40. Seasick Steve: 'Man From Another Time' (Atlantic) – Arguably the career zenith for the bearded wonder that is Seasick Steve. From start to finish, the record is a perfect storm of his lo fi blues and as rough & ready as the bizarre home made instruments he plays on. Yet on this record he pushes past this boundary into electric rock, and in doing so captures the rough essence of blues. This is the record that proves Steve as significant as any of the famous blues guitarists of the last 30 years. (Jon Bye)

39. Gallows: 'Grey Britain' (Warner Bros.) - After being hyped up to the hilt on their debut album in 2006, 2009 was the year Gallows finally came to the party with their sophomore effort. Easily the most uncompromising and aggressive long player of the year, ‘Grey Britain’ gave punk its edge back with razor sharp guitars and knockout blows like ‘London is the Reason’ and ‘I Dread the Night’. Throw in artwork and vocals so dark they made the recession look like a beach holiday and you have the definitive fuck you album of the year. (Chris Reynolds)

38. Major Lazer: 'Guns Don't Kill People... Lazers Do' (Downtown) - Major Lazer, the fictional animated character created by producers Diplo and Switch, burst onto the scene in 2009 with his debut 'Guns Don't Kill People...Lazers Do'. Recorded alongside local artists (and Santigold and Amanda Blank) at Tuff Gong studios in Jamaica, the heavily dancehall influenced album spawned a series of emphatic and infectious singles, including 'Hold The Line' and 'Pon de Floor'. Created with the dancefloor in mind, 'Guns Don't Kill...' was further enhanced by Major Lazer's thirst to travel around on a rocket-powered hoverboard. (We're not joking.) (Jason Gregory)

37. Crystal Stilts: 'Alight Of The Night' (Angular) – Ahead of the release of their debut album, the New York collective were predictably (and lazily) compared to miserbalist indie types Joy Division, Editors, Interpol et al., but thankfully, the wondrous 'Alight Of The Night' proved they were much more than pale imitators. A record that blends wide-eyed optimism and tenderness with brooding and melancholic melodies it was undoubtedly the first great record of the year. (Scott Colothan)

36. Fanfarlo: 'Reservoir' (Self release) – The London/Swedish outfit concocted one of the warmest, most childish and most heartfelt albums or 2009. Despite idle Arcade Fire comparisons, their debut record delivers the kind of thrills that only come around once a year. It’s the all-or-nothing climaxes such as that in ‘Drowning Men’ that may as well leave you for dead. (Jamie Milton)

35. Muse: 'The Resistance' (Warner Bros.) - Deluded hardcore Muse fans turned a blind to the obvious Queen aping of lead single 'United States Of Eurasia', but for the rest of us it was a rather ominous introduction to the record. Luckily, however, the pomposity of the single somehow segued perfectly into Muse's fifth studio album. The Doctor Who theme inspired 'Uprising' and the glorious bass-slapping 'Undisclosed' are obvious highlights, but it was the ridiculously overblown rock opera of the three-part 'Exogenesis' that excelled. (Scott Colothan)

34. The Prodigy: 'Invaders Must Die' (Take Me To The Hospital) - Following 2004’s rather lacklustre and unexpected ‘Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned’, The Prodigy found themselves in the unusual position of underdogs with follow-up ‘Invaders Must Die’. But in retrospect, it was a situation the album thrived in. After shunning his bandmates on its predecessor, producer Liam Howlett reunited with Keith Flint and Maxim for ‘Invaders…’ and the trio successfully recaptured the ability to create the type of visceral rave tunes that first made them famous in the early 90s. Tailor-made for the live stage, ‘Invaders…’ deservedly reaffirmed The Prodigy’s position as dance music’s greatest live spectacle. (Jason Gregory)

33. Eminem: 'Relapse' (Interscope) – Murder, celebrity baiting and tales of drug abuse - yes, 2009 saw the welcome return of Eminem with ‘Relapse’, his first studio album since 2004’s ‘Encore’. Produced by long-time collaborator Dr Dre (who also appears on two of the album’s 22 songs), the record venomously tracked the reason behind Eminem’s withdrawal from music (drugs) through to his salvation (rehab). And amid all that Eminem unleashed fabulous tales about everything from serial killers to rundown mental asylums, and took yet more pops at his all time favourite enemies - his mother and the late Christopher Reeve. Stay tuned for the album’s sequel ‘Relapse 2’ next year. (Jason Gregory)

