1. Wild Billy Childish & The Musicians Of The British Empire - Christmas 1979 (Damaged Goods)
The best fucken Christmas single you’ll ever hear, this side of Otis Redding stuttering his way through ‘White Christmas’ and that Sonic Youth one about copping dope. Oh, and anything from that James Brown album. Well, whatever. The best fucken Christmas garage rock single you’ll ever hear, this side of The Sonics (the Sixties ones) and Jon Spencer shafting ‘Blue Christmas’. Whatever. The best fucken Christmas single you’ll hear this year, for damn sure.

2. Wild Beasts - Assembly (Domino)
Outrageously outrageous voice, chirruping and wailing delightedly away to itself like yr scary (and slightly sexy) Aunt Maude at bath time, over a rollicking jaunty and upbeat tune.

3. Ed Askew - Little Eyes (De Stijl)
From the Seventies: the exact point where Bob Dylan intersects with Daniel Johnston.

4. Dial - 168K (Cede)
Medium level noise and a wee smattering of skronk no wave guitar from ex-members of UT, God and Furious Pig. Raw, cathartic and mesmeric.

5. Acolytes Action Squad - Winkle Time (Early Winter Recordings)
Remember Effi Briest? Remember Nista Nije Nista? Remember the idea of experimentation being fun? Murky, meticulously deconstructed, angelic, zoological rock that’s 50 times even better…um. It’s not a competition, you know.

6. Ted Milton - Odes
The Blurt front-man/saxophonist/damn fine genius returns with a series of gentle, measured, rather unsettling entreaties to heart tattoos and lipstick and bruised skies, that’s approximately 50,000 times more interesting and entertaining than I’ve just made it sound.
Everett True