In the wake of even more lists and reflections on last year and a touch of inspiration from Ben’s blog entry, I thought I’d share a number of albums I either listened to a lot last year or really caught my attention.

Best of British rock

Wait for Me by The Pigeon Detectives – One of those very easy albums to listen to and watching these guys perform live is pretty amazing too. It’s great to listen to get you going in the morning. Favourites from this album include Wait for Me, I Found Out, Don’t Know How To Say Goodbye, and I’m Not Sorry.

Mens Needs, Women Needs, Whatever by The Cribs – Certainly much more upbeat riffs and high energy from another British band. Songs are short and sweet except for the epic, six minute long song, Be Safe. With songs like Our Bovine Public, you know they’re having a bit of a laugh and the they’re a sure to be a long time favourite on many an Indie dance floor. My favourite song on this album is Moving Pictures.

Your Truly, Angry Mob by Kaiser Chiefs – Ruby, ruby, ruby! It’s one of those lyric sets that you continue to hum long after you’ve heard it, especially with the cover done by these guys. Listen to it and another song called Heat Dies Down. The rest of the album is pretty addictive too.

Rock around the world
Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace by the Foo Fighters – The album tends to sound like a lot of their other albums yet a number of the songs off their latest album still manages to hit the right key. Both the song and the film clip to the first track on this album, The Pretender is amazing, starting in the soft undertones, quickly building into the well known sound of the Foo Fighters. I also really enjoyed the strangely repetitive and hence, maybe mesmerising track Come Alive.

Alibis and Other Lies by Grinspoon – Another winning album from this Australian rock band that have continued to churn out great tracks. The usual combination between the heavier tunes and the melodic acoustic tracks and yet somehow the album seems different from their previous ones. You can tell this band is maturing as the sounds are far from their early albums. Listen to the tracks What you Got and Living In The City.

Dance trax
Myths of the Near Future by the Klaxons – A mix probably better classified as electro rock, this band mixes up the rock sounds into a uniquely sombre and dark album. Starting off with something that sounds alarming, they take you through a journey that based on their film clips take you through space to other worlds (or at least I guess they’re supposed to). They also picked two of their best songs for a colourful and symbolic film clips – Golden Skans and It’s Not Over Yet.

Version by Mark Ronson – Mixing it up with a number of British artists performing covers to other British artists songs puts together an eclectic mix of sounds you wouldn’t hear anywhere else. The interesting part is mixing up the different styles from different artists whose covers are just completely different takes. My favourite off this album is the cover of Maximo Park’s Apply Some Pressure.

I Created Disco by Calvin Harris – With cheesy, simple film clips and a fun attitude, this Scottish artist creates an album that somehow makes you laugh. Lots of synthetic mixes and some very simple lyrics that just keep looping in your head after you listen to them. Best songs off this one, Born in the 80’s, Merrymaking At My Place and The Girls.

Hold Your Colour by Pendulum – This drum and bass outfit presents an album that takes you on a journey worth taking if you’re into this sort of music. My favourite song here is Slam.

Honourable Mentions
Cross by Justice – Though I didn’t really get into the whole album, the song D.A.N.C.E. is light and entertaining. Its film clip is even more innovative and interesting to watch. See it below