LIVE IN LONDON!!!
(October, November, December 2019)

 And so, here we are then. A full twelve months of gigular activity has come to an end and it's time to recap the final few months of 2019 with my third look back at the best nights out where the music took centre stage and some of the finest acts filled some of the finest venues with some absolutely mind-melding shows and stomach-rattling grooves. This post will finish with a Top Ten rundown of my favourite gigs of the year. So, eyes down people, and read on.

First up in October was a most welcome return to UK shores for long-lost jangle heroes The Dream Syndicate. Back in the mid-80's - along with bands like The Bangles and The Rain Parade - The Dream Syndicate were progenitors of the short-lived Paisley Underground scene, a group of bands who were very much in thrall to the melodic folk-rock sounds of the mid-60's made famous by The Byrds and Buffalo Springfield. The Bangles were the big breakout stars of this scene, but only after they'd softened the edges and embraced a more commercial rock sound. It never really happened for any of the other bands unfortunately, and even after a really rather fabulous bunch of albums (including the sublime debut 'The Days Of Wine And Roses') The Dream Syndicate split and went their separate ways in 1988. Frontman Steve Wynn carried on with a fitful solo career before reforming the band 6 years ago. The comeback album - the splendid 'How Did I Find Myself Here? - was released in 2017 and made my Top 50 Albums list on this very blog. Last year's 'These Times' was possibly even better, fusing the classic jangle-infused pop smarts of their early records with a more modern alt-country slant that works wonderfully. So, to say this brief London pit-stop on a short European tour to promote the album was long-awaited was something of an understatement. A thoroughly rammed Scala in Kings Cross is full to bursting with predominately gents of a certain age - bald pates and fulsome paunches the order of the day - when Wynn and his cohorts take to the stage and proceed to regale the faithful with excellent renditions of tunes old and new. Highlights were plentiful, but to these ears the chiming glory of classic tracks Halloween and When You Smile coupled with the dulcet harmonies and gnarly riffs of recent tunes such as Black Light, Put Some Miles On and the utterly tremendous Glide steal the show. Wynn is all smiles throughout and it's a real joy to see this very great band finally getting their dues. Top stuff.

There was room for a few more gigs in October with a storming return to the Big Smoke for the thunderously loud and fantastically hairy stoner-rock squad Black Mountain, who filled Highbury's Garage with a skin-peeling set of fan faves from all their albums, including a solid selection from their latest electronica-tinged prog-rock love letter 'Destroyer'. After that, a hardy handful of souls braved the wintry elements to spend an hour in the company of Oregon based nutjobs Weeed who turned up at their East London gig at Dalston's The Waiting Room having had the bulk of their gear stolen in Europe a few days before. Undaunted, this exciting experimental quintet of psych-rock enthusiasts borrowed what they could and put on a sterling show of loose jams, frazzled vibes and jazz-inflected grooves. Tremendous, frankly.

 Lastly in October, there was an absolute humdinger of a gig at the venerable old Hammersmith Apollo when 80's goth-rock legends The Cult returned to the capital as part of their Sonic Temple 30 worldwide jaunt. As the name of the tour suggests, it's now been three full decades since vocalist Ian Astbury and guitar god Billy Duffy released the globe-straddling 'Sonic Temple' album. Produced by uber-knob twiddler Bob Rock, 'Temple' was a blatant attempt by the band to break America and sell bucketloads of units. Previous album 'Electric' had come close but this was the one to open the floodgates. Rock, who went on to produce Aerosmith, Motley Crue, Metallica, Bryan Adams and Bon Jovi, added the radio-friendly sheen whilst Astbury and Duffy came up with possibly the most commercial-sounding bunch of songs they'd ever written.

