Favourite Albums of 2020

Here's a list of my favourite albums of 2020, alphabetised by artist: 

The Avalanches - We Will Always Love You

Car Seat Headrest - Making A Door Less Open

Caribou - Suddenly 

Cut Copy - Freeze, Melt

Death Bells - New Signs Of Life

Destroyer - Have We Met

Doves - The Universal Want

Fleet Foxes - Shore 

Fontaines D.C. - A Hero's Death

Four Tet - Sixteen Oceans

Future Islands - As Long As You Are

Gengahr - Sanctuary 

Nicolas Godin - Concrete & Glass

Hamilton Leithauser - The Loves Of Your Life 

Stephen Malkmus - Traditional Techniques  

Oneohtrix Point Never - Magic Oneohtrix Point Never 

Peel - s/t

Pottery - Welcome To Bobby's Motel 

Rival Consoles - Articulation

Andy Shauf - The Neon Skyline

The Strokes - The New Abnormal 

Tame Impala - The Slow Rush

Tycho - Simulcast 

Ultraísta - Sister

Washed Out - Purple Noon

Wolf Parade - Thin Mind 

You can listen to the mix on Spotify here. 

Favourite albums of 2019

Here's a list of my favourite albums of 2019, alphabetised by artist: 

!!! - Wallop 
Black Keys - Let's Rock 
James Blake - Assume Form
Bon Iver - i,i
Deerhunter - Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared? 
Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell
DIIV - Deceiver 
The Drums - Brutalism
Floating Points - Crush
Fontaines D.C. - Dogrel
Friendly Fires - Inflorescent 
Holy Ghost! - Work
Hot Chip - A Bath Full of Ecstasy 
The Juan Maclean - The Brighter The Light 
LCD Soundsystem - Electric Lady Sessions
Stephen Malkmus - Groove Denied
The National - I Am Easy To Find

Operators - Radiant Dawn 
Panda Bear - Buoys
Purple Mountains - s/t
Swervedriver - Future Ruins 
These New Puritans - Inside The Rose
Tool - Fear Inoculum 
Toro y Moi - Outer Peace
Jeff Tweedy - Warmer
Thom Yorke - Anima 

You can download and listen to a mix of songs from the albums here: https://www.sendspace.com/file/1alsgr 

Favourite albums of 2018

Here's a list of my favourite albums of 2018, alphabetised by artist: 

Arctic Monkeys - Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino
Ólafur Arnalds - Re:member
Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really Feel
Beach House - 7
Gaz Coombes - World's Strongest Man
Big Red Machine - s/t
Franz Ferdinand - Always Ascending 
Gang Gang Dance - Kazuashita 
Gengahr - Where Wildness Grows 
The Good, The Bad & The Queen - Merrie Land
Albert Hammond, Jr. - Francis Trouble
Jon Hopkins - Singularity 
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Sparkle Hard 
MGMT - Little Dark Age
Frank Ocean - Endless 
Oneohtrix Point Never - Age Of 
Rhye - Blood
Rival Consoles - Persona 
Shame - Songs Or Praise 

Spiritualized - And Nothing Hurt
Jeff Tweedy - Warm
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Sex & Food

You can download and listen to a mix of songs from the albums here: https://www.sendspace.com/file/6kmogf

Favourite albums of 2017

Here's a list of my favourite albums of 2017, alphabetised by artist: 

!!! - Shake The Shudder
Ryan Adams - Prisoner
Beck - Colours
Bonobo - Migration
Peter Broderick - All Together Again

Cut Copy - Haiku From Zero
Destroyer - Ken
Fleet Foxes - Crack-Up
Four Tet - New Energy
Future Islands - The Far Field
Joe Goddard - Electric Lines 
The Horrors - V
Kiasmos - Blurred
LCD Soundsystem - American Dream
Mew - Visuals
Mount Kimbie - Love What Survives

The National - Sleep Well Beast 
Phoenix - Ti Amo
Ariel Pink - Dedicated To Bobby Jameson
Ride - Weather Diaries 
Slowdive - Slowdive
Spoon - Hot Thoughts
The War On Drugs - A Deeper Understanding
Wolf Parade - Cry Cry Cry

You can download and listen to a mix of songs from the albums here: https://www.sendspace.com/file/qh5kx1

Favourite albums of 2016

Here's an alphabetical list of my favourite albums of 2016:




