Rather than stumble our way ineptly through a round-up of the year's best records (we briefly considered the idea but after a 45 minute argument over the mere title of the ruddy thing we decided to leave it to more astute websites) FDM.com has instead opted to focus its pre-Christmas efforts on two equally pointless - but no less fun - exercises.

The first, which you can see in all its glory below, highlights some of the year's best albums (hang on, stay with us...), albeit ones you've probably yet to hear because you keep relentlessly playing that Bon Iver record*.

The second begins after Christmas and finds the FDM.com editorial team sticking its collective wet finger in the air, giving it a good waggle, and deciding on the 5 best new acts for 2009.

Anywoo, let's not get ahead of ourselves. The first of the 'Eight Records You'd Love If You Could Just Stop Listening To 'For Emma, Forever Ago' are as follows and deal with a selection of some of the year's unsung musical heroes. The concluding part is due later in the week...

Arms
'Kids Aflame'
(Melodic)

With hints of Sebadoh, Pavement and all manner of other luminaries from the early 90's American alt-rock scene, Arms initially looked like a rather predictable singer/songwriter. Yet further inspection revealed a passion for taking these mighty indie playthings and coupling them with rich folk melodies and a propensity for stark and pretty-oddball lyricism. Just take a listen to this album's stand-out title track; an insanely catchy bout of indie influenza built around a core of simple acoustica that has more hooks than a fat fisherman's hat. It was also the song which - according to iTunes play counter - was the most spun in FDM.com offices across 2008. Speaks volumes.

What we said: "A young Brooklynite by the name of Todd Goldstein with a penchant for breathing new life into the early-90's offbeat college-rock template of Malkmus, Arms ploughs a pretty lonely furrow."

Other content on FDM.com: Interview - http://www.freshdeermeat.com/eatmore.php?id=40

More information: www.myspace.com/armsongs


Death Vessel
'Nothing Is Precious Enough For Us'
(Sub Pop)

Joel Thibodeau's weightless falsetto may have initially perplexed the uninitiated but as the warm tide of americana, bluegrass and folk from 'Nothing Is Precious Enough For Us' washed over the listener they couldn't help but become completely lost beneath Death Vessel's magical spell. Each of the songs on this album is an intricate work of art; 'Block My Eye' is quite simply the best introduction to an album this year, 'Bruno's Torso' is bent acoustic pop of the highest order, whilst album highlight 'Belt Of Foam' is the most heart-breaking and gentle wheeze of cornet-led folk you're ever likely to hear.

For sure there were comparisons to Beirut's Zach Condon on release but Thibodeau is a different, warmer beast. This wass contemporised American folk music at it's very best and added real weight to Death Vessel's enviable canon of work.

What we said: "'Nothing Is Precious Enough for Us' is an implausibly good album. Without doubt one of the most inventive and engaging records to be released in 2008. Come and join us in wholeheartedly embracing this record..."

Other content on FDM.com: Album review - http://www.freshdeermeat.com/eatmore.php?id=39

More information: www.deathvessel.com


Gramercy Arms
'Gramercy Arms'
(Reveal)

The year's most evocative summer album came from the unlikeliest of sources, New York City. Gramercy Arms were a diverse collection of artists from the underbelly of NY's rich music scene. Joan As Police Woman, Guided By Voices and even comedian Sarah Silverman all came under the guiding hand of proficient songwriter Dave Derby as he set about crafting a record that owed more to the wide-eyed songcraft of the Western seaboard than their actual NYC homes.

Cue handclaps, harmonies and a landslide of 'ba-ba-ba's and you've got yourself an album rammed to the gills with "classic mid-70's American songmanship, gorgeous melancholy and an evocative sense of the West Coast's great music triumphs.". Sublime.

What we said: "There are delightful snatches of The Byrds, Josh Rouse, The Pernice Brothers and Teenage Fanclub across this entire record, but it's the influence of fellow New Yorkers Fountains Of Wayne that echoes the loudest..."

Other content on FDM.com: Interview - http://www.freshdeermeat.com/eatmore.php?id=38

More information: www.gramercyarms.co.uk


Bowerbirds
'Hymns For A Dark Horse'
(Dead Oceans)

Like a family's patchwork quilt, Bowerbird's 'Hymns For A Dark Horse' seemed so much more than the sum of its collective parts. Intentionally recorded with loose, almost uneven production duties, every string scuff or fret-board thump detected by the listener somehow helped add to the unrivalled character of this exceptional record. For sure, it got lumped in with the vibrant nu-folk movement in America, but this album covered so much more ground than merely folk. It swayed wildly between unashamed pop excess and new generational blue-eyed soul, sounding like Grizzly Bear gulping down the eccentricity pills one minute, Zach Condon drowning in melancholy the next. A truly genre-defying release.

What we said: "For what 'Hymns For A Dark Horse' so vociferously proves within seconds of its start is that Bowerbirds are so much more important than just that; for this is a record that evidently belies categorisation and sits above and beyond any small-minded concept of contemporary American folk music."

Other content on FDM.com: Album review - http://www.freshdeermeat.com/eatmore.php?id=12

More information: www.bowerbirds.org

Click back later in the week for the second installment of our 'Eight Records You'd Love If You Could Just Stop Listening To 'For Emma, Forever Ago' feature.

*which incidentally would have been our album of the year by a country mile.