Quite a week...
Danger Mouse takes it, missing out on our top spot by a whisker. His Aquamarine is the TOTW of the week.
Plaudits to Pale Blue Eyes for storming into our top ten for the year.
This was our highest scoring week of the year, 3rd highest overall.
Guy and Matt share the š with an avg of 7.8, bettered only 4 times previously.
Jim gets his first ā¹ļø since January. Summary scores at end of post...
Andy
Yungblud - Not really moved on since his last but still fairly enjoyable 6.5
Pale Blue Eyes - Another one of these sonic soundscape affairs in the vein of Mogwai (but not as heavy) or PSB. Hints of New Order and shoegazey stuff, cracking 7.5
2 Door Cinema Club - Enjoyed this a lot more than I have previous efforts (or am I sill getting them confused with Bombay Bicycle Club?) Good stuff 7
Danger Mouse - Reckon this is going to be in album of the year contention. Stunning grooves, superb collaborations. Roots style funkiness 9
TotW - Aquamarine
Back in Black - A great start by Brian but lacking Bon's energy. Love it though 9
Simon
Yungblud: didn't hate it but I can't really engage with this kind of stuff - one for the kids. 6
Pale Blue Eyes: shimmering, propulsive dream pop of the highest quality - a tad derivative perhaps, but who cares when it sounds this good. 9
Two Door Cinema Club: don't know their previous stuff but thought this was decent enough, just a bit underpowered at times compared to someone like Foals. 7.2
Danger Mouse: by no means a hip-hop aficionado but I thoroughly enjoyed this - definitely preferable to the Dave, etc of this world. 8
AC/DC: a band I know very little about although apparently this is the 2nd biggest selling album of all time - doesn't do that much for me although I'd imagine there's been a lot of air guitar to this in the Huseyin household. 6.5
TotW: Sing It Like We Used To by Pale Blue Eyes
Erol
Yungblud - Iāve always liked this lad. Heās got great drive and energy and for that I applaud him. But I prefer his music when he sticks to angst-rock. Although there are some decent tunes here, it mostly sounds like itās been put together for the younger market. 6
Pale Blue Eyes - dreamy pop, yes, and all rather pleasant but to be honest, I found this a bit dull and lacking in oomph. 5.7
Two Door Cinema Club - Iāve always liked them. Happy, groovy tunes throughout. Another solid offering. 7
ļ»æDanger Mouse - undeniably cool. A superbly produced album, wonderfully blended with retro soul. Iām not usually a fan of hip-hop/rap (for want of a better term) but this is one of the best albums in the genre that I have heard in a long time. And hardly a swear word to be heard. BeyoncĆ©, Megan Thee etc, take note. This is how it should be done. 8.9
TOTW - Almost anything from Danger Mouse but Iāll go for The Darkest Part.
AC/DC - one of my favourite rock albums. Every track is strong with cracking vocals from Brian throughout. 9.5
Sam
Yungblud : started off all Creeper like and got me all excited . Then it started to sound like everyone else with a vocoder ā¦ what a shame 6.3
Pale Blue Eyes : Top jingle jangle / synth niceness . 7
TDCC : not a fan previously but they are such happy chaps itās quite infectious . 7
Danger Mouse : clever modern hip hop but not as great as some say ! 7
AC/DC : what an absolute pleasure it was to listen to this . Pure class . Every song a classic . 9.5
Tune of the Week : not many to choose from but Iāll go The Funeral by Yungblud
Matt
Yungblud: Likeable strop pop; an angry McBusted. 6.8
Pale Blue Eyes: Fantastic wistfulfuness but with enough energy and melody to keep it from being twee. 8
Two Door Cinema Club: What a terrific surprise. Lovely jingle jangle with a strong dollop of 80s. Strong selection of tracks. 8
Danger Mouse. Class act. Old school but bang up to date, with stellar guests. Shows the kids how it's done. 8.5
Mark
Yungblud - there's far worse the kids could be into, he seems like a decent enough fella, maybe the "I'm mad me" schtick grates a little and he comes across as wanting to be Iggy Pop but ends up more like Harry Styles - 6
Pale Blue Eyes - fantastic debut album, perhaps sonically a bit samey but it's so good, great synthy shoegaze, a pleasant discovery and has been given multiple spins this week - 8
TDCC - a band I liked at first but have taken against in recent years, this was actually pretty decent and got better as it went on. Still bordering a bit on feeble white funk, but not bad - 6
Danger Mouse - a monster of an album, inventive sampling, great guest turns, powerful and funky as hell. Multiple TOTW contenders too, and I expect this to feature in a lot of year end best ofs - 8.5
TOTW - Strangers by Danger Mouse / Run The Jewels
Guy
Yungblud - thought I'd hate this but I actually found it quite enjoyable and more tuneful than I had expected. He looks a state mind - 7
Pale Blue Eyes - cracking album. Solid throughout. Sounds like a classic Simon Hardy band - but I like that sound! - 8.2
TDCC - Solid offering from TDCC. The sound has matured and become more funky as time has gone on. It's different but still good - albeit I liked the Jingle Jangle of the early days a bit more - 7.5
Danger Mouse - Superb stuff. Nice beats, lilting hip hop. A real cracker of an album - 8.6
TOTW - Globe by Pale Blue Eyes
AC/DC - Top album. Reminds me of Sam and Andy when they were headbangers at school. Some bits get a bit tedious so I'm docking a point for that 8.5
Jim
Yungblud 6
Started off sounding like Billy Idol but then it lost it's oomph, went too poppie and the tracks started to blur. Seen him twice live and both shows had way more energy than this offering. He is a character though and you can't have too many of them
Pale Blue Eyes 8
Echo all previous comments, except Erol's. Loved it, and another to add to the growing list of high quality, uplifting, original, synth pop electronica. And with a 3 letter or word theme ! KVB, NOL, PSB, WHL and now PBE. Handful of TOTW contenders, Dr Pong in particular.
2DCC 4.5
I seem to be on my own with this one, thought it was pretty dreadful and quite annoying by the end. Lifeless and lame. They never had that much edge or funk, but whatever there was on tracks like on I Can Talk, and What You Know seems to left them. Maybe suffered in comparison to the 3 crackers we had this week.
Danger Mouse 8.5
Refreshing and simply great. A couple drifted towards the softer Sault offerings but otherwise it put a massive spring in my step walking around London yesterday. Probably gained a point by simply not being Drake, Kendrick, Megan or Dave, but them's the breaks.
ACDC 9.5
Oooshh. Sounds amazing considering 30+ years old. Just above GnR in my fav. heavy classic rock offerings.
TOTW Aquamarine Danger Mouse
Justin
Yungblud - for this genre was better than most although slumped a bit towards the end 6.8
Pale Blue Eyes - nice dreamy sounds. 7.1
2TCC - I thought this was a really different album with some interesting tunes and probably the best since their debut 7.2
Dangermouse - reminded me of the first gnarls barkley album which I listened to a lot at the time. Some great tunes and a solid album. 8
TOTW - The Darkest Part - Dangermouse
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