(Lil' Chief Records)
New Zealand songstress Chelsea Nikkel impresses on her debut album mixing classic and modern sounds to great effect, and any album that has a song called "Monkey Eats Bananas" deserves a listen.
- fave track: The Cigarette Duet
(BellyUp Records)
BellX1 continue to make very good albums that are always worth a listen, my only gripe with this one is that every song is at least four and a half minutes so the album is a bit too long.
- fave track: Velcro
28. Idiot Glee - Paddywhack
(Moshi Moshi)
This album was a pure impulse buy, knew nothing about him and it turned out to be a really cool album and comes across like a more loop/keyboard obsessed Jens Lekman.
- fave track: FOE
27. Peter Bjorn & John - Gimme Some
(Cooking Vinyl)
Everyone's favourite Swede pop rockers returned this year with a decent effort that made for a much easier listen than their last album, and in "Second Chance" released one of the best songs of 2011 that no one really listened to unfortunately, but you can, now, go on, do it.
- fave track: Second Chance
26. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
(Bella Union)
An album that's probably every bit as good as its predecessor if not better, however didn't really grab my attention as much as it should have this year.
- fave track: Bedouin Dress
25. Those Darlins - Screws Get Loose
(Oh Wow Dang)
If you're looking for impressive catchy girl (and a dude on drums) rock, they're yer only man.
- fave track: Screws Get Loose
24. Middle Brother - Middle Brother
(Partisan)
Featuring members of Deer Tick, Dawes and Delta Spirit, and as supergroups go they manage to come across as a more fun Monsters of Folk
- fave track: Me Me Me
23. Tennis - Cape Dory
(Fat Possum)
Tennis are a husband and wife team who get inspired and write songs when they're sailing, sounds horrible but is anything but. They specialise in catchy melodies, guitar hooks and sweet vocals.
- fave track: Marathon
22. The Phoenix Foundation - Buffalo
(Memphis Industries)
Another talented band from New Zealand that specialise in moody, well crafted pop, are largely unknown this side of the world unfortunately, although they recently appeared on Jools Holland. They first came to my attention when they provided the soundtrack to "Eagle Vs Shark", a movie which Jemaine Clement fans may know.
- fave track: Bitte Bitte
21. Jonny - Jonny
(Turnstile Music)
Norman Blake and Euros Childs coming together was a aural delight, especially for fans of Teenage Fanclub and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, but to sum it up simply just sounds like two great songwriters having fun.
- fave track: Candyfloss
(Moshi Moshi)
This album was a pure impulse buy, knew nothing about him and it turned out to be a really cool album and comes across like a more loop/keyboard obsessed Jens Lekman.
- fave track: FOE
(Cooking Vinyl)
Everyone's favourite Swede pop rockers returned this year with a decent effort that made for a much easier listen than their last album, and in "Second Chance" released one of the best songs of 2011 that no one really listened to unfortunately, but you can, now, go on, do it.
- fave track: Second Chance
(Bella Union)
An album that's probably every bit as good as its predecessor if not better, however didn't really grab my attention as much as it should have this year.
- fave track: Bedouin Dress
(Oh Wow Dang)
If you're looking for impressive catchy girl (and a dude on drums) rock, they're yer only man.
- fave track: Screws Get Loose
(Partisan)
Featuring members of Deer Tick, Dawes and Delta Spirit, and as supergroups go they manage to come across as a more fun Monsters of Folk
- fave track: Me Me Me
(Fat Possum)
Tennis are a husband and wife team who get inspired and write songs when they're sailing, sounds horrible but is anything but. They specialise in catchy melodies, guitar hooks and sweet vocals.
- fave track: Marathon
(Memphis Industries)
Another talented band from New Zealand that specialise in moody, well crafted pop, are largely unknown this side of the world unfortunately, although they recently appeared on Jools Holland. They first came to my attention when they provided the soundtrack to "Eagle Vs Shark", a movie which Jemaine Clement fans may know.
- fave track: Bitte Bitte
(Turnstile Music)
Norman Blake and Euros Childs coming together was a aural delight, especially for fans of Teenage Fanclub and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, but to sum it up simply just sounds like two great songwriters having fun.
- fave track: Candyfloss
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