OK, let’s all but finish with 2010. Unless I do a live thing. Which I might.
Here’s the Top 10 MPT albums of the year with helpful links to purchase!
10.
Fuzzy Lights – Twin Feathers
(Little Red Rabbit) [Buy it] Not Reviewed
More restrained on record than in person, ‘Twin Feathers’ nevertheless brilliantly illustrates Fuzzy Lights’ quite-loud approach with a hint of folkiness thrown in. Although they’re English, they actually fit in very well with where a lot of Scottish bands are right now. Expect to hear more of them in 2011.
9.
Citay – Dream Get Together
(Dead Oceans) [Buy it] Not reviewed
A wee bit of a wild card this it’s the only album in the top 10 that I don’t own on a physical CD. DGT sounds to me like a weirder New Pornographers with longer songs (most are around the 7 minute mark) and even a couple of instrumentals. Quite a perky beast.
8.
Tokyo Police Club – Champ
(Memphis Industries) [Buy it] Not reviewed
Like RedTrack, the more established Tokyo Police Club offer up vaguely new wave pop. It’s not earth shatteringly original but the first side of ‘Champ’ at least is great. Unfortunately the second doesn’t quite live up to those standards but it’s still worth checking out.
7.
No Age – Everything In Between
(Sub Pop) [Buy it] (Review)
A nice find in looking for something a little noisier amongst a great year of Scottish indie folk. The Hüsker Dü are not without foundation – all it lacked was a couple of killer tunes to really elevate it towards the year’s best.
6.
Mitchell Museum – The Peters Port Memorial Service
(Electra French) [Buy it] (Review)
Brilliantly recorded if ‘Peters Port’ had perhaps had more songs like ‘Warning Bells’ and ‘Tiger Heartbeat’ this could have been challenging at the top end of the list. In the end for all its strengths, the songwriting was a little uneven but it as sure as hell shows up the potential of the Mitchells.
5.
Ash – A to Z Vol 1
(Atomic Heart) [Buy it] (Review)
A welcome return to form for Wheeler and co as in the course of the 26 A-Z songs they exploited the freedom of not making an album by having a go at whatever they fancied from electro pop to 10 minute instrumentals. More importantly they also came up with their best songs in years. Volume 2′s worth having too but Volume 1 is undeniably the stronger set.
4.
The Phantom Band – The Wants
(Chemikal Underground) [Buy it] (Review)
I’m still a bit confused about this one – have they just not quite got the songs right so that they sound better in my head or have they recorded a really durable album that you can go back to time and time again? I’m inclined to the latter at the moment – certainly the most adventurous record in the Top 10.
3.
Emma Pollock – The Law of Large Numbers
(Chemikal Underground) [Buy it] (Review)
Up til its release, ‘Large Numbers’ was the best LP that Emma had been involved with quite probably since the Delgados’ ‘Great Eastern’ – which is high praise indeed. Far more robustly recorded than her debut this also covered more stylistic bases than ‘Fireworks’. One of the year’s most under-rated records.
2.
Kid Canaveral – Shouting at Wildlife
(Straight To Video) [Buy it] (Review)
‘Wildlife’ was pretty much everything you could have wanted from the Canaverals’ debut LP. Perhaps more poptastic than might have been expected it got the balance right in terms of mixing the existing singles with newer songs to properly represent exactly what Kid C are about. Has rightly had praise heaped on it at the end of the year.
1.
The Burns Unit – Sideshow
(The Burns Unit) [Buy it] (Review)
‘Sideshow’ just edges out ‘Wildlife’ for MPT LP of the year down to the awesome songwriting on display. Some may struggle to get their heads around the dizzying array of styles on offer, but the more I listened to it, the more I appreciated the songs that I didn’t take to immediately. Given the participants I’m really surprised this hasn’t rated more highly in other bloggers lists.
[...] you happy with the way “Champ” is being [...]