Albums of the Decade - 40. Anohni - Hopelessness (2016)

 40. ANOHNI - HOPELESSNESS (2012) 

Still up in here clearing the backlog - but Anohni - formerly of Antony and the Johnsons - made the most direct protest album of modern times, dealing with surveillance, drone warfare and climate change to name but three issues it tackles.

The stellar voice was still there - albeit over more of an electronic backdrop than that of the chamber-pop of yesteryear, but alas, the job was a good'un. It was aural nourishment to have one of the most unorthodox heavyweights land an album of such magnitude, especially with Oneohtrix Point Never and Hudson Mohawke at the production desk.

Anohni, sweet Anohni, where shallst they goeth next? 

Albums of the Decade - 41. Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory (2012)

41. CLOUD NOTHINGS - ATTACK ON MEMORY (2012)

"I THOUGHT I WOULD BE MORE THAN THIIIIIIIIIIS!" screams Dylan Baldi on Wasted Days" - a 9 minute epic of feeling deep inside ones own filth - an existential nightmare - a putrid stain on humanity. This is the standout track from one of the bands of the decade - a screechy, kick-up-the-jams punk band with great pop hooks.

"Fall In" - the track that follows it - has a drive that propels it past ska- but makes me wanna do just that - immerse myself in the crash, rattle and roll. This is a proper band that takes influences like Smashing Pumpkins and Thin Lizzy and straps on dynamite, sherbert and apple cider vinegar to explode something that is all at once bitter, dangerous but frothy sweet.

Snotty punk. Dylan Baldi is not a brat. He is just mis-under-fucking-stood, like a lot of us. I never used to like shouty-shout until I witnessed this - now I'm fully on board - I almost went to Berlin a couple of years ago, solely to see them, but instead kicked the can in my dead-end job, only to grow more frustrated, only to play Cloud Nothing more, only to increase their value and effect with no mercy to spare.