1. Grizzly Bear- Veckatimest

This time last year GB and the lads were still in lengthy hibernation after a four-year absence following their last record, ‘Cold House’. But rumours were already a-stirring that this one would be a show-stopper. They were, for once in the life and times of Grant ‘Grizzly’ Bear-Roberts and his three intrepid hangers-on, not greatly exagerrated. With an album title meaning ‘a large and thick fog formation most commonly found in the forests of British Colombia (noun)’, the boys brought us a sparky chrysalis- a folk-rock-pop record as undeniably brilliant as it was winsomely subtle. The best of the year? Heck, I’d go so far as to say it was almost as good as some of the records that came out the year before. – Glenn Ziffler

2. Animal Collective- Merriweather Post Pavilion

Early 2009, and two words were on everyone’s lips: ‘Animal’, and ‘Collective’. And then three more: ‘Merriweather’, ‘Post’, and ‘Pavilion’. Were we all just taken in like a particularly impressionable group of twelve year-olds by the shiny op-art cover or was the music actually better than Feels or Sung Tongs were? But, in the words of Panda Bear, “I don’t care about things like that.” Eventually of course PB and best pals Avery Tare and Geologist were embroiled in the deep controversy of their suspected murdering of former member Deakin in a ritualised attack motivated either by a) royalties or b) an abortive attempt at staging a bacchanalia which he wasn’t allowed to attend but they ended up killing a farmer and he found out because they arrived home all bloody. But that will always be logically independent from their beautiful music. – Marcus P. Eldritch

3. The xx- Quattro Fromaggi

This summer, The xx seemed to come out of nowhere to become the biggest buzz band on the planet. Legions of children would flock together to drown themselves at great sacrificial ponds shaped like two ‘x’s placed directly on top of each other while everyone else looked on and hummed and ‘Islands’ played dimly in the background. It seemed impossible that four teenagers from south London could be making this music- sung entirely in Tagalog and with the lyrics all referencing deeply the social and political climate of 17th-century Persia, it seemed as if the band were trying to justify the hype by doing the almost elastically impossible. And yet they succeeded, more than many of our ears could possibly handle. Mine personally lie torn-off and bloodied on the floor underneath my desk as I write. – Amy Tobin

4. Fuck Buttons- Tarot Sport

On every album, Fuck Buttons seem determined to invent a new sport. Last time around it was ‘Street Horsing’, a sort of urban human gym equipment melange, but this time the sport was a card game- poker but with the gimmick being that you use tarot cards instead of the traditional deck. I played it once and got a full house of Deaths. The music, like the hypothetical sport associated, couldn’t have been more different- where once Fuck Buttons were a sort of OK not-quite-noise band with two good songs, now they’re some sort of crazy dance landscaping concern. ‘Flight of the Feathered Servant’ revealed that the other major theme on the album (besides tarot) was pre-Colombian mythology. Let’s hope that Andy and the boys don’t get destroyed by jaguars any time soon. (although since time is cyclical, presumably they’ll come back around and do it all over again!)- David Pegasus

5. Atlas Sound- Logos

Bradford Cox spent most of the latter half of the past decade baiting us into listening to the boring bits where he just meanders and uses delay a lot by writing some really powerful pop songs with amazing lyrics demonstrating an adept understanding and use of the sex/death fascination. Things looked all set for Logos to be one his best releases yet when he was seen on tour with three drummers and a full gospel choir, and would routinely enter concert halls on the back of a crazed, whinnying gelding named St Peter the Great. However, St Peter the Great had to be put down after he accidentally crushed a fan to death at the National Hockey Stadium in Milton Keynes and Cox reacted by retreating into the studio with his acoustic guitar and really ‘getting back to basics’- the core of what makes him great. Just one man, one guitar, and an endless array of superfluous effects that fail to disguise he’s having trouble coming up with hooks.- Miranda Barton-Levy

6. Phoenix- Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

This year was the year that Phoenix will always be remembered for being responsible for John Maus not seeing my band support him at his own gig, because he was waiting for them to be ready so he could bring them along after he was supporting them in a different band earlier in the night. But they will also be remembered for this album, a tribute to everyone’s favourite fictional character, giggling practical jokester Mozart from the 1984 smash hit film ‘Amadeus’. – Jacob Flint

7. The Horrors- Primary Colours

The Horrors might have named their record ‘Primary Colours’ but they may as well have called it “I can sing a rainbow.” For this was an album of a much vaster array of colours than just three, causing the synaesthesiac in me to have a delighted freak-out. But this was not just an album- this was the rock-and-roll comeback story of the year, five previously maligned lads from east London showing all the haters that they could imitate something much more effectively than the Nuggets-compilation-as-vaguely-heard-by-someone-who-mostly-likes-vintage-organs absolute MESS of a JOKE of their previous record: The Chameleons, that classic 80s band so (not) cool that (not enough people haven’t heard of them for the rest of the people to not realize that actually everyone is not not stealing their knot ideas (or not). – Glenn Eldritch

8. Sunn O)))- Doom Altar

It is becoming increasingly clear to me that Sunn O))) are the greatest geniuses that have ever walked the earth. Prior to them no one ever thought that they could base a career around making guitars go ommmmm noooom ommmm duuuuum ommmm nooooooomm ommmmm REALLY slowly for hours on end and then get people to call it good. But on the other hand, someone bought the Statue of Liberty off at that guy too. Oh also this is really really amazing and stunning and brilliant and (I can’t actually even do an IMITATION of the type of person who likes Sunn O))) thats how genuinely, unironically terrible I think they are). - Kunlun Mountains

