x4)

Posset

Pure Graft

Random Hand

Red Light Company

Rise Against (x2)

Ruiner

Sona Di

Spy Catcher

Streetlight Manifesto (x2)

Symphony Cult

The Acrobatic Society

The Chevrolites

The Cribs

The Gaslight Anthem

The Get Up Kids

The Gloom

The Human League

The Lock & Keys

The Long Lonesome Go

The Prodigy (x2)

The Rakes

The Saint & The Cynics (x2)

The Thermals

The Wombats

This Is A Standoff

Thursday

Tragedy

Tripdash

VersaEmerge

White Lies

Whole Wheat Bread

Wild Beasts

Writhe

Yuksek

+ about a dozen or so local bands who haven't been worth remembering/I've been too drunk to remember

3. BLUR

SEEN: 6/25/09 - Blur (w/Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jong) - O2 Academy, Newcastle

If I'm going to be totally honest, until somewhat recently I was in the Oasis camp. I wasn't massively into Oasis, and for the most part, both bands were relatively off my radar (besides odd singles). However, I started getting more and more into Blur. My mate kept putting them on the jukebox in the pub and I started to get hold of the albums. I still never gave them the listens they deserved, but when the reunion tour was announced, my mate wanted to get tickets...we didn't get them, because like 99.99999999% of the tickets could only be bought from the Academy Box Office (which they didn't tell you, as far as either of us were aware), and you can get fucked if I was waiting outside the Box Office until 9 in the morning.

So, we weren't going, I was a bit gutted, but not massively so and soon moved on...until a few weeks later, I was in Leeds to see Efterklang and got a phonecall from my mate saying I owed him £50, the night before he'd gotten drunk, got into a fight, so came home and bought the cheapest Blur tickets he could find to cheer himself up. Seriously one of the best £50 I've ever, ever spent.

Support was provided by Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jong, who we made the very clever decision to miss and get hammered. They were touted for big things in 2008, but the fact they receorded an album so shit it was not released...yeah, I think we made the best decision.

Blur took the stage, were absolutely unreal. Words cannot describe. We'd planned to start at the back and work our way forward, but even at the back during "She's So High" I was squashed up and honestly didn't think we'd get forward easily. But by the time "Girls & Boys" had finished and "Tracy Jacks" had started we were right near the front.

It was an absolutely insane gig, so many massive tracks. "Jubilee", "Beetlebum", "Sunday Sunday", "Advert", "Tender", "Chemical World", "End Of A Century" and of course the closer "The Universal". Then there's all the big singles as well. The setlist was simply absolutely perfect ("Colin Zeal" would have been nice, but besides that, perfect) and now I adore this band so-so much. Honestly, what a fucking show. So happy that I actually managed to get to this.

Being a silly sod, my mate recently broke his phone, losing the videos he took of the show...the videos were brilliant as in all of them, all you could hear was us singing.

Honestly, so fucking happy I got to go to this. It's made even sweeter by the fact Oasis played the Stadium of Light a few weeks before...who would you rather see, Oasis for £50, in a massive stadium of 50,000...in some ridiculously over-long 'spectacle' with shitty supports (Kasabian/The Enemy)...or Blur for the same price in a venue 1/25th of the size, being within 10-feet of the stage...for me, that's easy.

Edited December 16, 2009 by YI

[METALMAN]

fuck you. Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong are good.

[YI]

...they still wrote an album too shit to release...that is 100% fact.

And my mate saw them at Leeds in 2008 (fun fact, while I was seeing The Gaslight Anthem, now something he regrets) and said they were utter shit.

I did quite like that one song they released, "Lonely Buoy" though, good tune. But the fact he left Rose from The Pipettes and moved onto Peaches Geldoff means the singer's an utter cunt.