The result was exactly what the band wanted: massive sales, Grammy awards and gargantuan tours with all the rock and roll excess they desired. It couldn't last of course, and the following couple of albums were damp squibs of the highest stripe. The Cult have continued off and on ever since though, with both members remaining in America although, if recent interviews are any indication, only really getting together to record music every few years. Their most recent opus - 2016's 'Hidden City' - was a splendid return to form, and the group have been sporadically touring ever since. Last year saw the release of a huge 'Sonic Temple' box-set to celebrate it's anniversary, and this tour saw the band filling out huge venues across the planet. I hadn't seen The Cult live for a very long time indeed - 1993 if memory serves - so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I needn't have worried. What a show this was. With Duffy and the rest of the band firing on all cylinders, Astbury surprised the hell out of me with his remarkable vocals sounding stronger and fuller than ever before and, for once, he toned down his usual 'wild man of the Native American heartland' shtick and let the music do the talking. All the hits were aired of course, with mid-80's stompers like Love Removal Machine, Rain, L'il Devil and Wild Flower raising the roof and forcing grizzled, black-clad audience members old and new to jettison their seats and wave their arms around furiously. Both Astbury and Duffy seem truly humbled to be playing such a classic venue - more than once Astbury talks of seeing bands here himself back in the day and wondering if he would ever grace the stage himself. There is the addition of a four-strong string quartet for the lovely Edie (Ciao Baby) and Soul Asylum, and the lesser-known 'Temple' tracks like American Horse, Automatic Blues and Sun King sound fantastic with Duffy's six-string work in particular a real stand-out. The gig ends, as all gigs by The Cult should end of course, with a rip-roaring full-blown She Sells Sanctuary which is still one of the finest and most downright exciting goth-rock indie-disco bangers of all time in my opinion. The band leave to a rapturous standing ovation and I for one won't be leaving it so long to see them next time. 
Into November then, and it was off to The Roundhouse in Camden for a relaxed evening of mellow trip-hop inspired beats and hushed acoustic lovliness from Cornish-born singer songwriter Fin Greenall and his Fink collective who, very quietly, have been getting bigger and bigger with each album. This was their largest ever London gig and Greenall was undeniably over the moon about it. The current Fink album - last summer's gorgeous 'Bloom Innocent' - is another fabulous collection of relaxed electronica and sweeping soundscapes all pinned together with Greenall's soulful vocals and chilled guitar playing. 

The live Fink experience beefs things up with sweeping strings and extra percussion and focuses mainly on the last three albums with the bulk of the new record getting an airing. Long-term fans such as myself are honoured with the wonderful Warm Shadow, This Is The Thing and the truly heart-stopping Yesterday Was Hard On All Of Us whilst the newer tunes like Once You Get A Taste and the extraordinary jazz-fuelled glory of I Just Want A Yes are high points of the set. As a band, Fink should be huge commercially, and Greenall himself should be far more well-known as a songwriter but the music business is a strange beast and so artists of his caliber often slip through the cracks. A real shame as this was just splendid.
The following night I was just down the road at The Lexington in Angel for a thrillingly exciting night of old-school driving indie-rock with the fabulously monikered Desperate Journalist. A four-piece from London who have released 3 albums of spiky post-punk and rollicking jangle-infused indie, the band have been knocking on the door of the big time for a little while now. This gig was a celebration of their early record label Fierce Panda so was a little smaller than what they're currently used to and as such was a real thrill for fans old and new. With vocalist Jo Bevan on fearsome form, the group powered through tunes from all their releases with the likes of Hollow, Why Are You So Boring and It Gets Better standing out. Cracking stuff.

I was on my way back to Hammersmith a few days later for a last-minute trip out to see one of my favourite synth-pop bands of the 80's, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark. Back in my early secondary school days, during that incredibly exciting period of pop music between 1980 and 1985, OMD were as good as anybody when it came to gloriously catchy, three-minute pop nirvana. Garnering 18 Top 40 hits - 7 of which were Top 10 - as well as breaking America, the core OMD duo of Liverpudlians Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphries were just as successful - if not arguably more so - than the majority of their more well-known contemporaries. Splitting at their peak in 1988 after coming to blows over musical differences, the band were almost immediately replaced in the public's affections by two bands who were no doubt hugely influenced by them in the Pet Shop Boys and Erasure. McCluskey returned on his own in the early 90's and bagged a massive worldwide hit in Sailing On The Seven Seas, but soon disappeared again only to return as the songwriting force behind - of all people - late 90's girl group shams Atomic Kitten. With the huge preponderance of classic band reformations over the last decade or so it was only a matter of time perhaps that McCluskey and Humphries would bury the hatchet and get back together and so it proved in 2006 with a short reunion tour. Fortunately for fans of the group, the tour was a success - both personally and professionally - and the duo have since recorded three excellent albums of new material. Last year though, saw the 40th anniversary of their first ever single Messages, and so a huge Greatest Hits tour was announced.

