During the typically fallow spring/summer release schedule and from out of nowhere came this short sharp jolt of atmospheric, moody bass music that trod the fine line between retro old-skool and future-proofed electronica. Blessed roughneck beats rub shoulders with blissed ambient tones to make an album sound vibrant and welcome at a time when death and hatred was rearing its head at every turn. R&S kept albums to a minimum this year but this stands tall for me with the relentless single Backtail Was Heavy and lengthy chill-out epic Sea of Tranquility borrowing from the past to reshape the future.
2. David Bowie - Blackstar
An autobiographical album about imminent death became the Starman's last portentous eulogy. It is a remarkable confident work, even for Bowie on the cusp of his seventh decade before his somewhat shocking departure. Eerily, the album also makes perfect sense in reverse order, not that it makes it any less painful to listen to, with I Can't Give Everything Away perhaps a more straightforward springboard as an opening track and the title-track rounding things off in brutal, brittle and climactic fashion. However you choose to dive in, the undercurrent of discordant melodies and skittering beats will pull you under, soak your soul and become your indomitable rescuer, all in one sitting.
3. Automat - OST West
After two somewhat lacklustre but occasionally irresistible albums by this experienced German trio, OST West proved to be something of a dark horse in their trilogy of long-players. One part unhurried prog-rock, one part dub, one part electronica and one part eccentric, Automat's formula doesn't quite sit with other Bureau B releases, excellent though most of them are. This is an album that sounds less machine-like and free-form than, say, the likes of Cluster or Kreidler - one listen to the infectious club-grooves of Fabrik Der Welt or the Orb-like title-track bears testament to this. All killer, no filler (as they say).
4. Wire - Nocturnal Koreans
In their 40th year, Wire still refuse to subject themselves to laboured tours and safe mainstream albums with which to support them by. Actually a companion set to last year's self-titled long-player, Nocturnal Koreans is actually superior by just being shorter and to the point. Unmistakably edgy without being 'hip', Wire's strengths are insanely 'pop' melodies, punchy visceral rhythms (check out Still) and seemingly nonsensical lyrics that actually come adorned as observational bittersweet soundbites rather than overdressed old-man rants. And live, they piss on most bands of a similar vintage.
5. Pet Shop Boys - Super
If you thought Tennant and Lowe had forgotten how to 'do' pop then this excitable follow-up to the banging Electric or the understated Elysium should change your opinion. Recalling their winning streak in the '90s, Super encompasses Very's flamboyance, Behaviour's panache and Nightlife's sense of urgency without dropping it's jock-strap in public. Thus Undertow, Sad Robot World and Inner Sanctum prove to be some of PSB's finest (and many) career highlights. Sure The Pop Kids is a mite throwaway and Twenty-something is similar to experiencing a squealing brat on a bus but the album's point-scoring simplicity wins through in the end.
6. A Tribe Called Quest - We Got It From Here ... Thank You 4 Your Service
How often do hip-hop artists outstay their initial welcome? Too often, certainly. But lo and behold and against the odds, A Tribe Called Quest delivered their first album for 18 years in style. Arguably a little too long to be a classic of its genre - a dozen tracks might have sufficed - there is no denying how pumped up ATCQ sound on only their sixth album in two and a half decades. Sadly they were soon to lose key founder Phife Dawg. Opener The Space Program is both blunted and blunt with the strap-lines "Let's make something happen" and "We've gotta get our shit together" ringing out clearly and what follows is no less vitriolic. Forget West, Ocean and Lemar - ATCQ have made one of the decade's best rap albums.
7. Wrangler - White Glue
Messrs Benge, Mallinder and Winter had already astonished a few ears in 2014 with debut-album L.A.Spark so it seemed little surprise that the sophomore White Glue broke down more barriers and provided something of a deep breath. Lead single Stupid and filthy industrial-disco throbber Dirty set the tone and recall Some Bizarre-era Cabaret Voltaire, Clockwork has its feet firmly rooted in Benge's heritage (particularly his work with John Foxx and the Maths) and the motorik Colliding wouldn't sound out of place on a Krautrock compilation. It's an album that is comfortable when resonating warmly on headphones or fidgeting with your feet.