James Blake - The Colour In Anything


Bon Iver - 22, A Million

David Bowie - Lazarus

Car Seat Headrest - Teens Of Denial

Chance The Rapper - Coloring Book

Delorean - Muzik

DIIV - Is The Is Are

DMA's - Hills End

Gord Downie - Secret Path

Gold Panda - Good Luck and Do Your Best

Tim Hecker - Love Streams

Holy Ghost - Crime Cutz

Jagwar Ma - Every Now and Then

Junior Boys - Big Black Coat

Frank Ocean - Blond

Operators - Blue Wave

Pantha Du Prince - The Triad

Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool

Rival Consoles - Night Melody

Shearwater - Jet Plane and Oxbow

The Strokes - Future Present Past

Suede - Night Thoughts

The Tragically Hip - Man Machine Poem

Kanye West - The Life of Pablo

Wolf Parade - EP4

Wilco - Schmilco

You can download and listen to a mix of songs from the albums here: https://www.sendspace.com/file/7tcb0i

Favourite albums of 2015

In alphabetical order by artist, here are my favourite albums of 2015:

!!! - As If...
Black Rivers - s/t
Blur - The Magic Whip
Will Butler - Policy
Gaz Coombes - Matador
Deerhunter - Fading Frontier
Mac DeMarco - Another One
Destroyer - Poison Season
El Vy - Return To The Moon
Albert Hammond, Jr. - Momentary Masters
Hot Chip - Why Make Sense?
King Krule - A New Place 2 Drown

The Libertines - Anthems For Doomed Youth
James Murphy - Remixes Made With Tennis Data
Neon Indian - VEGA INTL Night School
New Order - Music Complete
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Chasing Yesterday
Oneohtrix Point Never - Garden Of Delete
Rival Consoles - Howl
Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell
Sun Kil Moon - Universal Themes
Swervedriver -  I Wasn't Born To Lose You
Tame Impala - Currents
John Tejada - Signs Under Test
Toro y Moi - What For?
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Multi-love
Viet Cong - s/t
Kurt Vile - B'lieve I'm Goin Down
Jamie xx - In Colour

You can download and listen to a mix of songs from the albums here: https://www.sendspace.com/file/h0rkbw

Favourite albums of 2014

Here, in alphabetical order by artist, are my 22 favourite albums of 2014:

Ryan Adams - s/t
Damon Albarn - Everyday Robots
Arcade Fire - Her OST
Bear In Heaven - Time Is Over One Day Old
Beck - Morning Phase
Caribou - Our Love
Mac Demarco - Salad Days
East India Youth - Total Strife Forever
Foxygen - ...And Star Power
Future Islands - Singles
Jimi Goodwin - Odludek 
The Juan Maclean - In A Dream
Heat - s/t
The Horrors - Luminous 
Interpol - El Pintor
Kiasmos - s/t
Klaxons - Love Frequency
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Wigout At Jagbags
Operators - EP1
Spoon - They Want My Soul
Temples - Sun Structures
The War On Drugs - Lost In The Dream
Thom Yorke - Tomorrow's Modern Boxes

You can download a 'mixtape' with a great song from each of the albums here: https://www.sendspace.com/file/baayqb

As with previous mixes, I've made sure that it has a good flow in the presented track order; just be sure to sort it by album in your media player.  

Favourite albums of 2013

Here's the link to download a mix of 25 songs from my 25 favourite albums of 2013: https://www.sendspace.com/file/9yidgj

As with my previous mixes, I've made sure that it has a good flow in the presented track order; just be sure to sort it by album in your media player.  

This year's mix includes great songs from the following artists/albums... 

Boards Of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest
My Bloody Valentine - MBV
James Blake - Overgrown
Foals - Holy Fire
Arcade Fire - Reflektor
Kurt Vile - Wakin On A Pretty Daze
Atoms For Peace - AMOK
Cut Copy - Free Your Mind
Pet Shop Boys - Electric
!!! - Thr!!!er
Deerhunter - Monomania
Rhye - Woman
Rival Consoles - Odyssey

Daft Punk - Random Access Memories

Unknown Mortal Orchestra - II
The Strokes - Comedown Machine
Phoenix - Bankrupt!
Toro y Moi - Anything In Return
Jagwar Ma - Howlin
Mark Kozelek and Jimmy LaValle - Perils From The Sea
Jon Hopkins - Immunity 

Sigur Rós - Kveikur
David Bowie - The Next Day
Franz Ferdinand - Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action
Delorean - Apar
Small Black - Limits Of Desire

Mount Kimbie - Cold Spring Fault Less Youth
The National - Trouble Will Find Me
Kanye West - Yeezus

Hope you enjoy it! 