[Lowerdeck]

*shown up two thirds of the way through the undercard before the Gaslight show...*

[YI]

70. "At Home We Are Tourists" by Settle

MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/settle

Long standing punk-rock label, Epitaph records have been branching out a lot recently, mostly to disasterous results. However, there is one shining star of these branch out bands, and that's Settle. Not really the easiest band the pigeonhole, given the fact they play some sort of indie-rock/pop-rock hybrid, often sounding more like The Killers or The Bravery in comparison to the pop-rock counterparts listed below. Take for example early standout "Naked At A Family Function", it opens with a verse that's eerily reminiscent to an electro-twinged National song, before a bridge that sounds straight out of the Atom & His Package playbook...it shouldn't work, but it does, amazingly. In all honesty the album seems to tail off a little towards the end, after "Murder", the straight up catchiest track on the album. But there's still some great moments like "On The Prowl" which is a great track (really enjoy the chorus) and the last track is a solid closer. Good band. Not really sure why, but I adore the album cover too.

SOUNDS LIKE: Say Anything, Plus 44, Fall Out Boy, The Bravery

SHIT HOT SONGS: "Naked At A Family Function", "ISO: 40yr M W/Kids Seeks 26yr F WO/Kids", "Murder" and "Grand Marshall's Mooncloth Robes"

69. "Oh My God, Charlie Darwin" by The Low Anthem

MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/lowanthem

The Low Anthem's 3rd album sees them mix up their gorgeous folk sensitivities with a more indie-rock edge at times. The three tracks that revel in this indie-ness, whilst solid tracks in their own way just don't really fit with the rest of the album and really hurt the flow of things. "The Horizon Is A Beltway" kind of sounds like you're listening to a Primal Scream gig...from about 10-minutes away, "Home, I'll Never Be" submerges the band in 60's power-pop stylings and "Champion Angel" sounds like an outtake from the first Fratellis album. They're all 'okay' songs, but why are The Low Anthem doing these kinds of 'okay' songs when they should be doing ultra-depressive, but incredibly gorgeous acoustic numbers which sound like they've been written and sung by a hermit who lives in a chalet in the mountains, who still hunts his own food. The wailing falsetto of "Charlie Darwin", the almost 'spoken style' of "Ticket Taker" and the uplifting vocals of "OMGCG", there's more than enough to set Low Anthem songs apart already, so why do they have to go and ruin the formula with these songs that stick out like a sore thumb and have the vocalist yelping like a club singer? The great songs are great though, but as a whole, not a patch on "What The Crow Brings", not by a long way.

SOUNDS LIKE: Joseph Arthur, The Bowerbirds, Bon Iver, The Leisure Society

SHIT HOT SONGS: "Ticket Taker", "To Ohio", "Charlie Darwin" and "OMGCG"

68. "Small Town Stories" by A Death In The Family

MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/adeathinthefamily

This is the 2nd album from this Australian, gruff punk band, the only Australian band to make this 100 list. The album is a concept album, quite simply about 10 unrelated, ficticious stories set in 10 different small Australian towns, hence the album name. The album is horrendously bleak, and this is magnified by the fact it never really gets beyond mid-tempo and the fact the singer has a voice that sounds like his first love broke his heart and since then he's been unable to get over it and spent every night home alone, staring at her picture, drinking his liver to oblivion with a handgun resting on his knee, just never quite able to make himself pull the trigger. Because of this, this album isn't for everyone, it's very no-frills, but if you can get into the songs, it can be an absolute joy to listen to, depending on your mood. They're a band that are picking up quite a following too, touring their Australia with Rise Against and Leatherface (Frankie Stubbs even produced their debut album), coming to the USA with Gaslight Anthem and playing UK dates with Milloy.

SOUNDS LIKE: Hot Water Music, Milloy, Leatherface, Like...Alaska

SHIT HOT SONGS: "Minor Chord In The Melody", "Erasing The Maps", "Traffic" and "His Body, It Tells The Stories"

67. "Be Disappointed" by This Is A Standoff

MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/thisisastandoff

This is the 2nd album from Canadian tech-punk band, the follow up to their 2007 album "Be Excited". And despite the name, it's an album that certainly doesn't disappoint. Founded from the ashes of tech-punk pioneers Belveder, TIAS are a band that are just so ridiculously full of energy. This new album opens with "The Light Is Still On In Broadmoor", which is one of the most awe inspiring tracks I've seen performed live all year. Seeing them get every start/stop perfectly, every riff flawlessly and the drummer (who isn't even their usual drummer) absolutely destroying the drum kit was a sight to behold. The album's not as instantly catchy as the debut, but the band have really pulled out all the stops as far as technical prowess goes, but the more you listen to the album, the more you realise that is is full of absolute tunes. From mid-tempo (as far as TIAS go) sing-along number "Go With Me" to catchy as sin "Can't Take Them All" and powerhouse of a track "Graveyards". A band that really have to be seen live to be believed, but still hold up fantastically on record, and they're back over here in April next year, including a show with Strung Out, which I'll most definitely be at.

