Hot Right Now End of Year Chart 2011

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Singles of the Year '10!

It took a year off last year, but here returneth our Very Fave Singles of the Past 12 Months. This was also a zine-only exclusive, but seeing as we don't anticipate printing any more off any time soon, you zine-slackers can get it right here!
"Better Than Love" - Hurts
The first song we heard in 2010 to a) give us full-on shivers and b) reassure our worries and tell us this year was going to be a good one for pop. Hurts are the injection of Pet Shop Boys-at-a-funeral that we all need, and this song more than anything else on the album gives the listener that rush of excitement and sheer joy that we so crave. The middle eight towards the end should be the standard to write all future middle eights by.

"Momma's Place" - Róisín Murphy
A strong contender for the funniest and fiercest songwriting of 2010, “Momma's Place” was Róisín's only foray into music this year but is a fine example of quality over quantity. A powerful bass-heavy opening leads into a “Mark my words, you'll see”-style ode to her child, providing an interesting alternative to the unconditional love of Kelis‟ “Acapella”.

"XXXO" - M.I.A.
Not the follow-up hit to “Paper Planes” that might have pleased her record label, but never mind. “XXXO” is a dark disco-ish R&B number, that, well… sort of defies description. Hooky, fun, and quotable as hell it'll go down in history as an underrated gem. Try not to fall for the lines “you're tweeting me like tweety bird on your iPhone” or “I can be the actress, you be Tarantino”.

"Your Love" - Nicki Minaj
We're ginormous fans of Annie Lennox, which is a factor we can only presume helped considerably when we first heard this track. We love “Your Love”, and if you've been with us for the entirety of the zine, you'll know we love the Minaj too. With lyrical themes revolving around samurai and geisha, we were more than happy to keep this beautiful mid-tempo ditty on loop for the majority of the past twelve months. If you don‟t like Minaj after hearing this song, you probably never will.

"Happiness" - Alexis Jordan
What happens when you put a quasi-Whitney-Leona-style ballad on top of a Deadmau5 sample? A fabulous wave-your-hands-in-the-air-and-feel-the-love anthem quite simply. We haven't even discussed this summer soundtrack on the blog, which is rather baffling, but if record labels continue to insist on using pre-pubescent popstars, we'll put up with it if we keep getting productions like this.

"Shampain" - Marina and the Diamonds
Marina hasn't had quite the stellar year she, or her team, probably had hoped for. She still hasn't broken into foreign territories and none of her singles went top 10. Never matter, though. On “Shampain”, she used the topic of drunkedness to sing about celestial angels, over a beat that practically glitters. Scathing sarcasm has never sounded so joyous.

"Dancing On My Own" - Robyn
Best song of the year, no further discussion needed. Tear-inducing, stomach-punching, throat
-grabbing; a Robyn-flavoured brand of desperately sad euphoria. Has been known to actually make people burst out crying in nightclubs. Which we believe, was the original aim. That synthesised pounding heart-beat will stick with us for years to come.

"Teenage Dream" - Katy Perry
Either Katy Perry is a brilliant, brilliant songwriter capable of moments of pure pop genius, or the team behind her is. Either way, “Teenage Dream” took us all back to the most romantic moments of or adolescence, whether they happened or not. Giddy, wide-eyed, euphoric, almost flawless. If Ms. Russell Brand ever releases another song as good as this it’ll be a full-blown miracle.

"Tightrope" - Janelle Monáe (feat. Big Boi)
We defy you not to dance to this. If you can get from start to finish without even tapping or shuffling your foot about, then you’re clinically dead, or something. And that horn section! Exhilarating. Monáe released one of the most bemusing and epic albums of the year, but as this song proved, she could shine in short form too.

"Acapella" - Kelis
Never one to do what’s expected of her, Kelis worked with some of the world’s most ubiquitous dance producers (David Guetta etc.) and then came out with… this! No one else could or would release it: a pulse-quickening house anthem about the wonder of life as seen through new motherhood. At first we weren’t sure if the minimal production worked, but we soon realised it was perfect.

Albums of the Year '10!