I wasn't planning on going at first, but the closer the gig got the more I fancied it. Off I went then and I'm so glad I did. Doing exactly what it said on the tin, this was just fantastic fun from first to last with McCluskey and Humphries - along with long-standing band members Martin Cooper and Stewart Kershaw - having an absolute ball. All the hits were present and correct with the likes of Enola Gay, Tesla Girls, Locomotion and Souvenir causing mass singalongs and ageing synth-pop fans to jump about with wild abandon. There's a nod back to their early Kraftwerk-inspired days with the still futuristic sounding Isotype and Messages as well as the later McCluskey-only hits Seven Seas and Pandora's Box. Anyone who has seen old TV footage of OMD will know that McCluskey's dancing is something to behold and I was pleased to see that, if anything, it's even more out there now that he's eligible for a free bus pass. Hats off, sir. The gig ended with a stupendous run through their early calling card Electricity which had the whole venue up on their feet and frugging around crazily to one of the finest tunes from the whole synth-pop era. A really rather delightful evening.
Next up in November was a jaunt down to Shoreditch and the Rich Mix arts centre for an appointment with a band who - along with Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - are my favourite group around at the moment. Mancunian three-piece W.H. Lung - named after a Chinese cash and carry of all things - released their quite extraordinary debut album 'Incidental Music' last spring and promptly tore my head off. A monumental melange of sweeping synths, thunderous dance beats, Krautrock-inspired grooves, early 90's Manc swagger, sublime production and hip-shaking pop melodies, this incredible record jumped straight to the top of the No Static At All Top 50 pile and hasn't even come close to dropping off its perch. As good as debut albums get, quite frankly. So, I was more than just a little excited to catch the band for the first time on stage. And man alive, what an astonishing gig it was. With core members Tom S on guitar and Tom P on synths - abbreviated surnames are key to this bunch it seems - augmented with an extra guitarist and live drummer, singer and frontman Joseph E patrols the stage in t-shirt, slacks and bare feet, coming across like a mix of Jim Morrison, John Lydon and Bez. As the hypnotic beats ebb and flow around him, Joseph - frequently stabbing away at a small keyboard himself - jumps around, rolls all over the floor and launches himself into the sold-out 300-strong throng of disciples in front of him. Vocally, he's on point throughout - despite his exertions - and the likes of the utterly magnificent Simpatico People, Want and the tremendously life-affirming Inspiration (song of the year as far as I'm concerned) sound just as gargantuan as they do on record. Imagine LCD Soundsystem, New Order, Happy Mondays, Talking Heads and Can getting together in a New York basement club, taking acid and dancing all week and you'd still only be about halfway close to this one.There were folks around me of all different ages, stripes and hues who - as one - let caution be damned and threw themselves into the melee with relish, dancing as if no-one was watching and having an absolute ball. This was as thrilling as gigs get to be honest. Truly, truly magnificent.

To end things off in 2019, there was just time for a bunch of gigs by some full-blown, dyed-in-the-wool No Static At All faves. First up, Scotland's finest rock and roll party animals Primal Scream scaled down their latter-day arena-sized touring machine for an up close and personal trawl through all the hits at The Forum in scuzzy old Kentish Town. With Bobby Gillespie - still rail thin and sporting a glorious fuchsia pink suit - leading proceedings and coming across like a modern-day speed-fuelled preacher at the front of the stage, long-standing partner in crime Andrew Innes on guitar took charge of the musical side of things and turned the two-hour set into a rug-cutting, glass-raising party. Loaded, Come Together, Rocks, Higher Than The Sun, Country Girl, Movin On Up. What more could you ask for? Fantastic. 
Then, at a heavily over-subscribed Brixton Academy, London-based synth-pop indie trio White Lies celebrated the tenth anniversary of their classic debut album 'To Lose My Life' by playing the whole thing in full, along with a selection of other classics. White Lies have never really broken through from cult faves to big-hitters so it was heart-warming to see so many people turn out over two sold-out nights in the middle of December for these gigs. All 5 of the band's albums are worth listening to - last year's self-titled fifth effort was particularly strong - but that first album will always be their calling card. Tunes like Death, Fairwell To The Fairground and the terrific title track still sound huge to this day and had this extremely hot, sweaty and very well refreshed crowd bellowing along lustily.

Two days later, at the rather odd choice of venue in The Barbican, early 90's shoegaze heroes Ride put in an excellent performance as part of their tour for their very fine new album 'This Is Not A Safe Place'. Since their reformation 6 years ago, the Oxfordian quartet of Andy Bell, Mark Gardner, Steve Queralt and Loz Colbert have not put a foot wrong as far as I'm concerned. Greatest hits tours, album in full shows, two marvellous new albums and - splendidly - a lot more commercial fortune than they garnered back in the day. This was the sixth time I'd seen them since they got back together, and it was another sterling show from a group of lifelong friends who have hit upon a really sweet spot and know exactly where they're going musically. They were clever enough to get over the 'fully seated' atmosphere of the venue by playing 1992's classic banger Leave Them All Behind second song in, and I don't think anyone sat back down for the rest of the gig. Songs old and new melded together perfectly with early gems like Taste and Drive Blind sitting together seamlessly with ace new tunes like Jump Jet, Future Love and the incendiary sonic assault of Kill Switch. 1990's Vapour Trail is still their jewel in the crown though and tonight - as Bell and Gardner's guitars jostle and joust with each other and those cerebellum-caressing guitar frills rolled around The Barbican's rafters - I was reminded yet again why I love this band so much.
Finally in 2019, there was just enough time for me to engage in an audience with The Grizzled Godfather Of Grunge himself - the mighty Mark Lanegan. Hitting Camden's Roundhouse on an exceedingly chilly Tuesday evening the week before Christmas, legendary grump Lanegan put on his festive Santa hat and not only regaled his faithful following with a hefty swathe of his latest opus 'Somebody's Knocking' but also cherry-picked from most of his recent output, going right back to 2004's 'Bubblegum'. With his shit-hot band of dark and doomy desperados on resplendent form throughout, Lanegan was - as usual - in excellent voice from first to last with his hulking baritone growling away through the electronica-tinged proto-blues of his recent run of albums. Night Flight To Kabul and Disbelief Suspension from the new album stood out, as did the fantastic Beehive and Nocturne from 2017's 'Gargoyle' album. And as much as I love his solo work - especially the magisterial Ode To Sad Disco from 2012 which was performed tremendously on this occasion - my heart will always be with his early 90's recordings with lost grunge pioneers Screaming Trees. So, I was joyfully bowled over by legendary nostalgia refusenik Lanegan returning for the encore and performing a bunch of songs that he recorded before his solo career really took off: Hanging Tree from his time in Queens Of The Stone Age, Revival from his collaboration with Soulsavers and - glory be! - the masterful Gospel Plow from arguably the finest Screaming Trees album 'Dust'. A really rather fabulous early Xmas present!

