My Top 10 Albums of 2008 (updated!)

If you've seen any other Top 10 lists, then you'll recognize a lot of notable records missing off of this list like No Age, Fleet Foxes, TV on the Radio, etc. A lot of records I didn't get the chance to listen to them yet, or they just didn't hit me like they did everyone else I guess. Anyway, these albums are worth your time..


10. Throw Me The Statue - Moonbeams (Secretly Canadian)
This is a really great record with a racy cover!! Gotta love SC for getting it right so many more times than most labels. Check out this killer single "Lolita."

9. Thao with The Get Down Stay Down- We Brave Bee Stings And All (Kill Rock Stars)
This record is from newbie Thao Nguyen and her band of buds and they gently tear through this set of tunes. This was a definite surprise for me as I wasn't expecting much and it is one of the albums I have been able to get into during my resurrected love for vinyl.

8. Lightspeed Champion - Falling Off The Lavender Bridge (Domino)
My buddy Derek handed me this record earlier this year and for a few weeks it dominated my car CD player. The tracks are quirky and fun and really well written.

7. These United States - A Picture Of The Three Of us At The Gate To The Garden Of Eden (self-released)
There aren't many wordsmiths with quite as good of a way with words as Jesse from TUS. The put out a few releases in 2008 and all of them deserve to be on here. Check 'em out.

6. Sun Kil Moon - April (Caldo Verde)
Mark Kozelek and his minimalist project Sun Kil Moon released album #2 this year and it is incredible. It weaves his sleepy guitar virtuosity with his limited vocal range and turns them into some of the most intoxicating sounds that have ever come out of your speakers. This record doesn't hit you right off, it churns in teh background until you can't shake it.

5.5 Mason Proper- Olly Oxen Free
I can't believe I forgot this record. This band, from Ann Arbor, MI totally blew me away when I first heard them. This is one of those albums that seems to keep getting better and more enjoyable with every song, and then it's over much too quickly, but when it starts over at the first song, you keep getting more and more into it. The guitars and melodies on this record were near-un-paralleled this year. Standout tracks: all of them.

5. Bonnie "Prince" Billy- Lie Down In The Light (Drag City)
Lie Down in the Light is a remarkable entry into the Palace catalog. Nothing abnormal here, just perfect folk songs thrown together with the sloppy perfection that has become Oldham's trademark. Expect good things from the Prince in '09 as well...

4. Anathallo- Canopy Glow (Anticon)
Not to be lazy, but you can read about it here.

3. Good Luck- Into Lake Griffy (self-released)
Same with this.

2. Bon Iver- For Emma, Forever Ago (Secretly Canadian/Jagjaguwar)
I had a really hard time deciding between this one and the #1 choice because this record just might be a perfect record. We've all heard the back story on this record about how Justin Vernon spent a few months in the middle of the woods and then recorded this gem. If you want to see for yourself, check out the subtle perfection that is Bon Iver in their LaundroMatinee performance. Vernon also is a producer and produced the last Rosebuds record which is great as well.

1. Mount Eerie- Lost Wisdom (P.W. Elverum and Sun)
This might just end up in my Top 10 favorite records of all time.



Honorable Mentions:
Icy Demons - Miami Ice (Obey Your Brain)
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Pershing (Polyvinyl)
She & Him- Volume 1