These are favourites; I do not view this as a definitive top 29 (!) of the year, because I’m fully aware that there’s a lot of stuff I should have listened to more. More on those at the foot of the list.

1. Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes
2. Fleet Foxes: Sun Giant EP
3. The Hold Steady: Stay Positive
4. Okkervil River: The Stand Ins
5. Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago
6. Of Montreal: Skeletal Lamping
7. Bowerbirds: Hymns for a Dark Horse
8. Shearwater: Rook
9. Jay Reatard: Matador Singles 08
10. The Mountain Goats: Heretic Pride

11. Vetiver: Thing of the Past
12. Deerhunter: Microcastle
13. M83: Saturdays = Youth
14. Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend
15. The Sea and Cake: Car Alarm
16. Evangelicals: The Evening Descends
17. Wire: Object 47
18. Whatfor: Sooner Later Than Never
19. The Last Shadow Puppets: The Age of the Understatement
20. Ladyhawk: Shots

21. Circus Animals’ Desertion: Circus Animals’ Desertion
22. Dodos: Visiter
23. Fucked Up: The Chemistry of Common Life
24. Magnetic Fields: Distortion
25. Melodium: My Mind Is Falling To Pieces
26. Pale Young Gentlemen: Black Forest (Tra La La)
27. Girl Talk: Feed The Animals
28. White Hinterland: Phylactery Factory
29. Bersarin Quartett: Bersarin Quartett

I really regret not being able to include the likes of Marnie Stern, Amadou and Mariam, Parts and Labor, Portishead, TV On The Radio, Atlas Sound and more – while I’ve heard very good things about all of these records, I simply haven’t been able to listen to them enough to forge an opinion either way. Oh well, there’s always next year.