![](https://rocksucker.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Fiona-Apple-The-Idler-Wheel1.jpg)
2012 Top 100 LPs #24-21: Fiona Apple, David Byrne & St. Vincent, HAL, Diagrams
Published on December 20th, 2012 | Jonny Abrams
Yes, it’s…Rocksucker’s Top 100 Albums of 2012!
Rocksucker listened to a lot of albums this year and conferred varying degrees of merit (in quail form) upon them based on our own spurious criteria…
…and now we bring you our favourite hundred of them, counted down in order arbitrarily/for fun. By dint of mathematics (specifically 4 x 25), top spot shall be revealed on Christmas day. Now, let’s get crackling, and then cracking…
24. Fiona Apple – The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do
Astonishingly inventive and multi-faceted within the general framework of soulful, jazzy ‘n’ smoky piano balladry, Apple is every bit as great a lyricist as that album title suggests and thrillingly theatrical with it.
Click here to read Rocksucker’s review of The Idler Wheel… in full
23. Diagrams – Black Light
This debut offering from former Tunng front man Sam Genders is a bit of a stormer, coming across like a blend of Super Furry Animals and (the good bits of) Tom Vek. Tremendously catchy and original, a sparkling solo career looks to be in store.
Click here to read Rocksucker’s review of Black Light in full
22. HAL – The Time The Hour
The Dubliners’ long-awaited second album frequently reaches Beach Boys levels of loved-up loveliness, Dave Allen’s gorgeous falsetto propping up heaps of sun-kissed harmonies in timeless fashion. Here’s hoping they stick around this time.
Click here to read Rocksucker’s review of The Time The Hour in full
21. David Byrne & St. Vincent – Love This Giant
Can this be described as an unlikely collaboration? Either way, the Talking Heads legend sounds as fresh and funky as ever alongside fellow eccentric Annie Clark on this beaming, squelching set of highly evolved pop music. Trumpets parp, electronics gulp and throb, and nothing is quite as it seems. Or maybe it is, we’re not sure. This is a flippin’ revelation whichever way you look at it.
Click here to read Rocksucker’s review of Love This Giant in full