Top 10 Albums of the Year

here at last are the T&G top 10 records of the year....and after all the stuff written on here about American bands, the top 3 albums this year are from English, Scottish and Irish artists...

1- Tindersticks ‘The Hungry Saw’

What can I say about this album that I haven’t said already? A creative, vibrant record that is more than a match for any of their wonderful previous albums. In ‘Mother Dear’ it has the most atmospheric, tension filled ballad they have ever written and in ‘Boobar’, the most magical, Spector-ish pop song. Just fantastic. And album of the year.



2- The Twilight Sad ‘Here It Never Snowed, Afterwards It Did’

How do you top making one of the albums of 2007? If you’re the Twilight Sad, you make a mini-album featuring complete re-workings of several songs from that album. ‘Here It Never Snowed…’ took away much of the noise and the pace from the songs, stripping them down and highlighting James Graham’s amazing vocals. Both sounds work equally well and the band are now combining the two sounds at live shows. The album also featured a new song, plus a cover of Daniel Johnston’s ‘Some Things Last A Long Time’. The best new British band to emerge for a decade.

3- The Sleeping Years ‘We’re Becoming Islands, One By One’

Ex-Catchers singer/songwriter Dale Grundle returned in 2008 with this quietly triumphant set of songs about home, memories and heritage. It didn’t get a tenth of the attention it deserved but these are wonderful songs, held together by Grundle’s soothing voice. ‘Macosquin, Coleraine' is one of the songs of the year, a simple arrangement with acousic guitar and handclaps, I can’t stop playing it!


4- Fleet Foxes ‘Fleet Foxes’

A grower. Initially pleasant but unremarkable (the instantly catchy ‘White Winter Hymnal’ apart), the melodies creep up on you and you finding yourself singing them and then wondering what they are. Gorgeous harmonies mixed with old fashioned guitar sounds and of course Robin Pecknold is an amazing singer. How do they top this though?


5- Beck ‘Modern Guilt’

A 33 minute collection of short, sharp bursts of energy. This is a really exciting record that sounds great from start to finish. Highlight is ‘Chemtrails’ which is perhaps the single of the year and sounds amazing played loudly through headphones!


6- Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks ‘Real Emotional Trash’

Most pleasing post-Pavement album from Malkmus. Stunning guitar jams, especially on the title track, which is a complete tour-de-force.


7- The Mountain Goats ‘Heretic Pride’

Really consistent album from John Darnielle and more up-beat than previous offerings. ‘Lovecraft in Brooklyn’ and ‘Sax Rohmer’ are two of the best TMG rockers to date. As ever, lyrically supreme.


8- Jenny Lewis ‘Acid Tongue’

Beautifully produced with plenty of space for each instrument, this is a great old-fashioned sounding record with some gorgeous ballads. Highlight though is the thrilling duet with Elvis Costello.


9- The Dodos ‘Visitor’

Innovative sounds, great use of rhythm and simply some great sing-along songs.


10- American Music Club ‘The Golden Age’

New line-up, a lighter touch and a couple of bona-fide AMC classics (‘Sleeping Beauty’, ‘The Dance). A couple of filler tracks too though but this is still more gold from Eitzel.

The T&G 11

TracksandGigs is preparing its 'Album of The Year' list. In advance of this, it has nominated eleven albums to form the 'album of the year' shortlist. Each of these records has given T&G an enormous amount of pleasure this year. The list, in alphabetical order, is...

American Music Club 'The Golden Age'

A few weak tracks here but many strong ones and it features one of Eitzel's most beautiful songs, the incredibly visual and moving 'Sleeping Beauty'

Beck 'Modern Guilt'

Short and sweet, his most cohesive record to date. An exciting, tremendously alive set of songs.

Fleet Foxes 'Fleet Foxes'

Deserving of all the hype. A delicious mix of country, soul, pop and folk. Gorgeous harmonies and a great Summer record.

Jenny Lewis 'Acid Tongue'

Unfairly slated by some, this is a luxurious, rewarding album to listen to. It is also a lovely recording with plenty of space allowed and each instrument given room to breathe.