SOUNDS LIKE: Belvedere, A Wilhelm Scream, Whippersnapper, Forus, BeerBong

SHIT HOT SONGS: "Graveyards", The Light Is Still On In Broadmoor", "Go With Me" and "Face The Sun"

66. "Gold Country" by Chuck Ragan

MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/chuckragan

Chuck Ragan, what a guy! One of my favourite descriptions of Chuck actually comes from NME, who once described him as someone who "has a voice that could kill a horse". It seems these days every bloke in punk-rock seems to have an acoustic side project, but very few tend to do it right. For example, Sundowner, I love him, but make it an electric guitar, add some drums and a bass and he's just singing Lawrence Arms songs. Mike Hale and Joey Cape seem to have the down-tempo sort of stuff sorted and Chuck Ragan, while often seeming to tease going into the 'playing punk rock songs acoustically' territory on his first album, gets by with his country twinge, here the country is no longer a twinge as it's turned up to mass effect. His vocal work is just so powerful. He seems like one of those blokes who'd sit you down on his porch, share a bottle of whisky and tell you stories about his life. Chuck will be over the UK supporting Frank Turner next year. He's a real mensch.

SOUNDS LIKE: Austin Lucas, Tim Vantol, Ben Nichols, Drag The River

SHIT HOT SONGS: "Rotterdam", "Don't Say A Word", "Ole Diesel" and "Cut Em Down"

[YI]

I've slipped off the ball a bit here, I'll try and get back on track in the new year. However, I'm posting to say #97, "Wishes & Wishes" by Bayonets can now be downloaded 100% free - http://www.walnuttreerecords.co.uk/

[YI]

65. "Can't Maintain" by Andrew Jackson Jihad

MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/andrewjacksonjihad

AJJ are back with their 2nd full length album. A band that really captured the attention of fans of many genres, spanning across from the folk-punk scene to become a staple of many a trendy indie-whore's music collection. As Ringmaster commented about this album, musically the band seem to have improved, there seems to be a lot more variaion here...but it's just not as good as "People Who Can Eat People...". "Sense, Sensibility" (whilst not a new song) is absolutely amazing, one of the best tracks I've heard all year. The electric guitar rendition of "Heartilation" took some time to grow on me too, but it's fantastic. There's times when things get a little same-y, but it's still a bloody good album. One of those bands you just want to throw on after a shit day and vent along with them. I also quite like the fact they've toned down the 'angriness' somewhat, as I worried that it might get a little forced, but when it comes, it comes brilliantly.

SOUNDS LIKE: Ghost Mice, Wingnut Dishwashers Union, Pedals On Our Pirate Ships, This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb

SHIT HOT SONGS: "Sense, Sensibility", "Self Esteem", "Who Are You?" and "Heartilation"

64. "Summer Fences" by Castevet

MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/romancastevet

We're back with another Big Scary Monsters band, recently signed to front their new USA offshoot with similar band, Grown Ups. The 'Chicago Indie-Emo' sound is one that's really surged back in the past couple of years and there have been a bunch of amazing releases recently in that style (we'll come back to this later...a lot later). Castevet's spin on the style originally brought to the forefront by American Football sees them blend the extended instrumental parts of beautiful melodies/overlapping guitar riffs with a more ferocious side, distorted guitars and shouty vocals. At times it sounds somewhat unhinged, but really contained at the same time, which something I adore about these kind of bands. Also, unlike a lot of bands in this genre, they get props for not sounding depressing. They have a new EP coming very soon.

