Top Album Picks Of 2008 - Stylishly Late Or Laziness Embodied, You Be The Judge!

Okay, so I got caught up in reading everyone else's Best of '08 lists and forgot to post my own. Since nobody reads this thing anyway, I figured I'd just give you my opinions now - and I'm not trimming the thing down to 10, either. Luck be damned, we're going for the Top 13!

1. She & Him – Volume 1 – I’ve talked up this band before, but this pairing of the actress (Zooey Deschanel) and the hipster (M Ward) couldn’t be better. A mixture of timeless music, catchy rhythms and sweetly fractured vocals made this an utterly enjoyable album from beginning to end. Radio might’ve played the singles to death, but that doesn’t make “This Is Not A Test” or “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here” any less remarkable.

2. Foxboro Hot Tubs – Stop, Drop and Roll!!! – Yes, it’s the Green Day side project that had the vintage garage rock sound. Yes, a lot of the guitar and beats sound recycled. But the disc was still a ridiculous amount of fun, so stop your nitpicking.

3. Thao with The Get Down Stay Down – We Brave Bee Stings and All – Thao’s unusual vocal delivery and odd song structures made this one stand out from the pack. And the fact she’s a spitfire on stage doesn’t hurt. Whether singing about a "Bag of Hammers" or water safety ("Swimming Pool"), this offbeat chanteuse had me hooked.

4. Jenny Lewis – Acid Tongue – The headmistress for Rilo Kiley does another solo disc, this time without any assistance from The Watson Twins. And it looks like she does just fine on her own. Okay, sure, the backup from Elvis Costello on hit single “Carpetbaggers” certainly wasn’t a hindrance…

5. Gnarls Barkley – The Odd Couple – An odd coupling indeed, but one of the best musical collaborations we could have hoped for – rapper Cee-Lo and producer/multi-instrumentalist Danger Mouse mix old school funk and soul beats with electronica for a tasty stew. “Run” and “Going On” are the tracks that got beaten into the ground, but the ground was pretty happy about it in the long run.

6. Mindless Self Indulgence – If – (For the full review, check here.) These potty-mouthed, self-deprecating assholes just keep making me love them more. Their mix of punk and techno make their tales of limp penises (“Get It Up”) and Beatles killers (“Mark David Chapman”) oddly danceable. Don’t fight it!

7. Weezer – Weezer (better known as The Red Album) – What can you guess about a band that can release a single entitled “Pork and Beans” and have it become a huge hit? That they’re a bunch of silly-heads who know how to write a great guitar hook? Yeah, that’s a big part of it. But the fact that these alt-pop-punk rock weirdoes are still going strong keeps me (and quite a few Rivers Cuomo-philes) laughing at their wink-and-nod craziness. The fact that they’re experimenting with new songs on their sixth disc just makes them more interesting.

8. Ben Folds – Way To Normal – Okay, there’s the ever-familiar sound of Ben Folds singing while pounding those ivories. But you know what he unpacked this time out? Some new beats. Don’t believe me? Well, if you haven’t already picked up this disc, Exhibit A would be lead single “You Don’t Know Me” (featuring fantastic guest vocals from Regina Spektor) – vocal harmonies compounded by a funky backbeat and, well… great songwriting. Check it out, already!

9. Conor Oberst – Conor Oberst – A few years back, I would’ve told you I just didn’t get the attraction of the whole Bright Eyes phenomenon. Yeah, he was some kind of alt-folk- rock prodigy, pumping out the discs, but why should I care? But the more I listened, the more I liked. Suddenly, Oberst’s first solo disc is on my tops list – who knew? But with such an amazing collection of songs – including my fave “I Don’t Want To Die (In A Hospital)” and lead single “Sausalito” – I can no longer deny how dang cool he is...

10. Jesus H. Christ & the Four Hornsmen of the Apocalypse – Happier Than You – This 8-piece out of New York describe themselves as a “rock/pop/metal/psychedelic/ cabaret” band. However you classify them, though, they are amazingly talented musicians who have an absurdist sense of humor – and the mix blends surprisingly well. Whether singing odes to hot secretaries (“Liz The Hot Receptionist”) or listing off the local drunks (“Alcoholics In My Town”), the male/female vocal duo smashes through every notion you could have about them turning in any serious works – and you’ll love them all the more for it.

11. Flogging Molly – Float – These Irish-American punks conjure up another fantastically bawdy soundtrack to a drunken brawl. Although the subject matter takes a decidedly darker turn, the disc is still one of the most lively of 2008.

12. Ryan Adams and the Cardinals – Cardinology – What the… Only one album from the prolific Adams in 2008? Am I seeing that correctly. Wow. But what a disc, punctuated with the exclamation point of a single like “Fix It”. Now if we could just get Mr. Adams to stop TALKING about consummating his love for the Cardinals by taking his name out of the band title and actually doing it…

13. Metallica – Death Magnetic – Until the disc came out, I had big doubts. Let’s face it, James Hetfield had turned into little more than a heavy metal crooner, making it sound like some kind of horribly themed opera – and that way only leads to crap like Creed, my friends. But Death Magnetic was their way to thumb their nose at their critics and tell us how much they can still rock out with their hoohadilly out.

That's it for now. Care to share your favorites? You know where the comments section is. I'll be back later this week with part 2 of the winter TV premieres. Have fun 'til then!