You could call 2008 a post-Big Bang kind of year – lots of interesting musical elements roaming free, coalescing in chance and unexpected ways. It was a year of much genre hopping, and even individual bands and artists seemed to regard adventurous genre-splicing as their reason d’être. Wonderfully, most of it you could dance to. MGMT, Santigold and Black Kids brought punk, funk, disco, and soul to the party. Vampire Weekend and Those Dancing Days made the most joyful guitar sounds for years, kicking us out of our landfill indie blues.

But there was also darkness and complexity: Foals and Metronomy reduced dancing to a compulsive itch. Hercules and Love Affair danced with tears in their eyes. And just incase we got too loved-up, Fucked Up, Crystal Castles, Portishead and Autechre were there to slap us with some of the most challenging noise of the decade.

It was also a year of nascent scenes: MGMT brought the world’s attention to Brooklyn’s growing hipster community, while the take-no-prisoners noise of No Age emerged from a scene based around LA club The Smell.

A lot to take in – but which sounds rocked your party? We want you to let us know by voting for your favorites and contributing reviews about the stars of your record collection.