1. Black Clouds - Everything is Not Going to Be Ok.
2. Suspyre - s/t.
3. Gojira- Le'enfant sauvage.
4. Ne Obliviscaris - Portal Of I.

Haven't listened to much this year.

I listen to Manchester all the time, that's definitely a great album.

Ah okay, gotcha. Have you listened to the Beach Boys' new album?

I've already mentioned my top ten, but now I'm going to mention my bottom five. In no particular order:

Grimes - Vision
I just don't get this. Sure there's one or two decent tunes on it but overall it just sounds nauseating and a little too sugar-coated for my liking. The sound of her voice kind of reminded me of Alison Shaw from Cranes however she uses her voice in a way I don't like. I'm filing this next to Cults' s/t and the first Sleigh Bells albums.

Led Er Est - The Diver
They're going for a dark, minimal, early-80's post-punk vibe but fall way short. Similar in a way to The Soft Moon but lack the interesting textures and atmosphere. I can't really remember anything else about this, which might say something.

Memoryhouse - The Slideshow Effect
A very disappointing full-length debut album from this dream-pop band. They have a nice lush sound here but certainly not the tunes they had on their The Years EP. There is nothing worth noting here apart from the last song which is actually pretty good, but too little too late.

Blood Red Shoes - In Time To Voices
I liked their first two albums Box Of Secrets and Fire Like This. But here they seem to have run out of ideas and interest in what they do. They sound like a band bored with making music and just decided to go through the motions. While it's not a complete disaster it is another huge disappointment.

Whirr - Pipe Dreams
Not a bad album as such, but certainly nothing to get excited about. In some parts of the blogosphere this is apparently the best shoegaze album of the year. But if this album is the best shoegaze album of the year then this has been a truly poor year for the genre, which is the way it looks to me. Originality has seemingly dried up.

So is it mainly her voice that gets to you? Considering it is the most prominent aspect of the music, I can understand not liking it if she bothers you. Even when it is subtle and the synths behind her are taking over, her voice still plays such a role that it is essential to the music (otherwise it would just be warbling synth crap).

Personally, I love her voice and if it wasn't for how unique and creative she is with it, the whole album would blow.

It's not just her voice though, I was also indifferent to a lot of the songs on it. It just didn't compute with me. Mind you I was expecting a lot from the album due to the hype surrounding it so that may have also affected my view on it. It sounded a bit cheap and throwaway to me but I probably will give it a revaluation at some stage.

Ah yeah, the hype can kill it. I saw a passing mention of her before I checked her out...I had no idea she was being hyped until after I heard the album. I'd say I agree with you about some of the songs on there...but the 3 or 4 great ones are REALLY great, in my opinion.

Even the songs I did kind of like I felt they were something I would probably get sick of within a month and rarely listen to again. It would probably have made a better impact on me if it was an EP.

Top 4 albums in no particular order

Passion Pit-Gossamer
King Tuff-King Tuff
Metric-Synthetica
Japandroids-Celebration Rock

Are these the only 4 albums you've listened to from this year?

Monica Richards - Naiades
Stray - Letting Go
Anathema - Weather Systems
Assemblage 23 - Bruise
The Frozen Autumn - Chirality
Sigh - In Somniphobia
Ihsahn - Eremita
Susanne Sundfor - The Silicone Veil
Alcest - Les Voyages de l'Ame
Ne Obliviscaris - Portal of I

Still anticipating lots of others.