First, My 10 Favorite Albums Of The Year:

10. Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band: Self Titled
I think Conor only brought his B game for most of this. So why is it on my top 10? Because Conor Oberst’s B game is better than 99% of everyone else is A game. The songs “I Don’t Wanna Die In The Hospital” and “Gone Gone To New York City” are old school style rockers. The Song “Moeb” contains some of Oberst seemingly effortless ability to write great lines such as “ I’ve come to make a trade/ you can hate me but just love me in return/ and if I know where to find you/ I will stay out of your way” and “see the headlights coming toward us, that’s someone going back, to a town they said they never yeah they swore never ya they swore on it on their life, but you can’t break out of a circle you never knew you where in”

9. Los Campesinos: Hold On Now Youngster
This is just constant catchy/silly/witty stuff. The Boy/Girl alternating chorus of “My Year In Lists” with the refrain of “ I cherish with fondness The Day Before I Met You” gives it a case to be on the break up song pantheon. You! Me! Dancing! Starts off slowly and builds frantic energy as the track goes along and “We Exhale and Roll Our Eyes In Unison is anthem for a slightly snotty parade.

8. MGMT: Oracular Spectacular
The opening song/single Time To Pretend is a Monster and the best single of the year. As many of you might already know, when I am not writing endless blogs with countless grammatical errors, I work as a Pre-K teacher. Every year during the “Graduation” we show an end of the year slide show to the kids and their parents. I became so obsessed with using  Time To Pretend as the song that went along with the slide show, that I spent a solid month trying to find a version of it without the swears and drug references that I could use during the slide show and not get fired. (Side note: I eventually went with Joey Ramone’s cover of “What A Wonderful World”) I could not find a non-swear version, but the track is still along with LCD Soundsystems “All My Friends” the soundtrack to my generation getting older. The rest of the albums contains catchier version of Flaming Lips inspired songs like “Electric Feel” and “Kids” to “Pieces of What” that has a Rolling Stones vibe.

7. Vampire Weekend: Self Titled
I grew up in a working class Greek Family in the Northeast, but if I grew up in a Upper Middle Class American Family, this would be what I considered the soundtrack to my life. Lyrically the songs only make half sense most of the time as the babble about getting out Cape Cod, going out to Cambridge on Saturday Night, and going to and graduating from College. The songs are constantly musically inventive and fun and it just a breathe of fresh air to listen to.

6. Jenny Lewis: Acid Tongue
When I was a kid, there was this really dumb movie called “Big Girls Don’t Cry…They Get Even” that was constantly on HBO one summer. In the movie there was a cute red head; over 15 years later, that cute red head with her work fronting Rilo Kiley and her solo stuff has become one the most important people in the music world. I don’t love this album the way I loved, Rabbit Fur Coat. But that is like saying I don’t love my current dog the way I loved the dog I grew up with. (note: the dog thing was merely an analogy. I have never had a dog, the ones my fam had either died or ran away before I was born) The Autobiographical title track is heartbreaking to listen to. “The Next Messiah” and “Jack Killed Mom” are top of the notch alt-folk-country hybrids like The White Stripes sometimes specialize them.

5. T.I.: Paper Trail
This a rap album with songs that follow all the conventionally rap song formulas. The song “for the ladies” the “defiant anthem” the “all-star posse anthem” the “bragging/hater mocking song”. The thing is that T.I. and his producers do all the formulas amazingly well.

4. Kay Hanley: Weaponize
Kay Hanley is one of Rock Music’s Foremost vocalists. If you don’t believe me, just ask Matt Lauer. Kay proves she deserves that title again on this album. When she sings “it hurts to let you in” there is an aching in her voice that makes you feel it. “Tell Him No” and “Think Bad Thoughts” have a fun California vibe to them. “Video” is an insanely catchy diddy dedicated to all the shit in our music collections that we duped ourselves into buying because the artist looked hot: Sample lyric “I am so shallow, but you can’t sing!” The song “Strange Life” with its opening lyrics referencing suicide to the rest of the song discussing all the twists and turns of Kay’s life always starts playing in my head whenever I think experience all the strange and mostly positive turns my life has taken and continues to take since some of the dark days I had as a kid/teen and I sometimes literally have to hold back tears. On a side note, on the mixtape to my life “Strange Life” is a good sequel to Garbage’s “Trick Is To Keep Breathing.” “I Guess I Get It” is another ballad with filled with Kay’s creative and yet subtle and random references (“Big Star” “REM” “Ozzy Osborne” or maybe I just hallucinated it all and the references are not there) in order to give deeper meaning to the lyrics.

