It won't have hurt the globetrotting Swede that her compatriot Robyn guested at her Camden Crawl appearance back in April, but her burning ambition may yet see her supplant the blonde bombshell in the nation's hearts.

This was more straight-ahead pop-rock than her folky debut, but as ever with Wainwright she added various degrees of shade which meant it was never easy listening. Her future is a remarkably bright one.

The Isle of Wight eccentrics chose a more windswept rock sound for their third album, and it was a gamble that paid off - garnering some of the best reviews of their career and a Mercury nomination to boot.

Richard & Linda Thompson's son has been around for quite a while, but it was with this album he finally stepped out of his parents' shadow with some beautifully crafted pop/folk - and that natty suit helped as well.

The Okkervil River offshoot came of age with their fifth album. If there really is such a thing as pastoral post-rock, this was the year's finest example.

Pop, rock, disco and a whole big dollop of funk were all mixed together for Of Montreal's ninth album - as typically esoteric, psychedelic and eccentric as we've come to expect from them.

Often described as 'the best bar band in America', Craig Finn's beautifully sketched characters were as finely honed as anything you'd find in a Kerouac novel. And did we mention they can rock?

In a year in which the sounds of the '80s seemed to be everywhere, Ladyhawke invoked the spirit of Stevie Nicks and Cyndi Lauper. Most impressively, she did so while sounding impeccably modern.

So seemed to be the general consensus when Gruff Rhys teamed up with producer Boom Bip. Yet it became the Welshman's most successful release yet. Danceable and intensely thoughtful, it also bagged a Mercury nomination for good measure.

A song sung in - shock, horror - English still couldn't detract from their music's otherworldly beauty. And they had the sense of humour to call one track Gobbledigook.