15 - Rickie Lee Jones - Sermon On Exposition Boulevard

The last time we heard from Rickie Lee Jones was 2003's The Evening Of My Best Day, an album that saw her raging against President Bush. Now she's back with a collection of songs inspired by the words of Jesus Christ. What happened? Well, she hasn't suddenly become a happy-clappy religious folk singer for a start, so there's nothing to worry about in that department. The album is based upon Lee Cantelon's The Words, a collection of Christ's words designed to appeal to non-religious types, and Jones was invited, along with several other artists to read for a spoken-word edition of his book and was then inspired to make an album of her own based on it. The lyrics are spiritual without being preachy or overtly religious, and the songs are almost uniformly excellent, with a few tracks, like Falling Up, absolutely stunning. Jones' voice is slightly raspy and atonal at times, which is maybe why she hasn't achieved the kind of consistent popular acclaim of other contemporary artists, but on material like this she sounds perfect, and tracks like Elvis Cadillac and Tried to Be A Man are amongst the best of her career, while this album as a whole is certainly a major highlight.
Key Track: Falling Up

12 - David Ford - Songs For The Road

After being in a pretty good but completely ignored indie band, David Ford's solo career started in 2005 with I Sincerely Apologise For All The Trouble I've Caused, an album that was again mostly ignored, but critically-acclaimed, not least by this site, which put it in our Top 20 Albums of 2005 list, and pretty high up too. Stripping back the rock sound of Easyworld for a sparse acoustic feel, it was powerful and stirring stuff, not least the awesome State Of The Union, his debut single. Songs For The Road doesn't change the blueprint too much, right down to the fact that there are only nine tracks on it again, but the production is slightly more 'warm', taking him a bit closer to the sound of someone like Duke Special, and while he's still outspoken on tracks like I'm Alright Now, the title alone indicates that he's not quite as angry. The good news is that while Songs For The Road isn't as fiery or sparse, it's still an excellent album with no weak tracks and really should be the one that gets him the success he deserves.
Key Track: Requiem

7 - King Creosote - Bombshell

King Creosote has to be one of the most under-appreciated geniuses working in the British music industry today. His last album, KC Rules OK was awesome, but was pretty much ignored when it was released in 2005 and re-released last year. Now he's back with a new album and it's even better, and while Bombshell is a slightly overly dramatic title for an album of folky acoustica, Kenny Anderson (for he is KC) deserves to have that kind of impact with it. He won't, unless he follows his old touring mate Jose Gonzalez on the road to advertising superstardom, but that doesn't stop this album being a masterpiece of understated glory. It starts off with the very lo-fi Leslie, with sparse instrumentation leaving his accordion backed by only some muted violins, and while nothing much really happens, it sounds fantastic. Home In A Sentence sees him perk things up a bit, but only by his standards, because unlike another of his old accolytes KT Tunstall, he doesn't deal in songs that get played on Radio 1, he delivers songs that slowly worm their way into your heart and your head, all delivered in his warm Scottish brogue. Recent single You've No Clue Do You is another great tune, this time with more of an urgent rhythm to it and a hypnotic chorus, but even better is Cowardly Custard, and not just because of the title. It's one of our favourite songs of the year and is lovely and jaunty and sums up everything that is great about King Creosote, who, if you are looking for a quick reference point, is like a Scottish Badly Drawn Boy, albeit slightly more consistent than Mr Gough.
Key Track: Cowardly Custard

5 - Girls Aloud - Tangled Up

Girls Aloud may be a pop band put together by an evil TV show, but they have grown from that remarkably well and most importantly, found themselves a crack team of writers and producers who just keep on churning out great songs. What really helps Tangled Up when compared to this year's Sugababes album is that there is a real consistency when it comes to the writing and production, as it's almost all done by the same people, rather than a whole host of cliched big names putting their mark on a track or two each. Along with the consistency of creative staff, Tangled Up really benefits from the decision to avoid the two pitfalls of Girls Aloud's career so far, namely ballads and cover versions. Frankly, they're not very good at either of them, and their worst singles have always come from those directions, so it's a great relief to hear none of that cliched nonsense here. Instead, they've delivered 13 fantastic pop songs, from first single Sexy! No No No... to the classy Call The Shots, which kicks things off in a very mature way. But the singles don't really stand out that much because the rest of the material is so strong. There just aren't any weak links on Tangled Up, it's all amazingly catchy and well-produced 21st century pop music, and that is why it isn't an album that should be discounted just because it's 'pop'. You won't hear many better records than this in any genre...
Key Track: Black Jacks

