A brief look back at the year that was...

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10. Wolf Parade – At Mount Zoomer: Listening to this album can really only be quizzically described as what it would sound like to visit Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory if only it resided somewhere in the depths of the Never Ending Story. When Spencer Krug’s endless chants of “We’re not at home!” on ‘Language City’ or his crooning question of, “Well you burn your bridges down… you turn away. How can you turn away?” on ‘Bang Your Drum’, it’s difficult not to think about the land of which has been left behind. However, ‘An Animal in Your Care’, brings a new dawn of wonder that invigorates the soul and gets the fists in the air. If there was such a thing as operatic indie rock, ‘Kissing the Beehive’ would be at the forefront. A top song of the year for sure.

9. Sigur Rós – Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust: Sigur Rós make beautiful music. Whether you understand Icelandic or not (I do not myself), there is no argument. You need to merely see them live if you’re in doubt. On this particular go, the Rós have produced a more uplifting set compared with previous albums. From the raging horns and thumping drums of second track ‘Inní Mér Syngur Vitleysingur’, it is clear that this effort was made for an introspective celebration. One best served upon the sun’s glowing erasure of a spring rain. Maybe it happens in Fairmount Park, maybe in Victoria Park… either way, the moment is one that comes along like a long lost friend. In a world that constantly feels like it’s being torn apart at the seems, Jonsi Birgisson’s dramatic falsetto brings a hope that globalization, at least on the musical front, can bring a hope to the citizenry and calm the madness.

8. Department of Eagles – In Ear Park: This Grizzly Bear spin off is something special from the first bass line of ‘No One Does It Like You’. The album masterfully mixes thumping beats, electronica, acoustic guitar and folk lyricism to form a unique sound that’s somewhere between Lennon, Beirut and the Chemical Brothers. Sentimental favorite ‘Floating Down the Lehigh’ is a reminder of near forgotten memories of a simpler time when only a rubber tube separated myself and the murky waters of the Lehigh River slowly ‘floating on to Bethlehem’.

7. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend: The hype machine for this album kicked off early in the year, and it didn’t disappoint. This so-called ‘whitest band’ in the world produced one of the most original sounds in years. A cross between Ivy League pretentiousness, folk, indie rock, and afro pop, there’s no doubt that this quartet are genre bending. With an energetic live show, VW are a band that have no trouble getting the white kids hips swinging and sing-a-long highlights include, ‘Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa’, ‘One’ and ‘Walcott’, but VW are at their best on ‘Oxford Comma’ and ‘I Stand Corrected’.

6. MGMT – Oracular Spectacular: When an album kicks off with the hands-down song of the year, you know you’re in for a treat. ‘Time to Pretend’ is a life=defining composition for every cog in the machine. For anyone who feels like their childhood ended too quickly and misses the simpler times when life wasn’t ‘real’, when life was only bound by the vastness of a young mind’s imagination, then this brilliant four and a half minutes of escapism is all-time worthy. The rest of the album joins the queue in turn, with reflections on youth, life, mind-exploration, relationships, and the future. Music has always been used as an outlet for that which we strive for and/or need to forget and this electro, head=nodding fest is everything you could ask for from an album.

5. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes: This mesmerising, reverb induced debut LP is everything you wanted My Morning Jacket to be five years ago. MMJ never quite put all the pieces together, but thankfully Fleet Foxes have. A defining album of the summer and one in which the seed...