My favorite albums of 2008 (of those I heard)

I think I might have taken this way too far. I could have made a Top 5, 7, maybe 12. But I went through and tried to rank about 65 albums over the last 2 weeks... anyway, here's how it turned out. Of the albums I heard/purchased in 2008, I present to you my top 40:

40. The Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride

39. John Legend - Evolver

38. Murs - Murs For President

37. Okkervil River - The Stand-Ins

36. The Game - L.A.X.

35. The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound

34. KiD CuDi - A Kid Named CuDi Mixtape

33. GZA - Pro Tools

I consider GZA albums like an SAT test. GZA gets points (from me at least) for just putting his name on the product. Sure, nothing he has released has (or probably could) equaled his solo debut, "Liquid Swords," but I enjoyed this album nonetheless, especially after I got a GREAT piece of insight from Dead C (http://mog.com/Dead_C/blog/197720)

32. Ryan Adams & the Cardinals - Cardinology

Like I mentioned about Conor Oberst/Bright Eyes, I have to be in a certain mood to listen to Ryan, with or without the Cardinals backing him. Undoubtedly a good album by a tremendous talent, I still maintain my "hit or miss" feelings towards his music, sometimes it's just what I want to hear, other times I am, well, all set.

31. Akrobatik - Absolute Value

Boston's own Akrobatik puts forth a solid effort with some great guest spots and solid production work.

30. The Black Keys - Attack & Release

What more to say about these guys, Danger Mouse and this album in general? Like the change of pace, but I ultimately yearn for more of the Big Come Up and Rubber Factory…

29. Kidz In The Hall - The In Crowd

My style of hip-hop… intelligent, stylish beats similar to Little Brother with a dash of The Roots and A Tribe Called Quest, another Chicago MC Naledge and his DJ Double-O follow up the even better 2006 release "School Was My Hustle," with a good 2^nd album.

28. The Whigs - Mission Control

New find for me this year that was getting constant spins earlier in the year, but ultimately leaves me wanting to hear how they improve on their next album.

27. Sun Kil Moon - April

Similar to Bon Iver's release, this album is full of great emotion and terrific song-writing, but is a bit too slow and quiet at times.

26. Q-Tip - The Renaissance

The long-awaited return of the Abstract wasn't necessarily covered as much as the long-awaited return of Axl Rose this year, but for my money, this album is a lot better than Chinese Democracy. All in all, if you're looking for a chill/funky/intelligent hip-hop album with a familiar voice, look no further.

25. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges

I stand by my opinion that not in all cases does weird = genius. This album teeters on both sides of my argument, to the point where I have no idea how to classify it. I enjoyed it, even the psychotic "Highly Suspicious" was pretty much a personal favorite off the album immediately, but still, something about this album leaves me unsettled. I preferred their level of extravagance on their previous album, "Z," which clearly moved them into a different direction than their first few albums and acoustic EP. But this album is LEAPS AND BOUNDS beyond where they went with "Z," so while it is entertaining, I think I need this thing to age like a fine wine before I make my ultimate decision on whether it is genius, or just weird.

24. Jay-Z - Live @ Glastonbury

Yes, a live "album." This one, to my knowledge is not available in stores (at least not in the US yet). In my opinion, Jay-Z put all he could into this performance, if just to shut that cocky fuck Noel Gallagher up. It has a couple of my lesser favorite Jigga songs on it ("Is That Your Bitch?," "Show Me What U Got"), but it plays like a greatest hits album and he really showed his ability to perform and hopefully proved that rap has a place at Glastonbury, perhaps not a headliner, but it can be made to work.

23. Colin Meloy - Colin Meloy Sings Live!

Maybe I'm pushing it a bit to rank a live solo album this high, but Colin does a great job performing on this album, and also being able to capture the humorous interactions he has with his crowds at any the Decemberists/solo/probably Tarkio shows he holds. The track list is great for fans of the Decemberists, it also features a couple covers (including a great medley of some Fleetwood Mac) and the album leads off with "Devil's Elbow," a blast from Meloy's past, from his first band, Tarkio.

22. Al Green - Lay It Down

?uestlove production (and drums) + a renewed soulful voice by Mr. Green himself = great success. If there was an album in 2008 that I could pop on, kick back and feel my worries go away, it's this one.

21. Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs

Forgive me Ben Gibbard, for I have sinned. After I posted a "review" from my initial reactions of this album slightly before it's official release, I was met with some negativity for sharing my opinion, which I thought was the point of this site. I gave this album some more time, and though quite a few of the songs grew on me, I still stick to my guns that this album was a relative disappointment. I am all for the natural approach that DCFC took on this album, but aside from a couple spots here & there, this album, like the Roots', felt somewhat thrown together, meaning, some of the songs (and I'm not saying they were BAD songs), just didn't feel like they fit together. I still hold DCFC as my favorite band, but that does not make them immune to my scathing reviews!

20. Blitzen Trapper - Furr

On the strength of what probably is my favorite song of the year, the title track, "Furr," as well as "God & Suicide," "Black River Killer," the latter reminding me of some of the best Tom Petty ever had to offer, as well as a few other tracks, this was another album that took me by surprise and gave me good backing to declare 2008 quite a year for music.

