This is the problem: you want to ensure that the track numbers in your iTunes library always include the total number of album tracks. For example, on an album with 12 songs, you want the first song to be numbered 1/12, the second, 2/12, etc.

You could easily do this by hand by entering the total number of tracks into the properties dialog of each album, but if you’ve got thousands of albums in your library, this is simply not practicable. What do you do? You write a script to do the hard work for you.

The following script does just that. It’s written in JavaScript and leverages the iTunes COM SDK.

It will parse an entire iTunes library, and for each album, count the total number of tracks, and then write that number into the track meta data. The most difficult task for the script is to work out what tracks constitute an album. This can be somewhat challenging in the case of compilation albums, and where different contributing artists are identified in the Artist field of multiple tracks on a singe non-compilation album. The latter could be addressed by using the Album Artist field; however, in my case, this is not necessary, as i ensure all non-compilation albums always use a consistent value in the Artist field. The script avoids any confusion with compilation albums by skipping them entirely (you will need to process them manually).

As the script works its way through the library, it reads the album name of each track, and if the album name is new (i.e. has not been previously seen), an array named after the album is created, and the track is added to the array. In the event that the album is not new, the script checks to make sure the artist of the current track is the same as the artist of the previously processed album with the same name. If the artist names are different, we have potentially identified two albums with the same name by different artists. In this case, the script skips the current track, and continues processing. The upshot of this is that if you have multiple albums with the same name, the script will only update the total track count of the first album it processes. You will need to manually update the other albums with the same name.

The script could be easily modified to support the considerations i’ve highlighted, but in my case, these extensions were not warranted, and secondly, i preferred to ere on the side of caution, skipping over any album (such as multiple disk sets) that might serve well from manual processing.

Anyway, use the script at your own discretion. It will update the meta data of the songs in your library, and hence, has the potential to do some nasty stuff. It worked for me, but that is no guarantee that it will work for you.

You do not need to install any software on your system to run this code; all you need is a Windows computer running iTunes.

Take the script below, save it into a file on your computer named totaltracks.js (e.g. c:\temp\totaltracks.js). Open a command prompt, navigate to the folder where you saved the file, and then execute the script as follows:

cscript totaltracks.js

Just to be clear, this script will not update the individual track numbers of your songs, but only the total number of tracks on each album.

/* Script configured to process tracks in playlist
   called Test.  Comment out section 1, and
   uncomment section 2, to apply script to entire
   library. */

// Section 1
var iTunesApp =
  WScript.CreateObject("iTunes.Application");
var colSources = iTunesApp.Sources;
var objSource = colSources.ItemByName("Library");
var colPlaylists = objSource.Playlists;
var objPlaylist = colPlaylists.ItemByName("Test");
var tracks = objPlaylist.Tracks;

/*
// Section 2
var iTunesApp =
  WScript.CreateObject("iTunes.Application");
var mainLibrary = iTunesApp.LibraryPlaylist;
var mainLibrarySource = iTunesApp.LibrarySource;
var tracks = mainLibrary.Tracks;
*/

var numTracks = tracks.Count;
var albumTrackCount = 0;
var i;

var albumArray = new Array();

// iterate through all tracks
for (i = 1; i <= numTracks; i++) {
  var currTrack = tracks.Item(i);

  // exclude tracks thare are podcasts or
  //  audio books also exclude compilations
  if ((currTrack.Genre != "Podcast") &&
    (currTrack.Genre != "Book")  &&
    (!currTrack.Compilation)) {
    var album = currTrack.Album;

    // only process albums with a name
    if ((album != undefined) && (album != "")) {

      // if this is a new album...
      if (albumArray[album] == undefined) {
          albumArray[album] = new Array();
      }

      // if this track doesn’t belong to a
      //  multi-disc set and the track artist
      //  is the same as the album artist
      if ((currTrack.DiscCount == 0) &&
        ((albumArray[album].length == 0) ||
        ((albumArray[album][0].Artist)
        == currTrack.Artist))) {
        albumArray[album].push(currTrack);
      }
    }
  }
}

for (var albumNameKey in albumArray) {
  var trackArray = albumArray[albumNameKey];

