lightships

2012 Album of the Year, Part One: The Long-List

So it's that time of year again - Christmas is done and the excess food has started to fester. Gifts have been exchanged and everyone is now thinking about going back to work. Happy happy joy joy. 

To see you through this dark week I'll be posting my picks for 2012's best album, but before we get to the top ten I wanted to call out some of the albums that were very close to making this list but were pushed out.

I've also put together a Spotify playlist that includes tracks from every album on the long-list and the top ten (provided they are available on Spotify in the UK) and a good deal of other tracks that weren't necessarily from great albums but were notable all the same. You can check that out and subscribe to it here.

And without further ado, the 2012 long-list - note the top ten are not on this list and that this list is not in any order. Links on the title / artist go to the BlackPlastic.co.uk review (where one exists), Amazon links are to Amazon.co.uk and are affiliate links:

Come back tomorrow for the first half of the top ten: 10-6!

Video / Download: Two Lines - Lightships

Lightships is the new project from Gerard Love of Teenage Fanclub - judging by the above the album Electric Cables, out now on Geographic, should be pretty special. The sunny melodies of Teenage Fanclub are still present, but here they are dressed in shimmering delicate meandering instrumentation.

Raf Daddy of 2 Bears fame has done a remix and you can stream or download it below. It's surprisingly laid back, taking the original and just adding some scattering bass and electronic noodling whilst keeping the slow pace.