Music is fun, right? So let's take the fun out....

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123325321424929493.html?mod=article-outset-box

The people have spoken

The top 10 discs of 2008 as chosen by the individual nostril hairs and boogers that comprise the Down Your Nose group:

1) Drive By Truckers - Brighter Than Creations Dark (33 points)
2) The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely (31)
3) Sleeping in the Aviary - Expensive Vomit in a Cheap Hotel (20)
4) My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges (17)
5) The Hold Steady - Stay Positive (16)
6) Stephen Malkmus & the Jiks - Real Emotional Trash (14)
7) Foxboro Hot Tubs - Stop Drop & Roll (13)
8) The Felice Brothers - The Felice Brothers (13)
9) James McMurtry - Just Us Kids (11)
10) Sloan - Parallel Play (11)

2008 Faves - Top Ten CD's

Top 10 CD’s of 2008 according to ME!

1. Drive- By-Truckers - Brighter Than Creation’s Dark
2. Bob Dylan – Bootleg Tapes Volume 8
3. Randy Newman – Harps and Angels
4. Taylor Swift – Fearless
5. Brian Wilson – That Lucky Old Sun
6. Okkervil River – The Stand-Ins
7. Theory of a Deadman – Scars and Souvenirs
8. Explorer’s Club – Freedom Wind
9. Alejandro Escovedo – Real Animal
10. British Sea Power – Do You Like Rock Music?

me favs

1 Duke Spirit Neptune
2 Foxboro Hot Tubs
3 Stone Gods
4 Fish
5 Gutter Twins
6 Airborne Toxic Effect
7 The kooks
8 Sloan
9 Switches

Great in 08:
1. Dr. Dog- Fate
2. MMJ- Evil Urges
3. The Raconteurs- Consolers Of The Lonely
4. Supergrass- Diamond Hoo Ha
5. Eef Barzelay- Lose Big
6. Fleet Foxes- Fleet Foxes
7. Little Jackie- The Stoop
8. The Morning Light- The Morning Light
9. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks- Real Emotional Trash
10. Elvis Costello & The Imposters- Momofuku

Song Disqualification

Mr. Jay's selection "Colleen" by the Heavy is from 2007. He is hear-by fined 30 sheckles and his top 10 disc receives 2 demerits.

Zee Top Ten de Boucher

Ken's Top 10 of 2008

In my opinon, a very good year for music. I have left off many that I feel were worthy.

Ladyhawk Shots Indie "alternative" rock without the corporate perfection.
Blitzen Trappen Furr Eclectic Wilco, only more accessible.
Magnetic Fields Distortion First deliberate "distorted" sound release that works.
Nada Surf Lucky Easy to dismiss, but this is a very strong disc.
Drive By Truckers Brighter Than Creation is Dark A little long, but solid. The boys can play a lament about crappy surroundings better than anyone.
Sleeping in the Aviary Expensive Vomit in a Cheap Hotel New direction with their messy, low-fi, garage rock. It grows on you.
John Hiatt Same Old Man Nothing new, but the songs resonate with me. 100 times better than last studio release.
Sloane Parallel Play Poppy. Clever. Intelligent. Great hooks.
Felice Brothers Felice Brothers Heartfelt and mesmerizing.
Raconteurs Consolers of the Lonely Diverse without being crazy and it showcases each members strengths within the confines of a band.

Honorable mentions upon request.

Disappointments
Two Cow Garage Speaking in Cursive Needed a lot more time in the oven.
Electric Six Flashy They're allowed one dud, and this one should last them til 2020.
Ike Reilly Poison the Hit Parade Can't call it new when much was released before.
Todd Snider Peace Queer His worst release ever.
TV on the Radio Dear Science, Don't get it. I guess over produced, monotonous, non-flowing lyrical works are the next bomb.

Best Shows
Drive By Truckers/Whigs- Toad's Place
Electric Six/Tragedy/Coke Dares- Iron Horse

Over Hyped
Lil' Wayne In no way is he as talented as the mags tout. All thug style no substance. How can his disc be #1? I'm beyond befuddled.
Britney Spears See above…. Comeback? Great release? America's Darling? Gimme an MF break.
Jonas Brothers Talented? Yes, but one magazine said they were more talented and wrote better songs than the Beatles. I rest my case.
Madonna Should have retired 10 years ago.

Top Ten from the Sticks

Disc of the Year (but disqualified because it wasn’t new material)
Bob Dylan – “Tell Tale Signs”


The Top Ten of 2008

HM – Raphael Saddiq – The Way I See It
HM – Conor Oberst – Conor Oberst
HM – REM – Accelerate

10. Kaiser Chiefs – Off With Their Heads – Shallow as a puddle, but great fun. A pleasant surprise, as I was not a big fan of their previous work.

