My top 10 albums: 2021

Posted on December 19, 2021 by Jim Clear Standard Reply

Well 2021 was at least a bit better than 2020 overall, wasn’t it? After my marathon blogging efforts in 2020 I was much quieter over the last 12 months, but here are my top 10 albums of 2021 with accompanying Spotify playlist too (and you can see my corresponding l ist for 2020 here).

There’s definitely a bias towards old favourite artists of mine this year – but also some fresh selections including my number 1 pick, 36 minutes of jangly pop perfection that deserved much more attention than it received. So, let’s count down from 10 to 1…

Tape It Up: 26@17.06.95

Posted on June 12, 2021 by Jim Clear Standard Reply

Here’s the second of my recently rediscovered compilation tapes, the rather prosaically named 26@17.06.95 which does at least date it to being basically 26 years ago. And there are some suitably breezy summer tunes included from favourites such as Teenage Fanclub, Mercury Rev, Stereolab and the Beach Boys.

B100: #83 “Higher Than The Sun” by Primal Scream

Posted on October 5, 2020 by Jim Clear Standard 2

Time for another band where it’s really difficult to pick a favourite song for my top 100 tunes list, but “Higher Than The Sun” edges aside some tough Primal Scream competition to come out on top.

B100: #72 “Solar Sister” by The Posies

Posted on September 2, 2020 by Jim Clear Standard 1

Another blast of 90s power pop in my top 100 songs list, “Solar Sister” from the Posies’ brilliant 1993 album “Frosting On The Beater”.

379 to 50: #3 “Everything Flows” by Teenage Fanclub

Posted on May 25, 2020 by Jim Clear Standard 2

The bronze medal slot in my favourite songs rundown goes to Glasgow’s finest, Teenage Fanclub, with the ramshackle charm of “Everything Flows”, their tuneful opening statement of intent from 1990.