01) Matmos – Supreme Balloon
02) Bruno Pronsato – Why Cant We Be Like Us
03) Boris – Smile
04) The Black Dog – Radio Scarecrow
05) Move D & Benjamin Brunn – Songs From The Beehive
06) DJ Donna Summer – Panther Tracks
07) snd. - 4,5,6
08) Thomas Brinkmann – When Horses Die
09) Deerhunter – Microcastle
10) Syclops – I’ve Got My Eye On You
11) Cut Copy – In Ghost Colours
12) Hercules & Love Affair – st
13) Autechre – Quaristice
14) Paavoharju - Laulu Laakson Kukista
15) Venetian Snares – Detrimentalist
16) Ellen Allien – Sool
17) Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing
18) Genghis Tron - Board Up The House
19) Bersarin Quartet – st
20) Shit & Shine - Cherry

Albums from 2008 I like:
Black Mountain - In the Future
Elf Power - In a Cave
Al Green - Lay It Down
Gary Louris - Vagabonds
Billy Bragg - Mr. Love and Justice
Jamie Lidell - Jim
Santogold - Santogold
Girl Talk - Feed the Animal (Having 2nd thoughts on this one, but am leaving it in for now)
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

Hmm, what's this?

Suddenly, Ample Fire Within by Ascend jumped pretty high in my personal favorites for 2008.

But nothing beats Quaristice (imo) so far, it gets even better with Quaristice (Versions).

Not just your average mnml bllks. Here is what we said in December...



↑ Working link.

Here is what RA had to say.

Not ranked necessarily, but feels like...

Laura Marling
Fleet Foxes
Frightened Rabbit
Portishead
Booka Shade
Hercules and Love Affair
Jim Noir
Neon Neon
The Dodos
The Duke Spirit

other good ones...

Lykke Li
Sons and Daughters
The Ruby Suns
The Young Knives
British Sea Power
These New Puritans
Cut/Copy
Firefox AK
Drive-By Truckers
Pop Levi
Los Campesinos!
Eleanoora Rosenholm
Helio Sequence
Cloud Cult
Make Model
The Black Angels
The Notwist
Veda Hille

Fleet Foxes added to the list. Nice record.

I just got this the other day, there's some serious buzz surrounding this album among my fellow Canadian writers.

Does the new Bowerbirds expanded remaster/reissue qualify for somb's 2008 poll?

This statement surprises me.

good record.

God it is great to see some appreciation for this one

Thanks Breugel. Hopefully megaupload will start working for me soon.

As I said in their specific thread, Dr. Dog - Fate now tops my best of the year list.

In very rough order:

Fleet Foxes
Erykah Badu
Jamie Lidell
Kathleen Edwards
Black Keys
Notwist
Mystery Jets
Laura Marling
Stephen Malkmus
My Morning Jacket
Al Green
Mates of State
R.E.M.
The Whigs
Vampire Weekend

Need to spend more time with: Van Hunt, Portishead, The Envelopes

I've come to the conclusion that I'm never going to like that Portishead as much as I'd hoped for. I love Dummy, absolutely love it, and I've tried my hardest to get into Third. But it suddenly struck me, music shouldn't be so difficult to enjoy. I remember reading an awesome post in the weezer thread about someone who had been listening to Third and Red Album in succession and then remarking upon how much work Third was in comparison.

Who knows? Maybe it will click at some point, but at the moment I'll take the songs which sound great straight away over the songs that actually require me to concentrate hard to only enjoy a little.

Malkmus, The Fall, Mudhoney, Thee Oh Sees, Blank Dogs, Eat Skull, Pierced Arrows, Heroine Sheiks, Blood on the Wall, and if it's not to early to list, Melvins.

Some good records this year.

Adele: 19
Duffy: Rockferry
She & Him: Volume One
Laura Marling: Alas, I Cannot Swim
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly: Searching for the Hows and Whys
MGMT: Oracular Spectacular
Gnarls Barkley: The Odd Couple
M83: Saturday = Youth
Santogold: Santogold
Scarlett Johansson: Anywhere I Lay My Head
Jamie Lidell: JIM
My Morning Jacket: Evil Urges
Weezer: Weezer (The Red Album)

Still waiting on The Streets, Lily Allen, Rachael Yamagata, etc.