Originally this was printed in our INCREDIBLE ZINE (that we had many more orders for than we anticipated - thanks for that) but we thought for those of you who were too busy/forgetful/shy/lazy/stupid to order a copy, we'd let you browse our albums of the year anyway. We're nice like that. So here goes:

Swanlights - Antony & The Johnsons
If you thought it was impossible for Antony Hegarty's music to grow even more beautiful, you were wrong. Swanlights is so fragile, so delicate, so threaded through with a bittersweet despair, you find yourself unsure whether you should cry, smile or do both. The lyrics are especially and charmingly oblique, the album is like nothing else.

Flesh Tone - Kelis
A brave new direction from an artist previously well established in a rather rigid set of genre constraints, Flesh Tone reflects a desire for experimentation and new tastes… things we love. The music is certifiably incredible, with the very best producers in the field of dance moulding their sounds to fit Kelis‟ rather spectacular personality. The music is glorious, the imagery is exciting, the segues are wonderful. A brilliant album.

All Days Are Nights: Songs For Lulu - Rufus Wainwright
Wainwright may be one of the cleverest people in pop but occasionally his music is overcomplicated and his voice flat when set against his rich, ornate arrangements.
Not on this album, a pared down masterpiece borne from Rufus' grief at his mother's death. His piano playing is both modern and timeless, his songwriting: frenetic and heartbreaking.

Pink Friday - Nicki Minaj
We may still be a lil' biased due to this being the only thing we've listened to for a fortnight, but this was the biggest fresh breath of hip hop air we've taken in a very long time. Her raps are intelligent, funny, bossy and have something to actually say, while we must admit we're more than taken with her ridiculously trashy look. Her singing voice is pretty-bordering-on-quite-good, and her knack for sampling fucking good songs is more than endearing. The best vocal riff from “Don‟t You (Forget About Me)” (The Breakfast Club anyone?) is used to magical effect on “Blazin”.

Have One On Me – Joanna Newsom
How do you follow up arguably one of the greatest albums of all time? Triple it, apparently. This 3CD extravaganza is so expertly wrought it leaves you (literally) breathless. How does Newsom fold such spellbinding interlocking rhythms and melodies into eachother? How does she weave stories so meandering and heavy with meaning? An incredible achievement.

Head First - Goldfrapp
While (unusually for such musical innovators) appearing at the tail end of the brief but blissful resurgence of 80s synthesised dream pop at the end of the decade, Head First still manages to spin something new from used yarn. The soundscapes more than meet the expectations laid down by Goldfrapp's preceding reputation and body of work, with truly uplifting tunes being welcomed into their impressive canon. And the artwork is fucking gorgeous.

The Suburbs – Arcade Fire
Nostalgia for a simpler time is the theme for Arcade Fire's third album and it says a lot that it speaks so directly to someone only 20 years old. It says a lot about how fast our rapidly-developing world has changed. And it says a lot about the skill of Arcade Fire‟s songwriting – turning a semi-cliché subject from something potentially trite into something sumptuous and heartrending and bleak.

Here Lies Love - David Byrne & Fatboy Slim
We weren‟t especially knowledgeable about the work of David Byrne, Fatboy Slim or Imelda Marcos, but if you put them in a food processor (not literally lolz) and an incredibly captivating concept album featuring a plethora of fabulous all-female singers (just what we like) pops out, maybe they should work together more often. The insufferable Florence Welch becomes mildly likeable, while Martha Wainwright, Cyndi Lauper, Róisín Murphy and Tori Amos form just some of the remarkable vocal talent. “Solano Avenue” featuring the previously-unknown-to-us Nicole Atkins is a highlight.

The ArchAndroid (Suites II and III) - Janelle Monáe
Janelle Monáe careened into our lives with her stunning and effortlessly inventive EP, Metropolis (Suite I – The Chase Suite), particularly on the track “Many Moons” – a song so jampacked full of energy and a seemingly boundless set of ideas, it left us literally breathless the first time we heard it. Ohhh, we thought, what the hell was that?! It was like André 3000 had had a sex change and decided to cover Madonna's “American Life”, produced by Missy
Elliott and coached in vocal acrobatics by Kate Bush and Erykah Badu. Actually, we hate those sorts of descriptions, so totally ignore that and bear in mind that if you're not already familiar with Janelle Monáe (you should be), she's unlike anything else. Ok, one last comparison: imagine if Janet Jackson had 10 times the vocal range she does, was capable of orchestration, lyrical dexterity and obsessed with science fiction – then you might be able to picture just how incredible The ArchAndroid is…

