Albums Of The Year - Part 2: Numbers 20 - 11

This (as the title suggests) is part 2 of my end-of-year albums chart... It

Here's a handy recap of what you might have missed in Part 1:

30. The Count And Sinden - Mega Mega Mega
29. Shy Child - Liquid Love
28. Sleigh Bells - Treats
27. Sky Larkin - Kaleide
26. Magnetic Man - Magnetic Man
25. Simian Mobile Disco - Delicacies
24. Four Tet - There Is Love In You
23. The Chemical Brothers - Further
22. Mystery Jets - Serotonin
21. The Knife, with Mt. Sims and Planningtorock - Tomorrow, In A Year

Anyway, on with part 2. Enjoy...

Number 20

Hot Chip
One Life Stand

UK release date: 1st February 2010
Parlophone / EMI






Hot Chip's fourth record is arguably their most complete record yet, despite not having an array of dancefloor-fillers like 'Over And Over'. Despite the content of the album being commendable, I still struggle to actually look at the artwork, as this is one of the worst album covers on this list, maybe of the entire year...

Download: Take It In / I Feel Better / Thieves In The Night

Number 19

Everything Everything
Man Alive

UK release date: 30th August 2010
Geffen






Manchester, despite all of its supposed musical history, doesn't actually have many good bands around at the moment. Everything Everything are one of the city's finest musical exports, and their debut Man Alive is certainly worth the acclaim bestowed to it.

Download: Photoshop Handsome / MY KZ, UR BF / Schoolin'

Number 18

Chew Lips
Unicorn

UK release date: 1st February 2010
Family






Back in January I watched Chew Lips play Hamptons (in Southampton) on a cold Sunday night, to a room with barely 50 people in. Despite this the band impressed me enough to seek out their record when it came out a few weeks later, and it's not a decision I regret. Plus they were signed to French label Kitsuné Maison, and for me that's a sign of quality like no other.

Download: Slick / Gold Key / Seven

Number 17

Klaxons
Surfing The Void

UK release date: 23rd August 2010
Polydor






I've got no idea how times Klaxons have scrapped, or been 'told' to scrap this, their second record. But in a similar way to how forced repetition helps people to learn, something eventually sunk in, and the knives many music publications were eagerly wielding remained sheathed in their reviews.

Download: The Same Space / Echoes / Flashover

Number 16

We Are Scientists
Barbara

UK release date: 14th June 2010
Masterswan Recordings / PIAS






We Are Scientists have for a long time now, built up a reputation as one of the funniest live bands on the touring circuit, and their irreverent banter between songs has generated as many fans as the content of their albums. Barbara offers some of their best work (in musical terms). My only WAS-related hope for 2011 is more music and maybe a stand-up tour.

Download: Jack & Ginger / Nice Guys / Rules Don't Stop

Number 15

Marina & The Diamonds
The Family Jewels

UK release date: 22nd February 2010
679






For all the media attention paid to female vocalists over the last two years, there appears to be a dearth of decent female-led albums in 2010, and this has also been reflected in this list. Marina Diamantis is amongst a very short-list of female vocalists with decent records this year, and The Family Jewels is a very listenable pop record.

Number 14

Gorillaz
Plastic Beach

UK release date: 8th March 2010
Parlophone






A record featuring not only Gorillaz, but a whole supporting cast including Snoop Dogg, De La Soul, Kano and Lou Reed amongst others. A (perhaps) disapointing Glastonbury appearance aside, it's been a pretty good year for what started out as Damon Albarn's side project twelve (!) years ago.

Download: Stylo (Feat. Bobby Womack) / On Melancholy Hill / Sweepstakes (Feat Mos Def)

Number 13.0

Kanye West
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

UK release date: 22nd November 2010
Mercury






There's something fascinating, yet infuriating about Kanye West. This is a really good, if a touch grandiose record, yet his reputation will always be known as something of a meme, as if he takes one step forward, then a couple back. The "Number 13.0" is a satirical reference to the Pitchfork review, by the way.


Download: Runaway (Feat. Pusha T) / Power / Blame Game (Feat. John Legend)

Number 12

Best Coast
Crazy For You

UK release date: 2nd August 2010
Wichita






Best Coast appear to be one of the biggest winners on the blogosphere merry go round in 2010, and this has propelled their music into the conciousness of the larger music magazines and websites. Also - if singer Bethany Cosentino's cat, Snacks (who has his own Twitter page) doesn't dent the NME Cool List next year, I'd be very surprised.

Download: Boyfriend / Crazy For You / Each & Everyday

Number 11

We Have Band
WHB

UK release date: 5th April 2010
Naive






We Have Band could argue that they have been hard-done-by if they read back through the (lack of) critical acclaim they have been afforded from the music publications online. WHB won't ever see them adorn front pages of magazines, but it does show their craft for making dance music has been overlooked.

Download: Divisive / You Came Out / Hear It In The Cans

So that's the end of Part 2. I am trying to get part 3 out as soon as possible, but without a working laptop (at the moment anyway) and a 6000 word group report due in on Tuesday, there might be a bit of a delay...

Paul