Best Of 2008: Top 30 albums

There was no specific musical tendency that defined 2008, so it ended up being a very eclectic year and I think this also reflects in the list for my favourite albums of 2008. A lot of interesting stuff happened though. So here we go...
Each album has a link for its original review in this blog.

30. Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)



(review)


29. The Ruby Suns - Sea Lion



(review)


28. Ricardo Villalobos - Vasco



(review)


27. Britney Spears - Circus



(review)


26. Wild Beasts - Limbo, Panto



(review)


25. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend



(review)


24. Paavoharju - Laulu Laakson Kukista



(review)


23. El Guincho - Alegranza



(review)


22. Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires



(review)


21. The Very Best - Esau Mwamwaya and Radioclit are The Very Best



(review)


20. Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing



(review)


19. The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age Of The Understatement



(review)


18. Mystery Jets - Twenty One



(review)


17. Neon Neon - Stainless Style



(review)


16. These New Puritans - Beat Pyramid



(review)


15. Lykke Li - Youth Novels



(review)


14. Atlas Sound - Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel



(review)


13. Late Of The Pier - Fantasy Black Channel



(review)


12. Metronomy - Nights Out



(review)


11. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III



(review)


10. TV On The Radio - Dear Science



(review)


9. The Bug - London Zoo



(review)


8. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular



(review)


7. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles



(review)


6. The Dodos - Visiter



(review)


5. The Honeydrips - Here Comes The Future



(review)


4. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours



(review)


3. Deerhunter - Microcastle / Weird Era Continued



With releases this year as Atlas Sound (his solo project) and with Deerhunter, Bradford Cox cemented his status as a sort of new indie hero. A complex personality, slightly disturbed and paranoid, and also creator of music that reaches extreme levels of both intimacy and intensity. Exorcising one's private demons in public doesn't come much better than this.

(review)


2. Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now, Youngster... + We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed



Swallowing a complete catalogue of the last 15 years of indie music and then regurgitating it into their own sound, what really took Cardiff colective Los Campesinos! apart was the intensity and energy that they put into their songs. Did "Hold On Now, Youngster" feel like a once-in-a-lifetime experience? Well, but then came "We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed" proving us all wrong...

(review HON,Y)
(review WEB,WAD)


1. Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak



There were not many records this year that suggested a new sound for the future and a rupture with the past. Instead, influences were proudly displayed everywhere, with excellent results in some cases. But coming from a surprising source, we did have an album that sounded unique and unlike mostly anything ever heard before. As a consequence of a tumultuous personal year, Kanye West stopped caring about what we think and along released a record that mostly played with his new favourite toys: Auto-Tune and a TR-808 drum machine. And adding a sense of melancholy and loneliness that was new to him, the most amazing collection of stripped-down digital pop songs of the year was born.

(review)