3. Juliana Hatfield: How To Walk Away
No one writes and sings introspective and sad songs like Juliana Hatfield. “he used to look into my eyes and talk to me, but now we just have sex and watch T.V.” she sings with hurt in her voice on “My Baby”. Her song “So Alone” is one of those rare extremely depressing songs that actually has the ability to slightly uplift anybody who is going through a similar situation and hears the song because listening to Juliana can make you feel slightly less alone in the world. Towards the end of the song she asks “ I am talking to myself, Is anybody listening?” We are and it has helped us get through a lot and I think I speak for all of your fans when I say get better. On a side note, go out and buy her book “When I Grow Up”

2. She and Him: Volume One
Paste called this the album of the year and I don’t think I can top their perfect description of it, so here it is.
“Maybe it's just a sweet little folk record -- a tiny, flawless diamond. Or maybe it's a pristine distillation of harmony and craft; 50 years of songwriting experience served up on a spinning silver platter. Either way, it's our album of the year. Produced with touches of girl-group splendor and arranged with a dreamy, old-fashioned vibe, She & Him's debut couldn't be more adorable”

1. Lil Wayne: Tha Carter 3
This is The Dark Knight Of Albums. Both this album and the movie where the rare breeds that where insanely hyped, but also delivered the goods. While you can nitpick and find flaws with Lil Wayne’s album and the movie, when you look back on 2008 they will be the defining 2008 pop culture touchstones. Wayne gives an exercise in what an MC is supposed to do throughout the album from constantly switching up his flow to non stop hilarious and creative punch lines and metaphors. “Got Money” explodes out of the speakers; Lollipop should be horrible. It has a tired lollipop as oral sex metaphor. It uses the usually annoying autotune and the beat is pretty minimalist. However, the pure joy and delight in Wayne’s voice as he says some absolutely goofy disgusting shit builds up throughout the songs until you can’t help buy catch Wayne’s most likely Sizzurp induced high and forces you to sing along as he closes the song with the absurd lines like “when I am on the bottom, she Hilary Rodham” The song Tie My Hands is a soulful tribute to Wayne’s hurricane ravaged New Orleans and “Don’t Get It” has the best flipped soul sample in a hip hop song in ages. (Nina Simone) (yes even better than Common’s) The iconic song off of the album though will be "A Milli". With just a simple hand clap style beat and the vocal sample from A Tribe Called Quest Song (the remix of I left my wallet in Segundo) Wayne raps non-stop genious lines that not a single other a person in a world would consider stringing together. The song is a pure adrenaline rush to the point where I listen to it before any time I am going to do something remotely competitive.

Now Some Thoughts On Everything Else

Coldplay: Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends
With this album, Coldplay solidified themselves as the best non-offensive rock band out there and I mean that as a compliment and an insult.

Guns And Roses: Chinese Democracy
This album is a jumbled mess, but I can't help but love it a little bit. The songs all sound like Frankenstein creations of mash ups of different songs that where recorded years apart. Actually, considering how long it took Axl to make this, all the different band members, and different producers involved that is most likely the case. It is kinda like Micheal Douglas' character in the movie Wonder Boys who created one great book and has taken way too long to write his follow up leading the book to become a 1000 page mess. Some of the songs feature 80s style metal guitar along with more modern electronic drum loops. None of it should work in the slightest, but it usually does. Maybe it is because I grew up singing Mr. Brownstone as a little tot while my peers where singing Sesame Street and Disney songs, or maybe because Axl in his crazy old state is still a more compelling front man than any other of the bands that try to pass off as hard rock today, but I can't stop listening to this. Songs like "This I Love"  and "Catcher In The Rye" do a decent job of emulating classic old school GNR style ballads. The title track Chinese Democracy sets the mood much like Welcome To The Jungle did about 20 years ago with murmuring voices in the background that are slowly joined by loud drums and a menacing guitar riff. And when Axl sing the lyrics below at the start of the song "Madagascar" , you can't help root for him especially if you are someone who has come back from the brink.
"I won't be told anymore
That I've been brought down in this storm
And left so far out from the shore
That I can't find my way back, my way anymore

N.E.R.D.:  Seeing Sounds
Their debut album “In Search Of” was one of my favorite albums of the decade. Unfortunately after a prolific output, Pharrell and The Boys seem kinda tapped out. “Everybody Nose” was a good first single, and there are a couple of decent songs on this, but much of the album is an audio shit sandwich.

Kanye West:  808s & Heartbreaks
Kanye and others keep talking about this record being partially inspired by Phil Collins, but when I listen to the album, it reminds me a lot of Beck's Sea Change album.  Both Beck and Kanye's albums main theme is dealing with a bad break up and feeling a general disconnection from society. In addition, nearly all the songs on the album are similar and almost play as one long song as opposed to separate songs. Kanye uses the autotune throughout which usually annoys me, but is not as grating the way he uses it here. (though it still gets annoying after a while) Overall, the album does work really well for what it is intended to be; a soundtrack for the end of a relationship. Furthermore, it is a nice change up from the past 3 great Kanye albums that where all pretty musically and themematically similar. However, I hope that the 808 version of Kanye is just a one time thing

Girl Talk: Feed The Animals
If you are having a party, want people to dance and talk about the music that is being played, this mash up album using snippets of dozens of unrelated songs to create quasi-new creations is the album to play. My favorite track on it is the opener “Play Your Part #1.”

