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I had a tinge of fear upon moving from London to Oxford that we’d be leaving behind all of the best venues – and, with them, opportunities to see great bands. How wrong was I… Oxford has a smattering of smallish bars and clubs hosting some pretty fair bands, but the gig scene is squarely dominated by another of Carling’s Academies (soon to be O2, I believe). And being a part of the Carling empire means that Oxford gets visited on Thursday evenings by a lot of the bands that are then moving on to play Brixton on Friday. Which is a bloody good deal for us up here, as the capacity of Oxford’s main room is around a thousand, compared with five times that in Brixton – meaning you can get damned close to the action.

I’m usually horribly frantic at this time of year, what with work coming to a close and the usual mad rush getting ready to jet away somewhere for Christmas and the New Year. But without a job, and knowing that the only travel I’ll be doing over the next week and a half is by bike, things are a little more chilled. A lot more chilled, in fact. And that relaxed feeling has allowed a bit of 2008 nostalgia to creep in – for the past few days I’ve been reflecting somewhat self-indulgently on my favourite tunes, words and moments of the year. Something I haven’t done before, but having now thoroughly enjoyed, something I think may become a habit in years to come. As much for posterity as for sharing, here are a few of those favourite things, beginning with albums.

It was a miserable night, and after spending the previous four nights on the lash (thanks to a long weekend), I found myself unsurprisingly jaded and so trekking out to Hammersmith for a gig was not exactly what I felt like doing.