There you have it then. Part 3 of my look back at the best gigs I attended during 2019. As is traditional of course, I've pored over all of the aforementioned posts to whittle everything down to a Top Ten. So, without anymore further ado, here lies The No Static At All Top Ten Gigs Of 2019!

10: PIXIES (Alexandra Palace)
9:  EMBRACE (The Roundhouse)
8:  NEIL YOUNG (Hyde Park)
7:  ENDLESS BOOGIE (Oslo, Hackney)
6:  ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER (Village Underground)
5:  THE CULT (Hammersmith Apollo)
4:  STRAND OF OAKS (Omeara)
3:  METALLICA (Twickenham Stadium)
2:  GREEN MAN FESTIVAL (Crickhowell, Wales)
1:  W.H. LUNG (Rich Mix) 

        

THE BEST ALBUMS OF THE DECADE!!!

And so here we are then - the beginning of a new decade. It's incredible to me to think that the 21st Century is already 20 years young - it seems like only yesterday that the world at large was crapping it's collective pants over the Y2K bug and the possibility that the planet might explode. Heady days, eh? Everything turned out fine of course, and since the turn of the millennium there have been some truly staggering albums released and wonderful music of every stripe has burrowed it's way deep down into the No Static At All ear canals. This particular little post will look back at the last decade's worth of releases to choose what I feel are the very best albums that appeared between January 2010 and December 2019. All of the following albums are absolutely exceptional and a fair few are masterpieces for the ages. Eyes down and indulge!

20: BILL RYDER-JONES: YAWN

Magnificent collection of brooding, emotionally charged indie rock from former The Coral guitarist who dealt with the demons swirling around his mind - specifically the tragic early death of his beloved brother - by marrying his heartbreaking lyrics with huge walls of guitars and stunning acoustic interludes. With his hushed vocals drawing you in, listening to this album felt like having a deep, intense conversation with a mate down the pub and was one of 2018's very finest records.

19: R.E.M. : COLLAPSE INTO NOW

From 2011, and the final album released by - for me - the greatest band there has ever been. Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills had been coasting for a little bit for the previous couple of albums and by the time of this one, they knew it. The solution? Get back to what made them so tremendous in the first place. This set of songs threw together all the best bits from their imperial phase - the jaunty jangle, propulsive indie-rock, swirling strings, sun-drenched harmonies and choruses to die for - mixed it all up and produced their best album in ages. They then all shook hands and went their separate ways. We will never see their like again.

18: NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS: SKELETON TREE

Written before but recorded after the tragic death of Cave's son Arthur in 2015, this album will obviously always be overshadowed by that horrific event. Whether or not it would have sounded any different if Cave hadn't lost his son we will never know. Cave's songwriting here has never been better - touching on love, loss, faith and the struggle for emotional calm - but his vocals are understandably strained, cracked and forlorn. Combined with the sparse musical arrangements of head Seed Warren Ellis, this was a truly tough but thoroughly rewarding listen.

17: FLEET FOXES: HELPLESSNESS BLUES

Second album of three-part harmony infused modern-day folk-rock glory from the heroically hirsute Foxes. Their 2008 debut was - and still is - one of the best albums ever released as far as I'm concerned, and come the Spring of 2011, I was looking forward to this more than most. I wasn't disappointed. Main man Robin Pecknold had put together an exquisite set of songs fusing together the chiming jangle of that first album with more expansive, Eastern-tinged ragas and acoustic guitar driven grooves, all underpinned by those beguiling harmonies. And the title track is still arguably their finest moment to date.