SOUNDS LIKE: Grown Ups, American Football, Everyone Everywhere, Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate)

SHIT HOT SONGS: "Stranger, You Know", "Plays One On TV", "I Know What A Lion Is" and "When a Movie Is Made In France, It's Called 'Cinemas'"

63. "Pay The Crimes" by The Magnificent

MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/massmurderonthestreets

The Magnificent is the indie-punk side project from the guys from the electric, downright fucking mental, experimental rock outfit That Fucking Tank (who also released their debut album "Tanknology" in 2009). And in all honesty, this band is just about as far removed from That Fucking Tank than a band could be. The arrangements are naturally a lot simpler, instead of instrumental whackiness you've got a selection of fun songs...songs about having fun...just...seriously, much like A Death In The Family before it, it mostly trundles along in the mid-tempo punk-rock territory (although there are some faster tracks) but the albums cannot be so far apart in terms of style and feeling. I get a strong Libertines vibe from these guys, which is always a good thing. From the chord progressions used, the slurry vocals, the way the tracks move in a kind of 'jumpy' way and the riffs that are churned out. The ending to "Broken Record" especially is totally out of The Libertines playbook, from the "Whoa's" to the dirty guitar riff riding over the top, fabulous stuff. Big fan of this album.

SOUNDS LIKE: Former Cell Mates, The Libertines, Rancid, Dillinger Four

SHIT HOT SONGS: "Lifetime", "Six Beers", "Broken Record" and "Doctor & The Freeze Up"

62. "Ups And Downsizing" by The Swellers

MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/theswellers

Album cover of the year (actually, Attica! Attica! may beat it). "Fire Away" - song of the year (okay, well it's a toss up between "Fire Away" and "Omen" by Prodigy). After an absolutely unreal debut up, The Swellers released their first album "My Everest" in 2007, which was a fast and frantic melodic hardcore meets pop-punk album, which was a little inconsistent but still a damn good listen. Now the band are signed to Fueled By Ramen and have put out their follow up. As a whole the pace has been edged back more than a notch, but personally, I think that's a good thing, as even though the album is still a little inconsistent, I personally find this far better than "My Everest". "Fire Away" is seriously such a fucking amazing track. The chorus is just absolutely massive.

SOUNDS LIKE: Ryan's Hope, Millencolin, New Found Glory, The Wonder Years

SHIT HOT SONGS: "Fire Away", "2009", "Welcome Back Riders" and "Dirt"

61. "New Best Friends" by Mansions

MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/mansions

So how about some "Slow Motion Scene From A Teen Drama" music! Sounding somewhere between Jimmy Eat World's shitty long tracks (only good) and Brand New at their most melencholy, Mansions is a one man band project from the United States. The songs feature a lot of distorted vocal work, clingy guitars and simplistic basslines, musically it's never going to set the world alight, but it's just the fact it fits together so perfectly that makes this such a strong album. Where the likes of Jimmy Eat world are so hit and miss, this doesn't have a bad track on here and at times honestly feels more like a natural follow up to Brand New's "Deja Entendu" than "The Devil & God..." did. But there's still a good amount of variation to the tracks, for example the melencholy acoustic number "Insulated" runs into the brooding "Take It Back", which is followed by the drum-synth twinged "Gotta Be Alone", which sounds like one of those fantastic one hit wonder 90's Britpop tracks.

SOUNDS LIKE: Jimmy Eat World, Brand New, Manchester Orchestra, Allred

SHIT HOT SONGS: "Curacao Blue", "Insulated", "Por Favor Is Spanish" and "The Worst Part"

Edited January 6, 2010 by YI

[YI]

60. "Don't Worry" by Math The Band

MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/maththeband

Okay, where to start with Math The Band? It's like someone took the best parts of Atom & His Package and Andrew WK, mixed them together and put a moderately attractive girl on synthesizer duties. The band have released two full lengths this year, this being the 2nd. The debut, "Math The Band Banned The Math" is a massive 21 song album and very reminiscent to the Atom & His Package albums of old, in both style and the fact there's a good number of absolute dross on there, they also put together a rather moderate cover of "Upside Down From Here" (but you're never gonna do a song like that justice). That being said, the debut features some killer tunes like; "The Order Of The Planets From The Sun", "My Algebra Teacher (Sold Heroin)", "Four Square Or Square Ball?", "Let's Hear It For Capitalism" etc. Their 2nd album is a lot more streamlined, down to 9-songs, all of which are great. There's a bit more distortion and a Andrew WK party vibe and a Treasure Mammal sheer WHAT THE FUCK!?!?! factor. Fantastic band. One of my favourite descoveries of the year, just so fucking fun.

