The Chart of Charts 2008

Albums of the Year

In a fit of too-much-time-on-my-hands, below is a collative top ten of the charts submitted this year.

The chart was compiled by awarding one point to everyone's tenth favourite album, two points to everyone's ninth, and so on, up to the number ones, which got ten points.

10: Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now Youngster
8=: Okkervil River – The Stand-ins
8=: Death Cab for Cutie - The Narrow Stairs
6=: The Raconteurs – Consolers of the Lonely
6=: MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
5: Frightened Rabbit – The Midnight Organ Fight
4: Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
3: TV on The Radio - Dear Science
2: Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
1: Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago

Jo Mason

Albums of the Year

10: The Kills - Midnight Boom
9: Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
8: Santogold - Santogold
7: Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
6: Does it Offend You, Yeah? - You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into
5: Scanners - Violence is Golden
4: My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
3: TV on The Radio - Dear Science
2: Neon, Neon - Stainless Style
1: Frightened Rabbit - Midnight Organ Fight

Tracks of the Year

10: Dengue Fever - Tiger Phone Card
9: TV on the Radio - Halfway Home
8: Malcolm Middleton - Marguerita Red
7: Frightened Rabbit - Fast Blood
6: Okkervil River - Lost Coastlines
5: Florence and the Machines - Dog Days
4: Death Cab for Cutie - Cath
3: The Presets - Talk Like That
2: Sonny J - Handsfree
1: Florence and the Machines - Kiss With a Fist

Emperor's New Clothes 2008

Coldplay/Killers/BlocParty/Oasis

It's Good, But It's Not That Good 2008

The Ting Tings - We Started Nothing

Guilty Pleasure 2008

MGMT - Oracular Spectacular

Innocent Pain 2008

Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

Chris Brook-Carter

Albums of the Year

10: Shearwater - Rook
Originally an off-shoot of Okkervil River, lead singer Jonathan Meiburg has now taken this side-project full-time. The result is a lush and complex ode to nature that requires your full attention, even at a brief 36 minutes long. It is, at times, brooding and dark, but, just like the landscape it paints, there is just the right amount of colour to draw the attentive listener in.

9: The Raconteurs – Consolers of the Lonely
The crunching two opening tracks set the tone for this, the rock album of the year. Benson and White fulfil the promise they hinted at on Broken Boy Soldiers, by combining all that’s good about the two Detroit stars. Heavier than its predecessor, it’s also more diverse and the songwriting more complex and assured.

8: The Felice Brothers – The Felice Brothers
Three hobo-looking brothers and a friend called Christmas – The Felice Brothers sound like a band right out of a Coen brothers film. The music would fit many of the flicks produced by Ethan and Joel too - it’s ramshackle, booze-sodden and wonderfully thrown together. This is a world of moonshine and mountains inhabited by destitute and complex characters wandering train tracks and falling off bar stools. The music itself is a robust blend of Dylan, The Band and more recently Richmond Fontaine – the perfect accompaniment to a bottle of JD and a bar room brawl.

7: Okkervil River – The Stand-ins
Originally the second half to a planned double album with last year’s The Stage Names, 2008’s release gives away nothing in quality on its excellent predecessor. If anything, the album delivers a more consistent listen, with singer Will Shelf injecting great passion into the album, bitterness and warmth playing off against each other, sometimes within the same song. Motown basslines, soaring choruses and big brass sections, The Stand-ins has it all.

6: Joan as Policewoman – To Survive
Much darker and contemplative than its predecessor, To Survive suffered on first listen from a lack of playfulness that coloured Real Life. However, repeated listens revealed a modern blueprint for soul music. Moving, haunting and reflective, Joan Wasser never settles for the easy option. But ultimately this is a hugely rewarding album - unsettling and fragile it may be, but the quality of the songwriting puts her head and shoulders ahead of contemporaries like Feist and Regina Spektor.

5: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Dig! Lazarus Dig!
Hilarious, ridiculous and exhilarating, it’s extraordinary to think that Nick Cave is now 50. This is easily one of his finest albums, full of crunching garage rock and haunting ballads. “Prolix, prolix, nothing a pair of scissors can’t fix!” I’ll keep this one short, then.