16: TAME IMPALA: LONERISM

Released in 2012, the second album from Australian psych-rock magus Kevin Parker took the mellow stoner vibes of his 'Innerspeaker' debut to thrilling new heights with forays into thunderous glam, electronica-infused space jams and head-spinning galactic rock and roll that placed him firmly at the top table of modern-day musical explorers. Since this mighty record, Parker has traversed the more melodic electronic pop of his ever-expanding musical map with the globe-straddling 'Currents' and the forthcoming 'The Slow Rush' which - no doubt - will be nestling in the upper reaches of many a Best Of list come the end of 2020.

15: SUFJAN STEVENS: CARRIE & LOWELL

During the early part of the noughties, Michigan born but New York based musical genius Stevens was hell-bent on pursuing a batshit crazy attempt to write and release an album of songs for each state in his native country. And as good as the albums 'Illinois' and 'Michigan' were, it was probably best for his sanity that he abandoned the idea and stuck to releasing straightforward albums of heartbreakingly spectral folk-rock ballads. That's not to say he's veered away from that template over the last decade - the discordant art-rock of  'The Age Of Adz' and his hip-hop inspired 'Sisyphus' collaboration for example - but, for me, it's his softer side that has stuck with me. 2004's magnificent 'Seven Swans' was his high watermark as far as I was concerned until he beguiled me - and millions of others - with this extraordinary collection of plaintive and atmospheric torch songs written in tribute to his parents. Utterly compelling from first to last and - in the frankly magisterial 'Fourth Of July' - he may have written one of the finest songs ever. Divine.

14: RADIOHEAD: A MOON-SHAPED POOL

Dropping out of nowhere onto the internet in late 2016, Oxfordian art-rock polymaths Radiohead's 9th long-player of oppressive, doom-laden but ultimately euphoric indie-rock was one of their finest albums. Embracing the widescreen, atmospheric sound of guitarist Jonny Greenwood's recent soundtrack work with frontman Thom Yorke's love of electronica, these songs meshed and melded those influences with glorious aplomb. From the spiky, angular strings of  'Burn The Witch' to the hushed and fragile beauty of long-standing fan fave 'True Love Waits' via the post-rock soundscapes of 'Daydreaming' and 'The Numbers', this was Radiohead at the absolute peak of their powers.

13: DAFT PUNK: RANDOM ACCESS MEMORIES

In 1997, a pair of Parisian dance DJ's by the names of Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter got together in a recording studio, put their heads together, wrote an astounding debut album of squelchy club bangers, put on a couple of motorcycle crash helmets and the legend of Daft Punk was born. Since that monumental and game-changing 'Homework' album, the duo have become worldwide superstars simultaneously releasing more incredible albums - like the scintillating 'Discovery' from 2001- as well as producing music for the likes of  LCD Soundsystem, N.E.R.D., Sebastien Tellier and Kanye West. Then, in 2013, came this - the amalgamation of all the DP influences and production techniques spliced together on one almost faultless album. The gargantuan worldwide smash 'Get Lucky' - featuring Pharrell Williams and the godly Nile Rodgers - was the obvious calling card, but greater jewels lie within. The 'other' Rodgers track - 'Lose Yourself To Dance' - was arguably even better, and alongside the mind-bending space-funk of 'Contact', the sublime easy-listening infused soul of 'The Game Of Love' and the scuzzy NYC art-rock of 'Instant Crush' there was the glorious hip-shaking rush of 'Giorgio By Moroder' and the mind-expanding pomp-rock of  'Touch'. The album hoovered up awards by the truck-load and the duo have been conspicuous by their absence ever since. Frankly, after such a phenomenal record, who can blame them?

12: SUN KIL MOON: BENJI

If I'm honest, considering the mighty Mark Kozelek's outrageously prolific output over the past decade, I could have filled this entire list with albums by the great man. As it is, I've got to give other acts a fair shake so - for now - it's just this one under his Sun Kil Moon moniker from 2014 that makes the cut. Since 2010, Ohio native - although he's been based in San Francisco for half his life - Kozelek has released around 20 albums of material under his own name, as SKM and in collaboration with other artists. I've written before on this blog - a fair few times - that all of his records are superb, but in terms of accessibility this is one of the best places to start. The fact that it is also one of his greatest collections of songs is a happy accident. As has become his songwriting norm, 'Benji' covers a myriad of topics that on paper at least, come across like diary entries or mumbled ramblings. In fact, the songs here couldn't be more heartfelt or emotionally uplifting. Whether it be the desperately sad tale of a forgotten relative in 'Carissa', the hilarious litany of his formative sexual experiences in 'Dogs', the anger and desperation in the shout-out to gun control that is 'Pray For Newtown' or the goosebump-inducing beauty of 'I Can't Live Without My Mother's Love', this was Kozelek firing on all cylinders. As a postscript, it was about as close as he's ever come to breaking through commercially but - as is his ornery wont - Kozelek turned away from the massive critical acclaim 'Benji' recieved and turned inward once more with the more strident and fan-scaring 'Universal Themes' the following year. Glorious.