Favourite albums of 2012

Earlier in the year it seemed like 2012 was going to be a pretty slow one for music. But as it turns out, there were still twenty-three albums that I thoroughly enjoyed and found myself listening to regularly.

Hopefully you've had a chance to check some of them out already, and maybe some of the albums are even included in your favourites from 2012 too. But there may be some that you've overlooked or forgotten about, so I've put together a downloadable compilation mix containing a song from each album.  I've made sure that the mix has a good flow to the song order too, so it's very listenable right out of the box (just be sure to sort it by album in your media player).

Here's the download link: https://www.sendspace.com/file/vxrq8f

I've never really been into giving albums a numerical rating or critique; and since I feel differently about each album based on my mood or the circumstance, I'm not even really into giving them a hierarchical order any more. This alphabetical list is simply just all of the albums that I listened to and enjoyed most over the past year... my Favourite Albums of 2012:

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Mature Themes 

Beach House - Bloom
Bear In Heaven - I Love You, It's Cool
Burial - Kindred
DIIV - Oshin
Divine Fits - A Thing Called Divine Fits
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
Gaz Coombes - Here Come The Bombs
GOOD Music - Cruel Summer
Grizzly Bear - Shields
Hot Chip - In Our Heads
How To Dress Well - Total Loss
Jack White - Blunderbuss
Liars - WIXIW
Loops Of Your Heart - And Never Ending Nights
Memory Tapes - Grace/Confusion
Shearwater - Animal Joy
Stars - The North
Sun Kil Moon - Among The Leaves
Tame Impala - Lonerism
Tim Hecker & Daniel Lopatin - Instrumental Tourist
Twin Shadow - Confess
Ultraísta - s/t
The Walkmen - Heaven
The xx - Coexist

Favourite albums of 2011

Here's the annual list of my favourite albums. These are the albums that I listened to most over the past year; the ones that inspired me and kept me going. Once again, while I've been waiting for the last half of December to yield that one final amazing album that would make the list, most of the other major music critics had jumped the gun and already posted theirs.

I always find it so hard to actually put these in any sort of order, but I can say that the #1 album was definitely my favourite by a mile. Your favourite albums from the past year will inevitably be different from what's on my list. But as I've said before, that's one of the great things about music - that it all affects each person in different ways. It's for that same reason that I've also refrained from writing any long-winded explanations of why I love these records so much. Though I know it's a rarity in the world of music critique, I really believe that that great albums must be heard rather than analyzed in writing. Indeed, the only long winded writing in this post is the introduction you are (possibly still but likely not) reading right now.

I hope you can give these records a listen, as maybe you'll find something that you really love as well. And because I'd rather share the actual music with you than write about it, there are songs from each one of these albums on the quarterly mixes that I regularly post here for free download. 

1. Destroyer - Kaputt
2. Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver
3. The Drums - Portamento
4. Cut Copy - Zonoscope
5. Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact
6. James Blake - s/t
7. Handsome Furs - Sound Kapital
8. The Horrors - Skying
9. Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring For My Halo
10. The Field - Looping State Of Mind
11. Jay-Z and Kanye West - Watch The Throne
12. M83 - Hurry Up We're Dreaming
13. Neon Indian - Era Extraña
14. Washed Out - Within And Without
15. Radiohead - The King Of Limbs
16. Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972
17. Toro Y Moi - Underneath The Pine
18. Tuneyards - Whokill
19. Holy Ghost! - s/t
20. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy

There are a few other great albums that just barely missed the top 20 cut. In no particular order, here they are...

Burial - Street Halo

Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks - Mirror Traffic
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
Feist - Metals
WU LYF - Go Tell Fire To The Mountain
The Strokes - Angles
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx - We're New Here
Cat's Eyes - s/t
The Black Keys - El Camino
Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica
The various singles released by Burial this year

And here are the download links for those mixes...

January-March mix: http://www.mediafire.com/?827uv628k3s3a8y
April-June mix: http://www.mediafire.com/?24w9x9cihojcy16
July-September mix: http://www.mediafire.com/?ckr626tm2agzq4q
October-December mix: http://www.mediafire.com/?8q5tc2erpy8551v

Best New Albums - Oct-Dec 2011

Once again, here's a mix of songs from my favourite albums of the past three months. This is getting to be a pretty regular thing now, which is good. I hope you are enjoying them, and that they have caused you to seek out some of the full albums.

There are 13 tracks this time around, and I promise that there are no Christmas songs. Here are the artists on the mix: The Field, M83, Feist, The Black Keys, Wooden Shjips, St. Vincent, AA Bondy, The Kooks, Atlas Sound, Factory Floor, Oneohtrix Point Never, Noel Gallagher, and Surfer Blood.

http://www.mediafire.com/?8q5tc2erpy8551v

Enjoy! And as usual, please feel free to share the link with friends.

