Albums of the year

I'm pretty much assuming all the decent albums have been released this year, anything past this point is for the Christmas market and won't really affect this definitive list. (I'm not a MASSIVE Take That fan, and although I weirdly fancy the girl off Same Difference, I won't be running out to buy their album!)
So here we go, my top 5 albums of 2008.

1. Elbow - Seldom Seen Kid (I'll never forget the line 'and it's you, and it's May and we're sleeping through the day'... I thought Guy Garvey was singing to me! Deservedly won the Mercury Prize, shame I missed them in concert.)
2. Late of the Pier - Fantasy Black Channel (What a fantastic mess! Throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks really works. Gary Newman, Roxy Music, Sparks, Queen and Nick Kershaw all in the pot!)
3. Q-Tip - Renaissance (...and I thought hip-hop had died a death. Cool Kids, Plastic Little and Q-Tip bringing it back in 2008.)
4. Foals - Antidotes (Good solid angular album and best live band I've seen this year. The razor sharp drumming makes up for the twee guitar.)
5. Padded Cell - Night Must Fall (I bought this on a whim, but the dark psychedelic breaks and beats have kept me bouncing.)

Young Knives should get a mention for Superabundance. I'm loving their stuff, but it's too similar to their debut to chart. I'm sticking around waiting for the heavily Sparks influenced third album.

Until next year.