Top 30 Albums of 2008
From grizzled vets to fresh-faced upstarts, Hypeful’s annual ranking of all the must-hear music for 2008 is finally completed! Although assembling a year-end list has certainly been a frustrating endeavor racked with difficult choices, the experience is ultimately a rewarding reminder of just how many great releases come out every year. (I’m so excited about 2009!) As always, I hope you enjoy my picks for the Top 30 Albums of 2008 and I look forward to hearing your choices, thoughts, and feedback!
Album commentaries coming soon!
(NOTE: If you’re wondering why three very excellent albums (Vampire Weekend’s self-titled release, MGMT’s Oracular Spectacular, and Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago) are missing from this list, it’s because I regarded them as 2007 releases and included them in last year’s best-of list.)
MP3:
Guns N’ Roses - Chinese Democracy
MP3:
Colin Meloy - “We Both Go Down Together”
MP3:
Coldplay - “Viva la Vida”
MP3:
Ra Ra Riot - “Dying is Fine”
MP3:
Q-Tip - “Gettin’ Up”
MP3:
Los Campesinos! - “We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed”
MP3s:
Wolf Parade - “Call it a Ritual”
Wolf Parade - “Language City”
MP3s:
Department of Eagles - “In Ear Park”
Department of Eagles - “No One Does It Like You”
MP3:
Portishead - “Machine Gun”
MP3:
Gentleman Jesse & His Men - “Highland Crawler”
MP3:
Bound Stems - “Happens To Us All Otherwise”
MP3s:
The Tallest Man On Earth - “I Won’t Be Found”
The Tallest Man On Earth - “Pistol Dreams”
MP3s:
The Spinto Band - “Summer Grof”
The Spinto Band - “Pumpkins and Paisley”
MP3s:
Shearwater - “Leviathan, Bound”
Shearwater - “Rooks”
Shearwater - “The Snow Leopard”
MP3:
Kanye West - “Love Lockdown”
MP3s:
Girl Talk - “Play Your Part (Pt. One)”
Girl Talk - “Set It Off”
MP3:
The Morning Benders - “Waiting for a War”
MP3:
Sigur Rós - “Gobbledigook”
MP3:
Lil Wayne - “Mr. Carter” (featuring Jay-Z)
MP3:
Frightened Rabbit - “The Modern Leper”
MP3:
Fleet Foxes - “White Winter Hymnal”
MP3:
R.E.M. - “Supernatural Superserious”
MP3:
Okkervil River - “Lost Coastlines”
MP3:
The Hold Steady - “Constructive Summer”
MP3s:
Blitzen Trapper - “Furr”
Blitzen Trapper - “Gold For Bread”
MP3:
TV on the Radio - “Golden Age”
MP3:
The Walkmen - “In the New Year”
Hard to argue with that list. I think mine, which I’m still finagling with and procrastinating on, is going to be defined more by the albums I never got around to listening to - like The Walkmen. Not sure how I let that one slip by.
Dude, the artwork is money, but Coldplay? Don’t give in! Ra Ra Riot is legit though.
Nice to see “At Mount Zoomer” make the list. I think it disappointed more of WP’s mainstream fans, but I thought it was great.
That’s a nice list. You’re top 5 are especially solid.
dammit I mean “your.”
i agree with Alex…Coldplay, really? bleh. but I LOVE that you have the Morning Benders on here! Their music is so enjoyable and im glad they are getting some recognition!
Yay on The Ugly Suit and Frightened Rabbit especially!
No Vampire Weekend?
Ah. Last year.
“Hard to argue with that list”?! Yeah, if you’re a white indie boy under 24, I guess it might come as a surprise that there was amazing music released in 2008 beyond the same bland Pitchfork-approved records everyone else put on their lists. Country music, African music, dance music: wait, artists working in these genres couldn’t possibly make good records, could they?
m,
beginning with country music, no, there were no good country albums this year. african music? as in the entire continent? but we all know what you meant - world music. look at the list, plenty of artists residing well outside U.S. lastly, dance music. if there was ever a year for electronic, 2008 was it. again, look at the list. more important than all this: stop being an ass.
What No Gojira? No Motorhead? Opeth? Cynic? Anything with distortion, heavy music can be good? Nice to see GN’R though
Oh wow, you have Coldplay on the list, they’re not black and sell shitloads of records, are you crazy? You’re totally selling out your indierebelemoI’msofar cred, man.
Think about it