Music Roundup 2008

As dB Magazine bids adieu to 2008, it's time to salute the many artists who continued to release hour-long stretches of quality music and laugh at the idea that the album is dead. After asking each and every one of the dB Magazine contributors to nominate the best releases of the year, designing a long and complicated algorithm and spending sleepless nights tallying up the votes, the results of the most anticipated poll since the US election are in.

Congratulations to the winners, TV On The Radio and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, who will coincidentally play in our fine city within weeks of each other; Mr Cave and his merry men on Wednesday 14 January at Thebarton Theatre (coincidentally, our favourite venue) and TV On The Radio at the Big Day Out on Friday 30 January in Wayville Showgrounds.

Laneway took out the honours as 2008's favourite festival, and the 2009 edition is even bigger and better, taking place in the Fowler's Live Courtyard on Saturday 7 February.

Now that all the votes are tallied and the laurels handed out, there's not much to be done except thank all the fine dB Magazine contributors for their hard work throughout the year, and hope that next year brings it with it a similar bounty of musical riches.

International

1. TV On The Radio - Dear Science
4AD/ Remote Control

2. Thrice - The Alchemy Index Volume III
Vagrant / Shock

3. Kings Of Leon - Only By The Night
Sony

4. Tokyo Police Club - Elephant Shell
Dew Process

5. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Remote Control

6. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
Sony/ BMG

7. Hot Chip - Made In The Dark
EMI

8. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
Vagrant/ Shock

9. The Bronx - III
White Drugs/ Shock

10. Witch - Paralyzed - Tee Pee
Inertia

11. Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy
Geffen/ Universal

12. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
4AD/ Remote Control

13. Weezer - Weezer (Red)
Interscope/ Universal

14. Santogold - Santogold
Downtown/ Inertia
15. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Sub Pop/ Stomp

16. Misery Signals - Controller
Ferret / Stomp

17. M83 - Saturdays=Youth
EMI

18. Boris - Smile
Diwphalanx

19. Beck - Modern Guilt
Interscope/ Universal

20. Eugene McGuinness - Eugene McGuinness
EMI

21. Disturbed - Indestructible
Reprise/ Warner

22. Los Campesinos - Hold On Now, Youngster
Shock

23. Frightened Rabbit -The Midnight Organ
Fight
Inertia/Fat Cat

24. Dornenreich - In Luft Geritzt
Prophecy

25. Phoenix Foundation - Happy Ending
Warner


Aussie

1. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - 'Dig Lazarus
Dig!!!'
Mute

2. The Drones - Havilah
ATP

3. Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu- Gurrumul
Skinny Fish Music

4. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
Modular

5. CW Stoneking - Jungle Blues
Shock

6. Tame Impala - Tame Impala
Modular

7. Augie March - Watch Me Disappear
Sony/ BMG

8. Trial Kennedy - 'New Manic Art'
Sony BMG

9. Sparkadia - Postcards
Ivy League

10. Getaway Plan - Other Voices, Other
Rooms
Boomtown

11. Calerway - Midnight Mercenaries
Taperjean

12. Coerce - Coerce
Capitalgames

13. Black Ice- AC\DC
Sony/ BMG

14. Mercy Arms - Mercy Arms
MGM

15. Sneaky Sound System - 2
Whack

16. Skye Harbour - Houses
Independent - 7

17. The Presets - Apocalpyto - Modular
18. Children Collide - The Long Now
Universal

19. Universum - Leto Destinatus
Riot

20. Carpathian - Isolation
Resist/ Shock

21. Holly Throsby - A Loud Call
Spunk/ EMI

22. We Grow Up - Night Kitchen
Independent

23. Little Red - Listen To Little Red
Shock

24. The Grates - Teeth Lost, Hearts Won
Dew Process

25. The Vandas - Slow Burn
Liberator

Venue
1. Thebby
2. Grace Emily
3. Urtext

Festival
1. Laneway
2. Soundwave
3. Big Day Out