That's a bummer cuz it's one of my favorites so far. It did just "click" for me though, took awhile and then all of a sudden ! so you may still grow to like it.

so should i hear this thing? people seem to like it

breugs has already given the proper answer so i will merely say: a very good thing

[edit] is that syclops 'album'-length?

Yeah, a full hour of the good stuff:

oh phat, the 'dub had me confused is all. gonna be getting it in then

Okay, my mid-year picks;

1. Opeth - Watershed
2. Black Mountain - In the Future
3. Lykke Li - Youth Novels
4. Meshuggah - obZen
5. Disfear - Live the Storm
6. Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree
7. Jucifer - L'Autrichienne
8. Krallice - Krallice
9. Made Out of Babies - The Ruiner
10. Lukestar - Lake Toba
11. Nachtmystium - Assassins: Black Meddle Part 1
12. Torche - Meanderthal
13. Ladytron - Velocifero
14. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
15. Fuck Buttons - Street Horrsing
16. Mike Patton - A Perfect Place OST
17. Eluveitie - Slania
18. The Gates of Slumber - Conqueror
19. Ihsahn - angL
20. Sahg - II

If Familjen and Bowerbirds are eligible, then I'll be including those come year's end.

New Jim Noir album seems pretty good. I don't know what else came out this year.

At this very minute (Meaning some of these are gonna rise and fall after a few more listens)

01. The Rural Alberta Advantage - Hometowns
02. m83 - Saturdays = Youth
03. Boris - Smile
04. Sun Kil Moon - April
05. Sigur Ros - (Can't be bothered to look up that long-ass title right now)
06. Lykke Li - Youth Novels
07. Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree
08. Glass Animal - Patterns
09. Coldplay - Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends
10. The Watson Twins - Fire Songs
11. Flight of the Conchords - Flight of the Conchords

I have a lot of love for these as well

Oddly, perhaps, the more I've listened to this album the more sincere and less goofy the lyrics seem, most notably on "Troublemaker," "Everybody Get Dangerous," and of course "Heart Songs." At least the one's that aren't blatantly ridiculous ("You try to play cool like you just don't care/but soon I'll be playing in your underwear").

and to whoever said Coldplay - hell yeah! "Strawberry Swing" and "Lost!" are two of the best songs I've heard this year. I wouldn't say the whole album is top 10 material, but it's certainly good.

Jim
10. Flight of the Conchords, “Flight of the Conchords”
9. Portishead, “Third”
8. The Black Angels, “Directions to See a Ghost”
7. Saul Williams, “The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust”
6. Tim Fite, “Fair Ain’t Fair”
5. Lupe Fiasco, “The Cool”
4. Gnarls Barkley, “The Odd Couple”
3. Local H, “12 Angry Months”
2. Weezer, “Weezer”
1. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, "Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!"

Greg
10. Lyrics Born, "Everywhere At Once"
9. Fleet Foxes, "Fleet Foxes"
8. Alejandro Escovedo, "Real Animal"
7. The Ting Tings, "We Started Nothing"
6. Disfear, "Live the Storm"
5. Frightened Rabbit, "The Midnight Organ Fight"
4. Santogold, "Santogold"
3. Rhymefest, "Man in the Mirror"
2. Portishead, "Third"
1. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!"

My ever evolving list of 2008 favorites

Mid-year list that will no doubt change extremely..and I'm probably forgetting tons..

20. Origin - Antithesis
19. Lil' Wayne - Tha Carter III
18. Black Mountain - In The Future
17. Tokyo Police Club - Elephant Shell
16. Coldplay - Viva La Vida
15. Portishead - Third
14. Nachtmystium - Assassins: Black Meddle Pt. 1
13. Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs
12. Cat Power - Jukebox
11. The Magnetic Fields - Distortion
10. Duffy - Rockferry
9. Hercules & Love Affair - S/T
8. Vampire Weekend - S/T
7. Disfear - Live The Storm
6. Fleet Foxes - S/T & Sun Giant
5. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
4. R.E.M. - Accelerate
3. Atlas Sound - Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel
2. M83 - Saturdays=Youth
1. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
0. Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing (I have no idea where to put this but I love it)

There are tons of others, like Wolf Parade, Deerhunter, etc, that I haven't listened to enough yet to get a feel for how much they compare with these other records..

And aside from 1-4, which are pretty much immovable unless something REALLY blows me away (MORRISSEYYYYYYYYYY) in the next 6 months, the order is pretty fuzzy.

awesome!

Latest and ever-changing:

01. Jacaszek - Treny
02. Bruno Pronsato - Why Can't We Be Like Us?
03. Slim Cessna's Auto Club - Cipher
04. Flying Lotus - Los Angeles
05. Fleet Foxes

Latest:

1. M83
2. Drive By Truckers
3. Fleet Foxes
4. Black Mountain



The other records that were on my previous list have become boring.

1. Cryptacize - Dig that Treasure
2. Fleet Foxes - s/t
3. No Age - Nouns
4. Beach House - Devotion
5. Man Man - Rabbit Habits
6. Subtle - ExitingARM
7. Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Lie Down in the Light
8. Atlas Sound - Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel
9. NOMO - Ghost Rock
10. Fleet Foxes - Sun Giant (EP)
11. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
12. Dodos - Visiter
13. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
14. Why? - Alopecia
15. Animal Collective - Water Curses (EP)

I can't decide if the Fleet Foxes album is really good or really tedious. I've been leaning toward the tedious side, though "White Winter Hymnal" is one of the catchiest songs I've heard this year.

That Atlas Sound is growing hard. The production is really spectacular, there are so many details and it sounds like every noise and instrument were recorded just how the Cox wanted them. Maybe by the end of the year it'll surpass Microcastle, which is chock full of great songs but isn't as consistent as Sound. The dead spot in the middle drags it down a bit.

And that Bon Iver album came out last year. If we can vote for that, what about Vampire Weekend?! I didn't hear that til this year.

I've heard that the definitive word on the new MMJ is that it's a creative explosion, but too long and in need of a better editor.

hated that Nomo CD. Loved the last one.

I've only listened to it a few times so far, actually, but I agree that it isn't as good as New Tones.

I don't quite get how you could go from loving that one to hating this one, though. I went running to it a few days ago and it was great for that.

I have to spin it some more, but it's a lot more avant garde, a lot less afro-beat.

Also, where did the horns go?

Current, based on sheer number of listens/general enjoyment:

1. Opeth - Watershed
2. Genghis Tron - Board Up The House
3. Meshuggah - ObZen
4. Weezer - s/t (Red Album) (I'm sorry I ever questioned the mightiness of the W. This album made me listen to like their whole catalog. I think I've been converted.)
5. Bob Mould - District Line
6. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
7. Death Angel - Killing Season
8. Black Mountain - In The Future
9. Foals - Antidotes
10. Boris - Smile

Likely risers once more listens kick in:

Nachtmystium - Assassins: Black Meddle Part I
These New Puritans - Beat Pyramid


Shocking number of non-metal records. Guess there's been a decent number of indie rock records that haven't bored me to tears this year.

Had no idea Death Angel had something new. Saw them in concert in 1988 or 89.

Diesel, you should hear the Disfear album if you haven't already. Motorhead will be hard-pressed to top this one.

Downloading now.

This is very nice. You might like this if you like Band of Horses.

Not understanding the Fleet Foxes love. Generic city.

I've been debating checking them out, should I even bother?

Totally. Fantastic record. Great vocals, beautiful harmonies, and stunning arrangements. Best debut of the year, hands down.

I honestly can't see why it would be a waste of ten minutes of anyone's life to find a download link, download it, and listen to the first song or two; even if the records sucks, it is hardly any exertion of any real effort or time, what is their to lose?

i felt the same way until i saw them live... don't miss them at Pitchfork (or Millenium Park, right?)

the albums great...but friends of mine saw em at schubas and said they were fantastic so im looking forward to their set

It's not the most original thing ever, but ultimately the really solid melodies carry it as far as it needs to go.

And it really isn't "generic". You couldn't name more than a handful of bands right now that sound like them in any major way. M. Ward, older My Morning Jacket, Grizzly Bear, and who else?

yeah, see i don't like the sounds of this.