15. Seefeel
They vanished in the middle 90s when probably the most daring, interesting band in electronics. Now they return, too many years later to seem credible. What for, you might ask. Well, that's what I had thought, but the EP they put out this year dispelled the doubts - unleashing as it did a soft, nuanced, Fenessz-esque spiderweb of sound that lined up the possibility that these guys might have something powerful still to say. Time will tell, but what came out this year has left its mark.
14. Emeralds
Does It Look Like I'm Here? was the token electronica album in the end-of-year lists of many indie critics in 2010. Following on from the deep space, Faust-like keyboard symphonics of Oneohtrix Point Never last year, the layered, high concept electrical fizz of Emeralds was always going to capture the attention. For me, the hype never quite amounted to as much as it should of, but underneath there was a sound that deserved to be heard. Emeralds - like the blinding light of the television on their album cover -have something irresistible about them.
13. Deerhunter
When Deerhunter first emerged on the scene, it genuinely felt like we had the next Pink Floyd on our hands. Cryptograms, the feedback-soaked breakthrough album, was at times a revelation - and totally unpredictable with it. For all their talents with a catchy tune, this was a band willing to break boundaries. And their work since then has confirmed that. They might not quite have progressed to genius status, but Halcyon Digest was further evidence that this was a band standing head and shoulders above the run of the mill gee-tar scene.
12. Radio Dept
Musically, I've always been a little sceptical about Sweden. Whatever that fine country produces, I think of ABBA and something naff sticks in my throat. But, kneejerk racial stereotypes notwithstanding, Radio Dept did as good a job as anyone in 2010 at making music for the summer. Clinging to a Scheme was laconic, chilled, detached - but somehow lovely at the same time. No idea what they did before this, but it made me want to pour out a Pimms and lemonade every time I heard it.
11. The Books
So good are this band, you wonder why everyone else doesn't just give up. Shrewd, great with samples, deliciously playful, they seem to bend the template of guitar music to within an inch of destruction. Which can surely only be a good thing. The Way Out, as expected, carried on where they left off with the era-dominating Lost and Safe. Too clever by half, but who could not love them?
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