Daveportivo's Cultural Evaluation Facility

The most glaringly obvious omission from my original list, but I did promise my list would be an honest one, and until November this year I hadn't actually heard Wilco's heartbreaking and ultimately definitive statement; Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. It still feels like a coming of age record of a band who I had dismissed in the past, this was the moment when Wilco broke through creating both complex and challenging arrangements and beautiful albeit disaffecting pop music. Opener I Am Trying To Break Your Heart set the scene, it was a big wide open desolate space that grew more sinister with each churning sawing buzz of instrumentation, but was all tied together by a simple effective hook. The heart breaking stakes were raised to raw unrepentant levels with the haunting Radio Cure but balanced by the Springsteen-eske jangle of dissarming War On War, and the slick folk pop of Kamera. The albums most well known track and ultimately it's own magnum opus was Jesus Etc. it encapsulated a little bit of everything that makes Wilco great. A charming but tragic sense of jauxaposition, overt tragic references to 9/11 counter balanced by a heart-warming and surprisingly uplifting chorus, and central narrative. The track and the album is deeply conflicted, and that is where the albums strengths lie, you're never quite sure whether you should cry or wryly smile. It remains one of the decades most powerful works.

I've spoken at great lenght about the LP in the last two months, with both a review and an entry in the 2009 album of the year list, so rather than rehashing the same territory I'll offer the contextual justification for Gaga's entry. Aside from the brilliance of this thirty minute pop masterwork, Gaga has undoubtedly become one of this generation defining pop icons, and the final year of this decade was dominated by her and her unmistakable iconography. The Fame Monster not only gave her a sense of consistency laking on The Fame it gave her an album that not even the greatest sceptic could pick holes in with any hope of maintaining a shred of credibility. Somewhere between Bad Romance and Speechless Gaga announced on to the world that she would now be considered next to M.I.A, Animal Collective and The Strokes rather than with Beyonce and Leona Lewis.

(Merge 2007, Mike McCarthy)

In 2007 Spoon emerged from the studio with yet another album of remarkable quality, but there was something a bit different about Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga it felt like a band on roll who finally hit the jackpot after going awfully close so many times. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga rode the middle ground beautifully between artistic flair and mainstream addictiveness. It proved to be layered with hit after potential hit but more importantly it was caked in a heart ache with a dark detached sense of humour and a tense emotional atmosphere. The Ghost Of You Lingers is haunting, it's almost unpleasant to listen to but it's too darn engrossing and you find yourself utterly absorbed. Don't Make Me A Target is one of this decade's finest tracks and never fails to hit it's mark, elsewhere Rhythm & Soul is simply infectious and is arranged with a deft hand to get the most out of it's relative sparse arrangement. Britt Daniels achieved a mighty feat delivering a lyrical and vocal performance that was both understated and yet utterly captivating, you hang on his every word as these terse and surprisingly catchy arrangements that get you foot tapping and head bobbing at an alarming rate. By the time you reach the brilliant Underdog you're resistance has been thoroughly broken by this perfectly judged and irresistible affair.

Another album who I have written about at great length, for those looking for an explanation I point you in the direction of the Album of the year 2009 column, it should answer all you're questions and stop me repeating myself.

The Lily Allen Bootleg Collection: Obviously this was not a proper album to begin with, and can be found for the most part on the expanded addition of Alright Still which should have placed at least thirty places higher.

Vida La Vida: As I said when writing it's entry it was lucky to make the cut, and reflected the intentions of a big group to expand their sound, but in the cold light of day it simply doesn't measure up.

Only By The Night: The album that made Kings Of Leon Superstars importance is unquestionable but artistically it can't hold a candel to the likes of Ga Ga Ga Ga or Fame Monster.

The Bake Sale: Cool Kids may be one of my favourite acts, and there debut more than lived up to the hype, but on an artistic and influential level it just doesn't fit the bill.