Albums Of The Decade - 87. Beach House - 7

87. BEACH HOUSE - 7

Top of the decade brought the incredible Teen Dream and then Bloom, and with a steady outut since 2006, their seventh album arrived last year. Label it chamber-pop, dream-pop - whatever - it's all good. While the former LP's have particular tracks that froth to the fore, 7 is more of a seamless sparkle. From the opener Dark Spring and onwards, Victoria Legrand has her vocals down in the mix mostly, and the production is the real shim-shim sharee.

It's playing as I write this after I've just worked for 12 hours. I'm flat out on the sofa, and I'd previously considered taking the trash to the store to recycle to get money to buy some sour candy bottles to get an overpowering sensation, but I ate some fromage frais instead. Is my existence really getting to the point where all I have to hope for is a lie down on the sofa? Seems to have brought a new meaning to the word "Couchsurfing" or more like "couch-crashing."

Albums Of The Decade - 91. John Talabot - fIN

91. JOHN TALABOT - FIN

This played recently on my balcony with a bottle of pilsner in my hand and I finally realized that I was in the hub of summertime. Just back from my annual holiday and realising there was no need to be blue, a simple spin of this 2012 modern classic by Barcelona's Talabot confirmed to me that all you really gotta do is let the good times roll.

Taken from his Last FM page "His influences range from flamenco to northern soul, from African music to traditional Asian songs - well to add to that it's house and disco and electricity. An absolute smorgasbord of styles, yet consistent tempos here offer up a range of emotions, whether it's the old school nostalgia of "When The Past Was Present," the sinister howls supplicated in "Oro Y Sangre" or the puckering-up heard in "Destiny" - there might not be a bigger diversity on any album on this list.

Talbot wil hopefully release some other mierda in the near-future, other than his excellent DJ Kicks mixtape and that was 2013. Here's hoping. Track below. :)