32. DOOM: 'Born Like This' (Lex) - Featuring the late, legendary boozehound poet Charles Bukowski as a guest vocalist should be indication enough that DOOM isn’t exactly your average rapper. Whereas many acts in the genre emphasise ‘keeping it real’ with depressingly predictable results, DOOM (aka London-born, US-based MC/producer Daniel Dumile) dives head-first into the deep end of the surreal, favouring countless pseudonyms and a zany, metal-masked supervillain alter ego over standard-issue thug-isms and street corner odes. ‘Born Like This’ may well be Dumile’s defining statement to date, his previous output’s occasional slips into unfocused meandering replaced by razor-sharp grooves, head-spinning wordplay and a welcome penchant for brevity (standout track ‘Ballskin’ does its lethal business in mere 90 seconds). Quality over quantity, in other words. (Janne Oinonen)

31. A Place To Bury Strangers: 'Exploding Head' (Mute) – The New Yorkers describe themselves as “total sonic annihilation” and, quite frankly, that pretty much nails it. Their sophomore effort ‘Exploding Head’ is one of the most immensely powerful, dynamic and dark albums of the year. You don’t have to be a massive fuzz fanatic or connoisseur of wanking guitar solos to appreciate A Place to Bury Strangers’ cataclysmic walls of sound, relentlessly feverish energy, fusion of dissonant guitar riffs or superb song-writing. You just have to have a beating heart. Structure, melody, noise and emotion all melt into one big Rock’n’Roll mind-fuck leaving the listener stunned and feeling like they just woke from an opium-induced haze. ‘Exploding Head’ might easily be the rawest post-punk, freak-out rock I have ever heard and that, dear readers, is a great thing. This album needs to be played loud and even if your neighbours hate you afterwards, trust me, it’s worth it. (Linda Aust)

30. The Decemberists: 'The Hazards of Love' (Capitol Records) - The Oregon quartet aren’t known for their self-editing, and longtime fans of Colin Meloy’s Anglophile folk-obsessed outfit weren’t disappointed at the sheer scope of this 17-song sprawling rock opera about love and loss. A timely reminder that concept albums needn’t bring about hoary images of Rick Wakeman’s The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, these painstaking vignettes perfectly showcased the band’s unabashed love of musical eclecticism. Taking in Led Zep, Queen and some Pink Floyd-esque licks, cool it ain’t but for pure invention alone, The Decemberists once again proved they’re in a mind boggling universe of their own. (Alex Donohue)

29. The Flaming Lips: 'Embryonic' (Warner Bros.) - For some commentators, the defiantly strange 'Embryonic' was nothing short of a full-blown self-indulgent catastrophe, a career suicide carved of free-form freak-outs. In fact, the album’s the electrifying sound of the Flaming Lips reborn, reconnecting with the far-out fearlessness of their earliest incarnations. One more lacklustre attempt to capture past glories ala 2006’s 'At War with Mystics' would've been disastrous. It's a cause for considerable celebration, then, that Oklahoma's leading cosmic pop mystics had enough guts to dive headfirst into the outer reaches of distorted weirdness, unveiling a psych-prog-jazz-funk racket not unlike Can jamming with electric-era Miles Davis, with moments of calming beauty sandwiched between disorientating grooves, compensating generously for the odd detour into aimless noodling. (Janne Oinonen)

28. Phoenix: 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix' (V2) - For a band that started life as the backing group for Air in the mid-90s, Phoenix have come along way in the noughties. After three relatively underground releases, the French band's fourth album 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix' brought them into the mainstream in 2009 thanks largely to two infectious singles - 'Lisztomania' and '1901' - which both came dripping in electro pop. The album rooted itself onto the US Billboard album chart upon its release in May and was recently nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album. Things for Phoenix, it seems, are only looking one way: up. (Jason Gregory)

27. Jay-Z: 'The Blueprint 3' (Roc Nation) – As you'd expect from the self-proclaimed Jigga Man, Jay-Z’s ‘The Blueprint 3’ came packed with a special guest list that could have been stolen from the reception at Bungalow 8. Kanye West, Rihanna, Alicia Keys and Pharrell all featured on the final part of the rapper’s infamous trilogy. As with its predecessors, ‘The Blueprint 3’ was designed to reconstruct hip-hop’s foundations, starting with the deconstruction of auto-tune (‘D.O.A. [Death Of Auto-Tune’]). Although it also included a rather lack-lustre Mr Hudson collaboration, the album will forever be remembered for ‘Empire State Of Mind’ - Jay-Z’s infection ode to New York, starring Keys in piano and vocals. (Jason Gregory)