4: The Acorn – Glory Hope Mountain
The premise of this album wasn’t promising. Lead singer Rolf Klausener interviewed his mother for eight hours about her escape from Honduras to Canada and has set the story to song. However, the tale of abuse, escape, abandonment and survival has transferred to record beautifully. Sufjan Stevens is an obvious comparison, but The Acorn has a sound of its own, with plenty of ukulele, marimba and banjo. Label Bella Union has a habit of picking up oddities that prove to be absolute winners – here’s another one.

3: Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
The timeless, floating harmonies that dominate this release have an otherworldly quality to them. Fleet Foxes have delivered a near-perfect set of American songs that sound as if they have been around for years whilst at the same time being one of the freshest listens of the year.

2: TV on the Radio – Dear Science
There was little to pick between my number one and two this year, and TV on the Radio was pipped at the post only for having come out later in the year. TVOTR’s previous output has been easy to admire but hard to love, this year the Brooklyn-based band have produced a perfect balance of artistic endeavour and pop sensibilities. Bowie, Prince and every experimental New York band you can think of are thrown into the mixer here with electric results. Angry, sensuous, brash but still thoughtful – truly an album of the modern age.

1: Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
The myth that is growing surrounding the making of this album will no doubt have been documented on this site already – heartbroken man retreats to woods with guitar and gun, shoots his own food, pours his grief into his guitar. More importantly, though, is the music, which is just staggering. Justin Vernon’s lyrics and voice are simply heartbreaking, whilst his guitar playing and gentle backing transport you totally into the snows of that Wisconsin wood. The best break-up album since Blood on the Tracks.

Tracks of the Year

10: Willard Grant Conspiracy - Miracle on 8th Street
9: Howlin' Rain - Riverboat
8: Frank Turner - I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous
7: Silver Jews - Suffering Jukebox
6: American Music Club - Decibels and Little Pills
5: Randy Newman - Losing You
4: Okkervil River - Lost Coastlines
3: Fleet Foxes - Your Protector
2: The Felice Brothers - Frankie’s Gun
1: Death Cab for Cutie - I Will Possess Your Heart

Guilty Pleasure 2008

Black Ice – AC/DC
There are three songs with the word ‘rock’ in the title – what more do you want?

Innocent Pain 2008

Third – Portishead
Loved everything they have done before. Love Beth Gibbons. Can’t get on with this soulless impenetrable nonsense.

Daniel Foster

Albums of the Year

10: TV On The Radio - Dear Science
Catchier and more accessible than 2006's Return To Cookie Mountain, Dear Science sees TVOTR reach a new level of universal appeal but without compromising on progression. Drawing influences from all over the place (think Prince, Talking Heads, RHCP, Sigur Ros to name but a few), they achieve a range of styles that most artists would cut their right arm off for!

9: Jay Reatard - Matador Singles 08
On his second release of the year, Jay proves he's no one-trick pony. The same short, sharp, aggressive bursts of garage-punk-infused tracks that he's become so well-known for are given a new twist with the addition of layered acoustic guitars and clean synth sounds creating a textural collection of songs that are catchier than the common cold.'The Deerhunter' cover's pretty fantastic too.

8: Chad VanGaalen - Soft Airplane
A brilliant record that spans the genres.Think of a voice reminiscent of Neil Young at his most fragile, the mastercraft pop-jiggery of The Shins, the disonant chord progressions of Modest Mouse and the electronic noodlings of Jimmy Tamborello and the Postal Service and you're close. Then consider he recorded the majority of Soft Airplane alone on an old tape recorder in his basement and prepare to be amazed.

7: Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
OK, don't roll your eyes. Yes they're everywhere… and yes to an extent, it's over-hyped, but I just couldn't leave this out. It's one of those records that you put on and love from the off, yet there's that lasting appeal that keeps you coming back for more. Great ideas, witty lyrics and hooky tunes. This is what pop music should be!

6: Deerhunter - Microcastle/Weird Era Cont.
The ever prolific Bradford Cox and co, come up with the goods again. Microcastle grabs you from the off with hook-laden indie-rock gems in a similar - but more accessible - vein to last years Cryptograms, whereas Weird Era is well, a little weirder but absolutely worth every second. The deeply buried tunes reveal themselves gradually, becoming more familiar and appealing with each listen.

