Freudenschade

1) Lana Del Ray - Video Games

2) Patrick Wolf - The City

3) Lady Gaga - The Edge of Glory

4) Amy Winehouse - Our Day Will Come

5) Bright Light Bright Light - Disco Moment

6) Jenny Silver - Something in your eyes

7 Will Young - Jealousy

8) Nicola Roberts - Beat of My Drum

9) Nadia Oh - Taking Over the Dancefloor

10) Stooshe - Fuck Me

1)      Bjork – Biophilia.

Yes, yes the world’s first app album, how very commendable. But it could easily have been crap. I don’t even USE apps, so any fancy DIY techno-twiddling is lost on me. The MUSIC however, is brilliant – and accessible, unlike her last offering.  Once you get over the fact that the First Lady of Iceland isn’t going to have a Top 20 hit and appear on Top of the Pops anytime soon (remember then?) and embrace the fact that she’s  only getting more staggeringly creative as she gets older, all will be well for you. Promise. 

2)      Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes.

Narrowly, narrowly behind first place is another Nordic woman. Wounded Rhymes could’ve easily taken the worst faults of its solid predecessor – emotion, and made it into an Adele-level whinge-fest. But with her lyrics tempered by previous collaborators Bjorn and John’s production she’s comfortable enough to take the plunge and give it her all. If anyone else in music today tried singing “Sadness is my boyfriend” they’d end up sounding like an Avril Levigne b-side. Somehow it just WORKS here. Wonderful misery.

3)      Kate Bush – 50 Words for Snow.

If you lot know anything about me it’s that I loves me some Bush. I’m just glad that I’ve had a few weeks to listen to this incessantly enough to form a slightly more objective opinion on it than I might otherwise give you.  This is definitely an album in the old-fashioned sense that it was made to listen from start to finish – no iTunes generation cherry-picking and shuffling of tracks. Immerse yourself in over an hour of Kate taking you on a specifically wintery themed journey. Why? Because she loves snow, KEEP UP!

4)      Hercules and Love Affair - Blue Songs

Their hipster-pleasing debut was a favourite, but could they repeat it? While first time round Andy Butler was firmly exploring 70s Disco, here he dives into House, Funk, underground cabaret and even splashes of Jazz. With a new set of collaborators keeping things fresh, including Kele Okereke from Bloc Party and awesome vocalist Aurea Negrot (check her own solo effort out) this album manages to be catchy enough for a house party, but complex enough to encourage many repeat listens on your own.

5)      Lady Gaga - Born This Way

When as over anticipated as this album you’d be lucky to please 5 people, let alone the army of Little Monsters demanding it. Gaga gets a fair bit wrong with this album; it’s far too long for starters and bits of it sound like it was recorded in a broken portaloo – overproduced noisy shite. But to have an album that gives you Gregorian chants of her own name, Country, cod-German Techno, Eighties power ballads and “traditional” dance pop – would Rihanna?

6)      Patrick Wolf – Lupercalia

It’s a funny old time to be Mr Wolf. Having raised a fledging fanbase on a diet of misery-laden folktronic soup, he’s now older and considerably less angsty. But if you’d think that being on the verge of being happily ever after would result in mediocrity you’d be wrong. Euphoric, buoyant and still leftfield enough to recall his songs about pigeons and child abuse roots – there’s still no one male more interesting than him in music today.

7)      Florence and the Machine – Ceremonials

“That waily ginge posh bird who looks a bit like a man” – was recently used to describe poor old Flo on the bus. Yes, POOR OLD FLO. She’s found what she’s good at. And bloody good she is too here. If it ain’t broke… etc.

8)      Jessica 6 – See the Light

Who would’ve guessed that out of nowhere (well, New York actually), the saviour of dance music would emerge to rise against the IN DA CLUB Guettamageddon currently plaguing clubs and mediocre radio stations? Nomi Ruiz, as vocally as gorgeous as the rest of her in a catsuit first turned heads as a featured vocalist on the first Hercules and Love Affair album before ganging together with bunch of likeminded chaps. Effortlessly funky, sassy and catchy they’re already recording album two and were rumoured to be working with Madonna. Let’s hope some of this magic rubs off on Madge, she needs it.

9)      The Horrors – Skying

After averting oblivion by ditching their previous landfill indie credentials with stunning album number two, Faris Badwan & Co do it again. Haunting but without being overwhelmingly bleak, each of the tracks triumphantly stands out as an individual ode to darkness on a vast scale. Fuck Coldplay and the mediocre horse they’ve ridden in on for a decade, these chaps should be unavoidably huge worldwide.

10)   Sophie Ellis-Bextor – Make A Scene.

After FINALLY being released after donkey’s years, the main worry was that La Bextor’s new album would not sound terribly NOW. Fear ye not. A cohesive party album full of lush production and her trademark cut-glass vocals – think Ke$ha after a Pygmalion-style makeover. I know she keeps threatening to go back to her indie roots but Soph’s voice naturally compliments dance music. And with the right producers; Freemasons, Richard X, Hannah Robinson like here, she’s still the best all-round British pop package.

RT @Frankmusik: Thank you people of the Internet. Frankmusik has had its day an is being laid to rest. Thanks to the fans.