First, a thank you for stopping by at but one of the exceedingly minor Top 50 Albums Of 2011 lists; but enough pleasantries, let’s get down to business…

50. Wounded Rhymes by Lykke Li
Metacritic Score: 83

49. Angles by The Strokes
Metacritic Score: 71

48. Black Up by Shabazz Palaces
Metacritic Score: 82

47. Anna Calvi by Anna Calvi
Metacritic Score: 80

46. The Golden Record by Little Scream
Metacritic Score: 79

45. We're New Here by Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx
Metacritic Score: 82

44. Watch The Throne by The Throne
Metacritic Score: 76

43. Making Mirrors by…

And here I am, ready and willing to divulge my opinions on some of the best music to have seen release over the last twelve months. It’s a time of reflection for many, and though I’d like to think there is some unintentional emotional continuity with regards to my specific choices here (be they personal, topical or fanciful), all I can honestly say is that the music featured in this article (bar one horrid exemption) is rather brilliant. But enough lollygagging, here are my annual virtual bestowments for 2011:

Alternative Album Of The Year
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ikUA422124w/TalgHnbFGuI/AAAAAAAACUE/VHdHTe3zlrE/s400/Cat%2527s%2BEyes.jpg
Cat's Eyes by Cat's Eyes…

What with the Grammy nominations due to be released in a few hours, I thought it customary to get my two cents in before the announcement in an effort to get my word out on a few of the finer examples of new music to come our way over the past year, rather than get into the typically blog-centric spirit of things with lengthy Top 50 charts and such. Alas, there will be no live telecast or glamorous awards ceremony at the end of the year in which these awards will be bestowed upon their oblivious recipients, but I've always…

The end is in sight, my dears!! And in preparation for a busy month ahead, have put together one last quarterly playlist to share with you all. Excuse the bluntness with which I proceed, but I promised myself I'd just get straight to it this time. But don't worry, there's more from me to come in December. Until then though…

1) Snowed In At Wheeler Street by Kate Bush
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am78PQI-fH0
Starting off the soundtrack to the winter months absolutely fittingly is the inimitable Kate Bush with a cut from her tenth studio album 50 Words For Snow, an LP…

Alas, the summer is officially over. And in spite of my wanting to spend it in as foul a mood as possible, it actually turned into something rather wonderful. Amongst the most purely amazing was Björk herself singing Jóga directly at me when I went to see her with my good friend Omissi0n at one of her sold-out shows in Manchester as part of a two-week residency to promote her new album Biophilia (of which I’m sure I’ll be writing about in my next installment). Amongst the most slap-the-forehead horrible was that no matter how often I bleached my hair,…

The Guardian website asked its readers to post reviews of their favourite "obscure" albums. So I wrote a few lovely words for BT's absolutely, epically awesome This Binary Universe. Here's what I wrote:

"It shouldn't come as a surprise to find that some of the more prolific DJs that dance music has ever heralded are revealed to be classically trained musicians, amongst those to arrive from the UK being two-step garage's unsung hero MJ Cole, avant-garde electronic terrorist Richard D. James and Felix Buxton, one half of DJ/production outfit Basement Jaxx who recently collaborated with the Metropole…

And here we are, halfway through the year 2011. I honestly hope it's been better for you than it has for me, but then I spend most of my days being needlessly miserable and drowning out the continuous mess of the world with any great new music I can get my ears to listen to (plus much drinking and partying, it must be said), so that shouldn't be too difficult. But rather than bore you with such regaling, let's get down to business and have a listen to some of the best music to have been released over the past…

It wasn’t until recently that I’d realized quite how much I have often emotionally invested in making playlists in my iTunes library. Be they to commemorate a special occasion, honor a friendship or foolhardedly assuage passages of time dictated by particular moods of mine (those never last as long as a first playthrough though), I still take far too much care in comprising CD-shaped compilations and, as a result, treasure them just that little bit too much. This is made immediately apparent by a few stringent disclaimers I always give myself whilst making said mini music-fests:

1) As hinted previously,…

OK, so at least a day late, but hey, you can't hold me to that. Been an exceptionally busy New Year's holiday for me this year, and I can be forgiven for having myself a little fun, right? ;)

But enough lollygagging, welcome to my putting a cap on 2010 music-wise; it's been one heck of an exciting year for music in general, with every single album in my Top 100 earning at least one five-star rating for one of their songs. It has been rather emotional to let go of a few releases, to say the least, but needs…

And here's Pt. 4 for your keen optical receptors, just in time for New Year's Eve!! YAY!!!

25. There Is Love In You by Four Tet
http://www.google.co.uk/url?source=imgres&ct=img&q=http://www.dominorecordco.us/images/artists/four_tet/300_300/FourTet&sa=X&ei=r_UcTfjjKs_64Abtw4SiAQ&ved=0CAQQ8wc&usg=AFQjCNG2-aTWrDg-dYSUfxO9p9ydXi7Z-w
Most likely after collaborating with dubstep pioneer Burial on their well-received EP last year, Kieran Hebden deviates further away from the glitchy folktronica with which he earned his name and for his fifth album as Four Tet heads for a heady urban soundscape that is in some instances bustling with nervous electronic activity and also provides warm respite in its more meditative moments. It is a humbly precise and intricately engineered delight that…