I do find doing these lists difficult. Its hard to sum up how you've felt about an album for, in some cases, 12 months in a couple of easy sentences. Nevertheless I have managed to come up with numbers 11-20, which are below. The top 10 will follow on Sunday, and I can reveal that the 10 will feature, in alphabetical order, records by AMC, Beck, Fleet Foxes, Jenny Lewis, Stephen Malkmus, The Dodos, The Mountain Goats, The Sleeping Years, The Twilight Sad and Tindersticks...
11- Micah P Hinson ‘and the Red Empire’
Gorgeous, warm album of country noir standards. Minimal backing allows Hinson’s deep croon to take centre stage, but when the strings soar and the electric guitar attacks, it all sounds sensational.
12- Conor Oberst ‘Conor Oberst’
Surprisingly fresh and angst free collection of country/rock songs. Oberst has never sounded more confident and never made a more cohesive record.
13- Port o’Brien ‘All We Could Do Was Sing’
Hugely enjoyable collection of songs, sometimes sounding like Arcade Fire, at other times more like Sufjan Stevens. And who needs a log shed….this was written on a fishing boat!
14- Bon Iver ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’
High quality and initially highly affecting collection of folk/soul tunes written and recorded in a….need I go on?? Hasn’t quite stood the test of time as well as some other albums on the list but still excellent.
15- Bonnie 'Prince' Billy 'Lie Down In The Light'
A long way from 'I See A Darkness'. Oldham sounds happy and content and this is a gorgeous, uplifting country record that contains some stunning duets. A light touch and a joyful album.
16- Sun Kil Moon 'April'
A really difficult album to get into. The songwriting is as strong as ever from Kozelek but the melodies take a while to 'click'. When they do, you realise that this is a really beautiful album and an album in the truest sense of the word - it works best played for start to finish.
17- Damien Jurado 'Caught In The Trees'
Slight change of direction for Seattle songsmith Damien Jurado. More upbeat songs with terrific harmonies, makes this his most rewarding set to date.
18- She and Him 'Volume One'
Collaboration between M Ward and Zooey Deschanel. When it was good, it was a joyful, Spector-ish heaven! The 60s girl band style stuff sounded stunning and it was only held back from greatness by the slighly predictable country ballads.
19- Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan 'Sunday at Devil Dirt'
Mixing blues, folk and alt.country, this was a consistent collection of songs, some of which (like the supreme 'Trouble') already sound like standards.
20- Willard Grant Conspiracy 'Regard The End'
A sombre, majestic, return to form from Robert Fisher and co.
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