5: The Walkmen - You & Me
Grand and moody arrangements of chiming guitars, swooshing organs and bellowing horns that sound as though they've been swallowed into the ocean through a cave of Spector-filled echo. Coy and inviting, You & Me doesn't so much grab you by the throat so much as it takes you by the hand. subtle perfections in the way horns, vocals and guitars collapse into each other and become one.

4: The Dodos - Visiter
Intricately picked acoustic guitar and heartfelt vocals that meet with drums which don't just sit back and rest on their laurels, so much as romp on down the street as if in a carnival procession. Visiter is an impressive and sprawling album. There's a hell of a lot of influence in there (and a hint of schizophrenia), but they pull it off, sounding like no-one quite as much as themselves. There's still hope for folk.

3: Why? - Alopecia
Genius lyrics that pull from all corners - bright and beautiful, dark and vile, and a marriage of styles that defines what the unclassifiable genre on your iPod was made for. The guy crams what feels like a novel into a song and there's no-one out there doing this sort of thing with such conviction. Not my usual cuppa by any stretch of the imagination, but it just works oh so well.

2: Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
Hauntingly beautiful, subtle arrangements that evoke a strong sense of isolation, loneliness and regret. The result of Justin Vernon's self-sequestered winter in a remote log cabin is an impressionable one. It's rare that I'm still paying so much attention to a record that I've been listening to since the beginning of the year, but For Emma… is an incredible debut. Stoke up the fire, sit back and enjoy.

1: Department of Eagles - In Ear Park
It takes an impressive record to top my list. One that ticks the box all over - beautifully produced, superbly crafted tunes that get stuck in your head for days, intimate heartfelt lyrics and great ideas. For me, this is the record. The one that I reach for more often than any other. An absolute pleasure from start to finish that. Think Jim O'Rourke's Insignificance meets the creative genius of The Beatles Sgt. Pepper.

Tracks of the Year

10: MGMT - Time To Pretend
9: TV on the Radio - Crying
8: Deerhunter - Operation
7: Chad Vangaalen - Bare Feet on Wet Grip Tape
6: Vampire Weekend - A-Punk
5: The Walkmen - In the New Year
4: Dodos - Joe's Waltz
3: Why? - These Few Presidents
2: Jay Reatard - Always Wanting More
1: Department of Eagles - Phantom Other

Emperor's New Clothes, 2008

Foals - Antidotes
For all Yanis Philippakis preposterous claims and the odd catchy single, Foals' debut full-length turned out to be a little thin on the ground and ultimately, forgettable.

It's Good, But It's Not That Good 2008

Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Good but overrated, take the best bits of early My Morning Jacket and a bit of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and you get pretty much the same result. Pleasant enough all the same.

Innocent Pain 2008

Atlas Sound - Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel
Some great tunes on there but it's padded between chapters of noise which I find hard to take. Frustrating.

Guilty Pleasure 2008

Ne-Yo - Miss Independant
That cheesy keyboard riff has a nasty habit of getting stuck in my head.

Scott Harrison

Albums of the Year

10: Nada Surf - Lucky
This was the album that I'd hoped Death Cab for Cutie's 'Narrow Stairs' was going to be. This was also the album that introduced me to Nada Surf. How I've missed them all these years, I have no idea, but this is pure pop perfection.
Key Track: 'Ice on the Wing'.

9: Los Campesinos! - We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
This was their second full-length release this year, and a genuine first for me to have two albums by the same artist in the same end of year list. This album has beefier production and even more lyrical bile, bitterness and black humour than their debut, but is ever so slightly inferior for some reason. I can't put my finger on why.
Key Track: 'You'll Need Those Fingers for Crossing'.

8: Constantines - Kensington Heights
Often described as the Canadian Hold Steady - a gross misrepresentation, in my mind. I'd say they sail more through the waters of Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees era) or Buffalo Tom singing Stillwater. However you try to categorise them, this was one of the undisputed highlights of the year. It took a while to get it, but once it took hold it didn't (and still hasn't) let go.
Key Track: 'I Will Not Sing a Hateful Song'.

