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.