  // calculate the number of tracks on album
  albumTrackCount = trackArray.length;

  for (var trackIndex in trackArray) {
    var currTrack = trackArray[trackIndex];

    // if the track does not have a
    //  total track count…
    if ((currTrack.TrackCount == undefined)
      || (currTrack.TrackCount == "")) {
      currTrack.TrackCount = albumTrackCount;
    }
  }
}

You may want to test the script out on a small sample of albums before processing your entire collection. To do this, first create a new playlist in iTunes (let’s call it Test). Add a couple of albums to the playlist. And now replace the following few lines at the start of the script:

var iTunesApp =
  WScript.CreateObject('iTunes.Application');
var mainLibrary = iTunesApp.LibraryPlaylist;
var mainLibrarySource = iTunesApp.LibrarySource;
var tracks = mainLibrary.Tracks;

With these lines, where the word “Test” is the name of the playlist you want to process.

var iTunesApp =
  WScript.CreateObject('iTunes.Application');
var colSources = iTunesApp.Sources;
var objSource = colSources.ItemByName('Library');
var colPlaylists = objSource.Playlists;
var objPlaylist =
  colPlaylists.ItemByName('Test');
var tracks = objPlaylist.Tracks;

If the script runs without error, and works as expected, you can revert to the original script and process the entire library. Note: There is no harm done in running the script multiple times.

To avoid any potential issues with quotation marks, line breaks, and other oddities, when copying the code above, i recommend you download the script.

If you right click on an album in your iTunes library, and select the option to “Get Album Artwork”, the image file downloaded from the internet will be stored in a special folder on your computer and associated to the album through an entry stored in your iTunes database. If you want to copy the album to another computer, or if you decide to play the album through another music player (e.g. Windows Media Player), the artwork, which is linked to the album only through iTunes, will be sadly left behind.

A second option is to explicitly paste an existing artwork image into the properties dialog of an album in iTunes. You can take an image previously downloaded by iTunes, or you can manually find an image on the web, copy it to the clipboard, open the properties dialog of the relevant album, navigate to the Artwork tab, and paste. This method will actually write the artwork into the music files comprising the album. The primary benefit of this approach is that the music and album artwork are forever linked. If you copy the music to another computer, or to some kind of removable storage, the album artwork will follow, for it is literally embedded in the music files. The only downside to this option is that the size of each file increases in accordance with the size of the artwork image. If you associate a 100KB image with an album, and there are 20 songs on the album, the artwork will consume an additional 2,000KB (or 2MB) of storage. This is generally not a concern, but if you have a very large music library, limited storage, and a preference for high quality artwork, you may want to consider the additional storage requirements before adopting this approach.

If you don’t like the idea of managing your artwork in a way that is iTunes specific (option 1), and if the idea of embedding the artwork into each and every music file (option 2) seems overly redundant, you can always emulate the solution preferred by Windows Media Player. If your music library is hierarchically organised (i.e. automatically managed by iTunes), and all tracks from an album are stored in a single folder, you could store the artwork side by side with the music in a special file named Folder.jpg. This is similar to option 1, but this time the artwork is stored in the same folder as the music. The two key benefits of this approach are that when the artwork is saved in this way it is recognized by Windows Media Player (and hence Windows Media Center), and the artwork will travel with an album when the album folder is copied to another computer or to removable storage.

Now that you are armed with these options, what should you do? Well, i decided to implement them all. I used the “Get Album Artwork” feature of iTunes to automatically download the artwork of each album in the library, and then with the help of a few lines of JavaScript (the script is provided below), and the iTunes COM SDK, i took care of the rest.

The script will parse your entire iTunes library and save the extracted artwork of each album to the file system as Folder.jpg (if the artwork is stored in png or bmp format the image file will be named Folder.png or Folder.bmp), and then embed the saved artwork back into the music files comprising the album. The code supports extraction of artwork that has been linked to an album through the iTunes database and artwork that has been explicitly embedded in the music files. It also supports the different file formats recognized by iTunes (e.g. mp3, m4a).

You do not need to install any software on your system to run this code; all you need is a Windows computer running iTunes.

