Daveportivo's Cultural Evaluation Facility

Erykah Badu returned in 2010 with the slightly underwhelming New Amerykah Part Two (Return Of The Ankh), it was always going to be a struggle to live up to expectation but Badu did herself no favours by releasing "Window Seat" as the lead single. A wonderful piece of minimal soul that was perfectly poised to take on the pop charts without sacrificing any of its emotional integrity. The track's pacing is gorgeous as Badu seems to drift to one mood to the next as she stares out the window, sometimes despairingly and sometimes with softer more reflective tones. Badu's control of mood is so subtle you can never quite tell whether she's singing with a tear in her eye or with a coy shake of the head and a wry smile as she croons: "I Need You To Me Miss Me".

Some tracks just send a shiver down your spine. Even on my thirtieth or fortieth listen the distorted, fragmented, skipping vocal line that anchors "Angel Echoes" still manages to capture my imagination. "Angel Echoes's" opening is so nondescript you find yourself being lulled out of focus, you won't quite be able concentrate on such a flat arrangement, so when that ever so soft but piercing vocal sample begins to emerge you are immediately struck, as if caught by surprise. From then on in "Angel Echoes" never looks back marrying the hauntingly beautiful vocals to a fast evolving concurrent beat that feels disjointed at first but soon builds to a wonderfully understated and beautiful crescendo.

Alice Glass found herself reborn in 2010, well on record at least. Gone was the wild woman dripping in blood and swinging punches; in her place stood a sensitive and fragile songwriter. Of course on stage, the old Alice was back, and in the live arena that visceral chaos is essential, but on record this softer more human version of Alice was far more interesting. A confused, frustrating, flirtatious and genuinely lovable woman, one who softly whispers: "When It's Cold Outside Hold Me, Don't Hold, When I Choose To Rest My Eyes, Coax Me, Don't Coax Me." It proved a pivotal moment for a band who have never struggled to appear cool but have often failed to forge emotional connections. Of course behind Alice's tender fragility laid a suitably irresistible slice of ambient indie disco courtesying of Ethan Kath making "Celestica" the ideal lead single for the latest evolution of Crystal Castles.

Kanye has always had a knack for narration. While some have suggested that he lacks a sense of humour and that he takes himself far too seriously; they couldn't find themselves further from the truth. If My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy taught us anything it's that Kanye is keenly aware of himself, his image and the public's perception. Kanye uses these preconceptions to create space for artistic exploration; they serve as enablers for him to discuss whatever it is that he wants to. Therefore the choice to sample "21st Century Schzoid Man" was not only apt but incredibly witty. It was Kanye West telling the world that he gets the joke, and it was also the first warning that he was about to blow our collective minds. "Power" was bold, brash, addictive and incredibly inventive; and ironically, by letting his inner child run wild Kanye would conquer the world.

It may seem like an obvious statement but the Scissor Sisters have this incredible capacity to capture any one aspect of the G-A-Y scene and definitively crystallize it in sound. If "Filthy Gorgeous" was a moment of drug laden and entirely shameless sexual madness then "Invisible Light" is something bolder and more reflective. Like "Filthy Gorgeous" it takes the stereo-types of the genre; simultaneously transcending and redefining them. "Invisible Light" is bigger, bolder and more ridiculous than its peers and yet it is somehow more meaningful. It all sounds ludicrous; the lyrics are so overblown and Jake's delivery is suitably sexualized, but even though "Invisible Light" has all the hallmarks of parody it never feels anything but credible. Even when Ian McKellen emerges with the year's best cameo (sorry Robert and Mark E. Smith), it serves to add humour but it never detracts from "Invisible Lights" emotive pull or its dance floor credibility. After all, that is the point, that when your surrounded by all this excess, all this depravity and all this ridiculousness you can still be enticed forward, taken completely and entirely by lust. It's that one unique feeling that the Scissor Sisters have managed to soundtrack so perfectly; being struck by the "Invisible Light" in the midst of the grotesquely gorgeous depths.

