My Best Albums of 2008

So I’m taking the Pitchfork Readers Poll and I guess I’ve been forced to make up my mind. I’m liable to change this depending on all the new shit I still want to listen to.

Disclamer: Apparently I like a lot of self-titled albums. Also, I don’t think this was all that great a year for music. I’ll take anything on my last year’s top 5 over my number one this year (LCD Soundsystem, Panda Bear, Animal Collective, MIA, Radiohead, if you’re asking.)

Best Albums

10. Hercules and Love Affair - s/t: Fun and fresh sounding. More albums with brass sections, please.

9. Vampire Weekend - s/t: Catchy and sounds like Paul Simon’s Graceland, which in turn reminds me of driving to Disney World as a small boy.

8. Little Joy - s/t: Hey let’s get drunk and listen to Little Joy! Okay cool.

7. Deerhunter- Microcastle: Give me another month with this and it might be higher up. Has some seriously breathtaking moments.

6. Crystal Castles - s/t: Like anchovies with greasy pizza, screaming over Game Boy sounds isn’t for everybody, but sounds fucking AWESOME to me.

5. Santogold/Diplo - Top Ranking: Actually made me like Santogold after having initially written her off. Compares favorably to the great  Piracy Funds Terrorism mixtape I have such fond memories of. Also introduced me to the B-52’s song Mesopotamia, which is awesome.

4. Air France - No Way Down: Gets here solely for exploiting my memories of The Avalanches’ Since I Left You, one of the best records ever made. NWD is fun, breezy, well made and stupidly easy to listen to. If you like The Avalanches (and you suck if you don’t), you’re sleeping on this at your own peril.

3. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours: A crowd pleaser and a damn fine dance record. Recommend this to your friends who make you “give them music” all the time.

2. Lil’ Wayne - Tha Carter III: Yes, it’s bloated and has some terrible tracks but so did Stankonia and Late Registration. Weezy’s at the top of his game and the standout tracks here are effortless and meticulous at the same time. Threepeat, Dr. Carter and A Milli are masterpieces of the genre.

1. Flying Lotus - Los Angeles: The most intellectually challenging album of the year to get stoned to. Fly Lo’s vision of hip hop is cacophonous, busy as shit and hypnotic. This is the kind of shit you’ll tell your kids to turn off because it just sounds like a bunch of noise and they’ll say you’re old and you don’t get it.