48. Tame Impala, 'Lonerism'

Tame Impala's excellent 2010 debut Innerspeaker was like a bowl of beach-bred Aussie surf-psychedelia, leaving listeners warm, stoned and sweetly content. Lonerism, however is a more ambitious painting, complete with wider strokes, melodic flourishes of pop-tinged narcotic brilliance, perhaps reflecting mastermind Kevin Parker's recent move to Paris. The guitars are louder, the vocal are sunnier, the song structures more elaborate and challenging -- everything is heightened on this excellent LP -- Theo Bark