SOUNDS LIKE: Atom & His Package, Treasure Mammal, Andrew WK

SHIT HOT SONGS: "Big Foot", "Introducing The Magic Eye", "Hang Out/Hang Ten" and "Tour De Friends"

59. "Homesick" by A Day To Remember

MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/adaytoremember

Up now is the third album from pop-punk/post-hardcore hybrid band, A Day To Remember. The way the band mixes from blisteringly fast verses to huge sing-along choruses, to chuggy metalcore sections and of course a complete and utter onslaught of gang vocals, leads to a total aural orgasm. I'll like to make note at this time that the intro to "The Downfall Of Us All" is the coolest fucking thing ever. I'm a total sucker for these kinds of bands and there's masses about, only very few really seem to get it right (Four Year Strong with "Rise Or Die Trying" in 2007, Pendleton with "The Difference" in 2008, Latin For Truth with "Eleven Eleven" - which despite being good, didn't make the list and The Wonder Years with "The Upsides", forthcoming this year). A Day To Remember certainly do it right!

SOUNDS LIKE: Set Your Goals, Four Year Strong, Pendleton, Latin For Truth

SHIT HOT SONGS: "The Downfall Of Us All", "NJ Legion Iced Tea", "Homesick" and "Have Faith In Me"

58. "Yeah So" by Slow Club

MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/slowclub

I was a little late picking up on Slow Club (in comparison to how I'm normally on the ball), only getting into them at the start of the year. This boy girl duo are so delightfully twee and sweet, the bloke seems like your mate who reads obscure French fiction, you think he might bat both ways, but he'll always be first in the pub and at about the 7-pint mark will start wanting to take his clothes off. The girl, is just utterly adorable, I want to cuddle her to death. If I'm totally honest, I was a little disappointed by this album. It's still a good album, but in comparison to the EP material, it's just not as good. In fact, the better songs on the album also appeared in their EP stuff...but yeah, still a good album, and it's grown on me a lot more recently. The boy/girl vocal split is absolutely gorgeous and "Because We're Dead" is such a lovely tune. Great band.

SOUNDS LIKE: The Momeraths, Dot To Dots, Zoey Van Goey, Laura Marling

SHIT HOT SONGS: "Because We're Dead", "When I Go", "Come On Youth" and "It Doesn't Have To Be Beautiful"

57. "Of Our Delirious Former Loving Hours" by Minnaars

MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/minnaars

Minnaars are the first band from Leicester on the list...yes, believe it or not there is another band from Leicester still to come (could have been 3 on here, but The Shortwave Fade didn't quite make the cut). They're a highly dance-y, math-rock inspired indie-pop band...which is a long winded way to say they sound exactly like fucking Foals. Whilst like Foals, they never go the whole-hog into the math-rock territory, there's still a nice selection of twiddly guitar work and electronics, as well as groovy bass parts that will cause a B-Tech Art Student to jizz his pants. I actually really, really like these, there's masses of potential here. At only 8-songs (but still clocking in at 40-minutes) they manage to stay fresh throughout and they are really helped by the fact they write better tunes and are nowhere near as needlessly pretentious as Foals. Honestly a band I could see getting very big in 2010, they're recording another album at the start of the year and the tracks are just so dance-able, I could really see them going places if they sort themselves out a good label. Would be higher if half of the songs on here weren't previously available and the fact it's clear to hear that the songs have been recorded in two different sessions.