19. K'naan - The Dusty Foot Philosopher

K'naan is a rapper who is originally from Mogadishu, Somalia. If that city sounds familiar, it is where the true story from Black Hawk Down occurred. It is obvious from just the city he hails from that this dude has seen some shit. And it comes through in his music as well, angrily at times, though his voice seems incredibly warm & positive regardless of the words he is saying. I picked this album up after I heard him performing (from a relative distance) at All Points West. He seemed to put on a good show and though I'm sure he was pretty unknown, he drew a decent amount of people towards the stage. As for his album, this is another very top-heavy album, with the first 7 or 8 songs being stronger than the rest, and it takes a significant downturn afterwards, which is a shame, because if he was able to maintain some consistency, or even just shorten the number of tracks, this could have easily been top 10 material for me. Either way, it's an entertaining and powerful album.

18. Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst

Mr. Oberst is very hit or miss for me, similar to Ryan Adams (which makes a decent amount of sense), I really enjoy his music upon the first few listens, but then I hit a wall and the songs become forgettable. It's a shame too because this album was one that I listened to quite a bit over the summer, but I can't help but hit "skip" on most of the songs when they get shuffled into my headphones. That is hardly saying that this is a bad album, as "Cape Canaveral," "Milkthistle," "Danny Callahan," etc are great songs and the rest of the album supports them well, which is why this is in my Top 20.

17. The Roots - Rising Down

Sterfish's quote off of David Hyman's fave albums of '08 post said it best for me as well: "I actually liked The Roots' last album although it's like the sadder cousin of the equally dark but harder-hitting (and better) album Game Theory." Game Theory was my favorite album of '06 and is undoubtedly one of my favorite albums of all time actually. I recently listened to it again and it hit me as hard as it did the first time I listened to it. As for Rising Down, it certainly has it's moments, and in fact it has quite a few, but its sum is not greater to its parts, which is unlike that of Game Theory.

16. The Foreign Exchange - Leave It All Behind

Another of the music industries geniuses in my opinion, Phonte (of Little Brother fame) had a couple side projects this past year, one started in '06 & '07 and wound up finding it's way to limited release, which was an album of him covering various 80s songs, such as A-Ha's "Take on Me" and Toto's "Africa." Though this was relatively difficult (okay impossible) to take seriously, it was greatly entertaining, as is "Leave It All Behind," which is his R&B collaboration with DJ Nicolay, who I hadn't heard of until this project but the dude clearly has some nice beats that work very well with Phonte's [albeit limited] singing voice. In fact, Nicolay owns this album. No offense to Phonte, who actually does have a pretty damn good singing voice, but the beats are tremendous and at times Phonte's words can almost seem out of place, though still entertaining.

15. Electric President - Sleep Well

Ben Cooper, with his multiple projects (Electric President, Radical Face, etc) quietly might be one of the more genius musical minds around. His albums, including this one, are frequently centered around concepts (I'll give you one guess as to what this album is about), and though I feel like this can be lame in some cases when you can't pull it off, Cooper is clearly able to see it through and make it work. And furthermore, he's able to give the album the necessary sound for his concepts, such as this one, which is all about sleeping - between how to get there (with songs like "Ether" & "Lullaby"), things that stop you ("Insomnia"), as well as songs about dreams and nightmares. The accompanying music fit the lyrics extremely well and Sleep Well is definitely one of the albums that I listen to if I need to chill out and [hopefully] fall asleep.

14. The Knux - Remind Me In 3 Days…

Don't sleep on these guys, I think they're going to be making some serious noise on the rap scene, and soon. I couldn't find this album in stores for a month or so so I wound up ordering it from some random shop off of Amazon.com. It is a shame that this isn't more widely available and more widely known. Though looking at their page on Wikipedia one of the better songs on the album was featured on an "Entourage" promo, so hopefully the credit is on its way. Brother MCs (one unfortunately choosing the stage name "Krispy Kream") formerly (prior to Katrina) calling New Orleans home, this tandem certainly takes a different approach than fellow Top-15er & New Orleans native Weezy, but then end result is equally appealing, though I think with more experience and exposure they will further refine their craft and tone down the "it's Krispyyyyyy!!!" self shout-outs on their albums. The album is top-heavy, with the first 5 or 6 songs being the best, but nonetheless the high points are fantastic.

13. Estelle - Shine

This British bombshell busted onto the US music scene, with the aptly named "American Boy," featuring Kanye West. Pretty much everyone knows that song at this point, but what some don't is that her entire album is vastly entertaining and well worth a listen or two.

12. The Cool Kids - The Bake Sale

Old school. Like cornbread, ain't nuthin' wrong with that, especially when it's done as well as The Cool Kids. Similar to Lil Wayne, this album has been reviewed to death and was similarly anticipated (okay maybe not like Tha Carter III, but people were waiting for it still). One of the tracks I wish they included was "Action Figures," which has one of my favorite lines from any song "fully posable arms with no kung-fu grip… cuz you a doll not an action figure." Awesome. The songs actually on the album are good too of course.