Take the script below, save it into a file on your computer named artwork.js (e.g. c:\temp\artwork.js). Open a command prompt, navigate to the folder where you saved the file, and then execute the script as follows:

cscript artwork.js

Just to be clear, this script will not download artwork from the internet. It will only process album artwork that is already present in your iTunes library (either referenced via the iTunes database, or specifically embedded in the music files).

This script will attempt to embed artwork into your music files, and hence, it will make changes to those files. I take no responsibility for any calamity that may ensue as a result of running this script. It worked for me, but hey, that’s never a guarantee of infallibility.

Depending on the size of your iTunes library, and the grunt of your computer, the script may take a few minutes to run. At the end of the process any artwork used by iTunes will be embedded in your music files and stored along side your music on the file system as Folder.jpg (or .png/.bmp). Any errors caught during the execution of the script will be written to the command prompt window.

/* Script configured to process tracks in playlist
   called Test.  Comment out section 1, and
   uncomment section 2, to apply script to entire
   library. */

// Section 1
var iTunesApp =
  WScript.CreateObject("iTunes.Application");
var colSources = iTunesApp.Sources;
var objSource = colSources.ItemByName("Library");
var colPlaylists = objSource.Playlists;
var objPlaylist = colPlaylists.ItemByName("Test");
var tracks = objPlaylist.Tracks;

/*
// Section 2
var iTunesApp =
  WScript.CreateObject("iTunes.Application");
var mainLibrary = iTunesApp.LibraryPlaylist;
var mainLibrarySource = iTunesApp.LibrarySource;
var tracks = mainLibrary.Tracks;
*/

var numTracks = tracks.Count;
var albumTrackCount = 0;
var i;

var albumArray = new Array();

var fso =
  new ActiveXObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject");

// iterate through all tracks
for (i = 1; i <= numTracks; i++) {
  var currTrack = tracks.Item(i);

  // exclude tracks thare are podcasts or
  //  audio books also exclude compilations
  if ((currTrack.Genre != "Podcast") &&
    (currTrack.Genre != "Book")  &&
    (!currTrack.Compilation)) {
    var album = currTrack.Album;

    // only process albums with a name
    if ((album != undefined) && (album != "")) {

      // if this is a new album...
      if (albumArray[album] == undefined) {
          albumArray[album] = new Array();
      }

      // if this track doesn’t belong to a
      //  multi-disc set and the track artist
      //  is the same as the album artist
      if ((currTrack.DiscCount == 0) &&
        ((albumArray[album].length == 0) ||
        ((albumArray[album][0].Artist)
        == currTrack.Artist))) {
        albumArray[album].push(currTrack);
      }
    }
  }
}

for (var albumNameKey in albumArray) {
  var trackArray = albumArray[albumNameKey];
  var trackLocation = trackArray[0].Location;
  var trackFileName =
    trackLocation.split(’\\’)[trackLocation.split('\\').
     length-1];
  var albumLocation =
    trackLocation.split(trackFileName)[0];

  var artworkArray = trackArray[0].Artwork;

  if (artworkArray.Count > 0) {
    var artwork = artworkArray.Item(1);
    switch (artwork.Format) {
      case 1:
        artworkFileName = "Folder.jpg";
        break;
      case 2:
        artworkFileName = "Folder.png";
        break;
      case 3:
        artworkFileName = "Folder.bmp";
        break;
    }

    try {
      if ((fso.FileExists(albumLocation + "Folder.jpg"))
       || (fso.FileExists(albumLocation + "Folder.png"))
       || (fso.FileExists(albumLocation + "Folder.bmp"))) {
        fso.DeleteFile(albumLocation + "Folder.*");
      }
    }
    catch(err) {
      WScript.Echo("Error: " + albumLocation);
    }

    artworkPath = albumLocation + artworkFileName;
    try {
      artwork.SaveArtworkToFile(artworkPath);
    }
    catch(err) {
      WScript.Echo(err.description);
      WScript.Echo("Error writing to filesystem: "
       + artworkPath);
    }

    for (var trackIndex in trackArray) {
      var trackArtwork = trackArray[trackIndex].Artwork;
      try {
        trackArtwork.Item(1).
         SetArtworkFromFile(artworkPath);
      }
      catch(err) {
        WScript.Echo(err.description);
        WScript.Echo("Error writing to track: "
          + trackIndex.Name);
      }
    }
  }
}

