Part 4: 5-1
Part 3: 10-6
Part 2: 15-11
Part 1: 20-16

20. Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career

To be honest, when I first heard this album, I was underwhelmed. Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi is one of my favourite albums of the nineties, so I always have high expectations for new CO material. Usually, they meet them. Underachievers is another classic, and the fuller sound on Let’s Get Out Of This Country was a welcome development, and also contained some absolutely cracking songs. Here, lead single French Navy grabbed the attention immediately as one of their catchiest songs ever, though I was a little uncertain about some of the rhymes. “You make me go “oooh” with the things that you do-o-o”? Lines like that would make even an X Factor contestant or Chris Martin blush.

But I got over this initial problem, and listened to the album. It was a slow burner, and I filed it away mentally as another decent album, though not another classic. Then I saw them perform the new songs, and saw the point of the album. These are songs designed to be played to large crowds. They have more fans than ever, and the low-key, lo-fi, lonely-sounding songs of their early years no longer seem appropriate. Their new big sound works wonderfully live, and these songs are a very decent approximation of that sound.

19. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion

Back in January, when this came out, the critical repsonse suggested that this album had already been anointed as Album Of The Year. As you can see, I haven’t put it quite that high – though if I was in the business of making lists of my favourite album covers of the year, it would fare rather better.

It’s also a really good album – from the joyful accessibility of “My Girls” to the darker, verging on proggy passages of “Daily Routine”, it’s far more accessible than pretty much all of their earlier work. I’d also say it had more in common with Panda Bear’s last solo album, Person Pitch, than any previous AC album – a good thing in my book, since Person Pitch is one of my favourite albums of the last few years. Unfortunately, like so many easily accessible albums, the shine has worn off a little and I find myself wishing the album was about ten minutes shorter. Had I been making this list in February, it would have warranted a top five position, but I don’t see myself listening to this nearly as much in 2013 as I do to Feels now.

18. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – S/T

It seems like far longer than it is since the Pains released their self-titled début. That could be because they’ve already put out another EP, and seem to have toured endlessly, but is more likely because their sound is modelled on a sound that’s familiar to everyone without ever really having existed. The whole C86 business is a bit of a myth – that tape had some wildly diverse acts on it, and while the Pains are clearly influenced by some of the bands on it, they’re damaged by lazy hacks talking about them in such reductionist terms.

Instead, they should be celebrated for producing one of the most interesting albums of the year. Shoegazey without being self-indulgent, poppy without being populist, the whole album just feels like so much more than the sum of its parts. When I first saw the cover, for some reason I was expecting a Voxtrot rip-off, but they’ve managed to distil a sound that’s instantly identifiable, while also being unmistakably their own. The Higher Than The Stars EP was a nice follow-up, and marks them out as one of the most exciting bands of the moment. Time will tell whether they succumb to Second Album Syndrome, but given that their début was bookended by two high-quality EPs, Im not too worried.

17. The Duckworth Lewis Method – S/T

Cricket is famous for having terrible poetry written about it, so I felt a certain amount of concern when I heard about Neil Hannon’s latest project. I needn’t have worried – along with fellow Irishman Thomas Walsh of Pugwash, he’s created one of the finest pure pop albums of the year. All of the songs are inspired by cricket, but not all are directly about it – most notably the album’s weak point “The Sweet Spot”, which is a blot on the rest of the joyfully silly album. They even played a couple of songs during the Test Match Special lunch break, and were very warmly received.

“Jiggery-Pokery”, the story of the ‘ball of the century’ from Shane Warne to Mike Gatting at Old Trafford in 1993, has received a lot of criticism from some people, but (despite the factual inaccuracy – Gatting was bowled for 4, not a duck) it’s a lovely slice of very English silliness. Even better is the road trip fantasy “Meeting Mr. Miandad”, one of the best songs of the year. It’s a little uneven, but there are so many high points that the lows are barely noticeable.

16. Vowels – The Pattern Prism

A combination of pounding kraut-ish electro-rock and Aphex Twin-ish discordant blips, the thrilling rhythms of James Rutledge’s latest project provided one of the more intense listening experiences of the year. As I said at the time, it oscillates between dense drone and pounding glitch-rock, and leaves you feeling exhausted by the end of the album. Not the bad kind of exhausted, though – more like a sort of euphoric exhaustion.

If this list was made up of albums I’ve listened to most this year, this would probably be a lot higher. I find it suits so many moods, and it’s quite easy to lose oneself in the music. It’s mesmerising and melodic, and features some of the most impressive drumming I’ve heard this year. Definitely one to be listened to at full volume.