Mark Edwards

1 K-OS Joyful Rebellion (Virgin) A winning combination of hip-hop, pop, rock, reggae, soul, funk, jazz and blues (I don’t think there’s any country), all seamlessly interwoven by a low-profile Canadian rapper/singer who combines the cavalier creativity of Outkast’s Andre 3000, the pop sensibility of the Fugees and Ray Charles’s sense of musical joy.

2 GORILLAZ Demon Days (Parlophone) Beyond the brilliant concept, the painstakingly created visual world, the carefully selected guest stars and the slick production, the key to Gorillaz is Damon Albarn’s unerring ability to find melodic hooks that you simply cannot ignore.

3 QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE Lullabies to Paralyze (Polydor) Josh Homme has moved the Queens closer to the haunting territory explored on his Desert Sessions albums. They still rock harder and tighter than anyone else, mind.

4 BABYSHAMBLES Down in Albion (Rough Trade) Flawed, certainly, and as rough round the edges as you might expect, but most of it works, and the yearning majesty of songs such as Albion and Loyalty Song fully justifies Doherty’s reputation — his musical reputation, that is.

5 EELS Blinking Lights and Other Revelations (DreamWorks) Almost every time the Eels front man, E, brings out an album, it is hailed as his masterpiece. Then he makes a better one. This investigation of dysfunction — and witty acknowledgment of life’s silver linings — is his masterpiece. For now.

6 ARCADE FIRE Funeral (Rough Trade) The band’s famous fans — Bowie, David Byrne, U2 — are testament to the vibrant power of their music. Hard to believe that such a fully realised work could be a debut.

7 LAURA VEIRS Year of Meteors (Nonesuch) The Seattle-based singer-songwriter’s distinctive, earthy, angular alt-folk just gets better and better.

8 SUFJAN STEVENS Illinoise (Rough Trade) The second of Stevens’s proposed 50-album, state-by-state tour of his homeland matched the sustained magic of Greetings from Michigan. Surely he can’t really create another 48 albums of this wondrous, rootsy music?

9 BLACKALICIOUS The Craft (Anti) The perfect title for an album by a duo whose mastery of hip-hop’s skills ensures that every track counts. As soulful as it is skilful.

10 NERINA PALLOT Fires (Idaho) The label behind Damien Rice, 14th Floor, has just signed Pallot, so you may find this album cropping up on “best of” lists next year. But why wait when you can enjoy this smooth pop — a mix of Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell and Tori Amos — right now?

Continued on page 2: Dan Cairns's selection