At this point you may be a little cautious. If so, why not test the script out on a small sample of albums before processing your entire collection. To do this, first create a new playlist in iTunes (let’s call it Test). Add a couple of albums to the playlist. And now replace the following few lines at the start of the script:

var iTunesApp =
  WScript.CreateObject('iTunes.Application');
var mainLibrary = iTunesApp.LibraryPlaylist;
var mainLibrarySource = iTunesApp.LibrarySource;
var tracks = mainLibrary.Tracks;

With these lines, where the word “Test” is the name of the playlist you want to process.

var iTunesApp =
  WScript.CreateObject('iTunes.Application');
var colSources = iTunesApp.Sources;
var objSource = colSources.ItemByName('Library');
var colPlaylists = objSource.Playlists;
var objPlaylist =
  colPlaylists.ItemByName('Test');
var tracks = objPlaylist.Tracks;

If the script runs without error, and works as expected, you can revert to the original script and process the entire library. Note: There is no harm done in running the script multiple times.

Finally, good luck.

To avoid any potential issues with quotation marks, line breaks, and other oddities, when copying the code above, i recommend you download the script.

An error is recorded in the Application event log with ID 1000. The error text reports:

Faulting application AcroRd32.exe, version 9.0.0.332, time stamp 0×4850f0a3, faulting module Annots.api, version 9.0.0.332, time stamp 0×4850e57f, exception code 0xc0000005, fault offset 0×001bd9e0, process id 0xbb8, application start time 0×01c976d1d3722447.

Adobe Reader is attempting to write temporary content into a non-existent folder. Instead of writing data into %TEMP%, which under Windows Vista typically resolves to C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Temp, Adobe Reader is attempting to write to C:\Users\<user>\AppData\LocalLow\Temp (where <user> is the username of the user attempting to launch Adobe Reader). To resolve the issue, simply create the LocalLow folder (no need to create the subordinate Temp folder). Your day will suddenly brighten and Adobe Reader will launch successfully.

With that in mind, i decided to respond to a consultation paper issued by the ACT Government canvassing options for prohibiting smoking in motor vehicles when children are present.

The paper presents four options for addressing the stated issue.  These are:

1. Ban smoking in a motor vehicle when a child under the age of 16 years is present.
2. Ban smoking in a motor vehicle when any passengers are present.
3. Total ban on smoking while driving.
4. Educative approach/awareness programs.

In addition, the paper asks the community to respond to 10 questions. These questions, and my responses which i have submitted to the department, are shown below.

I encourage all ACT residents to get on board and share their thoughts.

Hi,

Thanks for the opportunity to provide feedback on the consultation paper “Exploring options for managing smoking in motor vehicles when children are present”.

In relation to the questions:

Question 1: Do you think 16 years is an appropriate age? If yes, why? If no, what other age would you suggest and why?

An adult should not be able to smoke in a car in which a person under the age of 18 years is present.  A person is not deemed an adult, and remains a dependent of an adult guardian, until the age of 18.  It is therefore possible that a person under the age of 18 will not be able to remove themselves from risk when people smoke in their presence.

Question 2: Should the offence require it to be proved by the ‘defendant’ that a child was not present in the motor vehicle while he/she was smoking?

Either by the defendant, or by the person assumed to be the child (e.g. the assumed child provides identification that proves they are an adult).

Question 3: Should the ban apply to a motor vehicle that is moving or should it apply to the entire journey irrespective of whether the motor vehicle is moving or stationary?

The ban should apply irrespective of whether the vehicle is moving (based on an understanding that the risk is equivalent when the vehicle is stationary).

Question 4: Who commits an offence? On whom should the penalty be imposed – the driver of the motor vehicle, or the person who is smoking if it is not the driver?

The driver should be held responsible, in the same way that the driver is currently held responsible for the vehicle’s passengers wearing a seatbelt.

