So, that was 2007. Wasn’t that bad, was it? Been too busy wrapping presents and making mince pies to write any in-depth insights to the 20 records that made the list this year but here it is anyway with some crappy soundbites for the top ten and not a torpor inducing Panda Bear or Animal Collective record in sight.

20. Widow City by The Fiery Furnaces

The Fiery Furnaces – Restorative Beer

19. The Reminder by Feist

Feist – Past In Present

18. Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? by Of Montreal

Of Montreal – A Sentence Of Sorts In Kongsvinger

17. Challengers by The New Pornographers

The New Pornographers – All The Things That Go To Make Heaven And Earth

16. Three Easy Pieces by Buffalo Tom

Buffalo Tom – Bottom Of The Rain

15. Wincing The Night Away by The Shins

The Shins – A Comet Appears

14. The Flying Club Cup by Beirut

Beirut – Cliquot

13. Beyond by Dinosaur Jr.

Dinosaur Jr. – Been There All The Time

12. In Rainbows by Radiohead

Radiohead – House Of Cards

11. Spirit If… by Broken Social Scene presents Kevin Drew

Broken Social Scene presents Kevin Drew – Safety Bricks

10. Grinderman by Grinderman

The sound of Nick Cave and a handful of Bad Seeds venting their sexual frustrations with gallons of sleaze and some downright dirty rock ‘n’ roll.

Grinderman – Go Tell The Women

9. The Shepherd’s Dog by Iron And Wine

Sam Beam’s most confident and fully realised batch of songs to date. The presence of a full band – a natural progression from his work with Calexico a couple of years ago – is a more than welcome addition.

Iron And Wine – Lovesong Of The Buzzard

8. Yes, U by Devastations

A brilliant album of moody melancholia from the Aussie rockers. The superb production and subtle washes of electronica really set this apart.

Devastations – The Pest

7. Neon Bible by Arcade Fire

Obviously nowhere near as good as Funeral but it grew on me over the year, its excellence really hitting home after seeing their incredible performance at the MEN Arena in October.

Arcade Fire – Windowsill

6. Boxer by The National

Again, not quite as great as their previous effort but the subdued quality of Boxer made for another grower that clicked after seeing the songs played live.

The National – Apartment Story

5. Night Falls Over Kortedala by Jens Lekman

Marvellous album from the Swedish pop genius, packed with humour, melancholy and great tunes swept along by some magnificent orchestrations.

Jens Lekman – The Opposite Of Hallelujah

4. Mirrored by Battles

Battles’ inspired math-rock took a few listens to sink in but when it did it was easy to see why every blogger and his dog has been salivating over this record since its release. It’s a multi-layered beast of an album, each listen revealing new twists and turns in Battles’ melodic madness.

Battles – Ddiamondd

3. Sound Of Silver by LCD Soundsystem

From the opening Talking Heads-meets-Kraftwerk groove of “Get Innocuous!” onwards, this album was the perfect showcase for James Murphy’s brilliant fusion of disco and indie.

LCD Soundsystem – Get Innocuous!

2. Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters by The Twilight Sad

A colossal debut from this Glaswegian quartet where the incredible drama of the lyrics and vocals is surpassed by the monumental guitars.

The Twilight Sad – mapped by what surrounded them

1. Are The Dark Horse by The Besnard Lakes

For the third year running a Canadian band takes the honours. If Neil Young made a shoegaze album – and it was a good Neil Young album – then it might sound like this but probably wouldn’t be anywhere near as good.

The Besnard Lakes – Ride The Rails