COURTNEY BARNETT Tell Me How You Really Feel (Milk!) Before getting into the sound and energy of this guitar-tastic, rocked-up, fuller-sounding, blast of an album that isn’t afraid of either pop or rock – including at least one moment of “hello, I’ve heard, and ingested the lessons on and off stage, of Kurt Cobain” – and even at times finds its way to glam stomping that would have made Hush blush, I’m going to borrow from Julia Gillard. While listening to Jen Cloher and Court

Some of these albums floored me with their perfection (Patty Griffin), stunned me with their power (Fuck The Fitzroy Doom Scene) or left me babbling at the brilliance (Kamasi Washington), others continued to foist the words future legend on me (Laura Marling), got me close to tears (Sufjan Stevens), made me think about my own choices (Bjork and Jason Isbell) or sucked me into a weird, dark place (Badbadnotgood & Ghostface Killah). My 20 best albums of the year got me/kept me

COURTNEY BARNETT Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit (Milk!/Remote Control) It happens to some people, apparently, when they hear the opening strains of Downunder in a superannuants’ youth hostel somewhere in Europe or an INXS song comes on a classic hits station in NumbNuts, Nebraska. INXS - DON'T CHANGE These days it may also happen catching a glimpse of Noah Taylor on screen in some regular American movie showing in a theatre you’ve stumbled into to get awa

Total Control – Typical System Jenny Lewis – The Voyager Jason Isbell – Southeastern Lucinda Williams – Down Where The Spirit Meets The Bone Chromeo – White Women Laura Jean – Laura Jean HTRK – Psychic 9-5 Club Buried In Verona – Faceless Joelistics – Blue Volume Wild Beasts – Present Tense Eno+Hyde – High Life #1 Dads – About Face FKA twigs – LP 1 Leonard Cohen – Popular Problems Chet Faker – Built On Glass Peep Tempel – Tales Caribou – Our Love The Acid – Liminal Courtney B