The Year in Music 2008: Top 50 Albums
Writing for a website or two, being a DJ, and doing my own hunting and digging affords me (a.) the opportunity to experience a lot of music and (b.) enough ego to think people who come across my drabblings might actually be interested in -- or even trust -- my opinion about What's Good. With that in mind, read on for some (mostly) one-liners about some of what I considered to be the best music of 2008.

TOP 50 ALBUMS OF 2008

50. Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna - Peripatetic electronics, minus past fuzzy production.
49. Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak - Often ill-informed, but still brave emo-rap-tronica.
48. Four Tet - Ringer - German bedroom beatmaker successfully gloms onto minimal techno.
47. Sixtoo - Jackals and Vipers in Envy of Man - West Coast 'head does Ninja Tune beats proud.
46. Pink Skull - Zeppelin 3 - Philly "Making Time" mainstay makes abstract blog-house.

45. The Ting Tings - We Started Nothing - Bubblegum dance-pop, hints of annoyance, disillusion.
44. Meat Beat Manifesto - Autoimmune - Most consistent release in years from industrial legends.
43. Teargas & Plateglass - Black Triage - Depressing, fractured atmospheres from Area 51.
42. Pendulum - In Silico - Australians add elements of hard rock to drum'n'bass.
41. The Sea and Cake - Car Alarm - Few do post-rock like these legends from the Chicago school.

40. Megapuss - Surfing - Devendra Banhart threatens to make freak-folk the new hotness.
39. Adele - 19 - What if Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, et al. were, you know, subtle?
38. Ratatat - LP3 - More white-boy backing tracks for nonexistent rap albums.
37. Ghislain Poirier - No Ground Under - French Canadian booty bass = hip-hop intelligence.
36. Girl Talk - Feed the Animals - Too many moments of mixing/comic genius to ignore.

35. Tuxedomoon - Vapour Trails - The avant-goth comeback album Bauhaus should have made.
34. The Spinto Band - Moonwink - Not a summer album but a freewheeling autumn one.
33. Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I-IV - Ups Radiohead's free-agent ante on so many levels.
32. Bob Mould - District Line - Like a greatest-hits intro to punk's favorite gay uncle.
31. Grace Jones - Hurricane - Singer-songwriter dub from the original Slave to the Rhythm.

30. Little Joy - Little Joy - Buena Vista Indie-Rock Club? Strokes spinoff bests The Strokes.
29. Moby - Last Night - Facts for those who thought his beats started/stopped with Play.
28. Ladytron - Velocifero - Sexy blend of past efforts, from shoegazer drone to synth stomp.
27. The Black Kids - Partie Traumatic - Dance sizzle vs. rock steak? Ah well, fun while they lasted.
26. Jarboe/Justin Broadrick - J2 - Yawning chasms of guitar, vocal dread. A healthy challenge.

25. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes - The other 2008 album aping Paul Simon; here, the Garfunkel years.
24. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles - No everyday indie dance, and they're well aware of it.
23. Bloc Party - Intimacy - Adds more electronics to the passion first found on Silent Alarm.
22. The Cure - 4:13 Dream - Passionate sonic swirls, bite-sized morsels of deceptive joy.
21. This Will Destroy You - This Will Destroy You - Kings of this year's instrumental-rock hill.

20. Amanda Palmer - Who Killed Amanda Palmer? - STD songs are commercial! (When Ben Folds produces.)
19. Various Artists - BIPPP: French Synth-Wave 1979/85 - Ed Banger label's techno elective course.
18. M83 - Saturdays=Youth - French electronics polished up to channel the films of John Hughes et al.
17. The Melvins - Nude with Boots - Dizzying, no-off-switch rock full of art, punk, metal.
16. Santogold and Diplo - Top Ranking - Piracy funds terrorism again: M.I.A. comparisons made legit.

15. Autechre - Quaristice - Many 3-minute songs, the closest they'll ever come to accessibility.
14. Metaform - Standing on the Shoulders of Giants - ...and DJ Shadow's one of 'em.
13. Pattern is Movement - All Together - Philly's big and bearded chamber-pop.
12. REM - Accelerate - I just knew they had one last great rock album in them.
11. Sigur Ros - With a Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly - Joyous from beginning to end.

10. Hercules & Love Affair - Hercules & Love Affair - Disco? So not dead.
09. TV on the Radio - Dear Science - Impossibly uneasy, yet catchy and clear.
08. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours - High point of 2008's dance-rock thunder from Down Under.
07. Santogold - Santogold - Playfully twists pop formulae to her own entertaining ends.
06. School of Seven Bells - Alpinisms - An upbeat homage to MBV, Curve, Cocteau Twins, more.

05. The Gutter Twins - Saturnalia - Soaked in sweat of Black Crowes, Wilco, new American Gothic.
04. Hot Chip - Made in the Dark - Soundtrack (and script?) for uncomfortable dancefloor hookups.
03. Nine Inch Nails - The Slip - Trent Reznor has fun (!) making music for himself, the curious.
02. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend - Enjoyably replayable, and therefore not overhyped.
01. Portishead - Third - They established trip-hop, then undermined it, and now transcend it.