Maybe it’s just me but the annual album countdown for 2016 seems to have been a particularly hard to compile – no one standout, but very high quality releases overall and especially at the top end.

Though we always say, anything in the bottom half could easily crop up in the top 20 if the poll was taken again tomorrow, it’s just dependent on where our mood takes us, (the tie for #1 emphasising that better than anything!) So, best see the list as a pointer, should you need it, for 50 (ok, 51!) releases that are all worthy of investigation.

= 1. Emma Pollock – In Search of Harperfield (Chemikal Underground)

= 1. DTHPDL – The Future (Song, By Toad)

3. Yip Man – Braw Power (Armellodie)

4. Mt. Doubt– In Awe of Nothing (Scottish Fiction)

5. De Rosa – Weem (Rock Action)

6. Plume of Feathers – Plume of Feathers (Tourist Info)
6. Adam Stafford – Taser Revelations (Song, By Toad)
7. The Filthy Tongues – Jacob’s Ladder (Blokshok)
8. Hifi Sean – Ft. (Plastique)
9. Thee Alex – 11/11 Is The Simulator’s Code (Bandcamp)
10. Kid Canaveral– Faulty Inner Dialogue (Lost Map)

11. Rick Redbeard – Awake Unto (Chemikal Underground)
12. Children of Leir – Children of Leir (self-released)
13. Second Hand Marching Band / Beni Hemm Hemm – Faults (self-released)
14. Teenage Fanclub – Here (Pema)
15. Book Group – The Great Indoors (Sportsfan)

16. Mogwai – Atomic (Rock Action)
17. American Wrestlers – Goodbye Terrible Youth (Fat Possum)
18. Casio MTB – Retro Techno … (Floppy)
19. Owen McAulay – The Eye of The Heart (Sans Culottes)
20. Ette – Homemade Lemonade (Olive Grove)

21. Randolph’s Leap – Cowardly Deeds (Olive Grove)
22. The Cosmic Dead – Rainbowhead (Blackest Rainbow)
23. In Circles – Ripples(songsincircles.bandcamp.com)
24. Andrew Howie– Scars Are Like A Beacon (Autoclave)
25. Alun Woodward – Music From Battle Mountain (Chemikal Underground)

26. Stonethrower – Swells/Repells (Make That A Take)
27. The Twistettes – Jit The Jive (Traffic Cone)
28. The Pictish Trail – Future Echoes (Lost Map)
29. El Hombre Trajeado – Fast Diagonal (Chemikal Underground)
30. Ritterskamp – So Far (Wise Witch)

31. Virgin of the Birds – Secret Kids (Song, by Toad)
32. Lomond Campbell – Black River Promise (Triassic Tusk)
33. The Vivians – Chamber Studio Demos (self-released)
34. Errant Boy – Errant Boy (Errant Media)
35. Fiona Soe Paing – Alien Lullabies (Black Lantern)

36. Sunshine Social – Reduce to Dust (Electric Honey)
37. Poison Sisters – Babes Never Die (Fat Cat)
39. Sacre Noir – Nothing Falls Apart (SSS)
40. Mouse Eat Mouse – Toxic Tails (self-released)

41. The Eastern Swell – One Day, A Flood (Stereogram)
42. Sand – A Sleeper, Just Awake (Vineland)
43. RM Hubbert – Telling the Trees (Chemikal Underground)
44. Batteries – The Finishing Line (Do Yourself In)
45. C Duncan – The Midnight Sun (FatCat)

46. Dropkick – Balance The Light (Rock Indiana)
47. Plastic Animals – Pictures From The Blackout (Song, By Toad)
48. Southern Tenant Folk Union – Join Forces (Johnny Rock)
49. Malcolm Middleton – Summer of ’13 (Nude)
= 50. Just Joans / GUMS / Hector Collectors – Triple EP (Unpop)
= 50. Tuff Love – Resort (Lost Map)

E&OE: What it says. The trial of getting all the links etc above has probably meant that some details are incorrect. More importantly, I’m bound to have forgotten some album or other, so if your favourite is missing then best just assume that rather than it being (IMO) rubbish, it simply got overlooked, perhaps by just being so good everyone was dazzled by its brilliance or it had become so much a part of our lives that it was hiding in plain sight.