10. Weekend - Sport

Distractingly disgusting and atonal, Weekend’s debut album is a curiously enjoyable listen. After peeling back layers of distortion, feedback and reverb you find an unexpectedly sentimental heart to the album. The fact that this heart beats similarly to that of Joy Division only gets in the way a handful of times. The rest of the records duration is taken up by some of the best noise released this year.

Standout track: “Youth Haunts”

09. The Chap – Well Done Europe

Inventive, humorous, catchy, obtuse and gloriously odd, The Chap are one of the most interesting bands to come out of the UK in a long time. Taking acute social observations and, without dressing them up, they deliver them in an honest and often humorous way, all backed by burbling synthesisers, offbeat drums and inventive guitar lines. Often bizarre and always entertaining.

Standout track: “Well Done You”

08. Gorillaz – Plastic Beach

Gorillaz are a band that don’t really exist and so it’s fairly impressive that a record this sprawling and peculiar was put together by one man – Damon Albarn. The record is overlong and drastically shifts in mood throughout, however, for myriad reasons, it works. Albarn manages to deftly update and subvert pop music at the same time and drags an impressive roster of guests with him (Snoop Dogg, Mark E. Smith, Lou Reed, Mos Def, Bobby Womack to name but a few). Plus it gave us the best singles of the year with “Stylo” and “On Melancholy Hill”.

Standout track: “On Melancholy Hill”

07. Sufjan Stevens – The Age of Adz

Indie God Sufjan Stevens had been away from music for a long time prior to the release of his All Delighted People EP and then, a little over seven weeks later, this record. The EP was the return of Sufjan, but the subsequent record could not have been more different. Gone were the banjos, acoustic guitars and the warm cuddle usually felt during a Sufjan Stevens song, replaced by synths, hip hop and disco beats and an unnervingly frenetic energy. His willingness to experiment came to the fore, and yet the songwriting and emotional core remained intact in one of his most impressive records to date.

Standout track: “I Want To Be Well”

06. Laura Marling – I Speak Because I Can

The UK has undergone somewhat of a folk revival in recent years and arguably the most interesting artist to come out of this movement has been 20 year old Laura Marling. Despite being relatively morbid her debut album seems positively cheery in comparison to her sophomore effort. Acoustic guitars wrap around serene vocals, strings and organs on a record that was recorded entirely live and produced by Ryan Adams and Kings Of Leon collaborator Ethan Johns. To be truly dark and truly innovative in such a well trodden genre is just one of the reasons why this record should be treasured.

Standout track: “Hope In The Air”

Albums 05 – 01