David Brewis' (Field Music) albums of the decade
It feels pretty insane picking our own albums for this, but they are genuinely my favourite albums of the last decade; the albums I most want to listen to and the albums I get the most from. And surely that makes a kind of sense (beyond the monumental arrogance) - we are trying to make the kind of music we would want to listen to and keep getting closer. The Week That Was is probably the best of the bunch - the most atmospheric and the most interesting, simultaneously modern and nostalgic
An odd mess of a record - dense with ideas, sound and frustration
It's got a couple of less good songs on it ('She Can Do What She Wants', in particular, was a decent experiment in a different kind of lyric-writing but it's not up to much as a song), some questionable performances (my drumming on the first track and 'Closer At Hand' is unnecessarily frantic) but they're mostly outweighed by the really good moments ('In Context', 'House', 'A Gap'), the really odd moments (the vocal percussion in 'Sit Tight', the piano strings in 'Place Yourself') and the surprising sense of coherence. A good argument for short albums.
The album of recent years which I'm most jealous of; consistently surprising, brilliantly assembled, funny, irreverent and clever.
A beautiful and odd album. Who'd have thought lyrics about meteorites could make you cry?
This album contains some of the most bitter and angry lyrics I've ever come across, mostly delivered in an unnerving conversational style over a mostly-unadorned, riffing (post-)rock combo. Really good songs, unusual production (two drummers, seemingly little or no compression), but since this his rocking has been reserved for Sonic Youth and Loose Fur (which is essentially the band from this record).
I almost didn't put this in - not because it's not a good record, but simply because it's not The Soft Bulletin (which would have been top of this list if it had been released a couple of years later). In fairness, this is full of great songs and loads of interesting production ideas, even if it lacks a full, majestic drumming contribution from Steven Drozd (watch The Fearless Freaks doc for details) and some of the melodies veer towards nursery rhyme territory.
Sadly overlooked due to a general perception that they should be fun and shouty. A really heartbreaking record, with a depth to the musical arrangements which is quite rare, especially among British bands.
Both affecting and playful. A serious record that doesn't take itself too seriously. She's a great singer.
Again, almost missed out because it doesn't quite live up to his previous (self-titled debut) record. For me, his second best record, before he started drowning in thick production and a hint of self-parody.
Other artist's top tens
All these lists were compiled into one Artist's top ten albums of the decade poll. But here are all the individual lists that went into it...
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