Micah P Hinson 'Red Empire..'

A warm and inviting country-noir album that is all the better for Hinson finally sounding happy and content.

Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks 'Real Emotional Trash'

Just about his best since Pavement. A guitar masterclass and some great songs too.

The Dodos 'Visitor'

Sweet ballads, innovative percussion and great songs. This came from nowhere but will stand the test of time.

The Mountain Goats 'Heretic Pride'

An album of horror, monsters, death and fun from John Darnielle. Some of his best 'loud' songs for years. A really consistent album too.

The Sleeping Years 'We're Becoming Islands, One By One'

Quietly beautiful folk/pop songs from ex-Catchers frontman Dale Grundle.

The Twilight Sad 'Here It Never Snowed...'

Atmospheric mini-album with the band playing in a completely different style from their debut LP. Including  a stunning Daniel Johnston cover.

Tindersticks 'The Hungry Saw'

Unconcerned with the past, this is a fresh, vibrant piece of music that has formed the centre-piece of the band's shows this year. It has left the band rejuvinated and open to all possibilities for the future. A near-perfect 45 minutes.

Full list soon.

single of the week...

Difficult decision this week with three great singles released, spookily all on nicely packaged white vinyl. 3rd place goes to Beck's 'Gamma Ray', he has already released the best single of the year so shouldn't be too greedy. In second place is Jenny Lewis' 'Carpetbaggers', complete with a thrilling contribution from Elvis Costello but single of the week is...

Low 'Santa's Coming Over'

Santa's coming over? Not yet, he's not. Unless Low know something we don't. They may well do, as they are releasing a Christmas single at the start of November and playing Christmas shows a couple of weeks later. Maybe its a Mormon thing?!

Anyway, this is a great single. Beautifully packaged in a snowflake sleeve and sounding NOTHING like Low's previous Christmas music. This is a dark Christmas song with foreboding drums and dirgy guitar and chanted vocals that make the arrive of Santa seem positively terrifying. It also sounds more like traditional Low than anything they have released in a long time. Bizarrely, the b side is a jolly reggae track.

Great single. Everyone should play this on Christmas Eve!

Jenny Lewis 'Acid Tongue'

Rilo Kiley singer and former child actress Jenny Lewis returns with her second solo album. The first, 2006's 'Rabbit Fur Coat' was a lovely country/soul affair complete with singalong version of Travelling Wilburys' 'Handle With Care'. This album is something else altogether.

There have been some great records released this year, but few can match the ambition and vision that is present here, or the songwriting and performances. 'Acid Tongue' was recorded in three weeks, live in the studio (no pro-tools) with friends and collaborators including M Ward, Zooey Deschanel and Elvis Costello.

In many ways the opening couple of tracks serve as an introduction for the amazing songs that are to come. 'Black Sand' and 'Pretty Bird' are simple and pretty, neither would have been out of place on 'Rabbit Fur Coat'. Things get interesting with 'The Next Messiah' a huge, 10 minute epic taking in four separate musical pieces and featuring some superb electric guitar from Blake Mills. After the soulful 'Bad Man's World' the album builds into a simply incredible sequence of songs.

The title track is almost entirely vocal driven, featuring confessional verses and a big, gospel sounding chorus. You'll be singing it all day. 'See Fernando', a wry song about a drug dealer, is a blast, guitar led and catchy. 'Godspeed' is a beautiful piano ballad with a touching lyric about a friend on the wrong path. 'Carpetbaggers' is an upbeat country romp with a thrilling vocal from Elvis Costello. 

After another couple of songs that sound like soul standards...almost motown country, if that genre exists, the album ends with 'Sing A Song For Them' a kind of updated version of Dexys' 'I'll Show You'. Simply gorgeous.

This record is a revelation. I expected to like it but the sheer quality of the songwriting and performances and the scale of ambition make this one of the albums of the year so far. Superb.

9.0

['Acid Tongue' is out now on Rough Trade. Jenny Lewis tours UK in October]