11: FUCK BUTTONS: SLOW FOCUS

Bristolian electronica duo Fuck Buttons - formed in 2004 by Andrew Hung and Benjamin Power - released their third album of mind-expanding techno-frazzled brain-freeze in 2013 and promptly turned my cerebellum into mush. Whereas their first two albums - 2008's 'Street Horrrsing' and the following year's 'Tarot Sport' - blended together a disparate mix of psychedelia, drone-rock, avant-garde noise and tribal drum patterns that brought to mind the napalm scene in Apocalypse Now crossed with an illegal rave, there were moments on 'Tarot Sport' in particular that hinted at a more full-blown dance sound that 'Slow Focus' certainly ran with and then some. Coming across like a John Carpenter soundtrack with an Uzi pointed at it's head, the 7 gigantic tracks on this album ebbed, flowed, built, dropped and exploded in ways nobody has really come close to attempting since. Thunderously exciting and as much fun as you can have with your clothes on, if I ever hear better dance tracks than 'The Red Wing', 'Stalker' and the utter eye-gouging wonder of 'Hidden XS' then I'll be a very lucky bunny indeed. Time for album number 4 though, eh chaps?

10: ARCADE FIRE: THE SUBURBS

Back in 2005, just after the release of their still astonishing debut 'Funeral', I was lucky enough to see arty Canadian baroque-pop maestros Arcade Fire at the late and lamented London venue The Astoria. It is still - to this day - one of the most tremendously exciting gigs I've ever witnessed and for about a year there in the mid-noughties they were far and away my favourite band in the universe. They dropped the ball a little with 2007's slightly underwhelming and - whisper it - a little bit dull 'Neon Bible' but, possibly a little chastened by the general shrug that their second album had been met with, by 2010 they were back with all guns blazing on this terrifically entertaining third opus. A concept album of sorts and a love letter to childhood and growing up outside of the big city, 'The Suburbs' was Arcade Fire in excelsis - huge, stadium-friendly choruses, expansive instrumentation, sublime, swooning soundscapes and tunes from the gods. Frontman Win Butler and his wife and co-vocalist Regine Chassagne are both on incredible form throughout with their singing on 'Ready To Start', 'We Used To Wait' and 'Sprawl 11' in particular standing out, but the rest of the band do more than their fair share of heavy lifting too with the likes of the outstanding title track and 'Rococo' raising the rafters. 'The Suburbs' was the must-have album of 2010, winning multitudes of awards and turning Arcade Fire into world-beaters. The band have continued making superb music since with their albums 'Reflektor' and 'Everything Now' maintaining their stadium level success, but this will always be their masterpiece.

9: MIDLAKE: THE COURAGE OF OTHERS

Oh, what an album this is and oh, what a lost opportunity Midlake were. Back in 2006 - right in the middle of the new freak-folk explosion best personified by acts like Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Devendra Banhart, My Morning Jacket and, later, Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes - Texan combo Midlake released their second full-length opus 'The Trials Of Van Occupanther' to almost universal acclaim. A beautiful warm hug of a record, 'Van Occupanther' melded together the relaxed country-rock of the band's youth with the more modern folk-rock stylings of the day, which - coupled with the delightful harmony vocals of principal songwriters Tim Smith and Eric Pulido - made them come across like The Eagles or Fleetwood Mac mixed with R.E.M. and Counting Crows. Basking in the success of a hit record, the band decamped back home to record the follow-up. And then the problems started. By the time of it's release in 2010, it was common knowledge that 'The Courage Of Others' would be the final album by Midlake as we knew them. The shift in musical differences between Tim Smith and the rest of the band was now too big to ignore and he left the group after touring the album. A massive shame because, quite frankly, this album is as good as anything any other act in the folk-rock area has released over the last 30 years or so. An utterly bewitching and all-encompassing suite of pastoral folk - heavily influenced by bands like Fairport Convention and Jethro Tull - but with it's own identity and shot through with songwriting nous and an emotional heft that few have mastered. 'Acts Of Man', 'Winter Dies', 'Core Of Nature' and 'In The Ground' give you an idea of where Smith's head was at and it's been no surprise to me that he's basically disappeared from view since leaving the band. I have visions of him living off the grid like the protagonist in that 'Into The Wild' movie. Pulido took up head-honcho duties for 2013's 'Antiphon' but - as good as that album was - the spark had gone. This was Midlake's moment and it fizzled out before it had even begun. But, for the total and utter majesty of the track 'Children Of The Grounds' I will be forever grateful. Oh, what an album this is.