26. The Low Anthem: 'Oh My God, Charlie Darwin' (Bella Union) - The Low Anthem take the trend for thrift store chic to its ultimate conclusion. With instruments that look like they were found gathering dust in a dark corner of some long-abandoned warehouse, and dressed in clothes that make Huckleberry Finn look expensively attired, they have managed to assemble a collection of the year’s most haunting, heart-rending melodies, thrown in a couple of straw-in-the-mouth, sawdust-on-the-floor, rocking hoedown numbers, and put them all onto an album that is capable of leaving you speechless every time you hear it. (Patrick Burke)

25. Mumford & Sons: 'Sign No More' (Island) - As beards and banjos came crawling out of the woodwork and into gig venues up and down the land, the stage was set for someone to take the scene by the scruff of the neck and make a genre-defining album. And so it came to pass that the noise in Marcus Mumford’s head was the sound the populace of 2009 had been craving. It should be twee as hell, but there’s something about the whisky-throated vocals, four-part harmonies and jug band instruments that makes you want to don your frock coat, run out into the snowy streets of Victorian London, and buy a bottle of illicit gin for a shiny sixpence. (Patrick Burke)

24. Passion Pit: 'Manners' (Columbia) – After creating their fair share of hype with 2008’s ‘Chunk Of change EP’, Passion Pit’s full-length debut ‘Manners’ arrived with a mixture of hope and anticipation upon its release in May. Thankfully, it didn’t disappoint either. Despite frontman Michael Angelakos’s tendency to sound like a prepubescent adolescent, ‘Manners’’ succulent melodies and catchy riffs made it an exhilarating listen - and one which managed to effortlessly combine euphoria with the occasional down-tempo moment. You can’t argue that the Massachusetts band didn’t deliver when it really mattered. (Jason Gregory)

23. Bat For Lashes: 'Two Suns' (Parlophone) - Is Natasha Khan the female Patrick Wolf? Many things speak for it. Both share a pagan folk-tastic wild energy, reference the almightiness of nature and, lest we forget, both create fanciful stage personae. However, Miss Khan can certainly climb the folk throne of eccentricity, artistry and quirk all by herself. ‘Two Suns’ is a masterpiece of poppy folk, synthesised melody and Khan’s pure voice. Evoking her alter ego Pearl, “a hedonistic blonde” for her latest effort, Khan distances herself from her musical output openly discussing self-indulgence, bi-polar tendencies and raw lust. Heavy stuff? Yes certainly, but all coated in magically doleful cello arrangements, baroque pop moments, rattling percussions and thrillingly loud electronics. Finding the right balance between the pure slickly produced pop moments, like ‘Daniel’, and the more ethereal piano-based hushed flickers, like ‘Siren Song’ makes Khan’s second album a truly special effort. (Linda Aust)

22. Golden Silvers: 'True Romance' (XL) – Electronic yet melodic, romantic yet frantic, the London four-piece created one of the records of the year hands down. The enchanting piano of ‘Another Universe’ is a delightfully polite introduction to the record, and sculpts the path ahead for tracks like ‘True Romance’ which is uncontrollably catchy, yet has an originality that resonates throughout the album. It is this original ‘Golden-Silvers-Sound’ which makes this record so appealing, up-tempo numbers like ‘Arrows of Eros’ and ‘Magic Touch’ revel in the excitement of youth, yet the mellow ‘Please Venus’ oozes of teenage earnestness. Combine this with the more adult, edgy nature of ‘Shakes’ and Golden Silvers have created a perfectly balanced mishmash of brilliance. (Marzena Dabowska)

21. Dirty Projectors: 'Bitte Orca' (Domino) – Ban lynchpin Dave Longstreth might be a lightning-fingered guitar virtuoso with the same distaste for time signatures and song structure as a vegetarian might have for a steak sandwich, but he still likes a damned good melody - and Bitte Orca is chock full of them. From the down and dirty funk of Stillness Is The Move, to the beautiful poignancy of Two Doves, with the likes of Temecula Sunrise shining in between, Bitte Orca is proof that technical genius needn’t equal yawn-inducing fret wankery. (Patrick Burke)

