Top 20 Of 2008
One of my favorite years for music. |
| 1 |  | Deerhunter
Microcastle
Do I really like Deerhunter that much to give them the top spot in alternating years? Yes. But this is different. "Microcastle" (along with "Weird Era Cont.) destroyed everything else by a hefty margin. In comparison to "Halycon Digest," there isn't one. It's far better. So great that it lands snugly in my top 10 albums ever. You balk at that, but this album is near perfect in my opinion. |
| 2 |  | No Age
Nouns
In retrospect it's quite a bit more rugged than their subsequent albums, but No Age are blistering here, especially with their best song "Teen Creeps." |
| 3 |  | Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes
Their new album pales in comparison (though it is still a fine album). The album submerges you in delicate melodies, something very few albums I feel these days can actually do. |
| 4 |  | The Raconteurs
Consolers of the Lonely
Jack White and his B-team cranked out this solid of an album in less than 3 weeks. Far more engaging than their debut, and laced with blues rock for his die hard fans, I'm hopeful they'll return at some point. |
| 5 |  | Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
Nick Cave is just a hell of a performer, singer, songwriter, and just overall dude. "Call Upon the Author" flows smoothly from word to word, it's graceful in its pungency. Underrated very much so. |
| 6 |  | The Black Keys
Attack & Release
It pains me to say that this is not their best effort, but that's not really a slight to the Keys as they've produced quality work for almost a decade now. "Strange Times" and "I Got Mine" are fantastic tracks. |
| 7 |  | Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend
On par with their sophomore album, but at least here the sound was fairly fresh. It may have been overplayed and overhyped, but VW's acclaim was well justified. |
| 8 |  | TV on the Radio
Dear Science
I'm torn on this band quite a bit. This is the only album of theirs that I own, and the only one I like. I'm not sure why the others just never struck a chord with me, but "DLZ" is ultra cool, and "Dancing Choose" is still one of my favorite songs by them. |
| 9 |  | Titus Andronicus
The Airing of Grievances
"The Monitor" may be a better album, but it's wonderful to hear them less polished, but still just as brash. |
| 10 | | Atlas Sound
Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See
A bookend Bradford Cox top ten, say what you will about how damn ugly this guy is, or about how much critics love his music, I can't escape the fact that this album is extremely well put together, and sonically pleasing in multiple aspects. The opening segue into "Recent Bedroom" is hypnotic. |
| 11 |  | Women
Women
Extremely short, but effective nonetheless. They showed lots of promise with "Black Dice" and improved their sound on the follow up. |
| 12 |  | Blitzen Trapper
Furr
A bit of a different flavor is always good, and "God & Suicide" was a great song. Wasn't a fan of their live sets, but I can still appreciate their work today. |
| 13 |  | Fucked Up
The Chemistry of Common Life
Hardcore is stretching it with this band, but I do appreciate the music aspect of it, even if its overshadowed by the vocals. Still, the sheer force of this band is enough to capture my ears. |
| 14 |  | Kanye West
808s & Heartbreak
I'm probably the only person who liked this album, but I don't care. The auto-tune effect was successful here, even if the songs were a tad bit emo, it was nice to see a different Kanye. The hatred for this album baffles me, I still find it entertaining. |
| 15 |  | Oasis
Dig Out Your Soul
I know, right? With the exception of "Don't Look Back in Anger," I've loathed this band for many years. However, upon further inspection, I found this to be a good filler album which still had some decent tracks before their demise, especially "(Get Off Your) High Horse Lady." |
| 16 |  | Abe Vigoda
Skeleton
More surf pop than their follow up, and far shorter in scope and actual length, Abe Vigoda deliver a precise debut that was ripe for evolution. Whether the evolution to a more gothic approach was right or not, is left to be seen fully, but here they're a bit sloppy, which I like. |
| 17 |  | Black Mountain
In the Future
"Angels" is how I noticed this band to begin with, and it's a stable prog rock album that is on par with their follow up. There's moments of pure bliss and pure agony all in the same song. If they could lean out their sound they'd be a ton better. |
| 18 |  | R.E.M.
Accelerate
Not really an R.E.M. fan to be honest, but I enjoyed the newer and cleaner sound, and Stipe seemed to whine a bit less on this album. The single "Supernatural Superserious" was probably my favorite REM song, due to me not really caring for them. |
| 19 |  | Weezer
The Red Album
Confusing album. But the epicness of "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived" saves this album. It may seem unfair, because most of the album is utter trash, but that track alone reminds me that Rivers still has the ability to make a damn good song, even if he rarely shows it. |
| 20 |  | Wolf Parade
At Mount Zoomer
Not their greatest moment, but still an enjoyable listen for the most part. I preferred their previous album but this was squeezes into the list mostly because of "Language City." |
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