Best Albums of 2008

Beck - Modern Guilt
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
TV On The Radio - Dear Science
Nine Inch Nails - The Slip
David Byrne and Brian Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
Raphael Saadiq - The Way I See It
Bob Dylan - Tell Tale Signs — The Bootleg Series Vol. 8
Ryan Adams and the Cardinals - Cardinology
Randy Newman - Harps and Angels
Kings of Leon - Only by the Night
Brian Wilson - That Lucky Old Sun
The Knux - Remind Me in Three Days...
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
Duffy - Rockferry
My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
John Mellencamp - Life, Death, Love and Freedom
Coldplay - Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend


I actually could have included a few more albums. But, I tried to keep it down to twenty. Overall, I thought it was a really good year for quality music. With the music business floundering, it's amazing that bands like TV On The Radio and Bon Iver were able to break through. Most of that is word of mouth and dedicated music fans who seek out fringe releases from bands that aren't so "mainstream".

Dylan went into the vault and released a stunning collection of songs that would make younger artists throw up their hands and quit. His collection of B-sides and non-album tracks are better than most of the stuff that passes for music. Remember - this is the stuff he threw away.

Coldplay came back to rule the radio, televsion and every other medium - only to be sued by Joe Satriani. Stay tuned. Brian Wilson released a new album and showed everyone he still has the chops. Vampire Weekend resurrected the ghost of Talking Heads and the world took notice. While they did that, David Byrne reunited with Brian Eno to remind everyone he is still "the godfather" of "white-boy-from-New-York-World- Music". And, My Morning Jacket got in touch with their inner-Prince to the delight of music fans seeking something left of center.

Nick Cave and Nine Inch Nails reared their heads to show the world who the true "Kings of the Nighttime World" really are. And, the Fleet Foxes released an album that recalls the breathtaking harmonies and musical depth of CSN&Y. If you don't have their debut, you need to explain yourself. It's a real music lovers "must have". Keeping with the tradition of great classic-rock nods, Ryan Adams and the Cardinals released a terrific group of songs that finds its roots in the the best music of Neil Young's canon. Jumping off from that, Kings Of Leon continue their quest to be one of the great American rock bands of the new century.

Raphael Saadiq made an amazing album of old-school soul that tips its hat to its influences without sounding phony or contrived. At the same time, Duffy revived the tradition of blue-eyed soul from the U.K. with her debut. Beck and MGMT locked themselves in the studio and fiddled with the dials long enough to come up with something psychedelic, strange and oddly alluring, all at once.

The Knux were the big-winners in hip-hop originality, this year. I don't even want to hear about Lil' Wayne. The Knux are so good/creative - I think they might be from another planet...you know, one with talent. You hear that "Lil' Talent"? Put down the vocoder and quit it with the auto-tune software. We are all sick of it.

Tomorrow, I will tell you about some of my favorite holiday tunes.
On Friday, I will drop my list of the songs I couldn't stop listening to in 2008.

In the meantime, go grab a few of these CDS and enjoy.