Best Albums of '08!

Here's my year end list, which I compile mainly for myself and since I'm the only one who's reading this then my purpose is served. I'll go backwards for dramatic effect for this year. Check it:

10. Final Boss - MC Frontalot: The Front is dear in my heart and this album proves that he is on top of the heap of nerdcore rappers streaming from the internet. While not as instantly memorable as Nerdcore Rising it posts some great moments and has some deeper cuts that reward after several listens. Front delves into some depressing topics, challenging himself as a songwriter. What comes out is impressive and proves that Front is deeper than he once appeared and will hopefully keep the experimentation rolling for years to come. Politics are handled here better than ever before with "Black Box" and album standout, "Canadia."

9. Volume One - She & Him: Zooey Deschanel is stuck in the sixties and she has asked M. Ward to join her in the musical time machine. The music is beautiful and her voice dances along. It feels like a record found in your parent's basement and dusted off, a secret treasure. Zooey crosses the delicate movie star to music star barrier and has cemented her star on the indie darling walk of fame. Even the lyrics here shine, mixing into the cool balm of the album that washes over the listener, while being jangly. In almost every way, it's a real accomplishment. Standout is album opener, "Sentimental Heart."

8. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend: Though they seem to be destined for more mainstream stardom than those who "listened at the beginning" would like, it's still a great album. A shiny, flawless album that is difficult to find in a debut. It's shocking to see the band at first because the sharp sensibilities contained within this album seem to come from a band much older. Somehow these barely post-collegiate guys have learned their history quickly. It's a self-aware album in that it knows how hip it is, gliding along. But, it's also very aware of where it came from and exactly what it's building on. Some may call it an inevitability but it takes real talent to sharpen music to this fine a point. Standouts are "Oxford Comma" and "Walcott."

7. The Stand-Ins - Okkervil River: While no one expects a bad album out of indie-folk veterans Okkervil River it can be rough recording a companion album. Especially having to live up to the critical darling, The Stage Names. But, this album rises to the top and matches it's sister album blow for blow. Here Okkervil River continues expanding it's sound while keeping that lyrical flow and depth that make them an act that's hard to pin down. The story painted here is grand, beyond expectations and sung straight into hearts. The albums is at time rougher and more immediate than the one that it follows, making it a leaner beast but no less complex. Don't let that scare you though, there are enough toe tappers to hold anyone steadfast. Standouts are "Singer Songwriter" and "Pop Lie."

6. Narrow Stairs - Death Cab for Cutie: After Plans and the dreaded growing success, many fans grew concerned. However, Death Cab comes back with a vengeance here. While it may not have the lyrical mind-benders and sonic masterpieces that it once did, DCFC is still sharp and pumping out solid music. Not surprisingly, after the last two albums, this is still an album to feel some feelings too, if that's what you want. What was surprising, is the depth that this album contained, drawing comparisons to earlier work. Death Cab hasn't retreated back to it's roots nor has it sold out. It has just changed once again and it will keep changing and doing what it wants to do. This album was made for the band and it's a wonderful display of their skills that still have some of that old luster. Fans old and new will find something to treasure. Standouts are "Bixby Canyon Bridge" and "Cath..."

5. Feed the Animals - Girl Talk: Dance right now! Greg Gillis wants you to shake your booty until you're forced to have it surgically removed so that you can continue a normal life. Night Ripper was arguably Gillis' breakout album and this is the celebration. Unwavering in it's outlandishness and brazen sense of fun this album delivers on every level. It's a portable dance party and it's a different listen every time. There's something here for anyone who just wants to let loose. The only thing to do after it's over is to let it play one more time. Standouts are playing the whole 50+ minute album as one long track.