SOUNDS LIKE: Foals, Data.Select.Party, Wintermute, Atwood

SHIT HOT SONGS: "Spelt With A K Not A C", "Are Lovers", "Essay Essay Essay" and "Busy Hands"

56. "Veil Of Ignorance" by Raised Fist

MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/raisedfist

I think it's about time for another hardcore band, this time Swedish behemoths, Raised Fist. Raised Fist were quite probably the first hardcore band outside of Sick Of It All I ever got into and are easily one of my favourites (with only maybe Paint It Black pushing them close). In a genre of bands that at times just sound so copy and pasted, to hear a band that just shine through so differently like Raised Fist is a joy. The vocalist has such an original voice, I've never heard anything like it. Musically it's so very dark sounding as well and is basically the musical equivalent of an action-horror film...where you're on edge constantly and feel like you're about to be totally fucked up. That being said, the album does have a couple of weak points. Such notable track is "Wounds", which sounds awfully like someone screaming over a Strokes track, which just doesn't work in any way shape or form, it's also sandwiched between two of the better tracks on the CD, making it seem even worse. Bloody good album, hardcore bands tend to have such a short lifespan, so it's great to see one still striding on valiantly. Totally in a league of their own.

SOUNDS LIKE: Modern Life Is War, Defeater, Your Demise, Dead Swans

SHIT HOT SONGS: "Afraid", "Friends And Traitors", "Words And Phrases" and "Slipping Into Coma"

[METALMAN]

fat George is obsessed with slow club. I seriously think they are the only band he has listened to in like the last year. So as a result I've heard the album lots. It is fun though.

[Rich]

Do more of this, I want to find more bands that I missed out on last year due to my shocking lack of interest in new bands and listening to the same records over and over again

[YI]

Okay I made a fuck up, there's actually 101 albums on this list...so there will the amazing inclusion of 51a) to try and cover it up.

55. "Holofon" by Dorena

MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/dorenamusic

There has been a good number of instrumental post-rock bands making releases this past year. Codes In The Clouds, Sunlight Ascending, A New Silent Corporation etc. But there's one album that's head and shoulders above the rest and that is the debut release from this Swedish band. Not as progressive as some of the before mentioned bands, not as epic and grandiose as others, they fit nice and firmly into the middle ground of the genre, providing many an atmospheric tune that swells into a crashing finale (best seen in standout 10-minute track "Till Våning Tretton"). Not a band that's going to change anybody's mind on the merits of instrumental post-rock albums, but for what it is, it's a damn fine release.

SOUNDS LIKE: Mono, Explosions In The Sky, Codes in The Clouds, Sunlight Ascending

SHIT HOT SONGS: "Till Våning Tretton", "I Huset Jag Växte Upp", "Dagsländan" and "Solen Har Förblindat Mig"

54. "Nostalgia Ain't What It Used To Be" by Gasoline Heart

MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/gasolineheart

And it's time for another Heartland Rock esque throwback act. Looking at the band name, the album name and the album cover, I know what you're thinking "Another Gaslight Anthem rip-off band". But Gasoline Heart have been plying their trade in the days where "Sink Or Swim" was merely a pipedream. It is actually fun to note, most bands that sound like Gaslight Anthem have actually been around longer than them, it's just Gaslight do this kind of thing a million times better than any of them. Gasoline Heart are for the most part a more laid back affair, a bit of a dirty southern vibe to some of their stuff. Between the intro and outro tracks ("Never Been Better/Never Been Worse". which are the same song, only the closer is acoustic, and nowhere near as good) are 10-tracks, all great in their own way. The swelling tracks like "Stop Pretending" and "Eager Seas", with the piano chords adding depth, are standouts. Then you've got the upbeat tracks like "You Can't Keep A Good Kid Down" and "Backbooth" and the fantastic chillout track "Sunshine State". You can pick this thing up as a download for $5/£3...I recommend you do it.

SOUNDS LIKE: Lucero, The Loved Ones, Queen City Station, Two Cow Garage

SHIT HOT SONGS: "Stop Pretending", "Sunshine State", "Never Been Better" and "Backbooth"

53. "Filth" by Venetian Snares

MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/venetiansnares

I've been a fan of Venetian Snares for a number of years now, first introduced to him by my brother. Over the past few years he's suffered from what I like to call the "Buckethead Syndrome", in that he's released so much material none of it feels special (other sufferers include the guys from The Mars Volta) and it feels like he could do a hell of a lot better, and even though there's odd moments of brilliance, you often miss out on it, as it's surrounded by mass amounts of mediocre rubbish. This year Aaron Funk (that's his real name!?!? Fuck off!!!! I'd record under that name, that's an awesome name) has streamlined himself to 1-album, and it's a damn fine album. His slick time changes and weird signatures are here, crazy beats, but it all just seems to fit together perfectly, it's like he's went "yeah, these are definitely the best 10 songs I have, fuck the rest, this is my album" and that's good. "Kimberly Clark" is up there as one of my favourite Venetian Snares tunes ever.