20. Vitalic: 'Flashmob' (Different Records/PIAS) – Pascal Arbez's 2005 debut 'OK Cowboy' was a record of epic proportions and seemed near impossible to surpass. Fortunately, Arbez decided not to rehash the pummelling techno swirl of 'La Rock 01' or the crunching 'My Friend Dario' and instead tapped into disco music – with a dark twist of course. From the space aged disco of 'Station Mir 2099' to the harrowing melodies of 'Still' to the funky-as-fuck 'Chicken Lady', 'Flashmob' is a dizzying fusion of styles and easily one of the year's defining electronic records. (Scott Colothan)

19. Jamie T: 'Kings and Queens' (Virgin) – It wasn’t mentioned much at the time but there must have been a great deal of pressure on Jamie T to follow up his superb debut ‘Panic Prevention’. Any signs of nerves or tension didn’t show one single bit, however, as with a swig of his brew Jamie hit the ball out of the court on ‘Kings & Queens’ showing his unique flow, spirit and precocious talent. This album has a real communal brothers in arms feel as swaying sing alongs like ‘The Man’s Machine’ line up alongside frantic skittering sugar rush tunes like ‘Chaka Demus’ and ‘Sticks ‘N’ Stones’. We await his third effort eagerly. (David Renshaw)

18. The Big Pink: 'A Brief History Of Love' (4AD) – London electro-rock duo Robbie Furze and Milo Corden are that rarest of things – a band who can wow both live and on record. As brutal and apathetic as Jesus and Mary Chain, yet at the same time with a fragile tenderness that captures pithy human emotion in its most simple form. Expansive and diverse, A Brief History Of Love is really a record to lose yourself in. Not even the ubiquitous use of single 'Dominos' on a certain TV advert puts you off. (Jon Bye)

17. HEALTH: 'Get Color' (Lovepump United) – Their second album saw HEALTH stepped out of the shadow of those Crystal Castles collaborations and showed the world what they could do. It’s a sheer adrenaline rush of an album, with punk rock guitars, furious synth stabs and vocals sounding like they have been recorded at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean creating an overall futuristic sense of an apocalypse that you can dance to. In ‘Die Slow’ there is a sense of urgency leading up to a genuine crossover moment, the LA noiseniks inviting the world to come in and close the door behind them. Almost difficult to believe but it sounded like Lightening Bolt with Animal Collective sized tunes. Glorious noise! (Paul Reed)

16. Moderat: 'Moderat' (BPitch Control) – Any naysayers who claim electronic music is losing its edge in the 21st Century should take one listen to Moderat's debut effort. Beautiful yet pulverising, the Berlin electro 'supergroup' of Modeselektor (Gernot Bronsert and Sebastien Szary) and Apparat (Sascha Ring) crafted a truly haunting dance masterpiece. From the paranoia-inducing, spine-tingling techno of 'Sea-Monkey' to the sanguine and melodic 'Rusty Nails', the record is unwavering in its quality and, in 2009, almost unmatched brilliance. (Scott Colothan)

15. Florence and The Machine: 'Lungs' (Island) - The most anticipated debut this year, Florence & the Machine had the droves queueing, and 'Lungs' delivered with aplomb. The Mercury-nominated, Brit-awarded F&TM were scrubbed up for 'Lungs' with bankable production from James Ford and Paul Epworth - glistening with harp and percussive-heavy arrangements, Welch's dark imaginings wander wide as her siren's vocal soars, her banshee wails. 'Lungs' is a knee to the groin, an upper-cut to the jaw and sawdust in the eyes as you squirm. Packed with hits and splendour, 'Lungs' is tender, theatrical, dark, lusty, primeval and soulful - a cartwheeling romp of an album. (Mark Perlaki)

14. Manic Street Preachers: 'Journal For Plague Lovers' (Columbia) - In the end it was a stylistic stroke that only a Manic Street Preacher could attempt to pull off; rediscovering the final written words left behind by your missing-but-presumed -dead band member and cultural mouthpiece Richie Edwards and strapping them to a blisteringly uncompromising guitar assault akin to your most notorious work, The Holy Bible. Unquestionably one of the most eyebrow-raising musical comebacks of the year; that James Dean Bradfield and co pulled it off in the face of a potential minefield of media ridicule is just one of the dazzling achievements of Journal… The Manics' finest work since Everything Must Go dripped with Edward’s naked lyrical honesty and Bradfield’s brutal riffs. (Alex Donohue)