That's the thing… Ms. Monáe is so inventive, her palette of references and influences so delightfully varied, and her voice so dextrous and skilled, that it's hard to find the words to do her work justice. This album is truly, something to savour (although not perfect, we hope future works might be shorter, with one or two filler tracks cut). The tracks blend into each other effortlessly, and especially since some of them are very long and contain many changes of pace, sometimes you don't know whether you've moved from one song to the next, or not. You enter an endless dream-world where symphony orchestras loom out at you, only to be replaced by punky guitar riffs (“Come Alive: The War of the Roses), hazy 70s prog-like ballads (“Mushrooms and Roses”) and futuristic funk.

Some believe that great music is music that does the un- expected: music that surprises. And nothing is more surprising than this album. One moment you're drifting away on a 50s “Tears on my Pillow”- style doowop ballad (the stunning “Oh, Maker”) and the next you're bobbing and writhing about to an almost pop-rock, uptempo (“Cold War”) . The album's crowning glory is its closing number, “BaBopByeYa”, the must sumptuous, stunning, sensuous, involving, dark, shudderingly good 8 minute track you'll hear all year .

There's supposedly a concept here, but as is often the case with superior concept albums, it's kind of besides the point – the music takes precedent here. Janelle Monáe's debut album is a work of such raw genius, it's hard to talk about without getting passionately speechless, it's the kind of thing you have to experience for yourself. Perhaps it'll date badly, perhaps it'll stale quickly, but one thing we know for sure: Monáe is an artist to watch and whose every move and experiment we will savour and salivate over. If you listen to only two albums from 2010 make it Robyn's Body Talk series, and this.

Body Talk - Robyn
Robyn has undoubtedly been the artist of the year, and unquestionably produced the single of the year (in the shape of “Dancing On My Own”). She's also released, alongside Janelle Monáe, the finest body of work in 2010, but her unconventional release strategy has put us in a quandary. You see, we have a chronic case of iTunes OCD, at Shiny & New towers, so Robyn's epic (in the traditional sense of the word) Body Talk series has caused us no end of grief - are they EPs? Is there an album? Is there a compilation? *head(s) explodes*

With the final, 3rd, instalment finally released, we thought that Body Talk could stand as one of the albums of the year. We wanted it to, so that we felt we had a big overarching cohesive body of work to tie 2010 together, but the officially released 15-track album didn't sound right – partly because almost every song is a heart-stopping, foot-stomping, pulse-quickening, euphoria-inducing, hip-shaking sobathon and 15 of those in a row is enough to send anyone over the edge (one needs light and shade lols)… but also because we had gotten used to each individual instalment, released as an 8 track mini- album, and their individual… erm… flavours. So this article is praising our preferred mode of listening to the Robyn songs released this year: the three separate EPs – Pt. 1, Pt. 2 and the digital-only 5-track Pt. 3:

Pt. 1 is the eclectic, masterpiece-riddled introduction to the series, veering wildly from disco (“Dancing on my Own”) to robopop (“Fembot”) to queeny reggae (“Dancehall Queen”) to dark electro (“None of Dem”), all deranged and knowing. Pt. 2 is
more cohesive, but with fewer standout highlights (although the incredible “Include Me Out” and “In My Eyes” are nothing if not memorable), much more sinuous and glitter- ing, like a gay James Bond's collective expeditions, at once dark, dangerous and intense (“Love Kills”) and then on the incredible “Indestructible (Acoustic)”, both melodramatic and romantic and yet somehow ice cold; Then the shorter and sweet(er), Pt. 3 is the poppiest, the most upbeat, jubilant , brighteyed, hopeful, not a mournful or self-pitying moment in sight – from the stompathon “Time Machine” to the heartbreaking pseudo-stalker anthem “Call Your Girlfriend”, via the über-romantic “Stars 4-ever”.

These 3 EPs may seem like they'd all slot together, but somehow, they work best (in our humble opinion) apart. Body Talk may not represent a complete or coherent album, in the traditional sense, but that doesn't matter because it's an incredible achievement. The sheer quality here is outstanding! Which other artist could expel 20 pop masterpieces in 12 months across 3 mini master- works? No one. We make the rules, so we can just as easily break them. This may not be your typical album – it may be 3 separately released ones – but that;s what makes it great. It's one of our albums of the year: a glittering abundance of tracks.

