My Album Lists for 2008

Two posts in one day, but this one is not accompanied by a compilation-- just scroll down to the next entry for today's podcast.

My 30 Favorite Records of 2008:

01. Damian Jurado, Caught in the Trees
02. Crooked Fingers, Forfeit/Fortune
03. The Gaslight Anthem, The ’59 Sound
04. Jonathan Richman, Because Her Beauty is Raw and Wild
05. Paul Westerberg, 49:00
06. Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend
07. The Dutchess & the Duke: She’s the Dutchess, He’s the Duke
08. The Tallest Man on Earth: Shallow Grave
09. Cobra Verde, Haven’t Slept All Year
10. Chad VanGaalen, Soft Airplane
11. Army-Navy, Army-Navy
12. Drive-By Truckers, Brighter Than Creation
13. Capstan Shafts, Fixation Protocols
14. Gentleman Jesse & His Men, Gentleman Jesse & His Men
15. Ezra Furman & the Harpoons, Inside the Human Body
16. Mount Eerie with Julie Doiron, Lost Wisdom
17. The Lucksmiths, First Frost
18. The Wedding Present, El Rey
19. Matthew Sweet, Sunshine Lies.
20. Blitzen Trapper, Furr
21. What Made Milwaukee Famous, What Doesn’t Kill Us
22. Pelle Carlberg, The Lilac Time
23. Okkervil River, The Stand-Ins
24. She & Him, Volume One
25. Sun Kil Moon/Mark Kozelek, April/The Finally LP
26. Centro-matic/South San Gabriel, Dual Hawks
27. Silver Jews, Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea
28. Jay Reatard, The Matador Singles ‘08
29. Alejandro Escovedo, Real Animal
30. Shearwater, Rook

Ten more that were hovering nearby (in alphabetical):

01. American Princes, Other People
02. Billy Bragg, Mr. Love & Justice
03. Conor Oberst, Conor Oberst
04. Holly Golightly & the Brokeoffs, Dirt Don’t Hurt
05. The Mountain Goats, Heretic Pride/Satanic Messiah ep
06. R.E.M., Accelerate
07. Robert Pollard, Robert Pollard is Off to Business
08. The Rosebuds, Life Like
09. Sloan, Parallel Play
10. TV on the Radio, Dear Science

Eight stellar debut full-lengths that have me hopeful of the future that didn't quite make my top 40:

1. Down By Avalon, Down By Avalon
2. The Weakends, The Weakends
3. Ty Segall, Ty Segall
4. Liam Finn: I’ll Be Lightning
5. Dead Trees: King of Rosa
6. Crystal Stilts, Alight of Night
7. Titus Andronicus, The Airing of Grievances
8. Women, Women


Five that could have been much better:

1. Bob Mould, District Line
2. Stephen Malkmus, Real Emotional Trash
3. Of Montreal, Skeletal Lamping
4. Magnetic Fields, Distortion
5. Death Cab for Cutie, Narrow Stairs