Nite Songs

  So here we go, the Top 50. *** 50. LILY ALLEN - "West End Girl" It's probably inevitable that we will end up including at least one "big" album on this list but West End Girl  genuinely is worthy of its place here. A brutally honest dissection by Allen of the end of her relationship, it shows that beneath the pop princess image is a very accomplished and savvy songwriter. Often uncomfortable but always cathartic listening, this might just be her best album to date. *** 49. MANIC STREET PREACHERS - "Critical Thinking" For those of us as a certain age, the idea of the Manics as a solid dependable long term rock outfit still arguably takes a bit of getting used to but at least Critical Thinking shows that they've still got the ability to produce good albums and occasionally surprise you as proved by the confrontational title track sung by Nicky Wire here. Elsewhere, the likes of People Ruin Paintings , One Man Militia  and Decline And Fall  show tha...

  So then, we've finally got to the place where this list SHOULD have started if I hadn't gone down about thirty different musical rabbit holes in the last few weeks. Guess we'd better make up for lost time, welcome to the Top 50... *** 50.     SASSYHIYA - "Take You Somewhere" South Londoners Sassyhiya are a band who crucially understand that lo-fi indie music always works best when it has a mischievous sense of fun underlying it and  Take You Somewhere  has that quality in spades featuring odes to everyone from Kristin Stewart to pet cats while closer  You Can Give It (But You Can’t Take It)  is a righteous diatribe against bullies. A strong debut. *** 49.     JAMES SULLIVAN - "Vital Signs" Now on his second solo album and following the breakup of his band More Kicks,  Vital Signs  sees James Sullivan continuing to spread his wings impressively. The power-pop that was his old band's calling card is very much still there but Sulliva...