The Year In Rock 2008

The 10th installment of my annual “Year In Rock” is complete. I probably tend to go a little overboard every year with this and over-analyze everything I want to include on this list. Narrowing this list down to just 20 songs each year becomes a difficult task, because to me it’s more than just a “mix tape” of songs that I liked. These were songs that, regardless of when or where I hear them, catapult me back to moment in time. As I have compiled these lists over the years and go back and listen to them occasionally, there is a sense of nostalgia for the music and lyrics. I can tell you exactly where I was and what I was doing the moment I first heard all of these songs. Some of the new music I heard this year came as suggestions from Rolling Stone; out of pure devotion to the artist anytime they come out with a new record; listening to Sirius, X96, Pandora, and Last.fm; and countless recommendations from family, friends, and co-workers. Regardless, this was the music that defined 2008 for me.

As always I will be naming best new artist of the year, and best album. However this year I will be adding my nominations for album of the year, which was interestingly a very difficult decision once I really started thinking about it. If you are new to this: I pick 20 albums, and then pick what I consider to be the best song on that album and compile into a list. When I first started this list, I used to burn this to a CD and was really limited on space, and thus the reason why I just do 20 songs. I’ve decided to keep the tradition going strong and make it more of an elite choosing method with only being able to showcase 20 different artists.

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Behold, The Year In Rock, 2008:

1. Vampire Weekend “A Punk” (Vampire Weekend) [*Best New Artist of the Year/Album of the Year Nominee]
2. MGMT “Electric Feel” (Oracular Spectacular) [*Album of the Year]
3. Coldplay “Lost!” (Viva la Vida) [Album of the Year Nominee]
4. Phantom Planet “Do The Panic” (Raise The Dead) [*Album of the Year Nominee]
5. Weezer “The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations On a Shaker Hymn)” (The Red
Album) [*Album of the Year Nominee]
6. Thrice “Come All You Weary” (The Alchemy Index, Vol 3 & 4: Air & Earth)
7. Nada Surf “See These Bones” (Lucky)
8. Death Cab For Cutie “I Will Possess Your Heart” (Narrow Stairs)
9. Black Kids “’m Not Going To Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You” (Partie Traumatic)
10. Joshua Radin (feat. Ingrid Michaelson) “Sky” (Unclear Sky – EP)
11. Beck “Orphans” (Modern Guilt)
12. Tokyo Police Club “Tessellate” (Elephant Shell)
13. Ben Folds “Cologne” (Way To Normal)
14. Kings Of Leon “Sex On Fire” (Only By The Night)
15. Fleet Foxes “White Winter Hymnal” (Fleet Foxes)
16. Ra Ra Riot “Can You Tell” (The Rhumb Line)
17. TV On The Radio “Dancing Choose” (Dear Science)
18. Jenny Lewis “Acid Tongue” (Acid Tongue)
19. The Killers “Dustland Fairytale” (Day & Age)
20. The Airborne Toxic Event “Sometime Around Midnight” (The Airborne Toxic Event)

Honorable Mentions: Of Montreal (Skeletal Lamping), My Morning Jacket ( Evil Urges), Panic At The Disco (Pretty. Odd.), Cold War Kids (Loyalty To Loyalty), Fall Out Boy (Folie A Deux), & CUt Copy (Ghost Colors).

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