Best Albums of 2008

[Samantha]

Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
&
The Living & the Dead - Jolie Holland

are both masterpieces.  Pretty much shoot everything else out of the water for me.

Also love Summer Rains - The Ditty Bops...especially the packaging.  They're up for a Grammy.  Hurrah for pop up boobs!

[killsaly]

My top 15 of the year.
1.   Cloud Cult ? Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes)
2.   Mates of State ? Re-Arrange Us
3.   Foals ? Antidotes
4.   Deerhunter ? Microcastle
5.   Blitzen Trapper ? Furr
6.   Fujiya & Miyagi ? Lightbulbs
7.   The Whigs ? Mission Control
8.   Sigur Rós - Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust
9.   Tim Fite ? Fair Aint Fair
10.   My Morning Jacket ? Evil Urges
11.   The Watson Twins ? Fire Songs
12.   Flight of the Conchords ? S/T
13.   Wolf Parade ? At Mount Zoomer
14.   The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age Of The Understatement
15.   Sons and Daughters ? This Gift

[serpent boy]

1.) Cat Power - Jukebox
2.) The Black Keys - Attack & Release
3.) The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely
4.) Spiritualized - Songs in A&E
5.) TV on the Radio - Dear Science
6.) Kings of Leon - Only By The Night
7.) She & Him - Volume One
8.) Eagles of Death Metal - Heart On
9.) Nicole Atkins & The Sea - Digs Other People's Songs
10.) CSS - Donkey

[Samantha]

Ah yes of course, Endalaust & Songs in A&E also belong in the second tier of favorites.  Both are albums I listen to while studying/napping so they get lodged in my unconscious brain.

[DeathFromAbove1979]

Can't can't can't stop listening to the Little Joy s/t

others:
The Raconteurs
Vampire Weekend
Eagles of Death Metal
The Black Keys
Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains
Kings of Leon
Noah & The Whale
The Whip
CSS
The Presets
Cut Copy
Does It Offend You, Yeah?

[azaghal1981]

Pitchfork should take a lesson from Dusted:


"We?ve decided yet again to not publish a definitive list of records that would rank the past year?s harvest. With a staff surpassing 40, our tastes differ to a degree that would reward the mediocre records among us. Instead, Dusted will feature individual year-end reviews from 20 of our writers, two features per day from Dec. 8-12 and Dec. 15-19. Click on the link in the headline above to see the growing list. We hope these prove more interesting, if less convenient, than a simple "best of" list."

Yeah I know Pitchfork posts their writers' lists separately but most of the emphasis is put on the site's list which does, more often than not, reward the mediocre albums.

Dusted's lists thus far

[bluec]

top 15:

Foals - Antidotes
The Black Keys - Attack and Release
Ten Kens - s/t
Santogold - s/t
Ladyhawk - Shots
TV On the Radio - Dear Science,
The Knux - Remind Me In 3 Days...
The Black Ghosts - s/t
Black Affair - Pleasure Pressure Point
Hot Chip - Made In the Dark
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds - Dig Lazarus Dig
Black Milk - Tronic
Constantines - Kensington Heights
White Denim - Workout Holiday
The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely

[Relaxer]

Pitchfork should take a lesson from Dusted:


"We?ve decided yet again to not publish a definitive list of records that would rank the past year?s harvest. With a staff surpassing 40, our tastes differ to a degree that would reward the mediocre records among us. Instead, Dusted will feature individual year-end reviews from 20 of our writers, two features per day from Dec. 8-12 and Dec. 15-19. Click on the link in the headline above to see the growing list. We hope these prove more interesting, if less convenient, than a simple "best of" list."

I think that's pretty dumb. The only way a record makes it to the top of a group list is if a lot of people vote it high, meaning that it's not mediocre or at least that it had fans. That's the value of it. I don't consider the list from Joe Blow from Dusted or Magnet or Pitchfork or Popmatters to be any different than, say, someone on this board. But a collected group and ranking from a publication *is* interesting because it represents a collective of (somewhat) informed opinions. The most interesting end-of-year read for me is the final list of the Sound Opinions Message Board, which will be a grouping of around 50-60 music obsessives. I'll look at the individual lists, but the fun will be to see how the group voted, to see which titles fought their way to the top. And that is why college football needs a playoff format.

[azaghal1981]

"Black Affair - Pleasure Pressure Point"


Oooooooooh I didn't even know this came out.

[Firebutt McGee]

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus! Dig!
Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree
Nada Surf - Lucky
The Kills - Midnight Boom
Juana Molina - Un Dia (!!!!!!!!)
Arthur Russell - Love is Overtaking Me
Parenthetical Girls - Entanglements
Hercules and Love Affair - s/t
Juliana Hatfield - How to Walk Away
Erykah Badu - New Amerykah, Part 1: 4th World War

That's my top 10 in no certain order.

(Did the Drive-By Truckers album come out this year? I just got into them this year, but I *really* think it's good.)

[azaghal1981]

I forgot about that Parenthetical girls.


That's a pretty cool album.

[Relaxer]

so, what, is this like a mini-series?

[xneverwherex]

dandy warhols - earth to the dandy warhols
electric touch - s/t
coldplay - viva la vida
foals - antidotes

[diediemydarling]

this just makes me want to crawl in a hole and die. music fucking sucks lately, as i have learned from this post.  god the new nada surf isnt even good. this is so pathetic.

[njproc]

Best DVD of the year- New Order Live in Glasgow, sure they look old as dirt but a great show with definitive versions of many of their best songs...