As 2008 nears an end, Open Ear has been blessed with a number of great releases that have been making a push for our favourite album of the year. Roots Manuva drags himself out of retirement to hit us with a new album Slime and Reason. Daedelus’ Ninja Tune debut is, in our opinion, his most cohesive and enjoyable album to date. Fleet Foxes are causing a stir with their unique harmonies and original campfire folk songs and are definitely our favourite newcomer of the year. Angus & Julia Stone and Gotye should really be pushing for places in the pop charts with their new efforts. The Accidental are a new band from the members of the amazing Tunng, whilst Max Richter provides us with an immersive set of modern classical postcards. You can hear all of these albums on Open Ear: Music On-Demand!

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Here are some albums from the last few years that are still floating our boat at Open Ear HQ and are getting plenty of plays on our On-demand music streams. If you missed these albums when they first came out they’re still worth checking!

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Brighton based Fat Cat Records is one of our favourite labels. Over the years, they’ve released albums from the likes of Animal Collective, Mice Parade, Vashti Bunyan, Mum, Hauschka and the mighty Sigur Ros, covering all bases from Rock, Indie, Folk, Electronica and modern Classical. Check em out at www.fat-cat.co.uk/

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