8. Underworld - Barbara Barbara, We Face a Shining Future
With the hands-to-the-lasers Barking album and subsequent Olympic themes out of the way, Underworld set about returning to moody and minimal basics with yet another solid set. There are the usual Hyde and Smith dewy-eyed huggable thumpers like I Exhale, Low Burn and once it gets going, Nylon Strung, but for the most part Barbara is an ably-crafted seven-tracker that draws on ambience and atmospherics rather than druggy dynamics and hard partying. One for train journeys.
9. Field Music - Commontime
The band's second double-album contains what is my personal favourite song of the year. The tear-jerking yet hopeful The Morning Is Waiting For You demonstrates the Brewis's ability to compose delicate ballads and (perhaps inadvertently) sum up the mood of a nation as well as knock out funky floor-shakers like the Prince-approved The Noisy Days Are Over or Don't You Want To Know What's Wrong and intelligent pop such as Disappointed and Trouble at the Lights. After the somewhat discordant and difficult Plumb album, Commontime reassured this Field Music aficionado that this duo are far from done with these eardrums.
10. Yello - Toy
The Swiss duo's previous few albums have been mixed at best which may explain the somewhat indifferent reception to Toy. After several listens however, elements of previous high-points like Stella, Baby and One Second creep out and Blank and Meier redeem themselves with an engaging and often effusive collection of songs and instrumentals. Toy bears all the typical Yello hallmarks and wizardry - the fidgety beats, the random clicks and pops, the lustral atmospherics and well-chosen vocalists (Malia and FiFi Rong do a great job here) are all present and correct. Limbo, Blue Biscuit, Starlight Scene and 30,000 Days belie their creators' collective ages by being sprightly and dreamlike. And above all 'fun'. Now come on chaps - get a 2017 UK tour sorted.
11. The Besnard Lakes - A Coliseum Complex Museum
12. Bob Mould - Patch The Sky
13. Suede - Night Thoughts
14. Brian Eno - The Ship
15. Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool16. Dinosaur Jr - Give a Glimpse Of What You're Not
17. Kate Tempest - Let Them Eat Chaos
18. TOY - Clear Spot
19. Alpha & Omega Meets Ras Tinny - No Beginning, No End
20. Kevin Hewick - Touching Stones, Tasting Rain
21. Crispy Ambulance - Random Textures
22. The Last Shadow Puppets - Everything You've Come to Expect
23. Bill Pritchard - Mother Town Hall
24. Teenage Fanclub - Here
25. PJ Harvey - The Hope Six Demolition Project
26. Mala - Mirrors
27. Factory Floor - 25 25
28. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Skeleton Tree
29. Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker
30. ABC - Lexicon Of Love II
31. D.D.Dumbo - Utopia Defeated
32. The Orb - COW, Chill Out World
33. Common - Black America Again
34. Some Kind of Illness - Souls
35. Seth Lakeman - Ballads of the Broken Few
36. Vangelis - Rosetta
37. Minor Victories - Minor Victories
38. Christian Kjellvander - A Village: Natural Light
39. The Monochrome Set - Cosmonaut
40. BE - One
41. Lakker - Struggle and Emerge
42. Sasha - Scene Delete
43. Mogwai - Atomic OST
44. Phil Burdett - Humble Ardour Remains
45. The Gloaming - 2
46. Ed Harcourt - Furnaces
47. New Model Army - Winter
48. King Creosote - Astronaut Meets Appleman
49. GoGo Penguin - Man Made Object
50. Clark - The Last Panthers
51. Damien Jurado - Visions of Us on the Land
52. Dean Owens - Into The Sea