4. Hold on Now, Youngster... - Los Campesinos!: This year had a variety of surprising debut albums but this one is the most powerful by far. Meant to be listened to either while dancing or pumping your fist and crying, this album contains enough brazen young truths to drown anyone. If ever there was an album for flailing around your bedroom in your underwear, this is it. It's a celebration of being young and cynical while musically being exactly the opposite of cynical. This whimsical cynicism plays like a coy genius and endears the band ever further. If Architecture in Helsinki had more balls on them, maybe they would put out something this daring and consistently screamable... maybe. Standouts are "Broken Heartbeats Sound Like Breakbeats" and "We Are All Accelerated Readers."

3. Stay Positive - The Hold Steady: The Hold Steady is a band so profound as to establish their own teenage canon. Their first few albums established them and even added variations to the theme and now that they've aged, Stay Positive is here to carve them into stone so that they're never forgotten. Characters are older and more sensible but things are, thankfully, still going to shit. "Stay Positive" is a self-aware culmination that few bands could achieve. It's pure essence in under four minutes. That said, if you like the Hold Steady you will like this. The guitars blaze and the drums pound, Craig Finn sounds like he's singing from a fucked up diary. The ballads deliver just like all the triumphant pulse pounders, even with a few more odd instruments thrown in. There are simply no weak tracks and you will want to spend a summer carving this it's own place in your heart. Standouts are "Stay Positive", "Constructive Summer", and "Slapped Actress."

2. Heretic Pride - The Mountain Goats: This must seem like blasphemy to some people but wait until you get to number one. This album is flawless to me, just like every other Mountain Goats album ever. There is not a bad song and John Darnielle is all over the place. Of course, all of these places are brilliant and the unique instrumentation on some of these tracks lend to Darnielle's uncomparable lyrics and vocals like never before. The guest vocalists and musicians are beyond compare, it's like a tMG all star list here: John Vanderslice, Franklin Bruno, Erik Friedlander, THE BRIGHT MOUNTAIN CHOIR! Come on, you knew it was going to be good with pedigree like that, and everyone is there to help John be that much more mind blowing. The whole thing seethes like a monster but it's clear that this beast is brains and brawn. The album is a shower and a grower, hitting you first with it's radiance and then coming back to hit you again and again. This album feels like the apocalypse that I've always waited for. Standouts are "Autoclave", "In the Craters of the Moon", "How to Embrace a Swamp Creature", and "Michael Myers Resplendent."

1. Midnight Organ Fight - Frightened Rabbit: There is nothing more brilliant than the break up record. The basic reason music was invented is back and it's got teeth. This album is vicious, heartbreaking, horny, clever, desperate, and absolutely living and breathing. This Scotland group breaks into the stratosphere with a record so personal on so many levels that it hurts to listen to. But, it hurts with you and if you give it a chance it will attach itself to you like a symbiote. Listening to this album is like slipping into someone's skin. It's comfortable and also a bit gross, but that's just how things are. The honesty displayed here is awing and the blanket truth of it's phrases outright stunning. "It takes more than fucking someone you don't know to keep warm." "Twist yourself around me I need company, I need human heat." The messy folk music jangles all of these words together into a mad parade, beating on slowly. There is fire in the hearts of these boys, for sure. If you have never felt anything this album puts on display then it's worth it to get hurt just to be able to relate to music this good. Standouts are "The Modern Leper", "Good Arms vs. Bad Arms", "The Twist", and "Keep Yourself Warm."

Honorable Mentions:

Distortion - The Magnetic Fields: While not as blatantly brilliant as his earlier work Stephin Merritt has still got the magic in him.

Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst: What Cassadaga should have been, a countrified album that does Oberst proud and shows him changing but still keeping up.

808's and Heartbreaks - Kanye West: Kanye bares his soul and at the same time, hides it under an auto tuner. It's a divisive album for him but I'd love to see more of it.

Satanic Messiah and Black Pear Tree EP's - The Mountain Goats: Do yourself the service of checking these out. They will not disappoint you and you know it. The Mountain Goats continue to grow and astound, forever proving that John Darnielle will be remembered as history's most unstoppable musical genius. Only an honorable mention because they aren't technically albums.

Enjoy folks and I hope 2009 give us music even half this good. What a year!

-Benjamin Morgan