Well 2010 was a real beauty - and 2011 has started off in the same vein. Has there ever been such a mis-match between the quality of mainstream chart music and that available elsewhere.

So far:

Gregg Allman - low Country Blues - is well a sort of Blues / Country mix - and very enjotable it is too.

Iron and Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean

Treefight for Sunlight - Treelight for Sunlight

The Solo Album No4 - the latest in the Smokey Robinson complete works

Go-Go Boots from the ever reliable Drive-By Truckers

The King is dead - the Decemberists - a band re-discovered after I inexplicably "dropped" them post Crane Wife in the mid 00's - This is a great album.

Not so much album of the year so much as revelation of the year with the Spotify which I have subscribed to and with the ability to take albums and playlists off-line with the App. I wonder if I will ever buy another album again I genuinely believe the answer is simply no.

As BillyW has mentioned I think on last years thread - it opens up all sorts of (wonderful!) avenues.

Also though that 2010 was a cracking year - although my taste is a little more mainstream and narrow than many on here (e.g. Neil Young, Paul Weller, Arcade Fire, Kings of Leon, Robert Plant, Black Keys and Ali Faka Toure were my top selections).

Thus far in 2011, I've only listened to the new Radiohead album, The King of Limbs, which I consider to be a disappointment. It's very much in the same vein as Kid A and Amnesiac and, IMHO, quite a drop in standard from their last release, In Rainbows. Obviously, there are still a few nice moments, but the vast majority of it could quite happily slot into another Thom Yorke solo album and the rest of the band - particularly their highly-talented guitarists - are almost criminally under-used.

Been meaning to start this thread for ages, cheers Knulpuk

A few good albums out already, I like British Sea Power's Valhalla Dancehall, although not as much as their last, Do You Like Rock Music? (tunes out most BSP diehards were pretty sniffy about that, so go figure) - some great tracks on it, including this opener:



Great live act as well, go see them if you get the chance.

The new Bright Eyes album, The People's Key, is something of a return to form after some mediocre stuff under the name of Conor Oberst:



But best of the lot IMO so far is Gruff Rhys' Hotel Shampoo, a fantastic set of songs from the Super Furry Animals frontman that somehow manages to be far better than most of his band's output over the last few years:

No problems I was going to PM you as you seemed to be the instigator of past threads but I was in the mood for drafting my nominations above Hope you do mind me stepping in.

Not at all. Meant to add, new Elbow album out today - Build A Rocket, Boys. I was lucky enough to see them at a small venue in Cambridge last week on a special pre-tour warm-up gig, and the new stuff sounds very good:

Fujiya & Miyagi's Ventriloquizzing is the best of the year so far for me. One for fans of edgy synth-pop. Can meets LCD Soundsystem.



After the relative disappointment of 2008's Lightbulbs, this is a major return to form and may even equal 2007's Transparent Things, which was in my opinion in the top five albums of the last decade. A word of warning about the video - very bizarre! Give it 30 seconds before the killer synth hook kicks in.

Not heard too many 2011 albums yet, but initial impressions of PJ Harveys 'Let England Shake' are that it's very good and something of a return to form.

Heard Mogwai's 'Hardcore Will Never Die, but You Will' as well the other day, which also sounds promising, as does 'Wounded Rhymes' by Lyyke Li.

Will be listening to the BSP album over the next few days (don't get a lot of music listening time so it takes me a while to catch up )

edit: Tom Waits is working on a new album, so looking forward to hearing that, perhaps later in the year.

2011 so far:

Decemberists - Good but not as good as last album (which is superb)
Bright Eyes - Good but not as good as last album (which is superb)
PJ Harvey - Anything is better than the last album, this is good but not as good as her best stuff (which is superb)

So 3 that have a lot to live up to. All very good but don't reach previous peaks.

Don't think i've physically got my hands on any 2011 releases yet, but i'll almost certainly be following up my interest in Yuck's self-titled debut album. You can stream it here on their blog, if anyone's interested:

Scroll down to 18th Feb,

http://yuckband.blogspot.com/




BSP are always a band I've tried to get into, but failed. I like alot of the bands to have come out of Brighton scene around the same time, and everything suggests I should like 'em, but it just never seems to click. I even looked past them when they played at a festival I was at the other year. Something I regret. Maybe I should keep persevering....

I can recommend Funeral For a Friends new Album 'Welcome Home Armageddon'.
Memory and Humanity was a bit flaky, but this is a return to the Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation form.
Old Hymns, Owls, and Medicated stand out.

Very enjoyable as was Transparent Things - both marked up on Spotify.

Love this thread.

So far, I'm really liking:

Snowtorch - Phideaux

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFj-Jwk3j1o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czyk-nZzwwY&feature=related

Legacy - Hypnos 69

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GaqYEG6e3s

New Strokes album very enjoyable - Angels.

Lucinda Williams - Blessed - very enjoyable.

New Laura Cantrell album due soon too

Back on Main Street, Rockville...the new R.E.M. album, Collapse Into Now, is well worth a listen - possibly their best since Automatic for the People and definitely a distinct improvement on the previous 2 studio collections.

Conversely, I've read some terrible reviews of the Strokes LP and have decided to stay clear, and the last REM LP was extremely good so I'm not sure what to think of the last two posts.

