10. Washed Out
Last year, Washed Out's Ernest Greene seemed on the cusp of something major. The delectable Feel It All Around and the almost impossible to find High Times generated a huge buzz in 2009, which this year it was expected would see him rise to great success. But, a split 7" and a couple of stray songs aside, it's been a quiet year. Nonetheless, You and I was one of the year's finest songs, its poignant, downbeat wistfulness easily confirming the talent Greene has.
9. Hot Chip
Hot Chip tread a thin line between the grating and the great, but more often than not, this year's One Life Stand stayed on the right side of things. While they still drift into naff, chirpy, chunky pop at times, tracks such as Keep Quiet and the magnificent Take It In are among their best. Music rarely sounded so uplifting.
8. Autechre
If nothing else, 20 years after they started, Autechre remain hugely productive. Sean Booth and Rob Brown might do most of their collaborating from different ends of the country now, but they still managed to reel off two substantial slabs of rarified electronics this year - Oversteps and Move of Ten. Both felt difficult - consciously so - but this has been the pattern since Confield. Yet while they stray at times down dark, cold, academic alleys, they can still bash out a tune when they feel like it. And, when that happens, there are few better things in music.
7. Darkstar
This was the year Darkstar went from being generic dubsteppers to the next Massive Attack in one giant leap. It surely can't have been as easy as it seemed - they were accomplished but unremarkable bass-heads a year ago - but North was beautifully poised and polished, a sort of companion piece to Waiting For You by fellow Hyperdub label mates King Midas Sound. Perhaps the two bands have opened up the way forward for dubstep - a genre that has been in need of a shake-up for some time now.
6. Curren$y
Kanye might have gathered the garlands, but Curren$y's releases this year were a reminder of just how warm and inviting hip-hop can be. As we watched Curren$y brush his teeth on the video for Breakfast, it was clear this was a man who did not stand on ceremony. Easy-going, with a great eye for every-day minutiae, this is the sort of rapper you could see yourself going out for a beer with. If you're the kind of person who drinks with millionaire rap stars.
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