Question 5: Are the regulatory options considered suitable? If yes, why?  If no, why and what other regulatory option(s) should be considered?

Option 1 (with the amendment that the age limit be lifted to 18 years) is appropriate to meeting the stated aim of: “addressing smoking in motor vehicles when children are present”.  The other options move beyond this aim, and although potentially beneficial in their own right, are best considered independently (e.g. banning smoking outright as a way of reducing vehicle accidents resulting from driver distraction).

Question 6: Would a non-regulatory approach be more appropriate than a regulatory approach? If yes, why and what approach (e.g. radio commercials, mail out posters, etc) should be considered?

I think the regulatory approach should be supported by an awareness campaign (i.e. the two approaches - regulation and public awareness - should not be seen as mutually exclusive).  The communication medium/media should be selected based on research that identifies the demographic of the predominant offenders (e.g. a local AM radio station may not be appropriate if the primary offenders are young adults).

Question 7: What is the best method to bring about awareness of this issue in the community, among smokers and particularly among parents who are smokers?

This question is best answered with targeted research, but my initial instinct is to focus on how smoking in a vehicle will affect the health of children (i.e. play the adult/parental responsibility angle; no one wants to be seen as a bad parent).

Question 8: What are your views as to the likely costs and benefits to the options?

The benefits undoubtedly relate to the health and well being of children in the care of adult smokers.  The costs are financial (relating to the adoption of an awareness campaign and the enforcement of the regulation), but also personal, as it is possible that citizens may be inappropriately accused, or find it difficult to prove the age of an adult passenger assumed to be a child.  However, i expect the false positives to be greatly outnumbered by the volume of offenders rightfully exposed.

Question 9: Is there any other option not already outlined that you could suggest?

None.

Question 10: Are there any other issues about this proposal that you wish to raise?

It is essential that the adopted option clearly addresses the stated aim of: “addressing smoking in motor vehicles when children are present”.  A proposal that smoking should be banned outright whilst driving (option 3) should be framed for what it is, a policy to prevent accidents relating to increased distraction.  This is a very different issue from child exposure to cigarette smoke, and it is important that the two issues are not inappropriately conjoined, for to implement a regulatory option on a false premise is surely to raise the ire of the general public.

Thanks,

Peter Hinchley.

In no particular order:

• I Was Only 19 - Redgum
• Great Southern Land - Icehouse
• How to Make Gravy - Paul Kelly
• Land Down Under - Men At Work
• Treaty - Yothu Yindi
• My Island Home - Christine Anu
• Beds are Burning - Midnight Oil
• Khe San - Cold Chisel
• Cattle and Cane - The Go-Betweens
• Pub With No Beer - Slim Dusty
• Under the Milky Way - The Church
• True Blue - John Williamson
• Better Be Home Soon - Crowded House
• Sounds of Then (This is Australia) - GANGgajang
• Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport - Rolf Harris

The following YouTube playlist will take you through each of the songs:

The albums are listed top to bottom in order of greatness. For each entry i’ve provided a link to Amazon where you can read reviews, and maybe even buy the album, and a link to YouTube, where you can watch a clip of a song from the album. Unless explicitly stated, the YouTube reference is what i consider to be the standout track from each release (although in many cases i had to resort to low quality live videos, as a large number of the songs are not accompanied by official film clips).

Also, at the bottom of the list i’ve provided two links where you can download all 40 standout tracks. Yep, that’s 40 top notch songs, delivered right to your desktop. I’ve split the tracks across two zip files (the first containing tracks 1-20, and the second tracks 21-40). Oh, and remember, if you like the music, buy it!

• 

  Rank: 1

  Artist: The Mountain Goats

  Album: Heretic Pride

  Standout: Sax Rohmer #1

  An incredibly earnest album, bursting with melody and passion.

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 2

  Artist: Frightened Rabbit

  Album: The Midnight Organ Fight

  Standout: The Modern Leper

  Powerful and poignant. An album of indie classics.

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 3

  Artist: Sigur Ros

  Album: Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust

  Standout: Fljotavík

  Consistently brilliant. Haunting vocals drift over majestic aural landscapes.