8: SPAIN: THE SOUL OF SPAIN

Formed in the early 90's by Los Angeles native Josh Haden, Spain are a jazz-influenced and blues-flecked Americana band who - despite a fabulous bunch of records - have never quite broken through to the wider consciousness. A travesty obviously. When even the godlike genius of Johnny Cash covers one of your songs - 1995's heartbreaking 'Spiritual' - it must stick in Haden's craw that lesser talents like Ed Sheeran sell trillions of records all over the galaxy. If it doesn't, then he's a better man than I, as it certainly sticks in mine. However - I digress. Haden wound Spain down in the early noughties after a raft of excellent albums failed to find an audience. After years as a session player in a multitude of jazz bands - Haden is a sublime bass player - he reactivated the group in 2009 and the first fruits of his new labours was this stunning album of mellow country rock and jazz-inflected slowcore from 2012. Also embracing jangle-drenched indie and plaintive folk ballads, this was as good as Haden had ever been - his deep, mellifluous vocals holding everything together quite beautifully. There's been a bunch of decent albums since but nothing has really come close to this one. But maybe nothing needs to.

7: W.H. LUNG: INCIDENTAL MUSIC

 The most recent album on this list and - subsequently - one I won't go into too much detail about. The more eagle-eyed amongst you will have figured out that if this particular record is so high up in this list, then it stands to reason that it more than likely is riding very high indeed in my forthcoming Top 50 Albums of 2019 list. And you'd be bang on. There will be a more fulsome review of this absolute corker of an album within that post, but suffice to say, for now I can safely suggest that these eight very, very special songs by this very, very special band are as good as anything I've heard in years. Splicing together a monumental melange of synth-pop, electronica, motorik rhythms, driving funk, sweeping dance beats and pure euphoria-inducing joyful abandon, if this album doesn't get you dancing around in your front room like a loon, then you have cement in your veins and a breeze-block for a heart. Wondrous in every single possible way.

6: THE WAR ON DRUGS: LOST IN A DREAM

By some considerable distance, this was the finest album released in 2014. Adam Granduciel and his War On Drugs collective had piqued my interest with their previous two albums - especially the drifting melancholia of 2011's 'Slave Ambient' - but if I'm honest, nothing prepared me for the quantum shift of musical brilliance that this album ushered in. Recorded at his home studio as ostensibly a solo album, Granduciel then expanded his live band from a scrappy trio into a full-blown rock outfit including synths, horns and a multitude of percussion, musically blasting the new songs onto another level. Embracing Granduciel's childhood love of widescreen 80's American rock and modern-day melodic indie and fusing it with electronic textures and Krautrock-inspired rhythms, tracks like the outstanding 'Under The Pressure' and the gloriously uplifting 'An Ocean Between The Waves' belied the fact that the lyrical themes of the album touched on the lonliness and despair of Granduciel's post-touring life whilst recording the record. Indeed, songs like 'Suffering', 'Disappearing' and the pure, unadulterated pain of 'Eyes To The Wind' drive straight through to the depression that he was feeling. A huge critical and commercial success, 'Lost In A Dream' turned Granduciel's life around leading to 2017's almost as good 'A Deeper Understanding', worldwide arena tours and armfuls of awards. Even if he never scales these heights again, he's made an album for the ages. And in the utterly magnificent 'Red Eyes' - Tom Petty flying a rocket off his tits on MDMA - he's written the song of his life.

5: DAVID BOWIE: BLACKST*R

What more can be said about this extraordinary last will and testament from the greatest pop star the universe has ever produced? Written and recorded under the shadow of the Grim Reaper, Bowie's 25th and final album was released on his 69th birthday in 2016. Two days later, the legendary rock and roll chameleon left us to shower his gifts upon another realm. The shock was palpable - Bowie had kept his illness secret from the world - and the distress and despair from fans acute. But what an incredible legacy the man had left us. And with this final album, he may very well have topped the lot. Touching on all the best parts of his previous recorded works - pounding rock and roll, glitzy glam, free-form art-rock, sax-laden discordia, electronica-infused bangers - this was mighty fare. The clues were all there of course with allusions to death peppering the lyrics and the pre-album release of the videos to the epic title track and the spine-tingling 'Lazarus' basically spelling it out for you. But the few days we were given between the album's release and the great man's death was just not enough time to decode it all. And, quite frankly, the thought of Bowie dying was absurd. However, as befitting the theatrical, art-loving polymath, his passing was timed to perfection - one final 'Exit: Stage left' for his devoted following. Four years on though, it still hurts. Rest in peace, Starman.