7: Frank Turner - Love, Ire & Song
It took a long time for me to see this as anything other than a collection of pretty good songs. Something clicked about two weeks ago and this suddenly makes perfect sense as a complete album. A few lines here don't really do it justice, so give it a spin yourself. You won't regret it.
Key Track: 'To Take You Home'.

6: Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
What can I say about this that hasn't already been said by hundreds of others already? You must have heard it. If you haven't, I don't know where you've been hiding. So here it is, on the list. There we go.
Key Track: 'Re: Stacks'.

5: The Rural Alberta Advantage - Hometowns
This is my entry for unsigned-band-that-are-really-fucking-good-I-hope-they-make-it-big-but-I-can't-see-it-happening-because-they-don't-really-have-enough-commercial-appeal. Which is a shame. Pitched perfectly between early (and I mean early, not Funeral-era) Arcade Fire, Pavement and Neutral Milk Hotel. The only place to get it (legally) is emusic.com, and I'd recommend to anyone to give it a listen. I'm positive you'll find something that tickles your fancy.
Key Track: 'Four Night Rider'.

4: Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now Youngster
I can't believe how good this album is. Honestly. With lyrics like "Nothing says I miss you quite like poetry carved in your door with a Stanley knife", and song titles like 'This is How You Spell HAHAHA We Destroyed the Hopes and Dreams of a Generation of Faux-Romantics', this album really ought to disappear up it's own arse, but it just works. I don't know how, but it does. I wish I could sell it better than I am because you're missing out on a fuck-load of fun if you let this band pass you by.
Key Track: 'My Year In Lists'.

3: Okkervil River - The Stand Ins
Maybe not quite as good as last year's The Stage Names. Definitely should lose points for being a sequel album, but that's missing the point. If albums were movies, and this was truly a sequel, it would be The Godfather, Part II. Not quite as good as the original, but still worthy of whatever accolades you care to throw at it. Songs as stories, albums as movies. It seems a little strange down by the old Okkervil River, but you can't argue that the soundtrack is phenomenal.
Key Track: 'Pop Lie'.

2: Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight
Midnight Organ Fight = Sex. Theme of the album = I'm no longer getting any. Quite how a 'break-up' album can be this much fun defies logic. A lyrical treat with tunes that will have you humming for weeks after. Anyone that can squeeze in the line "It takes more than fucking someone you don't know to keep warm" deserves all the praise in the world heaped on them.
Key Track: 'Keep Yourself Warm'.

1: The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound
You may remember this band from such lists as 'Top 10's of 2007 - Scott Harrison'. Yes, they're back again. Not much has changed, except they're bigger, bolder, louder and better. Still following the blue-collar rock meets punk ethic that served the debut so well, but hey, if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it. Olly has dismissed this lot as 'Born to Run'-era Springsteen rip-offs. His loss. Here's hoping they don't do a Hold Steady and 'grow up' on us.
Key Track: all of them :-)

Tracks of the Year 2008

10: Death Cab for Cutie - Long Division
9: Jason Mraz - I'm Yours
8: Ladyhawke - My Delerium
7: Glasvegas - Geraldine
6: The Felice Brothers - Frankie's Gun
5: Okkervil River - Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed on the Roof of the Chelsea Hotel, 1979
4: Frightened Rabbit - Keep Yourself Warm
3: Los Campesinos! - My Year In Lists
2: Gaslight Anthem - Film Noir
1: Biffy Clyro - Mountains

Emperor's New Clothes 2008

The Last Shadow Puppets -The Age of the Understatement
I don't get it. First single was pretty good, but the rest of the album was almost unlistenably dull. Bring back Arctic Monkeys (less so The Rascals) pleeeaaaaase!

It's Good, But Not That Good 2008

Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
It's alright. Has a couple of cracking tunes. sounds a bit like Midlake (though without the consistency). I just don't get why they've had so much attention.

Guilty Pleasure 2008

Iglu & Hartly - In This City
The album is pretty poo, but I just can't get enough of this song. Sue me ;-)

Innocent Pain 2008

Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
I really should like this album. They were cracking live. It's winning awards left, right and centre. But I just can't get into it though. It'll probably click sometime next year.

Stuart Peskett

Albums of the Year

10: Spiritualized – Songs in A&E
No 18-minute flanger-fests here, just a spectacularly world-weary Jason Pierce soothing us, Sufjan Stevens-style, with Americana-tinged ballads.