It seems that between Robyn and Ceo they've established, as if we didn't know already, that Scandinavia owns pop. No matter how creative, quirky or abstract their inspiration or the their soundscapes, it seems you just can't keep our northern neighbours from stumbling across irresistible hooks. I'm sure Ceo would love us to talk about the creative arrangement, the subtle samples, those stunning strings or that gorgeous flourish of harp, but we can't. They are all merit praise and the arrangement shows amazing craft but they will always be secondary to those smooth as silk melodies. "Come With Me" is a track that just glides, and even when the bass pumps and the samples rattle, the track never loses it's heavenly demure as it floats effortlessly past the listener. "Come With Me" has a wonderful fleeting quality that makes you want to return again and again to try grasp this airy and weightless wonder.

You have to sit back and wonder where Sufjan Stevens would be if he gave up the ghost and decided to be a pop star. Honestly, listening to "I Walked" you just know that if he ever really wanted to conquer the world he could. The melodies on this track are so divine, the hooks so gorgeous and the lyricism so poignant that "I Walked" is simply impossible not to fall in love with. Musically it's just as strong; stylish scrapes, crystalline synths and the most wondrous harmonies of the year swell together to make "I Walked" an incredibly stirring listen. Yet for all of the track's layers and artistic depths its most touching and memorable moments are its most simplistic. The way Sujfan softly coos "Lover Don't Look At Me Now", and of course the gorgeously defiant cadence as he's sweetly grandstands: "For At Least I Deserve The Respect Of A Kiss Goodbye". Make no mistake, this is the most perfect pop music that next to nobody will hear. Just how Sufjan has managed to avoid releasing "I Walked" as a single remains an inexplicable mystery.

"They Heard Me Singing And They Told Me To Stop, Quit These Pretentious Things And Just Punch The Clock, These Days My Life I Feel It Has No Purpose, But At Late At Night The Feelings Swim To The Surface"; it's a simple sentiment but one that has rung so true for so many of us. Being told to fly straight, give up your silly fantasies and just get on with "life". It's frustrating and it sparks internal rebellion, you want to run away and indulge yourself with people who really "get you". Of course, as Regine finds out in "Mountains Beyond Mountains" the bright lights of the city aren't always what they seem, and the same pressures that plagued your life and your conscious at home will find a way of catching up with you.

It's heartbreaking stuff, but then again, "Mountains Beyond Mountains" is all about being caught in the moment and giving yourself over to an idea so completely that it drives and sustains you. Behind all this empathetic exploration is a glorious new wave disco synth line and a dancefloor stomp that just a year ago would have seemed incompatible with Arcade Fire's aesthetic, but today it feels natural. Evidence that Win and Regine will try anything to fully realize their artistic vision. "Mountains Beyond Mountains" is 2010's soundtrack to being completely and utterly lost in the moment.

"I Can Change" and "All I Want" marked the emotive low point of This Is Happening. After the thrills of "Drunk Girls" and "Dance Yrslf Cln" and before the chin up resolution of "Home", Murphy is reduced to a bitter, confused and pleading emotive state as he yearns for his lovers pain. "All I Want" is vicious but never feels malicious, these are the cold and unsentimental words of a lover spurned. Of course this is Murphy we're talking about and his resolve soon breaks and he once again finds himself pleading to be taken home.

"I Can Change" drops the Bowie references (well to an extent) and sounds like more joyous fare, yet while Murphy's sense of irony may return, his lyricism is no less poignant. Transitioning from the too cool for school lover who'll never change ("Bore Me, Hold Me, And Cling To My Arm") to the the knowing critic who is desperate to hold onto his lover while continuing to be the awkward know it all that alienated her in the first place ("Love Is A Curse, Shoved In A Hearse, Love Is An Open Book To A Verse Of Your Bad Poetry, And This Is Coming From Me"). The situations may be different, but Murphy still finds himself helpless and begging. Evidence that no matter how cutting, ironic and witty you may be, love is still fucking confusing.