Well, we’re coming towards the end of the first MusicRiot High Fives season and we’ve got one last guest contribution.  If you’ve visited MusicRiot at all in the last 6 months, then you might have noticed a few pieces featuring Lilygun; ok, I admit it, you couldn’t miss them if you tried.  The reason why we’ve featured Lilygun so much is really simple; we think they’re a great band.  The album’s great (it’s in my High Five), they’re stunning live and they are a great bunch of people to have a beer with.  And they were happy to share their favourite five albums of the year with us; so here they are, in no particular order.

“MMXII” – Killing JokeProduct Details

“MMXII” is Killing Joke’s fifteenth studio album since the band’s formation in the late 70s, following on from their 2010 release “Absolute Dissent” and sees the original line-up back in action again.  The album is characterised by end-of-days and environmental themes and has been positively reviewed across a wide spectrum of the music press.  “Rapture”, a song about the Killing Joke live experience was available earlier this year as a free download and “In Cythera “ was released as the lead single from the album.

“Choice of Weapon” – The CultProduct Details

The Cult haven’t been around quite as long as Killing Joke, although both bands are usually labelled as post-punk, although they moved in different directions after breaking through with The Cult filling a more mainstream niche.  After claiming in July 2009 that The Cult would never make another album, founder member Ian Astbury announced in January 2011 that the band would be recording a new album.   The lead single from the album “For the Animals” was released in March 2012 via a stream on the Rolling Stone website.

“Lonerism” – Tame ImpalaProduct Details

If you’ve been on another planet for the last six months you might not have heard of Tame Impala; we won’t accept any other excuses.  There’s a very good reason why this album has been all over the NME and 6 Music and everywhere else that celebrates contemporary music; it’s very, very good.  This is the second album (following “Innerspeaker” in 2010) from the  Australian group led by Kevin Parker.  The track “Apocalypse Dreams” was the first single from the album and is the first song to be co-written with band member Jay Watson.

“Bag of Bones” – EuropeProduct Details

I suppose it’s appropriate that in this supposedly apocalyptic year we should have an album released by band responsible for “The Final Countdown”.  This is another band which originated in the late 70s and “Bag of Bones” is the ninth album in a career which began with “Europe” in 1983.  It’s great to see that the album is available in CD and vinyl formats as well as the obligatory download.  If you have any doubts about the credibility of the album, you might be interested to know that there’s a guest appearance from the legendary Joe Bonamassa on the title track.

“Born Villain” – Marilyn MansonProduct Details

This is the first album since Manson ended his deal with Interscope and is released on his own Hell,etc. label.  As always, the album polarises critical opinion but if you’re already a fan, you’ll love it.  If not, then there’s still a chance; it’s an interesting concept (whether villains are born or created by society and whether villains are more interesting than heroes) which is worth exploring.  The singles released so far are “No Reflection” and “Slo-Mo-Tion”.

Thanks to Belle and Anna-Christina for your sharing  your choices with us and many thanks to all of our contributors for helping to put this piece together.  Have a great Christmas everyone.