9. Fever Ray- Death’s Head Love Affair

The girl one from out of The Knife stepped out of the shadow of the boy one and became so successful her music was even given away free with newspapers across the land. Her solo moniker comes from a dread apparatus that her brother once attempted to construct as a troubled teenager which would re-spread smallpox throughout the land after being placed at the top of the Eiffel Tower and aimed at everyone’s immune system. Luckily, she persuaded him out of it by agreeing to form a band with him, and the rest is history.- Dom ‘Coolio’ McIntyre

10. Bat For Lashes- I Am… Sasha Fierce

Natasha Khan was born into a life of oriental luxury in pre-Musharaff Pakistan in 1983, where her family had a beautiful ex-colonialist villa just outside Lahore with its own mechanical water-garden and a staff of 123 slaves whom the young Khan was taught to inflict random, torturous punishments on from a young age. She takes a similar approach to her music- one minute calm, playful and eerily soothing, the next loud, bitchy, and gratuitously profane. Allegedly, during the recording Natasha burst into a rage with producer Steve Lillywhite after he failed to get the notes recorded at the right pitch and flipped out, doing a poo on the studio floor whilst shouting “I am Sasha Fierce!”, from whence the title arose.- Marcus P. Eldritch

...Transmissions come in from outposts all over the universe... Unfamiliar melodies stream into our radios... Fronted by colorful aliens with big voices... The music begins to catch on ... It's in our heads and it refuses to leave... And we like it...

Submissions: If you are an artist or label and would like to send mp3's for posting, email me. If you read Alienhits, you know what type of music I write about. I will not review or respond to submissions that do not fit on this blog, however good they might be. You can also send other materials (including cds for review) to the following address:

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top five albums
1. the ark - state of the ark
2. scissor sisters - scissor sisters
3. the mo - night at the zoo
4. melody club - face the music
5. delays - you see colours

• Albums 100-91
• Albums 90-81
• Albums 80-71
• Albums 70-61
• Albums 60-51
• Albums 50-41
• Albums 40-31
• Albums 30-21
• Albums 20-11
• Albums 10-1

abducted and probed//

• Alphabeat - Alphabeat
• Alphabeat - The Spell
• The Alpine - On Feel Trips
• The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
• The Ark - Prayer For The Weekend
• The Attic - Remember Tomorrow
• Basement Jaxx - Crazy Itch Radio
• Beyonce - B'Day
• Bodies Without Organs - Fabricator
• Boogaloo Stu - Enough About You... Let's Talk About Me
• Alexandra Burke - Overcome
• Cobra Starship - Cobra Starship
• Cobra Starship - Hot Mess
• Shawn Colvin - These Four Walls
• The Cops - Drop It In Their Laps
• Darin - Break The News
• Dover - Follow The City Lights
• Dragonette - Fixin' To Thrill
• Ella Rouge - Ella Rouge
• Evanescence - The Open Door
• Fall Out Boy - Infinity On High
• Fergie - The Dutchess
• The Galvatrons - Laser Graffiti
• Darren Hayes - This Delicate Thing We've Made
• The Hourly Radio - History Will Never Hold Me
• Allisoh Iraheta - Just Like You
• Janet Jackson - 20 Y.O.
• Jann Wilde & Rose Avenue - Tokio Okei
• Elton John - The Captain And The Kid
• Johnny Boy
• Just Jack - Overtones
• Kaiser Chiefs - Yours Truly, Angry Mob
• Kasabian - Empire
• The Killers - Sam's Town
• Laakso - Mother, Am I Good Looking
• Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster
• Adam Lambert - For Your Entertainment
• Blake Lewis - Heartbreak On Vinyl
• Lil' Chris
• Lucky Soul - The Great Unwanted
• Maroon 5 - It Won't Be Soon Before Long
• Jesse McCartney - Right Where You Want Me
• McFly - Motion In The Ocean
• Nellie McKay - Pretty Little Head
• Meat Loaf - Bat Out Of Hell III
• Melody Club - Goodbye To Romance
• Melody Club - Scream
• MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
• Middle Distance Runner - Plane In Flames
• Mika - Life In Cartoon Motion
• Mika - The Boy Who Knew Too Much
• My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade
• Oh No Ono - Yes
• Persephone's Bees - Notes From The Underworld
• Pikko - Electric Body Design
• Pleasure - Pleasure 2
• Private - My Secret Lover
• Ezra Reich - Milkshake Arcade
• Rihanna - Rated R
• Sahara Hotnights - What If Leaving Is A Loving Thing
• Scissor Sisters - Ta-Dah
• Sebastian - The Vintage Virgin
• Shakira - She Wolf
• The Shins - Wincing The Night Away
• Shiny Toy Guns - We Are Pilots
• Vivek Shraya - If We're Not Talking
• Jessica Simpson - A Public Affair
• Soft Complex - Barcelona EP
• The Sounds - Crossing The Rubicon
• Gwen Stefani - The Sweet Escape
• Stefy - The Orange Album
• Linda Sundblad - Oh My God!
• Superfamily - Warszawa
• Tahiti 80 - Fosbury
• Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds
• Veto - There's A Beat In All Machines
• Rufus Wainwright - Release The Stars
• Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels On A Gravel Road (Reissue)
• Robbie Williams - Reality Killed The Video Star
• Robbie Williams - Rudebox
• Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position
• Young Love - Too Young To Fight It
• Yusuf - An Other Cup

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the holy trinity of swedish music//

-- own these albums and know the meaning of life...seriously

the ark

the mo

melody club

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