Hot Right Now End of Year Chart 2010

There aren't any Robyn songs in this whole list!

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Albums of the Year '09!

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's late! But 'better late than never' is what they say. So it's what we shall deliver. Here are our top 10 albums of '09. Twas a stellar year! Gushing and platitudes start here:

Blue Roses – Blue Roses
You may not have a clue who Yorkshire singer and multi-instrumentalist Blue Roses is, but if anybody can lay claim to Kate Bush’s ethereal, British folk throne it’s her. Her alternately wild, then almost classical voice and sound, contrasted with cut glass piano and spindly violin make for a debut album of authentic and sheer beauty.

Ellipse – Imogen Heap
We can’t think of another album we have waited as much for as this one. A mixed bag of emotions and moods like it’s predecessor, Ellipse brings us a song titled “Swoon” which somehow makes us actually swoon, a song named “First Train Home” which actually makes us want to go home and a track entitled “Canvas” which while having nothing to do with canvases, takes us to an Ibiza beach round about sunset, mojito in hand. Bliss.

Fever Ray – Fever Ray
Karin Dreijer Andersson has stated that this may be the first, last and only album she’ll release as solo witch doctor-cum-electro warrior Fever Ray. If it is, then what a rare and troubling treat. Ms. Andersson had always made music as beautiful as it was horrifying as one half of The Knife, but here she did it alone, and created a unique and wonderful soundscape in doing so.

Lungs – Florence + the Machine
We began the year with a poisonous dislike for Ms. Florence due to a certain “Kiss With a Fist” being a pile of utter shite, but that was easily mellowed into a blossoming, ever-growing (even to this day) affection for what a million and one people have already termed “the new Kate Bush”. Plucking away at our heart strings with the same ease she shows with her harp, Lungs can do no wrong. A genuine classic.

Music For Men – Gossip
While the year may have seen a rollercoaster in terms of how popular Gossip stand with your S&N writers, this record is undoubtedly a step in the right direction and completely their best work yet. Whoever’s idea it was to bring synthesisers, house pianos and just a tad of disco into the mix deserves a big sweaty motorboating on Ditto’s tits.

Rated R – Rihanna
Thought you were left reeling in shock at Rihanna’s transformation from just-another-R&B-label-puppet to world’s biggest and bestest popstar in 2007? Well how about when post-trauma and publicity whirlwind, she came out with an album brooding, dark, cohesive, challenging, clever and still unmistakeably her?

Speech Therapy – Speech Debelle
Say what you will about Speech Debelle, but any woman willing to rap so candidly about trouble and angst against a backdrop of baroque strings, shuffling cymbals, sugar-spun guitar and haunting piano without ever bragging about or glorifying gratuitous sex or violence was brave and brilliant indeed.

xx – The xx
Minimalist name, minimalist album. From reading their influences (Aaliyah, Mariah Carey, Ginuwine) you’d be forgiven to think they would be bordering on N-Dubz territory. Couldn’t be further apart. A sparse, sweeping landscape of blips and beeps, contrasted with two hauntingly beautiful and moving voices make for a prime revision soundtrack and the finest companion of 2009 to fall asleep with. That’s a compliment by the way.

The Bachelor – Patrick Wolf
There are those who would have you believe that it doesn’t matter what an artist does in their private life, if the music is good, it’s good. And there are others who would have you believe it’s impossible to separate an artist’s body of work from their lifestyle choices or shenanigans. If you’re going to enjoy Patrick Wolf’s work you’re going to have to be firmly in the former camp. Mr. Wolf has made it increasingly difficult to like him over the past year or so. Fabricating stories for attention, showing his bare bottom in seedy and unsexy S&M videos, throwing multiple hissy fits, and lobbing heavy electronic equipment at music professionals in a seeming attempt to create an air of rebellion. Erratic and confounding behaviour.

Despite this The Bachelor is Patrick Wolf’s most coherent, lush and exciting album. From the pulsing, fluttering strings on energetic “Hard Times” to the exotic and glittery sitar on “Theseus” there is delight and cloudless beauty on almost every track. Tilda Swinton’s spoken interjections have not been to everyone’s tastes, but are chilling and reminiscent of Kate Bush and Eliza Carthy’s husky raucous cameo is both exhilarating and wonderfully pitched. Wolf may have parted ways with his major label for this work, but you wouldn’t guess. Here the string arrangements are thicker, deeper and more evocative and the songwriting more inventive and sophisticated. You may not see eye to eye with Patrick, and increasingly even his fans do not, but you can’t argue with an album so perfectly wrought and aesthetically stunning.

