Allmusic's classical editors have handpicked their favorites from among the thousands of albums we've reviewed in 2008. Click through to see if your own picks made the list!

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Ron Asheton, famed guitarist and founding member of the Stooges, was found dead in his Ann Arbor home this morning. He was 60 years old. Check back later for a full tribute. [MLive.com]

Florian Schneider has left Kraftwerk, the trailblazing group he co-founded with Ralf Hutter nearly 40 years ago. Schneider did not join the band on its 2008 tour, a move that seems to have foreshadowed his recent departure. [Pitchforkmedia.com]

Apple has allegedly signed a deal with three major record labels -- Sony, Universal and Warner Music -- to provide additional DRM-free songs to the iTunes digital music store. Having already inked a similar deal with EMI, Apple now has contracts in place with all four major labels. Details of the arrangement (as well as iTunes' new three-tiered pricing arrangement) are expected to be announced at today's Macworld Expo. [RollingStone.com]

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For the second year running we decided to give control back to the artists and let them pick their top ten albums, songs or whatevers for the year. A quick poll shows that the musicians who gave us lists (like Crystal Stilts, Hercules and Love Affair, Nicole Atkins and Max Tundra to name a few) were quite fond of Fleet Foxes, Vampire Weekend and Bon Iver but also found room for R. Stevie Moore, Icy Demons and Boston Spaceships.

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