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Here are my picks for the top albums of the year:

1. Dear Science - TV on the Radio
2. The Stand Ins - Okkervil River
3. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
4. For Emma, Forever Ago - Bon Iver
5. Consolers of the Lonely - The Raconteurs
6. Re-Arrange Us - Mates of State
7. Now or Heaven - The Broken West
8. Volume One - She & Him
9. Way To Normal - Ben Folds
10. Skeletal Lamping - Of Montreal
11. Evil Urges - My Morning Jacket

 

The clear winer this year for me was TV on the Radio’s Dear Science which I listened to tirelessly. It’s a great album with wonderful hooks and a lot of variety.

Next is Okkervil River’s The Stand Ins, a conceptual sequel to last year’s excellent The Stage Names. This record and their show at Webster Hall secured their place as one of my favorite bands right now.

Vampire Weekend’s self titled debut was hyped ridiculously, but for good reason, every track is a gem, and a lot of fun. It’s unlike anything else in my library, making it even more interesting.

Through some unlucky meta information in my iTunes Library Bon Iver’s record almost didn’t make it into my list. I had created both of these lists before I noticed that it wasn’t among the contenders. It is one of this year’s most beautiful albums, so I’m glad that I caught it. I added it to the list and decided not to drop the 11th album off. After some more digging I’ve found that the album actually was released in 2007, but was re-released in 2008. Because many lists that I’ve read are treating it as a 2008 release and since I love it so much - I’m keeping it.

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I also created a list of my favorite songs of the year. There were a few songs this year that I really loved that were on albums that didn’t make my list and I wanted to mention them. 

 

My Favorite Songs of 2008:

01. Halfway Home - TV on the Radio

02. Standing Bird - Love Psychedelico

03. Lost Coastlines - Okkervil River

04. Skinny Love - Bon Iver

05. Many Shades of Black - The Raconteurs

06. Gallery Piece - Of Montreal

07. Cowboys - Counting Crows

08. Oxford Comma - Vampire Weekend

09. Bag of Hammers - Thao

10. Wolf Parade - Call it a Ritual

11. White Winter Hymnal - Fleet Foxes

 

I’ve started working on my 2008 best album list and I thought that I’d post my 2007 list for some perspective. I didn’t pay am much attention to new releases this year as I did last year, but I still think that I’m building a pretty strong list.

Ok, here’s 2007’s best albums in my opinion:

01. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
02. The National - Boxer
03. Okkervil River - The Stage Names
04. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
05. The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes are the Dark Horse
06. The White Stripes - Icky Thump
07. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
08. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Some Loud Thunder
09. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
10. Beck - The Information

 

Hrm, It turns out that the Beck album was released in October of 2006, not sure how it made my list. I guess it’s because it’s listed as 2007 in my iTunes. Some runners up that could take that slot include Bloc Party, Cold War Kids, Fountains of Wayne, The Good, The Bad, & the Queen, and Band of Horses. Oh well, nothing to do about it now.