Top 5 Albums of the year so far

Ok, it's been a hell of a six months, and it's now time for me to post my top 5 albums of the year so far. Here we go:

5. Phyllomedusa - Local Grey to Green Rendezvous 
Phyllomedusa is a one-man grind/noise project with a love of frogs that straddles the line between charmingly eccentric and genuinely creepy. Earlier this year, he put a frog on a peice of paper and let it hop around, then used the resultant pattern of wet patches to guide his composition of a peice of music. What resulted was this, a forty-eight minute minimalist epic that is probably the most beautiful peice of music that I've heard this year. Check out Phyllomedusa's other work on Bandcamp (there's more than forty albums to choose from, so you might be there a while. That's ok. I'll wait).

4. Behemoth - The Satanist
Back yet? Good. I'm surprised that I haven't seen Behemoth's new album on more mid-year lists. It really is a monster - crisp production, great artwork, crushing grooves and phenomenal riffs. If you like your death metal with high production values and a fair bit of black metal influence, then check this out.

3. Elbow - The Take Off and Landing of Everything
And now for something completely different. Elbow are one of my favourite young bands, and once you hear their last record, you'll see why. The lyrics could work on their own as poetry, and several of the songs could function as instrumentals, and their are precious few artists writing songs like that.


2. Tori Amos - Unrepentant Geraldines
Those of you who read my review of this album will not be surprised at it's inclusion. Neither will those of you who've heard the album. Tori Amos is awesome - melodies that make me gnash my teeth with jealousy, great piano playing and fantastic lyrics. Tori Amos is one of the best songwriters out there, and she's managed to turn out a true late-career masterpeice (unlike certain others I could mention). Even if it does get a little Guardian in places, I'd still be very surprised if it doesn't make my top 10 at the end of the year. It'd take something very special to top this.

1. Gridlink - Longhena
Oh, look, something very special! Gridlink's final album will go down in grindcore history as a truly original development the likes of which have not been seen since the 1990s. This is a grind album that does not aim for heaviness at all costs; that manages to be beautiful in the same way as a Mozart concerto, but with blast beats and screams. This is the future of grind.