One of the most sublime slabs of electronica I’ve heard in the last few years. Without any vocals - but full of intensity and meaning, this is essential late night listening.

From Germany -  Hendrik Weber has taken a number of guises en route to this album, including a remix of Lillian by Depeche Mode which attracted me to have a listen.

The album is full of layers and affects to add extra dimensions to rich keyboard analogue sounds and twitchy rhythm tracks.

Built like a swiss watch - this album takes the New York funnymen to new lows of mope-rock. Coupling dark, melancholic lyrics with metronome like song structure they seem to grab hold of the genre and shake it about.

Occasionally though - they bust out the euphoria and everything just slots into place (’Pioneer to the falls’) and you realise what a precious gift an Interpol album is.

A lot has already been said about this album - from the unorthodox delivery mechanism to the well rehearsed track listing, but it doesn’t detract from the fact its a superb album.

Stand out tracks for me include ‘Jigsaw falling into Place’ and ‘Nude’, lyrics are desperate and uplifting at the same time as well as being downright disturbing in places.

It is much as you’d expect from Radiohead - willfully artful in its construction - but slightly more accessible than Kid A and Amnesiac.

Quite apart from being the live experience of the year - this exceptional album seemed like a sound track for autumn this year.

From the opening notes of searing guitar and the first hint of one of the finest voices in pop music, it was clear that this sophomore album was delivered with significant intent.

The album is hooky, accessible but still has some darkness at the core. Standout Tracks for me, ‘The Racing Rats’ (with its brutal piano line and fearsome chorus) and ‘Smokers Outside the Hospital Door’

After wrapping up the rock DVD of the year award, its no surprise that one of their albums made it into my top ten, actually - thats a lie because this is two albums, wrapped into one, soft of.

Beguiling sounds, recorded in odd places and semi acoustic this is the accompaniment to the superb Heima DVD, reworking some of their earlier work into swirling live masterpieces that defy description.

Surprise of the year - no questions, I did not expect The Coral to come back with such a strong album.

They must have worked really hard on the music side of things, bringing strong melodies and simple songs to the forefront. 

You can almost smell the Mersey in every line of the album, effortlessly updating the merseybeat sound into something recognisable and accessible today.

According to the stats - this is my number one listened to album this year. However, that maybe down to the simple fact it is best listened to as a whole unit, and once you start you cannot stop.

From the opening guitar notes of Stalker with its signature vocal, it is clear that Turin Brakes have lost none of their touch, following up ‘Jackinthebox’ with a more rounded, epic sounding album.

The Guardian review referred to this album as ‘polite melancholia’ - I’ll buy that.

Often lazily compared to Damien Rice, this guy is the real deal - and a tip for the pop charts in 2008.

Nicely produced, and brilliantly sung this has all the hallmarks of an early Van Morrison. Based around Fords voice and guitar, and on some tracks some sympathetic strings to beef things up a bit.

The tracks are warm, passionate and brilliantly listenable.

Definitely the album I looked forward to more than any other in 2007, Ian Brown delivered his ‘Marvin Gaye’ album to high expectations in September last year.

Full of strings and protest - this is a chilled out, laid back affair the show Ian Brown developing into one of the most significant British artists around.

Sigur Ros collaborators - this beautiful album slipped onto my radar a little late this year, but more than makes up for it.

Functioning as a sort of chamber quartet, these ambient, blissful tunes are as simple as they are beautiful - and so Kurr has become a late night favourite for me - a soundtrack to working in the dark.