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