13. The Temper Trap: 'Conditions' (Infectious Records) - 2009 was the year The Temper Trap made an indelible mark on the music map both in their native Australia and much further abroad. Slow burners like ‘Love Lost’ and ‘Sweet Disposition’ proved their knack for writing an incredible, gigantic chorus while ‘Fader’ and ‘Science of Fear’ opened the door for a fan following which will swell to the arenas in the next decade. Unafraid to experiment (‘Drum Song’) and go all epic on us (‘Soldier On’), ‘Conditions’ was an album of superlative quality and imagination. (Chris Reynolds)

12. Memory Tapes: 'Seek Magic' (Something In Construction) - New Jersey musical maestro Dayve Hawk - aka Memory Cassette, Weird Tapes - made an understated yet ethereal and beautifully melancholic album, capturing the eclectic and disjointed musical spirit of 2009 perfectly. ‘Bicycle’ in particular is a sublime mini masterpiece, recalling Cocteau Twins and New Order in equal measure. It does a far better job than The XX album at capturing the feeling of the city in the early hours, a nocturnal Edward Hopper painting, a 4am video game sense of detachment from the world at large, the night bus journey home to safety from the white noise and collective freak shows. Stunning stuff. (Paul Reed)

11. Noah and The Whale: 'First Days Of Spring' (Vertigo) – Laura Marling will come of much focus next year. Her own "F.U.R.B" will most likely make its appearance after, let's face it, Charlie Fink made her sound like a malicious heartbreaker on 'The First Days Of Spring'. Fink's story is told with clichéd natural imagery, quite un-originally comparing a relationship to the four seasons. But the ambitious, building sonics conjured by orchestras and a tight band performance give this album something really beautiful to take pride in, a beauty that was even portrayed in a feature film that accompanied the album upon release. (Jamie Milton)

10. The xx: 'xx' (Young Turks) – Where so many bands fill their space with noise and layers, The xx showed that less can indeed be more. Set to a musical backdrop of trip-hop, two step and dub dual vocalists, Oliver Sim and Romy Croft open their hearts and mouths scattering broken-hearted rhymes and brittle citadels of romance. From the upbeat pop tunes of ‘Basic Space’ and ‘VCR’ to the stunning ‘Crystalised’ and ‘Shelter’, this debut album never drops below astonishing. The future is neon bright for The XX but even if they packed it all in tomorrow they have left their indelible dark, yet breathtaking mark on 2009. (David Renshaw)

9. Royksopp: 'Junior' (Wall Of Sound) – In retrospect, one could argue that Royksopp  were electronic music’s most consistent album band in the noughties. After the commercial-friendliness of their debut ‘Melody AM’ in 2001 and 2005’s ‘The Understanding’, the Norwegian duo rounded of the decade in style with ‘Junior’ - a pulsating collection of effortless underground electronica which featured dramatic guest appearances from Robyn, Lykke Li and Karin Dreijer Andersson. In an age of single downloads, ‘Junior’ was a genuine album record - and one that has stayed on the Gigwise office playlist ever since it first arrived. (Jason Gregory)

8. Fever Ray: 'Fever Ray' (Rabid) – The big question when Karin Dreijer announced her solo plans at the start of 2009 was whether, without her brother Olaf, she would could possibly match the aural majesty of The Knife. Testament to her musical talents, however, Karin crafted a stunning work that comfortably rubs shoulders with the zeitgeist-defining 'Silent Shout'. From the opening claustrophobia of 'If I Had A Heart' to the euphoric, panpipe-tooting 'Keep The Streets Empty For Me', 'Fever Ray' is more organic and freer than the delicious electronic clamour of The Knife's recent material and is the sound of a musical genius in her element. (Scott Colothan)

7. The Maccabees: 'Wall Of Arms' (Polydor) – This is the album which saw The Maccabees go from men to boys and burst out from the pack with a host of epic romantic anthems. Enlisting Arcade Fire producer Markus Dravs was a master stroke on the part of the Brighton band as his sense of the gargantuan merged with the shy indie promise shown on the bands 2007 debut record. This meeting of minds saw lead singer Orlando Weeks emerge as a town crier for the sad and alone, a klaxon for the soppy and love lorn. Listen to a song as good as ‘Love You Better’ or The National-gone-post-punk brilliance of ‘No Kind Words’ and tell us that The Maccabees aren’t a band to cherish. You can’t and ‘Wall Of Arms’ is their tour de force. (David Renshaw)

