3 guys still in school from Toronto. Jazz/Hip-Hop with wide influences (Bill Evans to Nas).

2. Portugal. The Man – In The Mountain, In The Cloud

More sublime psych pop rock from the Alaskan heroes. Seeing them live in action reinforced my love for this group.

3. White Denim – D

The musicianship shines through in another mind blowing set of songs from the best rock band around

4. Feist – Metals

Dark, folky feel with great songwriting and of course her lovely voice.

5. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake

War inspired folk songs. Been plenty said about this great album already..

6. *shels – Plains of the Purple Buffalo

Metal inspired post rock. The expansive force of this album is intense; a truly epic journey of power.

7. The Roots – Undun

Great storytelling on this concept album. Neo Soul never sounded better

8. Long Arm – The Branches

Russian Jazz lover and electronic producer. (Also best album cover of the year)

9. The Kills – Blood Pressures

More great hooks from the duo with a beefier feel this time. Amazing live act too

10. Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost

American rock group who seem to have a lot more heart than their contemporaries

Shlohmo – Places

Burial – Stolen Dog

Danny Brown – Pac Blood

The Roots – I Remember

Metronomy – The Look

Yuck – Get Away

Nicolas Jaar – Don’t Break My Love

Shabazz Palaces – Are You… Can You… Were You? (Felt)

Battles – Ice Cream

SBTRKT – Wildfire

This album draws inspiration from classic film scores from ‘back in the day’, which makes it an attractive prospect for someone like me (big fan of Morricone scores). The young master producer Danger Mouse pilots the ship, and a great a job he does too. The instrumentation is lush and works perfectly with both contrasting voices heard on the record. The contrasting voices are that of Norah Jones and Jack White. ‘Norah Jones?!’ I hear you cry, however it’s her contributions which make the best tracks on the album. ‘Black’ is an irresistible song and the highlight for me.

The album works both as a score and a conventional album, but no ground will be broken hear. A very well executed effort though.

Overall, this is much better than anticipated. They’ve developed some nice new sounds and instrumentation. The album has a slightly darker feel, but of course they couldn’t sound ‘dark’ if they whacked the devil himself on guitar.

Like the first album though, Robin’s voice and the unique harmonies start to grate after a few listens.

This is an incredible record. Acoustic sounds are effortlessly blended with electronic soundscapes to create a majestic jazz/post rock landscape. The album is full of great imagery – right at the start heavy rain falling on a roof can be heard, which for me, evokes great memories which are enhanced by the music.

The instrumentation is dense and experimental which gives the album great depth, and an even greater sense of adventure.

As of now this quartet don’t even have a wikipedia page; and their website looks like it was put together in notepad. Yet this is maybe the best thing I’ve heard all year.

What I like about most of these tracks is their ability to continue to develop. They slowly unfurl and move on without lingering on the same idea for too long.

The Kraftwerk influence here is key, and this is making great late night listening.

The cover art is amazing too.

This is the duo’s best album yet. Alison Mosshart’s voice really shines through; and combined with Jamie’s, on tracks like Baby Says, it’s irresistible.

The Riffs are as catchy as ever and their sound as cool and unique as ever.

Machu Picchu is by far the best track on the album, if the whole album sounded like this gem then this would be as good as their debut. Unfortunately too much of the album is downbeat and carried by Casablancas’s drawn out vocal choruses. This isn’t a terrible thing, it’s just that Machu Picchu gives us a teaser of what this album could sound like.

This proves there is still mileage for the lads and their now iconic sound.

When the album first came out last year I wrote it off for some reason. Then after hearing Kieren Hebden’s collab with Burial and Thom Yorke (amazing piece of work), I thought I’d give the lad another go. After listening through once I immediately downloaded his back catalog and now can’t get enough.

A mixture of vocal sampling, Burial style bass and slow burning but upbeat drum patterns, the record has made great late night listening. While ‘Pause’ (his debut) feels like the soundtrack for a sunny day, this is most definitely a nighttime album.

Highlight for me is Love Cry, but really it should be listened to start to finish.

This is a fundamentally a collection of songs telling of war. Graphic depictions of life in the trenches coupled with Afghan folk songs; this album is not about love.

In my opinion this is the best Harvey has ever sounded; she sings with a nervous energy yet her voice strikes a warm chord.

She sings of ‘Nature consuming all’; contemplating how no trace of lost lives is left by the fields of England.

It truly is an adventure through England – through bleak landscapes and baron emotion.