Top 5 Albums of the Year : Time. Space. Repeat

Time. Space. Repeat are a London-based quartet and fine purveyors of "optimisitc post-rock". However, there is much more going on in their sound than this general tag suggests. Influences such as Spiritualized, My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth can be heard in their album, "Early Transmissions of Time", which you can download free from the netlabel, Lost Children. Here frontman, Sonic James Doom, talks about his 5 favourite albums of 06.
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5. Beirut - "Gulag Orkestar" (4ad)

"I don't even know how to begin describing this. I wanted to hate it after reading all the gushing reviews, but it really is something very special indeed. It was only recently that I discovered this, given to me by a friendly Canadian, but I'm glad he pointed me in its direction. At first listen I was picking out bits of Yann Tiersen, Neutral Milk Hotel, various members of the Wainwright family and the glockenspiels. It just grows with every listen though... layers and layers of instrumentation to catch the ear. Fabulous. "


4. Sonic Youth - "Rather Ripped" (Geffen)

"Well they lost Jim O'Rourke, which was a bit of a downer, but then, it's produced by Steve Albini (allegedly depending on who you believe) so that kind of balances things out in terms of sub-cultural iconography. As much as I love it when Sonic Youth go avant-garde and obtuse, I've always felt they're at their best when they do songs, with tunes and everything, so it's something of a relief that this is another album of songs. I was particularly taken with "Reena", but then I always love a good opening track..."


3. Part Chimp - "I Am Come" (Rock Action)

"I know I know, strictly speaking it was released last year, but I only found it in the summer of 2006 in Amoeba Records in San Francisco, and good lord is it heavy. Part Chimp don't stop for breath on this album, each track is relentlessly pounding and fuzzy. the whole mix sounds like it's about to give way at any second into noise-mush, but it always just teeters on the brink. I defy anyone to hear "30,000,000,000 people" and not want to scream along and rock hard."


2. Fovea Hex - "Bloom" (Janet Records)

"This is worth the price of an album for the track "Don't These Windows Open" alone. You can tell there's at least one Eno involved, but the whole thing is much more than that, with Clodagh Simmons voice sounding so marvellously desolate and broken against the wash of sounds that accompany her. With powerful lyrics, subtle yet experimental production and a voice laden with meaning there's no way I could leave this out".



1. Twelve - "Be Careful What You Don't Wish For" (Silber)

"Truly sublime moments from former Six By Seven frontman Chris Olley, covering a range of genres yet somehow hanging together well. It has that same feeling of of yearning and heartbreak that all the best records do, exemplified by the closing track "All the Same". Other highlights include the post-rock flavoured workout of "The Anal Gunshot", and the oddly nostalgic "Walking Drunk (with Murray Wilson)".