Top 10 Albums of 2008

Okay, I know I didn't post a top 10 albums of 2007, but that wasn't for lack of trying: indeed, that year was so ridiculously loaded with good music I found it very difficult to even narrow it down to 10. And even then, I couldn't stop typing when I started extolling their virtues, and it was growing into a blog post so epic it would almost put The Lord of the Rings trilogy to shame. Almost. Anyway, as things happen, I gave up after a while.

This past year, while there was a lot of really good music, there aren't as many albums I'm quite so enthusiastic about. So, as I increasingly grow to agree with Polonius that brevity is the soul of wit (and tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes), I'm opting to do something a little out of character: I'm simply going to list my top 10, sans explanation or descriptive rhetoric, and if anyone wants to launch a discussion of the year's music in the comments section (disagreements, albums I just plain may have missed, etc.), well, that is strongly encouraged.

Anyway, without further ado about nothing:

Top 10 Music Albums of 2008:

• 10. The Broken West, Now or Heaven
  
• 9. R.E.M., Accelerate
  
• 8. Murder by Death, Red of Tooth and Claw
  
• 7. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Real Emotional Trash
  
• 6. Seven Mary Three, Day and Nightdriving
  
• 5. The Hold Steady, Stay Positive
  
• 4. Nada Surf, Lucky
  
• 3. TV on the Radio, Dear Science,
  
• 2. Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes
  
• 1. Los Campesinos!, Hold On Now, Youngster / We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
  

Okay, I realize number 1 is technically a cheat, but I can't separate the two albums in my head, and when a band puts out that much good music in one year, it deserves to be recognized.

Honorable Mention:

• Black Kids, Partie Traumatic
  
• Bloc Party, Intimacy
  
• Coldplay, Viva La Vida; or, Death and All His Friends
  
• Death Cab for Cutie, Narrow Stairs
  
• Deerhunter, Microcastle / Weird Era Cont.
  
• Destroyer, Trouble in Dreams
  
• Flogging Molly, Float
  
• Guns 'N Roses, Chinese Democracy (for its mere existence if nothing else)
  
• Kaiser Chiefs, Off With Their Heads
  
• Kings of Leon, Only By The Night
  
• Metallica, Death Magnetic
  
• The Notwist, The Devil, You + Me
  
• The Offspring, Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace
  
• The Raveonettes, Lust Lust Lust
  
• Sun Kil Moon, April
  
• Times New Viking, Rip It Off
  
• Wolf Parade, At Mount Zoomer
  

Incidentally, if anyone still cares about my top 10 of 2007, just ask.

UPDATE: I can't believe I forgot about the Raconteurs' Consolers of the Lonely and Drive-By Truckers' Brighter Than Creation's Dark, both of which also deserve honorable mention. Thanks for pointing me to The Current's list, Matt!

UPDATE #2: By popular demand - okay, by Matt's demand - er, well, okay, not demand so much as polite request - I have decided to throw up the brief version of my top 15 of 2007. (I changed it to a 15 because when I looked back on it I realized I would have swapped a few, which is probably cheating since it doesn't reflect what I had at the time, but whatever.)

Top 15 Music Albums of 2007:

• 15. White Rabbits, Fort Nightly
  
• 14. Deep Ella, Empty Seas and Memories
  
• 13. The Bravery, The Sun and the Moon
  
• 12. Okkervil River, The Stage Names
  
• 11. Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
  
• 10. The Fratellis, Costello Music
  
• 9. Band of Horses, Cease to Begin
  
• 8. The Shins, Wincing the Night Away
  
• 7. Interpol, Our Love to Admire
  
• 6. The White Stripes, Icky Thump
  
• 5. The New Pornographers, Challengers
  
• 4. The Arcade Fire, Neon Bible
  
• 3. Modest Mouse, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank<
  
• 2. Dinosaur Jr., Beyond
  
• 1. The National, Boxer
  

"Oh we kid ourselves that there's future in the fucking
But there is no fucking future"
- Los Campesinos!, We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed