30. Midnight Doctors – Midnight Doctors (alt.vinyl)

“Written and recorded over a whole year and eventually involving 27 Tyneside musicians, the self-titled album from The Midnight Doctors could conceivably have ended up an overblown mess. The fact that it didn’t – and is instead a wonderful, coherent, atmospheric gem – is predominantly down to Phil Begg – also of Hapsburg Braganza – who’s incredible commitment and attention to detail shines through in our conversation” – my interview, Narc Magazine October 2013

Full interview here

29. Fuck Buttons – Slow Focus (All Tomorrow’s Parties)

If the whole of this album had been as banging as opener Brainfreeze or as Orbital-epic as the last two tracks, this would have been a top 10 album. But it’s still very good indeed, and it makes me happy somehow that Bob Weston mastered it. Because I’m a geek.

28. Emptyset – Recur (Raster Noton)

I’ve been listening to a lot of grindy, droney, staticky noise and soundscapes this year and while it’s generally individual tracks that grab me, this whole album – nasty, brutish and short – makes my arm hairs vibrate and my teeth hurt. In the best way.

27. Dethscalator – Racial Golf Course No Bitches (Riot Season)

From the fantastically provocative title to the pink vinyl to the awful / brilliant artwork, this album is a winner before you even put it on. The fact that it’s a brilliantly sloppy piece of daft noise just seals it. In a rare moment of unpretension, the Quietus described it as ‘a wonderful hybrid of artificially-selected noise-rock pigfuckery, with extra black pudding.’, which works for me. Dethscalator have gone now. I never saw them. That sucks.

26. Warm Digits – Interchange (Distraction)

Like Kraftwerk before them, Warm Digits have realised that electronic music is folk music too, so Interchange, their audio-visual excavation of the construction of the Newcastle Metro system, captures the spirit of the age just as effectively as any number of hey-nonny folksongs. In an almost non-stop set, the seemingly tireless duo portrayed the white heat of seventies technology and optimism with propulsive motorik drumming, shards of guitar and plenty of cowbell, while onscreen heavily moustachioed men in industrial buckets pointed at things under a riot of coloured blueprints. It was an exhilarating set and a fitting end to a fascinating project. –  my live review, Narc June 2013