I came across Arcade Fire through David Bowie, as he gave Funeral considerable praise when the Canadian band had very little international fame, calling it the year's essential album. They probably owe him a lot for their commercial success, but the music speaks for itself. The opening track sets an atmosphere unlike any other I've experienced, due to excellent musical craft, unusual arrangements and Win Butler's tense and strangled vocals. Though it is often dubbed as being "indie", it is highly eclectic, and transcends genres within single songs. There isn't a weak track on the album, which flows from the operatic to the exposed in no time at all. I generally avoid indie music, on the basis that it's almost always boring, but this album blows everything else out of the water.

Sigur Rós are an Icelandic band whose music, though unique in style, harks back to the days of 70's progressive rock. They are often given the relatively obscure tag of "post-rock". I was first introduced to the band through "Takk", and it is still my firm favourite of all their albums. The album feels epic in proportions right from the introduction, and carries an ambiance that no other band has ever achieved. The band have a strong sense of melody, and their instrumentation is close to perfect. The result is ethereal, and the album has an ability to transport you from wherever you are to a completely different world. There are moments on this album which will stay with me forever, like the repeating strings at the end of Andvari, the climactic heights of Mílanó and the beautiful introductory chords of Heysátan (granted, that's an unfortunate name in English). Once you can get over the sheer weirdness of the vocal style, and eventually come to love it, you'll probably understand why I'm making such a fuss.