Best New Albums - July-Sept 2011

Here's a mix of songs from my favourite albums of the past three months. There are 14 tracks on this one, from the following artists:

Washed Out, Neon Indian, The Horrors, The Drums, WU LYF, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Wilco, Jay-Z & Kanye West, Beirut, Toro Y Moi, Caribou (remixing Radiohead), The War On Drugs, and The National.

http://www.mediafire.com/?ckr626tm2agzq4q

Enjoy! And feel free to share the link, as music is made for sharing.

Best New Albums - April-June 2011

There were a lot of great albums released during the second quarter of 2011. Here's the link to download a mix of songs from my favourite ones...

http://www.mediafire.com/?24w9x9cihojcy16

There are 17 tracks on this one, from the following artists: Friendly Fires, Crystal Stilts, TV On The Radio, Cat's Eyes, Radiohead, Ford & Lopatin, Handsome Furs, Gang Gang Dance, Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, Miles Kane, Foster The People, Tom Vek, Holy Ghost, The Rosebuds, Alex Turner, and Thurston Moore.

Hope you enjoy it! And if you do, please share the link with friends.

Best New Albums - January-March 2011

While the mainstream music industry overall is now largely based on promoting singles as opposed to entire records, there are definitely still a ton of musicians, labels, and music lovers out there who believe that entire albums remain the greatest expression of the popular music art form. Feel free to include me among those believers.

This ongoing series of mixes contains some of the best songs from my favourite albums (as well as the occasional EP or single if it's particularly great), released over the previous 3-month period. These are the albums that I feel are most worthy of your time and attention.

I've tried to include songs that should give you a pretty good idea of the overall character of the album. So if you like sound of a certain song or artist, I would encourage you to then seek out the whole record and give it a good listen.

Here's the link to download the mix for January-March 2011...

http://www.mediafire.com/?827uv628k3s3a8y

It features 15 tracks from the following artists: James Blake, Radiohead, The Strokes, Cut Copy, Destroyer, R.E.M, Jamaica, Toro Y Moi, Burial/Four Tet/Thom Yorke, Kurt Vile, Smith Westerns, Gil Scott-Heron & Jaime xx, The Weeknd, Burial, and Mogwai.

Enjoy!

Favourite albums of 2010

Here's a list of my 20 favourite albums of 2010. Note my continued use of the word "favourite" as opposed to "best", as one of the greatest things about music is its ability to speak to different people in different ways. These are the albums that contained music and words that spoke to me most over the past year.

While I could go on about the reasons why I found each of these albums to be particularly appealing or interesting, I will instead encourage you to download the mixes I've posted on this blog throughout the year so that you can check out songs from each of them on your own.

And now, the list...

1. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening

2. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

3. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

4. Gorillaz - Plastic Beach

5. !!! - Strange Weather, Isn't It?

6. Beach House - Teen Dream

7. Delorean - Subiza

8. Foals - Total Life Forever

9. Tame Impala - Innerspeaker

10. The National - High Violet

11. Vampire Weekend - Contra

12. Hot Chip - One Life Stand

13. Black Keys - Brothers

14. The Drums - s/t

15. Broken Bells - s/t

16. Sufjan Stevens - The Age Of Adz

17. Jonsi - Go

18. Avi Buffalo - s/t

19. Oneohtrix Point Never - Returnal

20. Moonface - Dreamland

There are inevitably always going to be a bunch of other albums that I really loved which narrowly missed inclusion on the list. You'll also find songs from each of these on the aforementioned mixes though, and here they are in no particular order...

Liars - Sisterworld

Two Door Cinema Club - Tourist History

Spoon - Transference

Gigi - Maintenant

The English Premership - Affects

MGMT - Congratulations

The Walkmen - Lisbon

jj - No. 3

Surfer Blood - Astro Coast

Twin Shadow - Forget

Sleigh Bells - Treats

The Morning Benders - Big Echo

Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest

Brian Eno - Small Craft On A Milk Sea

Stars - The Five Ghosts

Sun Kil Moon - Admiral Fell Promises

Casiokids - Top Stemning Pa Lokal Bar

Apparatjik - We Are Here

Yeasayer - Odd Blood

Klaxons - Surfing The Void

Wolf Parade - Expo 86

Shearwater - The Golden Archipelago

ceo - White Magic

Support the artists by purchasing the albums you love most, or by seeing them live in concert. And never stop discovering great new music!