9. TV on the Radio – Dear Science – A disc that continues to grow on me. Great mix of styles. Props to Fearless Leader for submitting.

8. Raconteurs – Consolers of the Lonely – Jack White seems incapable of doing anything wrong.

7. The Felice Brothers – The Felice Brothers – These Catskill freaks tried to remake “The Basement Tapes” and somehow succeed.

6. Lucinda Williams – Little Honey – Her best since “Car Wheels”. Band is rocking and Lu loosened up on most tracks.

5. Death Cab for Cutie – Narrow Stairs – DCFC is a band hitting their stride, and this was a solid disc full of great stories and good tunes.

4. James McMurtry – Just Us Kids – Perhaps the best lyricist out there at the moment. His band is top notch, and this disc was a dandy.

3. My Morning Jacket – Evil Urges – My most listened to disc of the year. Alt-country, funk, classic rock, its all here and done well.

2. The Hold Steady – Stay Positive – Showed significant growth musically and lyrically. Granted, they still sound like E-Street Band Part II, but if you’re going to blatantly imitate a band, there’s no better choice.

1. Drive By Truckers – Brighter Than Creations Dark – Yes, at 19 songs and 70+ minutes, its about 4 songs too long, but so is Exile on Main Street. This is a monster of a disc that has everything that makes music matter. Mix the Replacements’ sloppiness and wit, Springsteen’s social conscience and the defiance and fury of Neil Young and Crazy Horse and this is what you get.

Thanks For the Free Grub, Jay!

Mong’s Top 10 for 2008

NOTE: I had one late entry* this year, which I discovered after making/compiling my “best of” CD. So my list has been updated/corrected here. Push everything under #5 down one...because lists are important.

1) Stephen Malkmus (& The Jicks) – Real Emotional Trash
2) Sleeping in the Aviary – Expensive Vomit In A Cheap Hotel
3) The Raconteurs – Consolers Of The Lonely
4) The Black Keys – Attack & Release
5) * Witch – Paralyzed
6) Black Mountain – In The Future
7) Foxboro Hot Tubs (a.k.a. Green Day) – Stop Drop And Roll
8) Weezer – (Red Album)
9) The Subways – All Or Nothing
10) New Radiant Storm King – Drinking In The Moonlight

Jay's Best of 2008

10. New Radiant Storm King/Drinking in the Moonlight - Enough great rockers on this one to break into the top 10.

9. Steve Malkmus & the Jiks/Real Emotional Trash - Great combination of pop craftmanship and guitar hero jamming.

8. Boston Spaceships/Brown Submarine - Pollard learns how to edit out the crap and turns out his most consistent solo effort yet.

7. James McMurtry/Just Us Kids - Don't like his politics, but there is no denying that he knows how to write evocative songs that also happen to sound good

6. Sleeping in the Aviary/Expensive Vomit in a Cheap Hotel - Another odd winnner from this overlooked group.

5. Neil Young/Sugar Mountain - Makes the top 10 for the stories alone. An interesting look at an artist on the cusp of greatness.

4. The Hold Steady/Stay Positive - Confusing growth with inconsistency, many thought this was a step back, but it's just more mature and the passion, writing and power are still evident.

3. Drive By Truckers/Brighter Than Creation's Dark - Again, a step out of the comfort zone due to some shared writing duties un-nerved some, but this is still classic DBT.

2. Paul Westerberg/:49 - An unholy mess and yes, it would have been better had he completed the songs and tracked the CD, but it would not have been half as compelling and this is filled with more good songs and song ideas than most people can put into 5 records.

1. Two Cow Garage/Speaking in Cursive - In which our boy heroes turn down the volume, look inward more than outward, and in the process author a passionate, sloppy, at times intimate, portrait of the artists as young men.

Here's a few that might have made the list had I actually had the time to buy/listen to them: Kings of Leaon, Gaslight Anthem, Counting Crows, Gary Louris, Sloan, Marah, British Sea Power, Okkervil River, Randy Newman, Kathleen Edwards and Destroyer.

Here's a few that will never make any list of mine no matter how many college rock critics heap praise on them: Fleet Foxes, Vampire Weekend and TV on the Radio

Greg's 2008 Favorites (As predicted)

1. The Killers – Day & Age
2. Foo Fighters Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
3. Cold Play – Viva La Vida
4. Scarlett Johansson – Anywhere I Lay My Head
5. Fall Out Boy – Folie & Deux
6. Kings of Leon - Only by the Night
7. Judas Priest – Nostradamus
8. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend
9. Raconteurs