Two Suns – Bat For Lashes
From the moment you are introduced to this record with blood-chilling, mesmerising verse and lead into a trail-blazing, hairs-standing-up-on-the-back-of-your-neck inducing rollercoaster ride through all manner of instruments and vocal contortions, you will be in love with Natasha Khan and her two suns. “Moon and Moon” is a three minute lump-in-throat moment through and through, “Siren Song” is desperately gorgeous and “Daniel” is officially the most fabulous 80s throwback of 2009 – and we all know 2009 was the year of 80s throwbacks. The video for “Pearl’s Dream” has to be one of the fiercest pieces of celluloid put to music of the decade – that blonde wig, that snarling wolf... ooh it always gets us going! – and “Sleep Alone” is leering, intimidating and gorgeous in all the right places.

There seems to be this magical crossing of wires between Khan’s ethereal elfin voice, the vast array of intricately played instruments utilised and the lyrical atmospheres effortlessly evoked with ease. Her 2006 debut Fur and Gold presented an undeniably interesting character – an artist with a bag of tricks which seemed to show promise for many further, better creations. Two Suns can only be a step in that impending process. In the wake of Kate Bush’s departure from our musical landscape (ignoring for a moment her recent fabulous “comeback”) we were presented with countless ‘quirky’ individuals clawing for a piece of her crown. Bat for Lashes is no Kate Bush – she seems to be in a league of her own. She has complete control of the music she creates and it seems to be coming from a genuine, entrancing place – she isn’t being ‘weird’ for the sake of being weird, Natasha Khan is a weaver of the most delicate tapestries, pieces of art which can take you from your desk chair or your train seat and push you through a tunnel of breathless emotions.

Two Suns is not only one of the finest albums of 2009 but of the decade, and we are pleased to say it seems the British public have recognised this with the success the album found upon release. We can only hope this provokes further, what we can only term as, genius from Bat for Lashes. We await eagerly.

It's coming!

The Shiny & New Top 10 albums of 2009 are on their way (all very exciting, we know) but in the meantime it's worth checking out our top 100 songs of the year. We say 'songs', because they're not just singles. We compiled them magically and scientifically via our magnificent and probably quite annoying weekly chart feature 'Hot Right Now'. There are some 'controversial' choices, a lot of predictable shit and some stuff we thought was fantasmic at the time, but has since revealed itself to be beyond awful. Oh well! We never said we had good taste. So click below, on our nifty lil' logo and enjoy... and keep your eyes skinned, peeled and parboiled for our top ten albums. We promise it'll be an education (but we can't promise it'll be any good... soz).

The Hot Right Now End of Year Hot 100...

You want to see our Top 100? After the jump with you!

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Several weeks, but finally we bring you

We know, we know. It was meant to come all the way back in early December, but due to us having far too much fun or better things to do, like working on getting rid of all those pesky hangnails, it's being delivered just under a month late. Doesn't make it any less amazing. You may have gathered Shiny & New is predominately authored by two main (and mayjah) hemes (homos in Polynesian), with one massive lesbian occasionally flitting in to inflict scorn on everything anti-kd lang and various other sluts and wannabees writing now and then. The two mayjah hemes took it upon themselves to compile this list, in their opinion, the ten best* albums released between January 1st and December 31st of 2008. You will find the favourite album of each writer and their explanation, along with the eight runner ups, SCROLL DOWN NOWWW.
*Best, in this sense of the word, being defined as anything sufficiently amazing, fierce, fabulous, 'on it', hilarious, spine-chilling, etc.

Adele – 19
Layers upon layers of lush strings, enchanting xylophones and shiver-inducing bass fail to mask the magnificent sound bursting from this born-and-bred-and-yes-genuinely-common-as-muck Londoner’s lungs. Her debut features heart-breaking paeans to lost love alongside breath-taking soul orchestrations, showing a wide range of musical capabilities concealed by a mistakenly brought about “new Amy Winehouse” facade.