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 4

  Artist: The Verve

  Album: Forth

  Standout: Love Is Noise

  A mind blowing return to form. An album of striking confidence.

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 5

  Artist: Fleet Foxes

  Album: Fleet Foxes

  Standout: White Winter Hymnal

  Harmony at its best. A pure joy.

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 6

  Artist: Robyn

  Album: Robyn

  Standout: Handle Me

  Perfect pop delivered with attitude.

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 7

  Artist: Bloc Party

  Album: Intimacy

  Standout: Ion Square

  Huge beats, soaring vocals, hooks galore; what more could we ask for?

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 8

  Artist: Ryan Adams and the Cardinals

  Album: Cardinology

  Standout: Born Into A Light

  The prolific song writer is back with another masterpiece. No bullshit, just perfect craftsmanship.

  Amazon | YouTube (Fix It)

• 

  Rank: 9

  Artist: The National

  Album: The Virginia EP

  Standout: You’ve Done It Again Virginia

  A handful of new songs intermixed with b-sides, covers, and live tracks. All perfectly hit the mark.

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 10

  Artist: John Mellencamp

  Album: Life, Death, Love, And Freedom

  Standout: Longest Days

  An album composed and delivered from the very depths of the heart.

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 11

  Artist: Coldplay

  Album: Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends

  Standout: Life In Technicolor

  Not the reinvention that some were hoping for, but hey, it’s brilliant all the same.

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 12

  Artist: Conor Oberst

  Album: Conor Oberst

  Standout: Cape Canaveral

  A surprisingly optimistic album of first rate songs by this fecund writer.

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 13

  Artist: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

  Album: Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!

  Standout: Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!

  Raucous, hilarious, and violent; another witty onslaught from a man that seems to only get stronger with age.

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 14

  Artist: Aimee Mann

  Album: Smilers

  Standout: Freeway

  A poet with melody: another collection of insightful hook-laden songs.

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 15

  Artist: The Cure

  Album: 4:13 Dream

  Standout: Underneath the Stars

  I’ll admit it: not quite what i’d hoped for, but if we judge by merit, and not by expectation, this album deserves respect.

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 16

  Artist: Calexico

  Album: Carried to Dust

  Standout: Two Silver Trees

  A deeply enveloping album. A wonderful musical tapestry.

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 17

  Artist: Rhymefest

  Album: Mark Ronson presents Rhymefest: Man In The Mirror!

  Standout: Man In The Mirror

  Michael Jackson pimped to the max. Funny, but reverent; an inspired and richly creative album.

  Download (Free) | YouTube (No Sunshine)

• 

  Rank: 18

  Artist: Mates of State

  Album: Re-Arrange Us

  Standout: Blue And Gold Print

  Another album laden with big hooks and killer harmonies from the husband and wife duo.

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 19

  Artist: Death Cab for Cutie

  Album: Narrow Stairs

  Standout: I Will Possess Your Heart

  It may not yield the instant accessibility of their previous release, but this album grows, and grows, and grows…

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 20

  Artist: Jenny Lewis

  Album: Acid Tounge

  Standout: Godspeed

  Lewis pushes her voice and her style to new heights in this wonderful, almost audacious, album.

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 21

  Artist: Goldfrapp

  Album: Seventh Tree

  Standout: Cologne Cerrone Houdini

  In a word: smooth. To that we can add: gentle, hypnotic, spelling binding…

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 22

  Artist: Portishead

  Album: Third

  Standout: Machine Gun

  It was worth the wait: art at its best; gritty yet beautiful.

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 23

  Artist: My Morning Jacket

  Album: Evil Urges

  Standout: Evil Urges

  Typically bagged by the critics, generally weird, and often questionable, ride with it, and you won’t be disappointed.

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 24

  Artist: Emiliana Torrini

  Album: Me and Armini

  Standout: Fireheads

  A simply gorgeous voice wrapped up in a surprisingly diverse musical score.

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 25

  Artist: Ladytron

  Album: Velocifero

  Standout: Black Cat

  Infectious electronica and driving industrial beats that will rock your socks off.

