![]() | OH (Ohio) by Lambchop
Buy new: £3.98 / Used from: £13.55 I put this on whilst cycling along the river from Chorlton to Didsbury as the sun was going down. It was totally badass, in a hushed, meandering sort of way, and has been my no.1 album ever since.
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![]() | Fleet Foxes by Fleet Foxes
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £4.38 If I was into cop-outs, this would be joint album of the year. But since every other list-Nazi on the internet has given this its due already, the completely ignored Lambchop classic's getting my nod.
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![]() | For Emma Forever Ago by Bon Iver
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £14.25 Log Cabin blah blah blah, Woods in Wisconsin etc etc, Dumped by Girlfriend aaaarrgghhh. Music journalists - get a new angle! Great album btw. Haunting, yeah?
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![]() | Instant Coffee Baby by The Wave Pictures
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £4.90 With mass-market landfill HMV "indie" completely saturating the market in 2008, TWP are a godsend with their analog sound, fanzine-style artwork and stripped-down, intelligent rock 'n' roll.
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![]() | Volume One by She & Him
Buy new: £7.98 Pilfers the sound of 50's rock 'n' roll and 60's girl-pop without sounding like a novelty, Pipettes-style pastiche record. Nice to see M. Ward mixing it up a little as well, bring on the new album.
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![]() | Midnight Organ Fight by Frightened Rabbit
Buy new: £6.98 / Used from: £6.48 Not only a great euphemism, The Midnight Organ Fight is an album of such lyrical grit you can easily forgive the fact that it sounds a bit Snow Patrol. STDs have never sounded so melodic.
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![]() | Jim by Jamie Lidell
Buy new: £7.48 / Used from: £3.47 Refreshingly unpretentious feelgood pop from Cambridge's blindest white soul singer.
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![]() | Oracular Spectacular by MGMT
Buy new: £3.98 / Used from: £2.59 Is there anything more hateable than a hippy hipster? It's testament to how good this album is that I don't even want to break their arms or anything.
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![]() | Saturdays = Youth by M83
Buy new: £8.68 / Used from: £6.36 Probably their best album thus far, and a lot warmer than the first two records - although maybe I'm just easily influenced by their (great) album covers.
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![]() | Heretic Pride by The Mountain Goats
Buy new: £7.98 / Used from: £5.77 John Darnielle's voice is like Marmite. It's brown and made from yeast extract. With Heretic Pride he's moved even further from his trademark homemade aesthetic, to great effect. Tons of fun.
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![]() | Re-Arrange Us by Mates of State
Buy new: £14.69 / Used from: £10.05 So saccharine it could be an album for kids, husband-and-wife duo Mates of State are the ultimate family-friendly band. You'll probably hate it, but I don't.
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![]() | The Seldom Seen Kid by Elbow
Buy new: £4.48 / Used from: £3.38 A lot's been made of this album's stomping anthems, but Elbow's strength has always been the beauty of melancholy, and Friend of Ours is their most heartbreaking, greatest song ever.
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![]() | A Larum by Johnny Flynn
Buy new: £5.98 / Used from: £4.61 Johnny Flynn seems to think he's some kind of Dickensian hobo. He's the Russell Brand of jaunty folk. He's a disgrace, and should be banned.
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![]() | Dear Science by TV on the Radio
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £4.45 Their ambition and creativity means their albums always have an impressive impact, but often this doesn't translate into longevity for me. I LOVED this for a week or two, but haven't been back since.
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![]() | The Stand Ins by Okkervil River
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £3.98 Okkervil River released my favourite song of the year last year ('Unless It's Kicks') and have done the same in 2008 (with 'Lost Coastlines'). A nice companion album to The Stage Names.
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![]() | In Ghost Colours by Cut Copy
Buy new: £8.28 / Used from: £6.97 What would happen if Chromeo met Savage Garden? I'm not sure, but I imagine it would involve a lot of bumming.
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![]() | Parc Avenue by Plants and Animals
Buy new: £16.09 / Used from: £6.00 This would doubtless have ranked much higher if I hadn't only just discovered it while compiling this list. Grabbed me from the first listen, though - shades of Arcade Fire, Midlake and MMJ. Sold.
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![]() | The Builders and the Butchers by The Builders and the Butchers
Buy new: £16.09 / Used from: £12.19 Stomping, bluesy singalongs, combining elements of Two Gallants, Okkervil River and the White Stripes. Recommended. Obviously.
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![]() | Alas I Cannot Swim by Laura Marling
Buy new: £8.88 / Used from: £7.46 Look into the camera, Marling. You're fooling no-one with this aloof, tortured-soul troubador gimmick.
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![]() | Flight Of The Conchords by Flight Of The Conchords
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £4.69 So many contenders for the last spot on MY PRESTIGIOUS INTERNET LIST. None of them made me laugh out loud on a train though, and that's gotta be worth something, right?
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Listmania!



















