2008 was a pretty good year for music. Here's some of the stuff I've enjoyed over the year.
Tony Christie - Made In Sheffield
He could have taken the easy route and made more cheesy Amarillo-style pop. Instead, with the help of the likes of Jarvis Cocker and Richard Hawley, he made a beautifully crafted, dignified album and surprised the heck out of all of us. My personal choice would be Born To Cry, but Danger Is A Woman In Love would make a great Bond theme.
Henry Priestman - The Chronicles of Modern Life
The guy from The Christians made a classic Grumpy-Old-Man album. Have a listen to Don't You Love Me No More? and Grey's The New Blonde.
Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy
Seventeen frickin' years we waited for this. Was it worth the wait? Well, yeah. Almost. It dragged on a bit towards the end, but parts of it were flat-out brilliant. Catcher In The Rye, even without Brian May's guitar parts, stood out for me.
Glasvegas - Glasvegas
I really wanted to hate this. They say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover - equally you shouldn't judge a band by their awful name. OK, the name still annoys me (and most of Glasgow, I'd imagine), but this is a debut album more exciting than anything since Oasis.
Wall-of-sound production, songs about absentee fathers and social workers, loads of swearing and Scottish accents that make the Proclaimers sound like Prince Charles. Nice.
Duffy - Rockferry
A good old-fashioned slice of classic-sounding soul, and apparently the UK's top-selling album of the year. Try Warwick Avenue and Mercy.
Elvis Costello and the Imposters - Momofuku
Declan's best for years (named after the inventor of instant noodles, apparently). Sadly there's not much to be found in the way of evidence on YouTube, but here's a live performance of American Gangster Time.
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