Camille – Music Hole
The French Bjork done good with a thigh-slapping, knees-up, non-stop whirldwind tour through her sprawling imagination. Perfectly formed little acappella vignettes depicting everything from wild ducks, to tea parties, to vocal Divas, monks and waves this was a unique album of assured genius.
Girls Aloud – Out of Control
Continuing their practise of improving their craft with each new album, the Girls returned with perhaps their most consistently brilliant album yet, exhibiting epics crawling with early 80s disco synths, Motown-referencing calls to the dancefloor and a surprising jig featuring an ex-member of the Smiths on mouthorgan defying the listener to stay still.

Joan As Police Woman – To Survive
Similar to Feist in her skill of making ordinary musical instruments and hushed vocals sound extraordinary, Joan Wasser crafted an album of astounding beauty and mastery. Blending unconventional structures with almost classical sounding musical turns, this was a triumph.

Lady GaGa – The Fame
This was the sound of a thousand synthesizers exploding musical cum all over the world. Many hailed a successor to Madonna’s throne. We think they might finally be right. A club brat from New York turned disco dance diva, this was an album packed full of spooky, otherworldy super smash megahits. All attempts to keep from dancing to this ended in failure.

Ladyhawke – Ladyhawke
Lauded as “Cyndi Lauper for the American Apparel age”, Ladyhawke continues the trend of referencing (and down-right stealing) 80s alternative pop motifs and splatters them all over her menacing, neurotic lyrics. We particularly love the merciless destruction she plans to unleash upon the next male she happens to be scorned by.

Lykke Li – Youth Novels
Not the new Robyn, but the antithesis to her. Shy, awkward and self-conscious, this was more than just a polite alt-pop opus. It was the sound of Nordic pop colliding with trumpets, handclaps, piano, saxophones and a heap of musical promise.

Santigold – Santogold
Insultingly so, Santigold’s reputation has yet to stretch further then “the new M.I.A.”. Her musical boundaries happen to stretch much further than our favourite Bangladeshi child-bearing self-publicist, with no less than eight stark genres woven together in amongst the masterpieces that lay in wait on her eponymous debut. This girl knows her shit – and don’t you dare tell her she’s an R’n’B artist on the basis of her skin colour.

Madonna – Hard Candy
Madonna’s most recent incarnation sees her as the confectionary-toting dominatrix of 2008, a nod to her Miss Dita persona of the early 90s Erotica era, but with lollipops ñ made from sugar. Reviewers, fans, record executives alike ñ even Madonna herself ñ were quite aware 2005’s Confessions on a Dancefloor would be a tough act to follow, and while I don’t think anyone would say Hard Candy topped Confessions, I’m sure I’d have some support in stating it gave it a good shot. Attitude’s brief review stated it in a satisfyingly succinct manner; ‘A brilliant pop album, but Madonna can do better.’

Opener ‘Candy Shop’ attempts to set the tone for the rest of the album, however the thinly-veiled call to eat Madonna’s vagina is quite separate from the lush synths and layers of the electro-guitar lament ‘Miles Away’, the Nile Rodgers nod from the menacing ‘She’s Not Me’ and the irresistible ‘Beat Goes On’, complete with token rap from well known African American rap artist.

It may encroach on flawlessness, but debut single ‘4 Minutes’ is really the only track which puts Timbaland’s tricks of the trade to noticeable use, while the follow-up ‘Give It 2 Me’ stands with La Stefani’s second album in the Hall of Pharrell’s Not So Amazing Work. However, Hard Candy definitely does show promise. While an anomaly in Madonna’s track run of working with 'unknown’ producers, her personal stamp on the album is clearly recognisable amidst the fog of Justin Timberlake’s irritating backing vocals and Danja’s repetitive synths.

The glorious ‘Devil Wouldn’t Recognise You’ demonstrates the entrancing song-writing talents of Madonna’s folk singer brother-in-law Joe Henry (see ‘Don’t Tell Me’ and ‘Push’), while album closer ‘Voices’ provides the listener with a spine-tingling climax to a mixed bag of tricks. For every dull ‘Spanish Lesson’ there is a captivating ‘Heartbeat’. The listener cannot help but wonder whether it would have been in the better interests of the album’s quality if Madonna was not so blatently intent on making a mark on the American charts; either way, it cannot be denied that Hard Candy is a pleasurable dessert to end the Queen of Pop’s reign at Warner Bros.

