Funny year this, there were no releases by any of my big favourites like The High Llamas, Wire or Stereolab, so there were no obvious shoo-ins, also this year I've downloaded more single tracks rather than whole albums, so that's going to effect the result. Here then is my Top Ten LPs of the Year (yes, all vinyl)

1. Animal Collective - Merryweather Post Pavilion (Domino)
The drifting acoustic jams have gone, to be replaced by hard synths and beats - not always a recommended direction, but what won me over with this set was the songs, the glorious African tinted harmonies and the new hyper focussed sound. The finale of the album is "Brother Sport" an incandescent celebration of youth that's also my favourite song of the year. it came out in January and hasn't been far from my record player ever since.

2. Black To Comm - Alphabet 1968 (Type)
Another set of drones from this Hamburg artist, but this time lightened with indistinct instrumentation and a warm fuzzy glow. Really very beautiful.

3. Various Artists - The World Is Shaking - Cubanismo From The Congo, 1954-55 (Honest Jon's)
Beautifully strange and uplifting records, weird harmonies and gorgeous melodies - a treasure trove of new (to me) and joyous sounds.

4. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest (Warp)
Crept up on me this one - initially disappointed by its apparent re-embracing of rock after the woozy expansiveness of "Yellow House", but the songs, once again, won through. There's a melancholia running through even the more "up" numbers like "Cheerleader" that seeps into me, in a good way. Has become quite addictive.

5. Jim O'Rourke - The Visitor (Drag City)
O'Rourke plays all the instruments and the work is one unbroken piece about 40 minutes long- Mike Oldfield anyone? Well, yes please actually, as this is like a Mike Oldfield record stripped of all the irritating bits and with added filmic qualities, American folk and some really good playing (the drumming is especially surprising), and anyway I like Mike Oldfield. O'Rourke's decision to stop singing and writing lyrics can only be applauded.

6. Mountains - Choral (Thrill Jockey)
A good year for drone records. This one, by the American duo Mountains, owes more to 70s German music and Eno of "Index of Metals" than Lamonte Young or Sunn0))). There's some astonishing slo-mo mixing going on too, so that an an enormous fuzz-tone drone morphs imperceptably into an acoustic guitar - that sort of thing. Good.

7. Jon Boden - Songs From The Floodplain (Navigator)
More echoes of the mid seventies - Boden plays all the instruments, and it's a concept album (about an unclear global catastrophe) with a gatefold sleeve. It's also fantastic- the songs are understated despite the apocalyptic imagery, and in the case of "Dancing in the Factory" quite heartbreaking. The fact that it's the only "folk" record in this selection probably says more about changes in my listening habits this year than the state of folk music.

8. Sunn0))) Monoliths and Dimensions (Southern Lord)
They've still got the daft hoods and the subterrainian bass frequencies, but also choirs, brass sections and in the awesome final track, a tribute to Alice Coltrane with a trombone solo by Julian Preister. There's a lot to be justifiably irritated by with Sunn0))), but this really is rather special.

9.Broadcast and The Focus Group- investigate witch cults of the radio age (Warp)
A big contrast to the Young Marble Giants-esque minimalism of their last LP "Tender Buttons" this one is almost alarmingly maximalist, and, it has to be said, not an immediately easy listen. But I keep getting dragged back to its gnarly textures and retro-futurist squiggles.

10. Oceans of Silver and Blood - Oceans of Silver and Blood (Norsordo)
I've no idea why I've consumed so much drone music this year (and I haven't even mentioned Eleh or the various singles on Touch and LPs on Table of the Elements that I've been stuck to). This one, by old chum Mark Wastell on tam-tam and Joachim Nordwall on modular synth, is a dense wedge of immersive din, the two very different instruments merging into a speaker wobbling and rather thrilling whole.

LPS of the decade - now, that's going to take some thought...

Here's 2006, 2007 and 2008...

It's Christmas, a time of huge self indulgence and giving gifts. So here is a gift of me being self-indulgent. There's a fair amount of my instrumental music around, but much less of my songs, so here is a free compilation album of 18 of my songs recorded at various locations with various bits of equipment, running from a recording of Drop at my parent's house in 1978 to a laptop and voice recording made by Clive Pearman as a prelude to the recent "Three Ings" release this year (it didn't make the final cut).



1. Hollow Call
2. French Windows
3. Move Me
4. New Direction
5. Just The Same (All The Days)
6. I Guess I'm Sentimental
7. Kissing Money
8. One Look
9. Incendiary
10.Slamdown
11.Nothing Comes of Nothing
12.Dealing In Absolutes
13.Cool Location
14.My Blue Ship
15.Your Precious Hoard
16.Half Empty
17.Babes In the Wood
18.Backyard Ways

All separate MP3 tracks, alternatively you can get the whole album in a zip file by right clicking the icon below and saving to your hard drive-




Track details -

1. "Hollow Call" Drop (1978) recorded in my parent's living room, Newlands Road, Middlesbrough.
RS- vocal
Neil Jones - keyboard
Chris Oberon - bass
Mark Spybey - drums
Mark Sanderson - percussion

2. "French Windows"
3. "Move Me"
4. "New Direction" Drop (1979) recording location as above
RS- vocal/guitar
Neil Jones - keyboards
Chris Oberon - bass
Andy Kiss - drums

5. "Just The Same (all the days)" by It Will Turn Into A Head (1981) recording location as above
RS - vari-speed prepared cassette recorder, piano, unplugged electric guitar, vocal

6. "I Guess I'm Sentimental" by Oceans 11 (1981) recorded in my bedroom, Newlands Road, Middlesbrough.
RS- acoustic guitar, vocal
Karen Smith - vocal
Tanya Smith - vocal
Peter Ord - Piano
Paul Brazill - Bass