  Amazon | YouTube (Ghosts)

• 

  Rank: 26

  Artist: Elbow

  Album: The Seldom Seen Kid

  Standout: The Loneliness Of A Tower Crane Driver

  Take complex arrangements, add soaring vocals and a drop of lyrical genius, stir, and you have The Seldom Seen Kid.

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 27

  Artist: Sia

  Album: Some People Have Real Problems

  Standout: Lentil

  Sia’s voice is simply magnetic. It exudes confidence and frailty, playfulness and power. It owns this album, from beginning to end.

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 28

  Artist: British Sea Power

  Album: Do You Like Rock Music

  Standout: The Great Skua

  A wonderful bag of hook infested indie rock classics; vigorous, fresh, imaginative, and swathed in tenderness, this is an album that pleases on all fronts.

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 29

  Artist: Gurrumul Yunupingu

  Album: Gurrumul

  Standout: Wiarthul

  Born blind, but with the voice of an angel, the latest release from Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, former member of Yothu Yindi, is nothing short of haunting.

  Amazon | YouTube (Djarimirri)

• 

  Rank: 30

  Artist: Vivian Girls

  Album: Vivian Girls

  Standout: Where Do You Run To

  Low-fi noise mixed with a wonderful pop sensibility. Immersive.

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 31

  Artist: Deerhunter

  Album: Microcastle

  Standout: Agoraphobia

  Lush and distorted, and recorded in 1 week; a self-contained meandering musical journey.

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 32

  Artist: David Byrne and Brian Eno

  Album: Everything That Happens Will Happen Today

  Standout: Everything That Happens

  Two legends of the game unite to deliver an album that sparkles wit maturity at every level.

  Amazon | YouTube (The Making Of…)

• 

  Rank: 33

  Artist: TV on the Radio

  Album: Dear Science

  Standout: Shout Me Out

  Like its predecessor, Return to Cookie Mountain, Dear Science is a musical hotpot, diverse and creative, and yet this time, there is room for the emotive melodies to breath.

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 34

  Artist: Girl Talk

  Album: Feed the Animals

  Standout: What It’s All About

  The master mashup man lovingly interweaves in-excess of 300 samples in this cohesive and masterful work.

  Download (Name Your Price) | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 35

  Artist: Scarlett Johansson

  Album: Anywhere I Lay My Head

  Standout: Falling Down

  Ok, she can’t sing, she didn’t write the songs, and everyone says it sucks, but somehow this collection of Tom Waits covers really works. Trust me.

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 36

  Artist: Bon Iver

  Album: For Emma, Forever Ago

  Standout: Skinny Love

  Written from a log cabin nestled in the wilderness, this album perfectly captures a life in catharsis.

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 37

  Artist: Augie March

  Album: Watch Me Disappear

  Standout: Farmer’s Son

  Overshadowed by the commercial success of their previous release, this is a consistently strong album worthy of greater attention.

  Amazon | YouTube (Watch Me Disappear)

• 

  Rank: 38

  Artist: Hercules and Love Affair

  Album: Hercules and Love Affair

  Standout: Blind

  Jazzy dance floor grooves abound, and the mighty voice of Antony Hegarty soars.

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 39

  Artist: The Bravery

  Album: Bad Sun [The Moon]

  Standout: Time Won’t Let Me Go

  Bad Sun [The Moon] is a reworking of Bad Sun [The Sun]. The two albums comprise the same songs, but The Moon, in the words of singer Sam Endicott, sees The Bravery “back on home turf.” I think he is right.

  Amazon | YouTube

• 

  Rank: 40

  Artist: Parts & Labor

  Album: Receivers

  Standout: Nowheres Nigh

  I’ve only just acquired this album, but i’m already hooked by the onslaught of guitar and low-fi melody. Would surely be ranked higher if we’d only had more time together.

  Amazon | YouTube

Click the following two links to download all 40 of the standout tracks listed above. Note: Each link will download a file approximately 150MB in size. That’s large. It may take a while, so take it easy.

Tracks 1 - 20 | Tracks 21 - 40

Link via Lifehacker Australia.