4 - BC Camplight - Blink Of A Nihilist

Soy Tonto! doesn't sound much like a Brian Wilson song title, but it sure as hell sounds like a Brian Wilson song, full of all the quirky production techniques, instrumentation and gorgeous melodies and harmonies that we would expect from the chief Beach Boy. However, that isn't to say that BC Camplight is nothing but a copycat, and Soy Tonto! is actually conclusive proof that he is so much more than that, because not even Wilson would throw that many crazy ideas into one song, least of all try to sound like both Phil Spector and Joao Gilberto at the same time. And BC Camplight (Brian Christinzio) pulls it off too. This, his second album, is sheer mad pop genius from start to finish, and has to be one of the best releases of this year so far. He takes the quirkiness and ambition of The Flaming Lips, mingles it with the power pop of someone like Matthew Sweet, along with with touches of Burt Bacharach, the Polyphonic Spree and the Beatles. And yet he makes it all sound new and fresh, rather than just reheated, and songs like Officer Down, Forget About Your Bones and Suffer For Two are absolutely perfect. Christinzio's voice is heavenly sweet, as are the backing vocals while his 'everything plus the kitchen sink' approach to intstrumentation ensures that it never gets dull. The only risk with music like this is that you can come up with something that is just too busy for its own good, but Blink Of A Nihilist treads that tightrope very deftly, surpassing his excellent debut album in almost every way. In a word, awesome.
Key Track: Suffer For Two

3 - Radiohead - In Rainbows

Whatever your position on the merits of Radiohead's decision to release their album in the manner that they have done, one thing nobody can deny is that it was a stroke of marketing genius. But did the music justify the hype that surrounded its release? Yes, it did. Hail To The Thief was a messy record that went on too long and had few moments of interest, and the idea of an album recorded without any interference from record companies suggested that they could disappear up their own pretensions and create something that made HTTT sound like easy listening music. Thankfully, while In Rainbows is hardly as bright and colourful as the name suggests, and certainly isn't as accessible as The Bends or OK Computer, it's probably their best and most consistent album in the last decade. From the jerky electronic rhythms of opener 15 Step, it's clear that Radiohead are now a world away from the mainstream rock of their commercial heyday, but this album sees them seemingly feeling a bit more comfortable about making music that wouldn't send small children running screaming from the room. For a start, there is a lot of orchestration on In Rainbows, which softens the sound a lot and makes songs like Reckoner and Nude (two of the real highlights) very lush and, well, beautiful. Even more sparse tracks like House Of Cards are impressive, with its hypnotic but understated guitar picking and equally subtle effects swirling around Thom Yorke's half-whispered vocals. In Rainbows is still hardly music for the masses, but it is a sign that Radiohead are still capable of producing something that is very listenable without compromising their artistic integrity, and that is why it is a triumph not only in marketing, but also in terms of reestablishing themselves as one of the best bands in the world.
Key Track: Reckoner

2 - PJ Harvey - White Chalk

Having rocked out and sold millions on Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea and then stripped it back on the rough and ready Uh Huh Her, PJ Harvey is shape-shifting again with White Chalk, and this may well be her most impressive transformation yet. Produced with Flood and John Parish, it harkens back to their work together on To Bring You My Love and particularly Is This Desire? The latter, released in 1998, is probably her most underrated release, and is certainly the one she has always said she is most proud of, with its very sparse and moody production values a world away from the guitar rock of the massively successful album that followed it. She has again mostly ditched the guitars here, focusing instead on the piano and saying that this has allowed her to go in a different direction: "the great thing about learning a new instrument from scratch is that it... liberates your imagination." It has certainly worked, because White Chalk is quite possibly her best album yet, with each and every track an instant classic, from wonderful new single When Under Ether to the stunning title track. While Harvey has avoided making a mainstream rock album, she has also moved away from the experimentation of Uh Huh Her, meaning that every song here is quite straightforward in structure and has some of the best melodies of her career, particularly on tracks like To Talk To You and Dear Darkness.
Key Track: Grow Grow Grow

1 - Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band - Magic

In between Human Touch/Lucky Town in 1992 and The Rising in 2002, Bruce Springsteen released just one album, which suggested that The Boss had maybe run out of steam somewhat, but since then he's been on fire with Devils & Dust coming out in 2005, We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions last year and now Magic. Three new albums in three years is an impressive release rate for someone at the start of their careers, particularly with tours for each of them in-between, but for someone approaching his 60th birthday, it's positively incredible. What's even more impressive is that each album has been an improvement on what went before, with the Seeger Sessions landing in our 2006 list for its riotous folk revival music and Magic hitting top spot this year. The main difference between this and the two albums that went before is of course the presence of the E-Street Band, the backing band to end all backing bands. Who else could have Silvio from The Sopranos as their guitarist? Only The Boss. Only the second time the E-Street Band have been involved in a new album since Born In The USA, (the other being The Rising), Magic is appropriately-titled, and the subsequent tour has received rapturous reviews, making their Old Trafford date next summer one of the must-see events of 2008 already. From the awesome opener Radio Nowhere to the reflective closer Devil's Arcade, there's not a weak track on here, particularly as the lyrical themes are so potent. Born In The USA was his tale of a Vietnam vet returning home to an ungrateful America, and there's a couple of songs that follow similar leads, with Gypsy Biker telling of a US soldier coming back from Iraq in a coffin, while Last To Die is inspired by John Kerry's famous "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Vietnam? How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?" comment from 1971. There's also a feeling of weary nostalgia in tracks like Girls In Their Summer Clothes and the title track and Magic as a whole is the sound of a man looking around him and not liking what his country has become. That these themes are set to such great rock music should hardly be surprising, as Springsteen has been doing this for so long now. That it stands up to most of best work he's ever done should be a bit more of a surprise after all these years, but he's on a hot streak of form right now and no-one else can touch him.
Key Track: Gypsy Biker