9: Santogold – Santogold
Wonderful stuff, taking in most dance styles, particularly house, soul and reggae.

8: Sia – Some People Have Real Problems
The downtempo tracks from Zero 7’s Aussie singer are more successful than the attempts at pop, but Sia’s fascinating, jazzy voice is unlike any other.

7: Goldfrapp – Seventh Tree
Unfairly criticised as dinner-party chillout fodder, Goldfrapp continue to knock out tunes that appear superficial, but have staying power. 'Happiness' is a cracking, jaunty pop tune that Saint Etienne would be proud of.

6: Glasvegas – Glasvegas
They may look a bit daft adopting the Jesus and Mary Chain shades indoors look, and Alan McGee’s toe-curling Guardian blog hardly helped, but there is no disputing the power of Glasvegas. Altogether now: “Here we, here we, here we fucking go!”

5: Portishead – Third
Thank God they didn’t do another 'Dummy'. There is an argument that the bigger the gap between albums, the worse the comeback (Stone Roses, Stereo MCs take note...), but while Portishead haven’t lost the John Barry spookiness, the songs are more experimental, less obvious. Beth still impresses with that marvellously cracked voice.

4: TV on the Radio – Dear Science
Great mix of Gary Numan eerieness, a touch of hip-hop, even a bit of po-faced balladry, but the funk is never far away. More bands like this, please!

3: Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
So uncool that it actually is cool, this Seattle band’s folk ballads and singalongs are as innocent as they are comforting. Robin Pecknold’s room-filling and pure vocals are a treat, and the harmonies so effortless they warm you up like a campfire. Guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

2: Sasha – Involver 2
The follow-up to the 2004 original by the real Lord Coe is subtler, classier and more coherent. The concept is simple: Sasha picks a load of tunes he likes, messes with them, strips the guts out of them and works them into a single piece of music. The first 'Involver' featured the stunning 'Talk Amongst Yourselves' by Grand National – one of the greatest openers of any dance album – but the sequel’s 'You Are The Worst Thing In The World' tops it. The Sasha trademarks are all there: complex arrangements; rich textures; emotional vocals. As good as slow-burn deep trance gets.

1: Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid
Doesn't everyone love Elbow? Despite (irritatingly) being adopted far too often by those who plaster incidental music all over interior design shows and sporting highlights, The Seldom Seen Kid is a delight. The album hangs together wonderfully, despite Guy Garvey’s habit of veering between serious subject matter and whimsical oddities, such as 'The Fix’s horse-racing scam (“Too many times we’ve been post-ily pipped, We’ve loaded the saddles, the mickeys are slipped”). But songs like 'Mirrorball' and 'The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver' are two of the best you’ll hear all year: emotional, measured, beautiful.

Tracks of the Year

10: The Verve – Love is Noise
9: Dizzie Rascal – Dance Wiv Me
8: Madonna ft Justin Timberlake – Four Minutes
7: The Futureheads – The Beginning of the Twist
6: Santogold – Say Aha
5: Ladyhawke – Paris is Burning
4: Goldfrapp – Happiness
3: The Shortwave Set – The Downer Song
2: Elbow – Mirrorball
1: Fleet Foxes – Tiger Mountain Peasant Song

Emperor’s New Clothes 2008

I’ve ignored the brief, but this is the one spot where I can tell it like it is. Only one possible contender: Scouting for Girls. Shit name, shit music, incredibly irritating vocals. And the fact that Watford fan Tim Lovejoy has championed them makes them even more loathsome. Now, do us all a favour, and fuck off, eh?

It’s Good, But Not That Good 2008

Coldplay – Viva La Vida
Always been a fan, but for God’s sake, take a few risks for once...

Guilty Pleasure 2008

Keane – Perfect Symmetry
Featured purely as a straightforward two fingers to the luddites who insist that a band must have a guitarist – which, as we all know, is patently bollocks.

Innocent Pain 2008

The Killers. Just what is the fuss about?