Erykah Badu – New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)
Erykah Badu has been enchanting listeners as the ‘First Lady of Neo Soul’ since her first album, Baduizm, was released in 1997 but until this, her fourth studio album, she hadn’t taken such a risk, artistically. Her first three albums, whilst solid and beautifully crafted works, serve more as patchworks of interweaving thoughts, drifting amongst slowly shifting grooves, beats and Erykah’s distinctive voice, as opposed to being fully formed and cohesive collections of songs, like New Amerykah Part One.

Quite what prompted her to make such a change in direction, from being content to essentially go with the flow musically, to make an album like this, of such stark, unusual and controversial beauty, one can only imagine, but whatever it was, it can only be good.

Opening with Amerykahn Promise on which Erykah appears to be welcoming immigrants to the US of A and explaining the skewed principles of the ‘promised’ land upon which they have arrived with biting irony, she makes her mission clear. This is not just an album of existentialist breakup songs, or hazy grass-fuelled musings on life. This time, it’s political. And despite the potentially disastrous results of that, it turns out fantastically well.

This year Solange Knowles declared that she’d like to be “the black Björk”. Unfortunately for her, though, Erykah Badu comes much, much closer. Working with a kind of feverish musical genius and finding that magical balance between being a true sonic innovator and making gorgeous and life-affirming music, Erykah turns out the most artistically adept album of the year.
Whether it’s on The Healer on which she declares, over spooky and achingly slow swells of darkly rhythmic chimes and bells that hip hop is “bigger than the government”, or on Me in which she sing-songs a potted version of her childhood accompanied by a slow, rubato trumpet, there is plenty to savour here.

And Erykah makes her strange political reflections manifest without beating you round the head with them. On Twinkle, the track breaks down half way through giving way to genuinely eerie African chanting and a sample of Peter Toole’s infamous society-bashing monologue from Oscar-winning movie Network (also used to frightening effect in cult internet conspiracy-theory movie Zeitgeist). From images of drug dependency to addressing Hurrican Katrina or black-on-black crime, Erykah expertly melds musical innovation with lyrics of substance and importance – a rare and wonderful skill.

The album closes with Telephone, a seven minutes tribute to J Dilla, a neo soul music producer and close friend of Badu’s, and provides the listener with material much closer to her previous work: personal, ambling, gorgeous in its relative simplicity. One hopes that soon she feels comfortable enough to return to that ground. But in the mean time, her scathing yet subtly and brutally beautiful attack on the so-called “American Dream” is so captivating and inventive, we can only hope the second installment lives up to the first one’s artistic merits

Our Singles of the Year

Madonna – "4 Minutes"
Say what you will about the Queen of Pop, but when those barnstorming horns came clattering in you just HAD to dance.

Girls Aloud – "The Promise"
Not actually necessarily the best Girls Aloud comeback song ever, but they did retro, and they actually did it differently and without sampling a Boots ad.

Lady GaGa – "Just Dance"
This was like Into The Groove for a new generation. Bringing together Indie kids and pop aficionados alike, undoubtedly the dance record of the year.

Goldfrapp – "A&E"
Unspeakably gorgeous and rather odd. Saved the whole Seventh Tree business from being completely forgettable.

P!nk – "So What"
Not anywhere near as artistically fulfilling as the rest of the album, but an undeniably brilliant slice of pop-punk goodness and awesome breakup song.

Ladyhawke – "Back of the Van"
Those aching synths and Ms. Hawke’s own wistful vocals made this bittersweet little song one of the best underdog singles of the year.

Britney Spears – "Womanizer"
Yet again… it was a good year for amazing intros. The swizzling synths punctuated by those snare tumbles made up for the disappointment of Circus.

Solange – "I Decided (Part II)"
Not just a single of the year but probably the remix of the year too. The Freemasons managed to masterfully turn Motown funk into a veritable pop stomper of a song.

Jordin Sparks – "No Air"
An odd R&B ballad. Soaring, emotional and bizarrely structured. This wasn’t your conventional pop duet, but it was so good it was a hit anyway.

Katy Perry – "I Kissed A Girl"
Awful yet ubiquitous. No “singles of the year” list would be complete without it. It was predictable, a cheap shot and yet oddly irresistible.