2012: blur - Under the Westway

Welcome back to the only monthly blog to be updated just once a year. [insert generic excuses here].

My twelve for '12. In reverse order (these are all links to the videos, I just can't figure the colour thing out)...

12. Chairlift - I Belong In Your Arms
11. Atlas Sound - Lightworks

10. Sharon Van Etten - Give Out

9. Wye Oak - Civilian

8. Evening Hymns - Dead Deer
7. Bat For Lashes - Laura

6. Feist - The Bad In Each Other

5. Deerhunter - Desire Lines

4. Girls - Vomit

3. Norah Jones - Miriam

Miriam is probably my favourite thing Norah Jones has done. I couldn't stand her when she first appeared on coffee tables all across the developed world, but her last few albums have been superb. Love the darkness she's conjuring up here, plus it's just a brilliant tune (and definitely my favourite music video of 2012, too).

2. Lana Del Rey - Ride

Ride might have won, but for the fact I wasn't convinced Lana Del Rey warrants back-to-back roty wins. Not least because I'm still pissed off with the mess of an album she churned out. It's not that it didn't have great songs on it - it did - but they threw some shite in there too while leaving off things like Ride and Without You (which they held back for the sold out (in every sense) 'Deluxe' and 'Paradise' editions). Sad, because strip her album back to 10 or 11 of the best songs from all of the editions she's put out and there's a really good record in there. One of the best this year, in fact. 

Whatever. Ride is a great pop song, so I'm taking it on its merits and throwing second place at it.

1. blur - Under the Westway
Under the Westway, however, is blur at their very best and shows that they are still relevant and should still be making music together. And yes, it does sound a bit like Whiter Shade of Pale. And there's a touch of Let It Be in there, too. But if you're gonna borrow, then borrow from the best. It's all fantastic, but from 2m 40s onwards - 'magic arrows hitting the bull' - it's up there with just about anything they've ever done.

And if it does prove to be the last thing they do together, then it's a worthy curtain closer.