As 2008 comes to a close, I thought it would be cool to look back at some of the albums that have really taken a beating on my iPod/iTunes over the last twelve months and share them with you! I just wanna start off by saying that I am not very good with words so I will not be reviewing these albums, just purely bringing them to your attention and which song’s you have to check out.

For someone who loves to discover new artists/albums, I hope some of the following artists have the same effect on you guys. The albums mentioned below cover a wide range of Genre’s so possibly something for everyone…

Artist: Secondhand Serenade
Album Title: A Twist In My Story
Genre: Acoustic
Favourite Songs: Your Call, Fall For You, Stay Close, Don’t Go
Listen: MySpace | purevolume
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Artist: The Cab
Album Title: Whisper War
Genre: Pop Punk / Powerpop
Favourite Songs: One Of THOSE Nights, I’ll Run, Risky Business
Listen: MySpace | purevolume
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Artist: The Courteeners
Album Title: St. Jude
Genre: Indie Rock
Favourite Songs: Bide Your Time, Please Don’t, Not Nineteen Forever
Listen: MySpace | Last.fm
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Artist: The Kooks
Album Title: Konk
Genre: Indie Rock
Favourite Songs: Sway, Gap, Mr Maker, Shine On
Listen: MySpace | Last.fm
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Artist: Marie Digby
Album Title: Unfold
Genre: Pop / Piano Pop
Favourite Songs: Say It Again, Beauty in Walking Away, Better Off Alone
Listen: MySpace | Last.fm
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Artist: Augustana
Album Title: Can’t Love, Can’t Hurt
Genre: Piano Rock
Favourite Songs: Sweet and Low, Twenty Years, Hey Now
Listen: MySpace | purevolume
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Artist: The Subways
Album Title: All or Nothing
Genre: Indie Rock
Favourite Songs: Alright, Shake! Shake!
Listen: MySpace | purevolume
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Artist: Boyce Avenue
Album Title: All Youre Meant To Be
Genre: Rock
Favourite Songs: On My Way, Dare to Beleive, All The While, Change Your Mind
Listen: MySpace | Last.fm
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Artist: Jack’s Mannequin
Album Title: The Glass Passenger
Genre: Alternative Rock
Favourite Songs: The Resolution, Spinning, American Love
Listen: MySpace | Last.fm
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Artist: The Script
Album Title: Self Titled
Genre: Pop Rock
Favourite Songs: Before The Worst, Breakeven, If You See Kay, We Cry
Listen: MySpace | Last.fm
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Artist: Kings of Leon
Album Title: Only by the Night
Genre: Rock
Favourite Songs: Use Somebody, Manhattan, Sex On Fire
Listen: MySpace | Last.fm
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Artist: Taio Cruz
Album Title: Departure
Genre: R&B
Favourite Songs: Like A Star, I Can Be, I Just Wanna Know
Listen: MySpace | Last.fm
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Artist: Sara Bareilles
Album Title: Little Voice
Genre: Pop
Favourite Songs: Love Song, Vegas, One Sweet Love
Listen: MySpace | Last.fm
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Artist: The Offspring
Album Title: Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace
Genre: Pop
Favourite Songs: Love Song, Vegas, One Sweet Love
Listen: MySpace | Last.fm
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Artist: Driving East
Album Title: The Future Of The Free World Is Riding On This One
Genre: Pop Punk
Favourite Songs: Hey, Come On Come On, Baby (Just A Little Bit), Backseat
Listen: MySpace | Purevolume
Rating:

iPhone users will (or should) be aware that the 2.0 software for the device allows installation of a whole bunch of applications that are now available on iTunes, some free, some not. I went through the initial stage, as i’m sure most did where I just couldn’t get enough applications, becoming greedy just to fill up my sexy iPhone screen with new icons! Well after a month or so since the update, here’s my favourite ones…

Facebook - As a Facebook addict, this is the application I was looking forward to most, partly because my job often requires me to be out the office, and how else would I keep up to date with everyones business! Facebook have developed a nice clean user friendly app here, and already released version 1.2 update which brought several more features such as photo comments, more detailed profile view.

A cool feature is the ability to upload a picture straight from the application either by selecting a picture from your current photo’s, or using the built in Camera! Finally, this is free, so if you have an iPhone I don’t understand why you would have this! get it from the iTunes store right now!

Google - Another free app, and one which I thought would be available to everyone on release day, but only the US were treated. A simple application that lets its user search not just straight to Google, but also the content on the iPhone, Locations, Images, News, Shopping and Wikipedia, which is awsum! and very handy! There is also a page on the App that gives you links to all of the other Google web apps available, like there Calendar, Reader, etc. Check it out, its a must!

Remote - Final App for this post, but probably the most useful so far, and made by Apple themselves! The Remote application acts as the name states, as a remote, but for what you ask? well as long as your iPhone is connected to your Wireless network, it can control your iTunes without the need of getting up of your sofa to change a track. As shown below, you get full Artwork straight from your Library, and have access to all the content, and you are able to scroll through the Playlists, Artists, Songs and Albums. I think that one nice addition would be the coverflow then it would truely be a killer app!