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Top 10 Albums Of 2009

4. Polly Scattergood - Polly Scattergood (bedshaped)

If you want to support a growing talent this year, then my money is on Polly. A true underdog, geeky, quirky, a little odd, poetic, full of potential, fucked up. She's all these things and so much more.

Think a young Kate Bush on acid. Think Tori Amos on mushrooms. Think Damien Rice as his female doppleganger. Think Alanis, Sophie B Hawkins, Fiona Apple and The Cardigans, Catatonia, Blondie, Bjork and Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan....

She's a frustrated poet who's doing her best to vent through her songs. And she's doing a pretty fine job at it too. So much anger and frustration hasn't been felt since Alanis's Jagged Little Pill. God bless Alanis.

Polly has a wonderful vocal talent. Her producers have taken this as key to the mix of the album. And it pays off, big time. At times, you can listen....close your eyes....and say out loud...."That's genius!"

This is a very bold debut album. It's to the point. There's no misunderstanding between the artist and the listener. This album feels very....personal. The piano can feel....isolated. The cello can feel....unloved....the violins can feel....

Best track? Dammit, this is a tough call. I'm gonna go for Breathe In, Breathe Out. Why....? Because it's just so beautiful and stunningly frank.

Listen to: Breathe In, Breathe Out

4. The Duckworth-Lewis Method - The Duckworth-Lewis Method (Swisslet)

An album about cricket? That sounds like a bad enough idea even before you hear that it involves that bloke from the Divine Comedy…. Named after an impenetrable mathematical formula used to work out revised batting targets in rain affected games, Neil Hannon and Pugwash’s Thomas Walsh have, somewhat against the odds, produced the most consistently charming album of the year.

It’s quirky, but in a good way, starting with The Coin Toss and closing, of course, with The End of the Over. In between we have songs referencing Pakistani batsmen (Meeting Mr. Miandad), Shane Warne’s ball of the century (Jiggery-Pokery) and lots of paens evoking the pastoral heritage and history of the game of cricket.

Odd that such affectionate whimsy should come from two Irishmen, but the quality of this album was almost as welcome a surprise as England’s Ashes win…..

Listen To: Jiggery-Pokery

4. Noah and the Whale - The First Days Of Spring (LB)

I'll be honest, the annoying chirpiness of Noah and the Whale's debut album, Peaceful The World Lays Me Down really ended up getting on my nerves. Ubiquitous single Five Years Time included, the whole thing was a little bit to twee and ridiculous for my liking and I consigned it to the cupboard pretty quickly.

Then, lead singer Charlie Fink split up with singer/songwriter Laura Marling.

The resultant album, The First Days Of Spring is as raw and bleak a record as you could possibly imagine. The album opens with the lines "It's the first day of spring/and my life is starting over again" and Fink has admitted that the album was both cathartic and therapeutic. However, whilst The First Days Of Spring is painfully honest, it manages to avoid being maudlin and self-absorbed. Lush string arrangements and downbeat guitars have replaced the tinny folkiness of their first album and the band have created an utterly captivating and engrossing album that is simply beautiful.

I can't overstate how stunning this record is. I had absolutely zero expectations for it when I gave it a listen on one bored morning a couple of months back. It made me stop in my tracks and listen to it over and over again and it has that brilliant quality where it is difficult to listen top it on random, or pick bits out in isolation. It is a proper album in the old-fashioned sense and the only way you can listen to it is in order, from start to finish. And listen to it, you should. You will not be disappointed.

Listen to: The First Days Of Spring