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We're getting there, slowly but surely. In fact, the top 10 may be a lot more boring, where variety is concerned, than the 10 albums presented here. These albums are not my absolute favourites though.
20. El Camino. The Black Keys (2011)
An album containing songs like 'Lonely Boy', 'Gold On The Ceiling' and 'Little Black Submarines' simply has to end way up high on this list and with the consistent quality of the rest of the album it does. All albums that followed, and I have them all, cannot match the quality of El Camino. The Black Keys found its greatest form here and found themselves in the bigger venues. The duo, that on record and live has not been a duo for a while, found its true qualities here in a set of superb songs that together make a great album. Especially those first two mentioned songs are of an exceptional quality. The best two the band ever made.
My favourite album of this year finds itself back at number 19. Released in the first week of 2024, it remained my favourite all through the year. Live the band performed on the same height. Starting with the single 'Literary Mind' the Irish band found itself in my good graces immediately. Enter a song like 'Up And Comer' and the band can't do no wrong any more. Both song are in the second half of the album, even near the end and they are bangers. The rest of the album certainly is of very consistent quality. I have played it so much this year. The band has been touring relentlessly ever since the release, so I can only hope they still like to be musicians and find the inspiration to come up with an even better album soon. They have a quality that deserves to be heard more and more. Discoveries can be made later on in life with ease. It only takes an open ear.
The album starts with an eleven minutes long song named after Tim Christensen's support band band, 'The Damn Crystals'. Whatever comes after it, doesn't matter. This is the song of songs where Tim Christensen is concerned. Of course the album is good, all his albums are, but 'The Damn Crystals' is simply top. Call it alternative rock or progrock, I don't care, the song rocks and takes the listener through several moods, speeds and musical genres. Next up is the first single of the album called 'Surprise Me' a clear and strong rock song. Live the band convinced totally. This was a machine and then it all stopped. With 'Tim Christensen and the Damn Crystals' we at least still have the memories.
And once again here is the band that I thought would be my band of the 00s. It turned out to be John the Baptist which is almost as good, isn't it? You Could Have It So Much Better was my album of 2005 and not even the best album by FraFer, as I call them. Fact is, the band never disappointed and with the first single of You Could Have It So Much Better, 'Do You Want To', delivered one of my absolute favourites by the band. In 2004 the band came into my life with a bang and consolidated this position with its second album only a year later. Since then things went slow. In January 2025 the new album is due. I'm looking forward anxiously, just like you can look upward in this list for more to come.
Had you asked me circa five years back how many Johan albums would be in this list I would have said three, but I've turned a bit off the band. Not from Pergola though. This remains my favourite and the title song remains its best song to date. The alternative pop and rock found on the album is the best it ever played. Add a single like 'Tumble And Fall' or a sensitive ballad like 'Day Is Done' and a short but oh so fine song like 'I Feel Fine' and you'll understand why this is the best album coming out of Hoorn and Amsterdam in this first quarter of the century. And, not to forget, the best album coming out of The Netherlands in this period.
Here is record 1.a of 2015. You have already read about Broeder Dieleman, here is Sophie Hunger's finest to date, by far. On Supermoon everything Hunger had been working on for a decade came together. Assisted by her fantastic band and super guitarist and Belgian Geoffrey Burton she brought together different genres of music and different languages. The Swiss singer showcases several languages but mostly English. Supermoon is the more surprising as what came before did not really give something away on what to expect. The albums that followed were good as well, but not good enough for this list. I just love the musicality of Sophie Hunger (Émilie Jeanne-Sophie Welti) and live she's nothing but a sensation.
Fun fact, I work regularly with a former colleague of her father, both former Swiss diplomats.
Although 'Ruby' became Kaiser Chiefs' signature song for posterity, the band never bettered its debut album Employment. The songs with which the band entered the stage were so incredibly strong. Just look at the songs opening the album. 'Everyday I Love You Less And Less' 'I Predict A Riot', 'Modern Way' and 'Na Na Na Na Naa' and you have four winners in a row. Take later on a song like 'Caroline No' and you have a winning album. True, it's been a while since I played the album last, but whenever one of these songs come by I know again how good the album is. The one after is nice also, with 'Ruby' on it but after that only 'Education' etc. was worthwhile. Since then the band has totally lost it way imho. With Employment it has a claim to eternity.
The band I wasn't interested in, until I read early in 2015 that it was the best selling album on vinyl. Don't ask me why, but I decided to buy it. The first new album on vinyl I bought in something like 26 years and the start of a new collection. I simply loved it and played it over and over and over. This Is All Yours is strange collection of songs. From a folk tune on a recorder to complex electronic tracks, Alt-J is not a band that digests easily. And yet the album got to me like a knife through butter. The weird voice of singer Joe Newman, the electronics of Gus Unger-Hamilton and all the sounds and tricks together make for very interesting listening. There's not a vinyl album I've played more in the past ten years.
The Moe Green Specials the band used to be called before it became TMGS and released the best album coming out of Belgium in this century. On Rivers and Coastlines: The Ride a host of musical styles come together, starting with Americana and then mix it Tex-Mex, West Coast balladry and the soft, modest voice of Peet Lodiers. The way the trumpets blow is pure mariachi coming out the Belgian heaths around Kalmthout. When I first heard 'Tell Everyone' it was as if struck by lighting. Everything stopped around me. All that followed confirmed what I was hearing: extremely sensitive and good music. TMGS is a big band with a wide sound bringing the listener to the U.S.' border regions with Mexico, coming straight out of the border region of Belgium and The Netherlands, for which my country cannot take any credit. The even made it to the top of my list in 2013. That is no longer is the case, as you will find out tomorrow. I have no clue whether the band is still around. If it is, it's time for a new record!
My album of 2021 is Blue Weekend. Wolf Alice, quiet now for four years, really brought everything together that it promised on its previous two records. The punk, the rock, the mystery, the atmosphere and the voice of singer Ellie Rowsell. Blue Weekend is the kind of album that puts a spell on its listeners. An album you follow without questioning it. It washes over you like a big wave, leaving you uncertain for a short while whether you will surface again but unlike the real thing, Blue Weekend does. Right up to today I love listening to the album and every time I am surprised how good it is. I saw the band live in 2017 and that was just as mesmerising. One of those shows of which you know it is special. The promise the band gave off then was delivered on by way of Blue Weekend. It's time for the next step!
Wout de Natris - van der Borght
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