11. Why? - Alopecia

Mogger watchbatteries turned me on to these guys after I read one of his reviews and saw quite a few comments on other posts regarding this album. Besides, Alopecia is a condition that I unfortunately suffer from. Though these guys clearly have some interesting thoughts flowing through their brains, this album caught me from the first song, "The Vowels, Pt. 2," where the chorus makes great work of A-E-I-O-U (singing "Cheery-A; Cheery-E; Cheery-I; Cheery-O; Cheery-U" on repeat a couple times… never have I been hooked on a song and hooked on phonics at the same time).

10. Ludacris - Theater of the Mind

Though "The Preview" was also entertaining, the weakness of tracks like "Southern Gangsta" and "Contagious" drags this album down to number 10, but let me tell you, of ANY album on this list, I am utterly shocked that this album is ranked so high. Though I "own" several Ludacris albums, this was the first I had actually purchased, and it is also the only one of the ones in my possession that, in my opinion, deserves the price you'd pay for a new album. I feel that this is Ludacris' first "complete" album, and it was clear that he had a good concept and a lot to say on it, which benefits this album greatly, as well as the production work and the well-spotted guest appearances (aside from Rick Ross, his verse on "Southern Gangsta" makes me feel like I could become a "billionaire" as well).

9. The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead

Any album that samples Super Mario Bros. (on "You Can Come To Me"), and does so well, gets an A from me. Aside from the 8-bit perfection on that song, as I believe Dale had said, this is pop perfection, very light hearted, but with sometimes heavy subject matter, and enjoyable from start to finish.

8. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

The only reason this album was not higher was because of it's limited range. Consistency is good, of course, but at some points I find this music a bit too slow. Aside from the speed of the album, For Emma, Forever Ago is a remarkable achievement, and will definitely get repeated plays over the years from me.

7. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III

What can I say about this album that hasn't already been said? Hmm… well, here goes, I am not the world's biggest Lil Wayne fan. I don't agree that he's the "best rapper alive," I don't even know if I'd agree that he's in the top 10. I think that he is extremely creative, but some of that probably stems courtesy of his beloved syrup. But what he did on this album was impressive and made me closer to a believer than I have ever been. So to that, I give it a Top 10 ranking.

6. Nas - Untitled/The N*gger Tape

This slot was between Luda's album of Nas', which ultimately won out when I considered the lead-in mixtape that Nas put together. Of these 2 "concept" type albums (Nas & Luda), Nas' material had more meaning and importance while maintaining a very solid album from quality sound is concerned. Though there was certainly some low points ("Make The World Go Round" seemed really out of place), Nas picked the right producers to match up with his vocals on this go-round and it couldn't have been done at a better time.

5. The Dodos - Visiter

Loud. Frantic. Wide-ranging. This album was my favorite from the 1^st quarter of '08. On the strength of "Fools" & "Jodi," I picked this up and was very pleasantly surprised by the quality of the entire album.

4. Black Milk - Tronic

Producer extraordinaire from the Motor City, this album surely brought a little bit of brightness during the fall & winter months when the Lions were going 0-16. The beats on this album are tremendous, and he picks some good choices to guest spot (Pharoahe Monch/Royce Da 5'9, etc) to make this album my favorite hip-hop album of '08.

3. Dr. Dog - Fate

"Hang On" was fittingly my pre and post work anthem after a particularly trying project I had been working on, and the rest of the album was great as well. These guys always honor their musical predecessors and they've never sounded so good doing it.

2. Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight

I slowly pieced together this album song by song until I finally went out and bought the actual album, with absolutely no regrets.

1. TV On The Radio - Dear Science

Unquestionably my least forgettable album this year, it was released late in the year, but this is a borderline, if not classic album. Start to finish, and even including the bonus disc coming with the album, I loved it, and though I debated if I wanted Frightened Rabbit in the no. 1 slot, I just kept coming back to this album being the best I heard, even though most major music magazines said the same thing. I feel like I sold out, but whatever...

And for those albums not receiving votes/rankings, I ain't mad at cha, but sorry, you didn't make the cut:

Nine Inch Nails - The Slip;

DJ Statik Selektah - Stick 2 Tha Script;

Killer Mike - I Pledge Allegiance To The Grind II;

Kings of Leon - Only By The Night;

T.I. - Paper Trail;

Throw Me The Statue - Moonbeams;

Common - Universal Mind Control;

9^th Wonder & Buckshot - The Formula;

Wale - Mixtape About Nothing;

Termanology - Politics As Usual;

Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend;

Skillz - The Million Dollar Backpack;

RZA - Digi Snacks;

Rhymefest - Man in the Mirror Mixtape;

Immortal Technique - The 3^rd World;

Coldplay - Viva La Vida, etc, etc, etc;

Beck - Modern Guilt;

What Made Milwaukee Famous - What Doesn't Kill Us;

and finally....

# 1,000,002. Cold War Kids - Loyalty to Loyalty. One of the biggest disappointments I can remember on a sophomore album, but I have no doubt they'll be better on their 3rd album.