Best of 2008 Part 1

So, the end of the year is fast approaching - that time of year for my most pretentious pasttime - telling you what the best records of the year are!!!

So, I usually do top 20. I don't know how it's going to work this year. I think I'm going to just start writing about random records that I thought were great this year here and there and then when it really comes close to the end of the year I'll post the definitive list.

These are all the records in contention in absolutely no order. This may change as I may have forgotten something. We'll see.

Blitzen Trapper - Furr
Okkervil River - The Stand Ins
Los Campesinos! - Hold on Now Youngster
Titus Andronicus - The Airing of Grievances
The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
No Age - Nouns
Cadence Weapon - Afterparty Babies
Calexico - Carried to Dust
The Cool Kids - The Bake Sale
David Byrne and Brian Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Dig! Lazarus Dig!
Lucinda Williams - Little Honey
Deerhunter - Microcastle
Department of Eagles - In Ear Park
Drive By Truckers - Brighter Than Creations Dark
Dr. Dog - Fate
Evangelicals - The Evening Descends
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight
Times New Viking - Rip It Off
The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound
Girl Talk - Night Ripper
The Gutter Twins - Saturnalia
Islands - Arm's Way
Jennifer O'Conner - Here With Me
Kathleen Edwards - Asking For Flowers
The Kills-Midnight Boom
The Last Shadow Puppets- The Age of the Understatement
Lyle Lovett - It's not Big It's Large
M83 - Saturday Youth
Marnie Stern - This is it...
Martha Wainwright - I Know You're Married...
The Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride
Oxford Collapse - Bits
Portishead - Third
REM - Accelerate
Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line
She and Him - Volume One
Shearwater - Rook
Silver Jews - Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea
Bob Mould-District Line
Steven Malkmus - Real Emotional Trash
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
Sun Kil Moon - April
Tim Fite - Fair Ain't Fair
TV on the Radio - Dear Science
Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue
The Walkmen - You and Me
The War on Drugs - Wagonwheel Blues
Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer
Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward
Black Mountain - In the Future
Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs
Beck - Modern Guilt