4: ANGEL OLSEN: MY WOMAN

Released in the summer of 2016, this third album by Missouri-born folk-rock singer/songwriter Olsen flew under my radar for a little while after it came out, before I was struck dumb one afternoon in my local record emporium upon hearing the opening strains of the first track 'Intern' emanating from the store's speakers. I knew who Olsen was - I'd bought her second album 'Burn Your Fire For No Witness' a few years previous - but, as much as I'd liked that collection of sparse folk and crackly Americana, these new tracks I was hearing in that shop were a different beast entirely. A breathtaking shift forward from her earlier work, 'My Woman' quickly became my favourite record of the year. Charting the breakdown of a relationship as well as the emotional upheaval of touring, travelling and being apart from loved ones, this album showed that Olsen was to be taken very seriously as a modern-day songwriting great. Musically, the songs run the gamut from eerie synth-pop, gnarly surf-rock, classic indie, late-night torch songs and  epic, widescreen country-rock ballads - with the astonishing title track and the utterly gorgeous 'Sister' stealing the show. Olsen toured the album solidly for 18 months - I saw her live twice during that period and she and her band were on fire on both occasions - and it also garnered much critical acclaim. Hugely justified too, as it is quite simply a masterpiece. And the fact that she's almost bettered it with her latest album 'All Mirrors' is just showing off really. Fantastic. 

3: LCD SOUNDSYSTEM: AMERICAN DREAM

Well, this was a real turn-up for the books. Back in 2011, after a mammoth world tour for the previous year's album 'This Is Happening', LCD head honcho James Murphy - who was pushing 50 and suffering physically after years of DJ-ing, partying and making utterly incredible music with his band - decided to park the Soundsystem bus and let the new breed of dance music heroes have a go. He made an extraordinary fly-on-the-wall documentary which followed the group as they played their final gig at Madison Square Garden, before then showing Murphy lost and rudderless at home, playing with his dog, bursting into tears and wondering if he'd made the right decision. For a while there, it seemed he may have got used to his new life but - after feeling the itch and with his great friend David Bowie's words ringing in his ears: "If it feels right, just do it" - he shouted down the naysayers, reactivated the band and regaled the faithful with this absolutely transcendent collection of euphoric synth-laden art-rock mixed with glittering club beats, jerky punk, superlative dance grooves and sumptuous string-laden come-downs. When it hit my stereo for the first time in late 2017, I didn't play anything else for about a month. I couldn't get over the fact that, considering it was the fourth album by a group who hadn't released anything in 8 years, it sounded so fresh, joyful and full of life. If you're new to the LCD party, start with this album and if your cranium hasn't split open with wonder by the time the HUGE sounding synth beats kick in halfway through the monumentally magnificent 'How Do You Sleep?' then there's absolutely no hope for you.

2: ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER: HOPE DOWNS

 There's not much more that needs to be said about this combo to be honest with you. Aside from the previously mentioned Mark Kozelek, I think I've written more words on this blog about this delightfully monikered quintet from Melbourne than anyone else. Their first two EP's made Number 2 in my Albums Of 2017 list and the 5 times I've seen them live over the last couple of years are 5 of the best gigs I've ever seen. So, it was no surprise that this tremendous debut of rollicking jangle and shuffling indie-rock shot straight to the top of my fave albums of 2018 when it was released in June of that year and never even came close to relinquishing that position. There's not an ounce of chaff in anything they've released so far and to say I'm champing at the bit for this year's follow-up is an understatement to say the least. If they come even remotely close to writing songs as joyful and life-enriching as 'Talking Straight' and 'An Air-Conditioned Man' then I can die happy. What. A. Band.

1: MARK KOZELEK & JIMMY LAVALLE: PERILS FROM THE SEA

Well, I did tell you Mr. Kozelek would probably pop up again. And how. Throughout his mighty career, Kozelek has made nary a duff album and many a masterpiece, with some of his work as Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon and as a solo artist touching on pure greatness. However, nothing he has recorded before or since this sublime collaboration with electronica instrumental composer Lavalle has touched me as deeply or as strongly. The total crystallisation of Kozelek's songwriting power and ear for a melody, the 11 stunning tracks on this album can - for me - easily lay claim to be one of the greatest collections of songs ever written. At once heartbreaking, hilarious, spine-tingling, shocking, profoundly moving, personal, warming and wise, these songs look back at his life and regale the listener with the moments that matter the most to Kozelek. From the desperate scramble to replace a beloved family heirloom in '1936' to the shattering denoument in the otherwise folksy tale of Kozelek's immigrant handyman in 'Gustavo'. From the plaintive paeans to adult domesticity in 'Ceiling Gazing' and 'Caroline' to the devastating sense of loss in 'He Always Felt Like Dancing'. Kozelek's songs here draw you in, intent and focused, desperate to find out what happens to this remarkable cast of characters. To top it all off, Kozelek ends this exceptional suite of songs - all backed by Lavalle's calming downtempo folktronica - with possibly the greatest song in his canon. There may be finer songs out there in the universe than the staggeringly beautiful 'Somehow The Wonder Of Life Prevails', but I very much doubt it. Just an absolutely extraordinary record.