SOUNDS LIKE: Squarepusher, Bong-Ra, Duran Duran Duran

SHIT HOT SONGS: "Kimberly Clark", "Mongoloid Alien", "Pussy Skull" and "Deep Dicking"

52. "Another City, Another Sorry" by The Answering Machine

MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/theansweringmachine

Straight up catchy indie seems to be a 'dirty word' these days. Arctic Monkeys have steered well clear of it, losing everything that made them remarkable in the first place, Maximo Park seemed to shun it on their recent release, Franz Ferdinand are getting more artsy-fartsy and shit...it's hard to find a band that will stay true and just write catchy melodies and big choruses. There are still a few (The Cribs, The Wombats etc.) but now there's a new band bursting on the scene, and they are here to prove that you can still have an amazing album with the 'bottom form of indie'. I mean, there's nothing 'post-punk' here, there's nothing 'artsy-fartsy', nothing 'experimental'...it's just 11-fucking rocking tunes. An album that should definitely be listened to.

SOUNDS LIKE: The Wombats, The Cribs, Two Door Cinema Club, Twisted Wheel

SHIT HOT SONGS: "Obviously Cold", "It's Over! It's Over! It's Over!", "Oklahoma" and "Lightbulbs"

51(b). "Grammatics" by Grammatics

MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/grammatics

From a fit bassist to a fit cello player and time for one of my most eagerly aticipated releases of the year. The debut album from Leeds' Grammatics. Stumbling across them in 2008, I soon picked them up as one of the bands to watch in 2009. The album seems musically like a follow on from the last Aereogramme album, beautiful, but occasionally frantic. The Aereograamme vibe really shines through in the beautifully brooding "Murderer". Not an overly exciting album, but it's most definitely got this vibe of its own, big crunching riffs, dreamy but dark vocals and moments of sheer musical assault. Also, I got to see them live, supporting Red Light Company. Despite the album cover clearly having a girl in a dress on it and the album itself featuring many interludes of female vocals...it had somehow never dawned on me there was a girl in the band. Good album.

SOUNDS LIKE: Aereogramme, The National, Cursive, Radiohead

SHIT HOT SONGS: "Relentless Fours", "The Vague Archive", "Murderer" and "Inkjet Lakes"

51(a). "Defining Refining" by Half Hearted Hero

MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/halfheartedheroband

Now time for another pop-punk hybrid band. Much like This Is A Standoff (a few posts ago), Half Hearted Hero are a band that mix the sheer catchiness of pop-punk, with even more 'authentic whiney boy vocals' (don't let that put you off) and blistering drum and guitar work of tech-punk bands like A Wilhelm Scream etc. The album's a lot longer than you first expect it to be, with some songs clocking in at 4/5/6 minutes, but they never outstay their welcome. Vocal wise the band is weird, I'm becoming more aware of these sort of vocalists that just seem kind of 'dead', like the voices are really flat (I don't mean musically, I just mean like, really straight...it's hard to describe, but listen you'll catch onto what I mean straight away), the bloke from Dredg was one of the first I really picked up doing it, but it's weird as I've noticed it in two very similar bands in the punk-rock scene, Half Hearted Hero and Lipona. In fact "Cobblestones" on here sounds as though it's going to break into the chorus from Lipona's "Beginning The Dynamite Era", so much so that even now I get disappointed when it doesn't happen (because the Lipona track is a total chooooooon). So many killer tracks on this thing. Their myspace also features a fucking awesome cover of "A Thousand Miles" by Vanessa Carlton.

SOUNDS LIKE: Lipona, This Is A Standoff, Rufio, The Fullblast, Scallywagon

SHIT HOT SONGS: "Meter? I Just Met Her!", "Notes On The Floor", "Something Missing" and "A Pathetic Attempt At An Apathetic Approach"