Live Review: Interpol @ Brixton Academy, 7th December.

It's a mean feat selling out Brixton Academy three nights in a row, especially in a period of bitterly cold weather and most money going towards Christmas festivities, but Interpol are still one of the biggest bands on the alternative scene, and with a wait of 3 years for a new album since Our Love To Admire in 2007, plenty of fans were definitely keen to see the New York band again.

It must've been on the lips of many fans whether the band would miss their former bassist Carlos Dengler, who left in order to pursue his own musical interests, and with his intricate bass riffs and general musical dexterity, it may have been hard for Paul Banks, Danny Kessler and Sam Fogarino to find a suitable replacement who could replicate such brilliance. Dave Pajo was drafted in to take Dengler's place on the live dates and was generally appreciated, with Brandon Curtis also brought in on keyboards and vocals.

Not too much difference between the set-lists on each of the three nights, but the audience for the 2nd date were lavished with Turn on The Bright Lights brilliance, the band's first album and was hailed as one of the best debut albums of all-time and defined the band's sound for years to come, even being touted as one of the best albums of the decade. Leif Erikson, Say Hello to the Angels The New, NYC, Obstacle 1 all featured before slamming into a 4-song encore which finished fantastically well with Stella Was A Diver and She Was Always Down and PDA.

Of course with a new album released, songs off the self-titled fourth album were played, Barricade certainly went down a storm with the crowd, Lights being played straight after NYC was a stroke of genius and Safe Without with its melodic chorus were all received well.

The latest album doesn't really match their previous 3 albums by any stretch of the imagination, it still has some great tracks on it, however it will be interesting to see in the coming years whether Banks and co. can find another brilliant bassist and come back with a bang with a fifth album that blows everyone away, but for now, they're doing quite nicely.

8/10

The best albums of 2010.

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

The album that's been touted as Arcade Fire's "OK Computer" by certain publications delivers from start to finish and provides distinctly diverse sounds from track to track. Rather than provide the odd anthemic song, Win Butler and co. provide so many different sounds on their third album; from the musically dexterous such as The Suburbs to more rocky numbers such as Month of May to the poignantly beautiful in Sprawl (Flatland). This album has made Arcade Fire one of the biggest bands and certainly one of the best critically acclaimed artists in 2010.

Foals - Total Life Forever

Moving on from the initial success of their first album, the Oxford band have produced an album which shows maturity in sound and a departure from the young indie vibe of the first album. Mixing fast-paced tracks such as Blue Blood and This Orient with the more sombre, slow-paced After Glow, What Remains and Two Trees, Total Life Forever shows an array of high and low-tempo hits, all to bathe in the beauty of, and as such deservedly being nominated for the Mercury Prize this year. Of course, the album would be nothing without the 7-minute brilliance that is Spanish Sahara, building and building beautifully before anti-climaxing and finally hitting emotionally amazing guitar riffs and lyrics of "Forget the horror here, forget the horror here, leave it all down here, it's future rust and it's future dust..." 

Beach House - Teen Dream

A musical masterpiece from the Baltimore-based band, a 10-track flowing majestic piece of beauty; Victoria Legrand's voice is so smooth and melts the heart upon listening. The album is utterly faultless and from start to finish, the beauty in each song is clear to hear and a joy to listen to. Just on the basis of the sheer enchantment and artistry of Teen Dream, it is easily one of the best albums of 2010.

Delphic - Acolyte

After each and every listen of the debut album from Delphic, you can always find something new in it which blows your mind away; something which can be very difficult for a band with more electronic-based sounds to do. The Mancunian band have provided an album that while using such electronic sounds, has produced songs with belting choruses, surging guitar riffs and brilliant pieces of music. From Clarion Call to Remain, every song grabs you straight away and makes you want more. 

Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

The American rapper continues to push the boundaries of music and with a controversial album cover and an A-List cast including the likes of Jay-Z, Bon Iver and John Legend, West produces a stellar album that matches his loud personality. Actions certainly speak louder than words, and with a wide variety of genres and artists featured in the album, he certainly backs up his outspoken life. Mixing hip-hop tracks such as Power and All of the Lights with superb harmonies and beautiful piano pieces while keeping with his persona with brilliantly bizarre and self-centered lyrical genius has made West's album one of the best releases of 2010.

A great year of music for 2010, and with albums from The Strokes, Radiohead, Elbow and many more set to be released next year, 2011 looks set to be even better.