7. "Kissing Money" by The Euphoria Case (1983) portastudio recording, Newlands Road, Middlesbrough
RS- vocal, casio, guitar

8. "One Look" by The Euphoria Case (1983) recorded at Don Cox's House, Linthorpe, Middlesbrough
RS- vocal, yamaha mini-keyboard

9. "Incendiary" by The Euphoria Case (1983) recorded by Steve Graham at his house, Eston, for the Middlesbrough Musicians' Collective tape "Aims and Objectives Vol 1"
RS- vocal, drum machine, synthesizer, casio

10. "Slamdown" by The Euphoria Case (1985) recorded at a studio in Newcastle
RS- vocal, guitar
Martyn Simpson - bass, guitar
Gary Phillips - keyboard
Ronnie Burke - drums
Mark Spybey - drums

11. "Nothing Comes of Nothing" by Richard Sanderson (1987) recorded in my flat in Brixton, London
RS - vocal, acoustic guitar

12. "Dealing In Absolutes" by Richard Sanderson (2003) recorded at LMC Sound, Brixton, London. Remixed by DJ Wrongspeed
RS- vocal, organ, sampler
DJ Timeslice - remix, extra beats

13. "Cool Location"
14. "My Blue Ship" by Richard Sanderson (2004) recorded at LMC Sound, Brixton for a live LMC podcast.
RS - vocal, sampling groovebox, memo recorder pen

15. "Your Precious Hoard" by Richard Sanderson (2005) recorded at Pascoe Road, Hither Green, London for the EP "Pinhole"
RS - vocal, accordion, ambient sound edits

16. "Half Empty" by Richard Sanderson (2005) recorded at LMC Sound for the EP "Pinhole"
RS- vocal, accordion, sampling groovebox
Ian R Watson - trumpet
Debra Scacco - flute
Chris Cundy - bass clarinet

17. "Babes In The Wood" by Richard Sanderson (2007) recorded live on the Resonance FM programme "Scaledown on your Radio" presented by Mark Braby
RS- laptop, vocal

18. "Backyard Ways" by Richard Sanderson (2009) recorded live by Clive Pearman at his house in Balham, London.
RS - laptop, vocal

All songs composed by Richard Sanderson (PRS) except "Hollow Call" (Sanderson with some lyrics by Mike Munson), "I Guess I'm Sentimental" (Sanderson/Ord), "Babes in the Wood" (Trad, arranged Sanderson)

1. "I Love The Festival Hall" well, I do. Bought cheap in their shop.
2. "Skulking Blackheath Morris Man" - personalised badge made for me by Mick the Pole, after I was caught skulking at the 40th Anniversary Ale.
3. "Kubus" Mysterious promotional badge given to me at the Turkish Food Centre, Lewisham.
4. Accidently detourned Paperchase badge that went through the wash and had the pattern completely erased
5. "I Love Hither Green" well I do. Handed to me at the Stapledon Road Christmas fayre.
6. Captain Scarlet "Spectrum" badge bought at a picture framing shop in Whitby.
7. One of a series of excellent "Viewmaster" badges obtained from eBay.
8. (upside down - sorry!) John Shuttleworth as Medusa badge, present from land_girl
9. "Home is where the record player is" brilliant gift from skitster
10. "I am 3" on a birthday card for Jack.
11. "hello sailor" saucy badge from National Maritime Museum
12. "Blackheath Morris Men 40th Anniversary Ale, 2009" what a weekend!
13. "Saddleworth Rushcart" 35th Year. My third. Fantastic time as always.
14. "Maybe Morris" Maybe Morris is a person, a one woman morris team I met on the Rose and Castle Weekend of Dance.
15. Enamel Stockholm badge, one of a series from the wonderful Mary Huey in Osaka, thanks!
16. "Good For Your Art" from Lewisham People's Day
17. Cartoon shark/bomb thing from a door-knocking charity collector
18. "My Turn to be Poorly" Bryan Appleyard badge from land_girl again, thanks!
19. "British Red Cross" unsolicited gift in the mail
20. Lewisham Street Found Badge 1.
21. Lewisham Street Found Badge 2.
22. Lewisham Street Found Badge 3.
23. Lewisham Street Found Badge 4.

To see an enlargement click Here

"Three Ings marks an end to a period of performing songs accompanying myself on laptop. The three songs were all originally composed and performed on the laptop over the last two years. For these recordings I overdubbed a succession of acoustic instruments - melodeon, accordion, whistle, percussion etc plus stringed instruments (banjo, guitar etc played by The Earliest Humans), before removing the original computer backing. This left the songs with strange intervals and phrasings that I enjoyed, I then re-recorded the vocals.

Although the instrumental arrangements may suggest folk music, they aren't.
"Quill" is a song about songs, and specifically about the Blues and its cheapening into a byword for musical conservatism, masculinity and emotionalism.
"Sunday Air" is a pop song about dancing in public- something I now do quite regularly.
"Told By Magnets" is a song about electric guitars and how they can still move me, and how they are the perfect vehicle for disenchantment and alienation.

Special thanks to Clive Pearman for engineering and putting up with my endless faffing about, The Earliest Humans for the stringed instruments, Scott Taylor for the expert mastering, and Pete Farrell (where are you now?) for suggesting the title "Told By Magnets", 30 odd years ago

Ending, Beginning, Remembering. As a small child I lived at 65 Ings Road, the remaining 62 will come later."

"Three Ings" is available now from Amazon.

It is released by Fat Ghost.