The Black Kids: Partie Traumatic
I loved their 4 song EP That they released for free last year, but was disappointed by this. The biggest reason is that they changed the production style on it too a little to slick at times which hurt some of their best songs like “Hit The Heartbreaks” and “I am Not Gonna Teach…” That being said, the album does contain a lot of catchy shit and they do a pretty damn good impersonation of The Cure. 

My Morning Jacket: Evil Urges
Overall a pretty good album, but aside from “Touch Me I Gonna Scream parts 1 and 2”, I don’t find myself going back to listen to much of this.

Beck: Modern Guilt
Just more solid stuff from Beck. This guy is kinda like the Tom Glavine of  music. He just keeps putting out good stuff, but you don’t appreciate how good he is until you look at the totality of their work and see he has 300 wins or in Beck’s case that he has over 10 albums that range from good to great.

The Duke Spirit: Neptune
Good album from female fronted UK alt rock group that reminds me a little of some of the stuff that was coming out from the northeast in the mid 90s. The songs “My Sunken Treasure” and “Lassoo” are a joy to listen to.

Katy Perry: I hated Kelly Clarkson a few years back. She has a style of singing that feels like fake emotion to me and ends up just sounding hallow. Well, on Clarkson’s last albums she wanted to have more creative control. Pretty much after that the music business told her to go fuck her self and no one at her label bothered to promote her shitty album and nor did radio play it. Enter in Katy Perry. With Clarkson gone, they just got Dr Luke who was responsible for some of Clarkson’s biggest hits to help write and produce Katy Perry’s album and her into the cash cow that Clarkson used to be. I can just hear Clarkson singing the tripe that is the chorus of Hot N Cold in the exact same paint by the numbers way as Perry.  Just a warning to Perry, if you want more creative control for any future albums, don’t think your mediocre talented ass and big tits can’t also be as easily replaced as Clarkson.

Pink: Funhouse
Memo to pink you are not a rock star. You are not even a particularly good pop star. Nothing makes me cringe in horror more and make me reach for the radio dial  as when one of crappy songs whining about your loser skater ex husband comes on.

Britney Spears: Circus
“Womenizer” is an dancepop classic. “Circus”  kinda sucks balls. But “If U Seek Amy” with its 5th grade style word play humor and catchy chorus is kinda amazing and sure to be the most played song for the first half of 09. The rest of the album I have only heard briefly but none of it is all that memorable. And was not Radar on her last album?

Miley Cyrus Breakout
Memo to Miley: More poprock like “See You Again” less songs that sound like Avril throwaways.

Weezer: The Red Album
I think it was LTC’s guitarist USA Mike who once compared current Weezer to the current version of The Simpsons. Both do not live up to their classic days, but both now and them can still produce some gems.

John Legend: Evolver
First single “Green Light” With Andre 3000 kicks major ass. The rest from what I have heard varies from good to average RNB.

Estelle: Shine
The Kanye featuring “American Boy” is one of the best singles of the year and I like some of the songs on the album that Wyclef produced like “no substitute love” and “So Much Out of The Way”

Q-Tip, The Renaissance
One of the best rap albums of the year was made by one of the oldest rappers still in the game who has been stuck in label purgatory for a few years now after they refused to release any of his new stuff due to various contract and music direction disputes. Musically the songs mostly have that chill Tribe vibe. My personal favorite tracks are “Shaka” (RIP Dilla) and the chill Norah Jones featuring “Life Is Better.”

Ryan Adams: Cardinology
He stopped writing crazy shit on his blog and dating Mandy Moore (WTF?!) long enough to make another pretty good album.

Death Cab For Cutie: Narrow Stairs
I have never been a huge Death Cab fan, but I appreciate their stuff. Overall, I think this album was a return to form for them and I had "Cath.." and "Long Division" in pretty heavy rotation on my Ipod.

Duffy: Rock Ferry
Not as talented as Amy Whinehouse and not as hot as Joss Stone. I frankly don’t get it.

Metallica: Death Magnetic
From what I heard, not classic Metallica, but solid stuff.

T.V. On The Radio: Dear Science
This is near the top on many year end lists. While I won’t go that far, it is good stuff. Halfway Home has a Beach Boys vibe coming on. Songs like “Crying” can vary enough where it sometimes gives me a Jack Johnson feel and other times a Prince feel and I mean both of those in a good way.

The Ting Tings: We Started Nothing
If you listen to this album and at no point start dancing around like an idiot no matter where you are, most likely you are like Bart in that episode when he sold his soul to Milhouse and you no longer have a soul. Either try to get your soul back somehow or at the very least please refrain from killing me when you go on your eventual sociopathic rampage. and with that, I will shut up and let you go.