Olly Wehring

Albums of the Year

10: Flight of the Conchords - Flight of the Conchords
So? It's a comedy album. I get that. But the tunes are superb. An eclectic mish-mash, ranging from Jamaican dancehall ('Boom' sounds ace in the car when stuck in traffic in Streatham – you blend in with the street drivers) to ballad ('Leggy Blonde') to Pet Shop Boys ('Inner City Pressure'). Any album that contains lyrics like “Just because we've been playing tonsil hockey doesn't mean you get to score the goal that's in my jockeys” will make my top ten, year in, year out.
Key Track: 'Business Time'.

9: Frank Turner – Love, Ire and Song
Agreed, his voice – a bit of a lean to Billy Bragg – may be an acquired taste. Some of his idealistic lyrics may also appear a touch cloying, but goodness me, this is a very good album. Considering my idealistic, somewhat naïve bent, I bought into his sentiment straight away, and have thoroughly enjoyed listening to this as many times as I have done this year. 'Long Live the Queen', incidentally, has made me cry on at least four separate occasions, not that I'm boasting.
Key Track: 'I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous'.

8: Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
Regardless of the plaudits, this remains an album typical of Elbow's output (their first two albums are just marvellous – third one has its moments too), but with one vital exception – it's generally quite happy. The naïve (spot the trend here) optimism of some of the lyrics may nark the cynics, but it's a beautiful listen. Contains the best song of the year, and a handful of other contenders, notably 'Mirrorball' and 'Grounds for Divorce'. Oh, and the final word on the Mercury win? They got it not for this album alone, but their collective body of work, and their 'nearly-men' status.
Key Track: 'One Day Like This'.

7: My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
This album defines the term slow-burner. With the exception of the odd track here or there, I've never really been taken in by their previous efforts, to be honest. But this one, which, I'm told, has alienated many a long-standing fan, just grows and grows and grows. It's more mainstream, certainly, but all 14 tracks impress, as does the use of the word 'Interweb' on one of them ('Librarian'). And the Prince-like 'Highly Suspicious' sounds bostin' loud. Great for listening to in the sunshine.
Key Track: 'Touch Me, I'm Going To Scream'.

6: Sigur Ros - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
Curse the BBC – they go and take one of Sigur Ros' best tracks ('Hoppipolla') and proceed to plaster it all over their Planet Earth plugs. To the heathen, at least, that's all this band are known for. But the heathens are missing a trick. This year's effort, Icelandic for 'With Buzzing in Our Ears We Play Endlessly', is the band's most accessible album. Granted, one can't really sing along, unless one knows Icelandic, but this is, simply put, classical music for the 21st Century – there's so much thought, so much effort, so much intricacy in these tracks. To seal the deal, their mesmerising headline slot this summer on the middle night at Latitude left this punter, along with thousands of others, with his chin on the floor.
Key Track: 'Inni Mer Syngur Vitleysingur'.

5: TV on the Radio - Dear Science
They've cracked it, finally. Previous album 'Return to Cookie Mountain' was way too much hard work, but TV on the Radio opened the door a little wider with this album. Much has been made of the band's 'innovative' sound, but that's missing the point somewhat. The tracks are tighter, leaner, and don't outstay their welcome. They're also funk-addled, in the best possible way. Clever-clever to have this in my ten, I'm sure, but 'Love Dog' alone would get this in the chart.
Key Track: 'Love Dog'.

4: Lightspeed Champion - Falling Off the Lavender Bridge
A real shame that this didn't make any published charts of the year, as this is a wonderful album – I even told the man himself so, when I saw him at Hyde Park watching Morrissey this summer. Dev Hynes, formerly of the Test Icicles, put down his... whatever he played, and picked up a guitar for this, his debut solo album. Released way back in January, this has done really well to see off the competition for a place in this chart. This album is very much 'this year's' album - It'll always remind me of 2008. The ten-minute-long 'Midnight Surprise', by the way, is career-definingly brillliant.
Key Track: 'Midnight Surprise'.

3: Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight
Where the hell did this lot come from? A real shame that they didn't really break big this year, but this is an excellent guitar-pop album from this Scottish four-piece. Intelligent, thought-provoking lyrics, beautiful harmonies with guitars that aren't set too quiet, to boot. Thanks have to go to Scott for bringing this album to my attention – he's good. In fact, this album is so good that it would have been even higher, had they not let themselves down with a shaky performance supporting...
Key Track: 'Keep Yourself Warm'.

2: Death Cab for Cutie - The Narrow Stairs
The problem facing users of slightly suss download sites for albums (that's me) is that you can never be 100% sure that, when downloading a new album, you're getting exactly what you 'paid' for. With this album, which I got early in the summer, only one track was actually by Death Cab, the rest was unlistenable swill. Thankfully, I have some sympathetic friends on hand to help me out (thanks, Scott - again). When I finally got hold of the album proper, I was hooked. Enough to see them live in November (supported by Frightened Rabbit, no less), and that sealed the deal. An example of a band at their peak: The musicianship is consummate, the lyrics sublime. A huge step forward from what was already a pretty good predecessor ('Plans').
Key Track: 'Grapevine Fires'.

1: Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
The first time I listened to this, I was walking on Ipanema beach, in Rio de Janeiro, in May (their autumn), on my own. Its impact was so great, I listened to it four times consecutively, beginning to end. Indeed, it's not been more than a fortnight that I haven't returned to this since then.

Much has been made of the back story to the album, but strip that away, and what is left here is simply a beautiful album, that maintains the highest standard from beginning to end (even when we discovered, a week later, that there was an extra track right at the end). Justin Vernon (who is Bon Iver) is an eccentric loon, of that there's little doubt. But, if his grief results in an album as sweeping as this, here's hoping he has a crappy 2009.
Key Track: Impossible to pick one. The first one, through to the last one.

Tracks of the Year

10: Okkervil River - Lost Coastlines
9: Nada Surf - See These Bones
8: Keane - Spiralling
7: TV on the Radio - Love Dog
6: Lightspeed Champion - Midnight Surprise
5: Frank Turner - Long Live the Queen
4: Death Cab for Cutie - I Will Possess Your Heart
3: Frightened Rabbit - Keep Yourself Warm
2: Death Cab for Cutie - Grapevine Fires
1: Elbow - One Day Like This

Emperor's New Clothes 2008

Coldplay – Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends
REM – Accelerate
Stop, stop, STOP. The best track on the Coldplay album is an instrumental ('Life in Technicolour'). It's when Chris Martin opens his fathead mouth that the illusion of goodness is shattered. Awful, awful lyrics (“There was snow, white snow” - Really? WHITE snow, you say?) throughout. And their attempt at a Paranoid Android-a-like three piece suite of a track ('42') is, frankly, risible.

As for REM? Not their fault, I know, but all the talk of a return to form served only to belittle 'Reveal' and 'Around the Sun', both of which had the occasional moment of brilliance ('Imitation of Life' and 'Leaving New York' are excellent). So they were on a sticky wicket before I even listened to it. Then I listened to it. If you're tempted by this, save yourself some money and get 'Life's Rich Pageant' instead – 'Accelerate' is a lazy, sub-standard remake of a superb album.

It's Good But Not That Good 2008

Kings of Leon – Only By The Night
Don't get me wrong, this is quite a good album, especially considering their previous fare, which, quite frankly, left me cold as. The opening four tracks are all pretty good - indeed, 'Crawl' sounds marvellously crunchy, but the album tails off thereafter. Q's album of the year? Come on, let's not get carried away here.

Guilty Pleasure 2008

Keane - Perfect Symmetry
In years gone by, I've included Keane's first two albums in my top tens, and argued (minority-style, I concede) that there was no guilt on my part in confessing I really liked them. Their third effort, however, certainly has an element of cringe-factor about it ("Whooo!" - need I say any more). In spite of this, 'Spiralling', 'The Lovers are Losing' and the title track are all very good pop music - simple as. The rest of the album, however, I can live without. First time I've said that about Keane, which must make me guilty anyway in many people's eyes.

Innocent Pain 2008

The Last Shadow Puppets – The Age of the Understatement
There's just something a bit chin-stroking about this. About ten years ago, Elvis Costello released an album of similar-sounding stuff with Burt Bacharach, which worked brilliantly. This, however, has been rated highly by many, purely because it SHOULD be good. Doesn't mean it actually is, though.

Not Worthy of a Mention in Any Way 2008

Oasis – Dig Out Your Soul
No, no. It really is better to burn out than to fade away.