6. Grizzly Bear: 'Veckatimest' (Warp) - Inspired by an Elizabethan island off Cape Cod, 'Vectimafest' is more a state of mind. Heralded by Fleet Foxes' Robin Pecknold as the release of the decade, Grizzly Bear's third album is a distillation of 150 years of Americana, but how do you describe 'Vectimafest'? Symphonic folk-pop with Van Dyke Parks-esque arrangements, Smile-era vocal harmonies, a vintage smorgasbord fresh as the morning dew. The signs were muted on 'Yellow House' while Daniel Rossen's second band glowed with 'In Ear Park', but the breakthrough 'Vectimafest' hums with arcane lyrics, swoon-some vocals, baroque-indie, vintage riffs and an unchecked audacity. As necessary as sound waves! (Mark Perlaki)

5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs: 'It's Blitz' (Interscope) - After the glitter punk thrash of their debut album and the experimental sounds of its follow up, Karen O and co. took the natural progression on album number three and went all out disco pop. From the opening call to arms double bill of ‘Zero’ and ‘Heads Will Roll’ this album sees spirits high in the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s camp and as usual there is a battle between the distorted fuzz of Nick Zinner’s guitar and Karen O’s charismatic onslaught resulting in a double K.O. If at first it’s the fist pumping anthems that grab you then it’s the slower and more delicate moments that will have you coming back to ‘It’s Blitz!’ with ‘Hysteric’ and ‘Runaway’ rivalling anything the group have done before for elegance and poise.

4. The Horrors: 'Primary Colours' (XL) – It would have been so easy for The Horrors to conform to the stereotypes forced upon them and to churn out an album of sub-Cramps tunes. The much maligned five-piece defied expectations though and emerged from an underground studio having worked with Portishead’s Geoff Barrow on ‘Primary Colours’ 2009’s most unexpected hit. Much of the album works as a tribute to the bands influences, showcasing their love of 60’s psychadelia and bands like Neu! and Can resulting in tracks like the sprawling motorik beat of ‘Sea Within A Sea’. Elsewhere the aggressive glam stomp of yore is brought to a natural progression on ‘Who Can Say’ and ‘New Ice Age’. Every single copy of ‘Primary Colours’ should come issued with a big steaming slice of humble pie. (David Renshaw)

3. Fuck Buttons: 'Tarot Sport' (ATP Recordings) - A massive step forward for the Bristol duo and also for experimental music in 2009. The Andrew Weatherall produced, sprawling epic is the ultimate post club album, conjuring up a fading sense of blissful euphoria and sense of creeping unease as the dawn approaches. Layers and layers of hypnotic My Bloody Valentine style fuzz, exhilarating bleeps and military drumbeats made for compelling listening and actually had an emotional resonance reaching far beyond many of their guitar swinging peers. Like Aphex Twin and DJ Shadow before them, Fuck Buttons have taken a cold, detached electronic template and twisted it into quite the opposite - a huge sounding, warm, soulful juggernaut of an album. (Paul Reed)

2. Animal Collective: 'Merriweather Post Pavillion' (Domino) - From the very start; building minimal acoustic pop and keeping to the notion of abstraction, to now; releasing full-blown pop music, Animal Collective have done nothing but grow. Their sound has developed like only a fortune-teller could see coming, their status has morphed from cult heroes to mass opinion-dividers. Those aware of 'Merriweather Post Pavilion' either feel betrayed by it, disgusted by it or more suitably, feel that the golden age of Avey Tare and co. has just arrived. A work of staggering brilliance. (Jamie Milton)

1. Wild Beasts: 'Two Dancers' (Domino) – Ditching intimidating flamboyance for something far more tender and heart-swept, Wild Beasts came of age in 2009 with their beautiful display of melancholy in 'Two Dancers'. Maintaining lyrical wit and crossover vocals that previously warded off passers by, only this time supporting them with lighter, more cuddly melodies, they struck gold. This Kendal-bred four piece now look like a serious prospect for the long run and regardless of the excellence of 'Two Dancers', many are already expecting better – a feat that will surely be near impossible to achieve. (Jamie Milton)