Elbow are crowned critics' choice

Seldom Seen Kid scooped the Mercury Prize for Elbow earlier this year

Elbow's Mercury Prize-winning album The Seldom Seen Kid is UK music critics' album of the year, a survey says.

The "poll of polls", conducted by retail chain HMV, took into account votes from media critics as well as the firm's staff and online customers.

The Seldom Seen Kid was nominated by 18 out of the 35 outlets polled, with Portishead's Third coming second on 17.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' Dig, Lazarus, Dig came third, followed by Fleet Foxes and Vampire Weekend.

Their self-titled debuts came fourth and fifth respectively.

TV on the Radio and MGMT also featured in the top 10, as did Bon Iver, Glasvegas and Hot Chip.

POLL OF POLLS 1) The Seldom Seen Kid - Elbow 2) Third - Portishead 3) Dig, Lazarus, Dig - Nick Cave 4) Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes 5) Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend 6) TV On The Radio - Dear Silence 7) MGMT - Oracular Spectacular 8) Bon Iver - For Emma Forever Ago 9) Glasvegas - Glasvegas 10) Hot Chip - Made In The Dark Source: HMV

The year's biggest-selling album, Duffy's Rockferry, came 28th in the list.

Last year's album of the year was LCD Soundsystem's Sound of Silver.

"The poll reflects an excellent, eclectic year in music," HMV rock and pop buyer Damian Evans said.

"Fleet Foxes, Vampire Weekend, MGMT and Bon Iver have really made their mark with wonderful debut albums, underlining how vibrant the music scene is right now.

"Established artists such as Portishead and Nick Cave have also returned to great acclaim, although I suspect few people would dispute that Elbow have given us the album of the year."