This list is a little bit late but at least I made my personal deadline of getting it in before baseball opening day. 2008 was a decent year for music. There weren't too many albums released that absolutely floored me but I still found some albums that I thoroughly enjoyed. Bradford Cox had an impressive year with two releases that made my top dozen with his bands Deerhunter and Atlas Sound. Kansas City locals The Republic Tigers put out one of the most impressive albums the city has ever heard. Mainstream favorites Beck, Santogold, MGMT, Vampire Weekend, and The Raconteurs put out albums good enough that even the biggest music snobs could also enjoy. I heard some interesting new electronic projects such as Starfucker, Crystal Castles, High Places, Empire of the Sun, Tussle, Ladyhawke, and Tobacco. More than anything though, I think I enjoyed hearing some of the releases put out by artists that have been around for a while but had slipped my attention before: Deerhunter, Mount Eerie, The Mae Shi, The Kills, and Thao with the Get Down Stay Down. My three finds of the year (stuff you probably haven't heard) would have to be Finnish collective Paavoharju, Absolutely Kosher weirdos Little Teeth, and San Diego rockers The Muslims - a band so fresh, they had to change their name to The Soft Pack after releasing their first album. Enjoy the list, feel free to comment, and here's to an awesome 2009!
*****Top 100 Albums of 2008*****
| 1) | Deerhunter | Microcastle |
| 2) | Why? | Alopecia |
| 3) | MGMT | Oracular Spectacular |
| 4) | Mount Eerie, Julie Doiron, Fred Squire | Lost Wisdom |
| 5) | Portishead | Third |
| 6) | Bon Iver | For Emma, Forever Ago |
| 7) | Hot Chip | Made in the Dark |
| 8) | Paavoharju | Laulu Laakson Kukista |
| 9) | The Republic Tigers | Keep Color |
| 10) | Little Teeth | Child Bearing Man |
| 11) | Santogold | Santogold |
| 12) | Atlas Sound | Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel |
| 13 ) | Sons and Daughters | This Gift |
| 14 ) | Cloud Cult | Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes) |
| 15 ) | The Virgins | The Virgins |
| 16 ) | Beck | Modern Guilt |
| 17 ) | Starfucker | Starfucker |
| 18 ) | Crystal Castles | Crystal Castles |
| 19 ) | The Mae Shi | Hlllyh |
| 20 ) | The Raconteurs | Consolers of the Lonely |
| 21 ) | Marnie Stern | This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So is That... |
| 22 ) | The Dodos | Visiter |
| 23 ) | Of Montreal | Skeletal Lamping |
| 24 ) | Fujiya & Miyagi | Lightbulbs |
| 25 ) | Beach House | Devotion |
| 26 ) | Clinic | Do It! |
| 27 ) | The Kills | Midnight Boom |
| 28 ) | Retribution Gospel Choir | Retribution Gospel Choir |
| 29 ) | Fleet Foxes | Fleet Foxes |
| 30 ) | High Places | High Places |
| 31 ) | Empire of the Sun | Walking on a Dream |
| 32 ) | Lykke Li | Youth Novels |
| 33 ) | Ladytron | Velocifero |
| 34 ) | Oneida | Preteen Weaponry |
| 35 ) | Cloudland Canyon | Lie in Light |
| 36 ) | Kaki King | Dreaming of Revenge |
| 37 ) | Sigur Rós | Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust |
| 38 ) | Department of Eagles | In Ear Park |
| 39 ) | Squarepusher | Just a Souvenir |
| 40 ) | Foals | Antidotes |
| 41 ) | The Hold Steady | Stay Positive |
| 42 ) | Vampire Weekend | Vampire Weekend |
| 43 ) | The Black Keys | Attack & Release |
| 44 ) | Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid | Nyc |
| 45 ) | Ra Ra Riot | The Rhumb Line |
| 46 ) | Tussle | Cream Cuts |
| 47 ) | Ladyhawke | Ladyhawke |
| 48 ) | Wire | Object 47 |
| 49 ) | Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band | 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons |
