(Note: I purchased 56 album this past year, and sampled tracks off of many others so this list should be be quite diverse. Also, when available, youtube clips are linked.)
25. Koushik: Out my Window
I kick things off with the most relaxing album of the year. Something about it just really puts me at ease. It's going to be interesting to see how it holds up over time.
24. Evangelicals: The Evening Descends
I just absolutely love how god damn weird this whole album is. And considering that, it's also a pretty relaxing album as well. Yet, it will surprise you with a few crashing and disturbing moments as well—but I think that's part of its charm. The video for Midnight Vignette sums up the album pretty well.
23. Tapes n' tapes: Walk It Off
Winner of the award, “Album that just wasn't a good enough sophmore effort.” The Loon was great, this one was just good. Although, it has started to pick up steam lately in my rotation so maybe I'll look upon it much more fondly down the road.
22. Deerhunter: Microcastle
Winner of the award, “Album that came out too late in the year or it could have been in the top 10.” I just didn't get enough time with it to put it higher than this. Definitely worth getting your hands on it.
21. Of Montreal: Skeletal Lamping
So yeah, I bought it like everyone else with the special packaging and opted for the purple T-shirt. (Bonus points to Polyvinyl for including a shit-ton of free stickers and a watermelon airhead!) Musically, it's nothing special until the horns kick in on track 5, “An Eluardian Instance.” But good lord are the lyrics fucking sex-charged on the entire album. If I was in the car with my mother and it accidentally came on, I'd be embarassed like all hell. It probably deserves to be higher, but in 2007 “Hissing Fauna...” was my pick for the album of the year, so this was kinda disappointing for me.
20. Lil Wayne: Tha Carter III
Winner of the award, “Album I didn't listen to enough or it would have probably been in the top 10.”
19. Notwist: The Devil, You + Me
Let's be honest—this is the first Notwist album since most of us were in high school so we should have been fucking grateful for it and not complained. Still, and I'm definitely not the first to say this, it ended up coming much closer to Shrink than it did Neon Golden, maybe the best album of the past decade.
18. Ruby Suns: Sea Lion
If you have not seen the music video for “Tane Muhata” I highly encourage you to youtube it. However, pound for pound, the album's best song is the one right after--"There are Birds."
17. Abe Vigoda: Skeleton
From what I have found, this past year you either liked Skeleton or No Age: Nouns. I have to say I find myself firmly in the Abe Vigoda camp.
16. Santogold: Santogold
When Mallory, my girlfriend, first played this album for me I wanted to throw it out the window. “Creator” is used in a Bud Light Lime commercial and needless to say I fucking hate the beer only slightly more than I hate the song. But if you subtract it, everything before and after on the album is great. The album would probably be higher on the list without its presence. Although, sometimes it feels a little too much like she's trying to steal M.I.A.'s sound.
15. Atlas Sound: Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel
Perfect example on why not to give up on an album. I was not a fan at all on first listen. In fact, I think it took me three months to give it a second shot. Definitely glad I did—turned out to be the album that grew on me best in 2008.
14. High Places: High Places
This album was actually a surprise gift, and it's been playing nonstop in my rotation since I received it. Very cool, unique sound. It was given to me along with Flying Lotus: Los Angeles, which I'll be honest was probably the year's most disappointing album for me. It got so much hype and I was very underwhelmed.
13. Destroyer: Trouble in Dreams
I bought this album the same time as the one that appears as #6 (below). At first I had a real hard time distinguishing which I liked better, but as the year went on this one slipped back a little bit. Still, I don't want to take anything away from it. Destroyer is a solid group and I look forward to what's next for them.
12. Wolf Parade: At Mount Zoomer
A good example of an album that gets better and better as you listen to it. If I have one complaint it's that, excluding the last track, the album just isn't long enough. I need more Wolf Parade!
11. All Girl Summer Fun Band: Looking into It
This high? Yeah, it is for me. It's certainly not a band you would guess I listen to, let alone really like. Nonetheless I have to admit it's true—I really dig their work this year.
10. M83: Saturdays=Youth
At this rate, M83 is going to stay in everyone's top 10 for the next 20 years. That's no joke; If M83 ever has a bad album, I'd be shocked. Bonus points on top for the video to "Kim & Jessie."
9. Hold Steady: Stay Positive
This spot goes to the band who I am dying to see live. This definitely serves as a stellar follow-up to Boys & Girls in America. I could not get enough of this band in 2008. I think my biggest regret, other than no longer teaching, is not getting to one of their shows.
8. Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend
Ok, so I haven't listened to the radio or watched MTV in a good 4 or 5 years. From what I have been told, VW actually hit mainstream popularity? I actually really liked this album from first listen when it showed up on sites like Pitchfork. I know a lot of people disagree with me, but this is my list, so fuck off.
7. Bound Stems: The Family Afloat
Probably the real big upset on this list, as it's really not on a lot of folks' radar. This is my favorite album from this year to listen to while working—and before I got sick I spent a lot of time working my fucking ass off.
6. Mountain Goats: Heretic Pride
A personal favorite just because I like trying to impersonate John Darnielle, especially on “How to Embrace a Swamp Creature.” The video for “Sax Rohmer #1” is also one of my favorites.
5. TV on the Radio: Dear Science
Just simply fucking spectacular. I didn't like Return to Cookie Mountain at first, but TVOTR was another band who I was glad I gave a second chance. I bought Dear Science as soon as it came out and was certainly rewarded. “Family Tree” is probably the second best song of the year (“In the shadow of the gallows of your family tree, there's a hundred hearts or three pumping blood to the roots of evil to keep it young”--fuck yeah), and the album is top notch all-around.
4. Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes
Everyone's favorite live act from 2008, even Animal Collective said they were the one band you didn't want to miss. Although I disagree with a lot of people about it's high point, because I think “Ragged Wood” is the album's top track—not "White Winter Hymnal," which is a good jam but just not their best.
3. MGMT: Oracular Spectacular
Purchased at the behest of Tommy Boy, this album became a staple for driving around Texas. Actually, it really pissed me off when that teenage sex comedy, Overdrive, had the fucking audacity to use “Time to Pretend” (perhaps the best music video of the year?) in the trailer.
2. Dodos: Visiter
(See below.)1. Cut Copy: In Ghost Colours
When Visiter came out I told my Mallory that it was the best album of the year and the competition was over. “Walking,” the album's opening track is my pick for song of the year. Its two minutes and eight seconds of banjo-induced reflection perfectly matched my mood of disillusion in Texas. Then in July, she and I were driving across the Rio Grande Valley and I had to make a starting confession: I was wrong. In Ghost Colors wore me down. From the very beginning with “Feel the Love,” to “Lights and Music” to the combo of “We Fight for Diamonds” into “Unforgettable Season” and of course “Hearts on Fire” it was a masterpiece and it was the album that would define 2008 for me.
