Best Music of 2008

The end of the year means lots of “best of 08″ lists. I wanted to get my music list up a little early this year in case you need some ideas for stocking stuffers for the music lover on your list. You can’t go wrong with these albums. (All links take you to Amazon, by the way.)

Top Ten Albums of 2008
1. The Shepherd’s Dog, by Iron and Wine
2. Orakular Spectacular, by MGMT
3. Lose Big, By Eef Barzelay
4. In Ghost Colours, by Cut Copy
5. Fleet Foxes, by Fleet Foxes
6. Silent Movie, by Quiet Village
7. Fate, by Dr. Dog
8. Carried to Dust, by Calexico
9. Dead Calm Horizon, by Ketch Harbour Wolves
10. Modern Guilt, by Beck

Older music, but new to me in 2008
This year I was introduced to some great older music. Here are the bands that just recently appeared on my radar:

Avalanches
Grin
Incredible String Band
Fairport Convention
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Heatmiser
Nada Surf

New Music From Great Bands
Some of my favorite artists released new music this year. These didn’t make my top ten list, but they are good albums from my favorite bands.

1. Way to Normal, by Ben Folds
2. Distortion, by Magnetic Fields
3. Acid Tongue, by Jenny Lewis
4. Ode to J. Smith, By Travis
5. Attack and Release, by The Black Keys
6. A Mad and Faithful Telling, by Devotchka

Best of the Past
If you are interested in my “Best Of” lists from other years, check out these links:

Best of 2007
Best of 2006
Best of 2005
Best of 2004