| 50 ) | Frightened Rabbit | The Midnight Organ Fight |
| 51 ) | Styrofoam | A Thousand Words |
| 52 ) | Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! |
| 53 ) | Cut Copy | In Ghost Colours |
| 54 ) | Mogwai | The Hawk is Howling |
| 55 ) | Tapes n Tapes | Walk it Off |
| 56 ) | The Notwist | The Devil, You + Me |
| 57 ) | Islands | Arm's Way |
| 58 ) | Thao with the Get Down Stay Down | We Brave Bee Stings and All |
| 59 ) | The Walkmen | You & Me |
| 60 ) | Ponytail | Ice Cream Spiritual |
| 61 ) | The Breeders | Mountain Battles |
| 62 ) | David Byrne and Brian Eno | Everything That Happens Will Happen Today |
| 63 ) | The Muslims (aka The Soft Pack) | The Muslims |
| 64 ) | Destroyer | Trouble in Dreams |
| 65 ) | Don Caballero | Punkgasm |
| 66 ) | Stereolab | Chemical Chords |
| 67 ) | Ben Folds | Way to Normal |
| 68 ) | Be Your Own Pet | Get Awkward |
| 69 ) | CSS | Donkey |
| 70 ) | Xiu Xiu | Women as Lovers |
| 71 ) | Calexico | Carried to Dust |
| 72 ) | Flight of the Conchords | Flight of the Conchords |
| 73 ) | Gnarls Barkley | The Odd Couple |
| 74 ) | She and Him | Volume One |
| 75 ) | White Denim | Workout Holiday |
| 76 ) | Japanther | Tut Tut Now Shake Ya Butt |
| 77 ) | No Kids | Come Into My House |
| 78 ) | Cut off Your Hands | You and I |
| 79 ) | DeVotchKa | A Mad & Faithful Telling |
| 80 ) | The Mars Volta | The Bedlam in Goliath |
| 81 ) | Tobacco | Fucked Up Friends |
| 82 ) | Does It Offend You, Yeah? | You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into |
| 83 ) | Wolf Parade | At Mount Zoomer |
| 84 ) | My Morning Jacket | Evil Urges |
| 85 ) | Death Cab For Cutie | Narrow Stairs |
| 86 ) | Hercules and Love Affair | Hercules and Love Affair |
| 87 ) | Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs | Dirt Don't Hurt |
| 88 ) | Fucked Up | The Chemistry of Common Life |
| 89 ) | Deerhoof | Offend Maggie |
| 90 ) | Girl Talk | Feed the Animals |
| 91 ) | Los Campesinos! | Hold On Now, Youngster... |
| 92 ) | Silver Jews | Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea |
| 93 ) | Okkervil River | The Stand Ins |
| 94 ) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Lie Down in the Light |
| 95 ) | Elbow | The Seldom Seen Kid |
| 96 ) | Metronomy | Nights Out |
| 97 ) | Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks | Real Emotional Trash |
| 98 ) | Subtle | Exiting Arm |
| 99 ) | Hello Saferide | More Modern Short Stories From Hello Saferide |
| 100 ) | Love Is All | A Hundred Things Keep Me Up at Night |
*****Top EPs, Compilations, B-sides / Rarities, Collections, Re-releases, Live Albums, Box Sets for 2004*****
| Animal Collective | Water Curses EP |
| Architecture In Helsinki | Like it or Not EP |
| Atlas Sound | Weekend EP |
| Beck | ODelay (Deluxe Edition Re-release) |
| Belle and Sebastian | The BBC Sessions |
| Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Is it the Sea (Live) |
| Cat Power | Dark End of the Street EP |
| Fleet Foxes | Sun Giant EP |
| Four Tet | Ringer EP |
| HEALTH | HEALTH/DISCO Remixes |
| Jumbling Towers | Classy Entertainment EP |
| Justice | A Cross the Universe (Live) |
| Maps & Atlases | You and Me and the Mountain EP |
| The Microphones | The Glow Pt. 2 (Remastered Re-release) |
| Mogwai | Batcat EP |
| Mount Eerie | Black Wooden Ceiling Opening EP |
| Pole | 1 2 3 (Rerelease of 1st 3 albums) |
| Jay Reatard | Singles 06-07 |
| Various Artists | Don't Press Your Luck - The IN Sound of 60's Connecticut (Compilation) |
| Various Artists | Juno Soundtrack |
| Various Artists | Living Bridge (Compilation) |
| Various Artists | The Second Marriage Records Compilation |
Here are my album lists from other years:
-ick!