Last blog of the year, I suspect, so I thought it’d be useful to post my whole hundred in one place: apologies for the half-arsed obligation to get extra traffic which compelled me to post it in chunks, at least initially.
A couple of weeks on from originally posting this, I still haven’t come across anything signnificant I’ve liked and missed, though I’m sure stuff will flush itself out over the next few weeks. This morning, vague pangs of guilt are directed at the placing of “Admiral Fell Promises”, which feels a bit low. The world will keep turning, I suspect.
If you haven’t voted for your own albums of the year, please park your lists over here, and I’ll add them all up in January. Thanks to those of you who’ve already voted, and thanks too to all of you who’ve read and commented on Wild Mercury Sound over 2010: your kindness, tolerance, enthusiasm and keenness to share knowledge is genuinely appreciated.
Some nice stuff racking up in the office and on my computer to write about next month, but in the meantime, happy solstice, and take care over the break.
100. Prince Rama – Shadow Temple (Paw Tracks)
99. MV& EE – Liberty Rose (Arbitrary Signs)
98. Actress – Splazsh (Honest Jon’s)
97. Luke Abbott – Holkham Drones (Border Community)
96. Gonjasufi – A Sufi And A Killer (Warp)
95. The Greenhornes – **** (Third Man)
94. Kelley Stoltz – To Dreamers (Sub Pop)
93. Harmonious Thelonious – Talking (Italic)
92. El Guincho – Pop Negro (Young Turks)
91. Mountain Man – Made The Harbor (Bella Union)
90. Disappears – Lux (Kranky)
89. Janelle Monae – The Archandroid (Bad Boy)
88. Barn Owl – Ancestral Star (Thrill Jockey)
87. Kim Doo Soo – The Evening River (Blackest Rainbow)
86. Imaad Wasif – The Voidist (TeePee)
85. Thee Oh Sees – Warm Slime (In The Red)
84. These New Puritans – Hidden (Angular/Domino)
83. Pocahaunted – Make It Real (Not Not Fun)
82. Avey Tare – Down There (Paw Tracks)
81. Zombie Zombie – Plays John Carpenter (Versatile)
80. Omar Souleyman – Jazeera Nights (Sublime Frequencies)
79.Tamikrest – Adagh (Glitterhouse)
78. The Fresh & Onlys – Play It Strange (In The Red)
77. James Murphy – Greenberg OST (Parlophone)
76. Carlton Melton – Pass It On (Agitated)
75. The Coral – Butterfly House (Deltasonic)
74. Elisa Randazzo – Bruises And Butterflies (Drag City)
73. Hayvanlar Alemi – Guarana Superpower (Sublime Frequencies)
72. Caribou – Swim (City Slang)
71. Alasdair Roberts & Friends – Too Long In This Condition (Navigator)
70. Shit Robot – From The Cradle To The Rave (DFA)
69. Mount Carmel – Mount Carmel (Siltbreeze)
68. Diskjokke – En Fid Tid (Smalltown Supersound)
67. Sophie Cooper/Ben Nash – Alchemy (Blackest Rainbow)
66. International Hello – International Hello (Holy Mountain)
65. Vibracathedral Orchestra – Joka Baya//The Secret Base/Smoke Song (All VHF)
64. Sharon Van Etten – Epic (Ba Da Bing)
63. Maximum Balloon – Maximum Balloon (Polydor)
62. Begging Your Pardon Miss Joan – Edges (Blackest Rainbow)
61. Ty Segall – Melted (Goner)
60. Ölöf Arnaldis – Innundir Skinni (One Little Indian)
59. Black Twig Pickers – Ironto Special (Thrill Jockey)
58. Four Tet – There Is Love In You (Domino)
57. The Coil Sea – The Coil Sea (Thrill Jockey)
56. Best Coast – Crazy For You (Wichita)
55. Gayngs – Relayted (Jagjaguwar)
54. The Parting Gifts – Strychnine Dandelion (In The Red)
53. Gil Scott Heron – I’m New Here (XL)
52. Loscil – Endless Falls (Kranky)
51. Sleepy Sun – Fever (ATP Recordings)
50. White Fence – White Fence (Woodsist)
49. Moon Duo – Escape (Woodsist)
48. Kemialliset Ystävät – Ullakkopalo (Fonal)
47. Faun Fables – Light Of A Vaster Dark (Drag City)
46. Vampire Weekend – Contra (XL)
45. Ballaké Sissoko & Vincent Segal – Chamber Music (No Format)
44. Koen Holtkamp – Gravity/Bees (Thrill Jockey)
43. The Sexual Objects – Cucumber (Creeping Bent)
42. Third Eye Foundation – The Dark (Ici D’Ailleurs)
41. Dylan Le Blanc – Pauper’s Field (Rough Trade)
40. Steve Mason – Boys Outside (Double Six)
39.
Pantha Du Prince – Black Noise (Rough Trade)
38. LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening (DFA/Parlophone)
37. Wooden Wand – Death Seat (Young God)
36. Superpitcher – Kilimanjaro (Kompakt)
35. Bill Callahan – Rough Travel For A Rare Thing (Drag City)
34. Grinderman – Grinderman II (Mute)
33. Hiss Golden Messenger – Root Work (Heaven And Earth Magic Recording Company)
32. Hot Chip – One Life Stand (Parlophone)
31. Mark McGuire – Living With Yourself (Editions Mego)
30. AfroCubism – AfroCubism (World Circuit)
29. Fabulous Diamonds – Fabulous Diamonds II (Siltbreeze)
28. Prins Thomas – Prins Thomas (Full Pupp)
27. Arp – The Soft Wave (Smalltown Supersound)
26. Robert Wyatt, Gilad Atzmon, Ros Stephen – The Ghosts Within (Domino)
25. Robert Plant – Band Of Joy (Decca)
24. James Blackshaw – All Is Falling (Young God)
23. Trembling Bells – Abandoned Love (Honest Jon’s)
22. Gunn-Truscinski Duo – Sand City (Three Lobed)
21. Sun Araw – On Patrol (Not Not Fun)
20. Avi Buffalo – Avi Buffalo (Sub Pop)
19. Fool’s Gold – Fool’s Gold (Iamsound)
18. Darker My Love – Alive As You Are (Dangerbird)
17. Oneohtrix Point Never – Returnal (Editions Mego)
16. Forest Swords – Dagger Paths (Olde English Spelling Bee)
15. Sun City Girls – Funeral Mariachi (Abduction)
14. Sun Kil Moon – Admiral Fell Promises (Caldo Verde)
13. Rangda – False Flag (Drag City)
12. Jack Rose – Luck In The Valley (Thrill Jockey)
11. Blitzen Trapper – Destroyer Of The Void (Sub Pop)
10. Emeralds – Does It Look Like I’m Here (Editions Mego)
9. Neil Young – Le Noise (Reprise)
8. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Before Today (4AD)
7. Endless Boogie – Full House Head (No Quarter)
6. Ali Farka Toure & Toumani Diabate – Ali & Toumani (World Circuit)
5. Voice Of The Seven Thunders – Voice Of The Seven Thunders (Tchantinler)
4. Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy & The Cairo Gang – The Wonder Show Of The World (Domino)
3. Magic Lantern – Platoon (Not Not Fun)
2. Hans Chew – Tennessee & Other Stories (Divide By Zero/Three Lobed)
1. Joanna Newsom – Have One On Me (Drag City)