The new REM album is very good (the last one wasn't bad either). I just have to get over the question ' does the world really need another REM album?'. This one is worth listening to and you should get more out of it than digging out an old copy of Document / Green / Murmur etc. Its a tad louder with elements of 'Monster' at times but still has the REM beauty in there.

As for The Strokes. Not my cup of Earl Grey and if you want something by four skinny indie kids then why not go for something fresh and English? The debut albums by The Vaccines and Chapel Club are both very good, especially the former which is possibly just leading the album of the year contest. A fair few reasonable efforts so far but no super standout offerings.

Cheers all for the tips here. Haven't bought any albums this year so far, but have just ordered King of Limbs, Dancehall Valhalla & Build a Rocket Boys!

Lots of the contenders above (and plenty of other albums) just £4 to download during happy hour (4pm til 6pm so thats 2 hours but lets not grumble....)

http://www.tunetribe.com/promotion/happyhour


(note - they do this most weeks - you can sign up for a reminder e-mail)

Really like the following:

Art Vs. Science - The Experiment
The Naked and Famous - Passive Me, Aggressive You

Both quite indie-dance, Art vs Science slightly punky and Naked and Famous more electro. Naked and Famous very similar to MGMT.

The new TV On The Radio album is out soon, and being streamed pre-release at the Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicbl ... ypes-light

Sounds very good, not a massive departure from the last album, 'Dear Science', but as that was about my 3rd favourite album of the 00s, you won't hear me complaining .

Saw that Fancy Dan, will have a listen today. Also, the new (7th) Foo Fighters album comes out this week as well - got a good write up in the Metro so could be worth checking out.........

I agree that last year was a vintage year for music, one of the best I can remember. The only thing it lacked was an original new sound (although Janelle Monae came close), and as such it can't compare with the great years of, say, 1968-72. But the longer rock and all its associated sounds goes on, the more difficult it is for artists to come up with something genuinely new.

re TV on the Radio: I wasn't as keen on Dear Science as some on here, but I really like their new one (Nine Types of Light). That and Jessie J's Who You Are are the best albums I've heard so far this year. Can't say I'm a fan of the Foo Fighters though. Dave Grohl strikes me as a caricature rock star, like a 17-year-old playing air guitar in front of the mirror. And their Dave Grohl-lookalike drummer, who appears to be faking an orgasm during every song, reminds me of Animal in the Muppets band (and not in a good way). Their music is the same old rock noise that guitar bands have been churning out for four decades now. I suppose the Foos are better at it than most, but do we really need more of it?

Its a mixed bag of reviews on Amazon. Either brilliant or crap. Ive got the other Strokes albums so I may buy it. Agreed, Casablancas's voice is limited but when they get it right, they get it very right.

Having had a few listens to 'King of Limbs' I think it is a work of absolute genius. You have to admire them for refusing to put commercial records out and constantly looking to explore new directions. I think this album works brilliantly - a couple of the tracks sound a bit inaccessible on first listen, but as soon as you tune in, you realise they are things of beauty. I particularly like 'Codex' & 'Give up the Ghost'.

Definitely my album of the year so far for 2011.

A few more I've been enjoying lately:

Fujiya & Miyagi –Ventriloquizzing As mentioned by snout earlier. Nice.
Found – Factorycraft Smart indie rock from Edinburgh
Metronomy – The English Riviera Quality electropop/dance
Sparrow – Playtime Sparse, atmospheric, sometimes heavy guitar band from Brighton with some nice boy/girl harmonies. If you like the xx, you’ll like Sparrow. Here's a sample:

For those who like to rock I suggest get the Rise Against album Endgame.
Absolutely blew me away.
I was going to put it on the ipod for the train to work tomorrow but heard the 1st track and was hooked.
If it's your genre you will not be dissapointed.
It just builds through, catchy anthems, tracks 9 to 12 I cant recall a better finish to any album.
Wait For Me, This is Letting Go, and the opener Architects are the stand outs.
I thought FFAF's Welcome Home Armageddon which I raved about was a very good album, this just bitch slapped it.

New album from Bon Iver coming up in June. Laura Cantrall new album out this year as well. Could be a good summer

I'm enjoying the Smith Westerns ~ 'Dye it Blonde'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SMEj5l2lLw

Ok, they borrowed it all from the Beatles and Bowie but that never stopped a few other bands i could mention...

Not really a 2011 but rather 2010 but 100 Questions by the Schramms is being played non stop on Spotify at the mo (by me).
- sort of NY guitary, (Pernice Brothers + TFC + Lemonheads) / Nothing Bad.

Alison Krauss and Union Station - Paper Airplane - great voice - could listen to all day.

TV on the Radio - Nine Types of Light - seems a good follow up album.

Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

Been listening to this for nearly a month (don't ask) and I like it every bit as much as their incredible debut album.

Absolutely wonderful, life-enhancing, music - the lyrics are a lot more introspective (an observation, not a criticism), but the melodies, harmonies and arrangements are just devine. The musical spirit that entered Brian Wilson in the 60s, and left in the 70s, has finally re-surfaced in Robin Pecknold - a true musical genuis.