Best of 2008: 10 - 1

Best of 2008: 10 - 1


10. Sleepyhead, Passion Pit, Chunk of Change EP
RIYL: blip-pop, helium-induced samples, youthful indolence, everything going to the beat
Additional Album Tracks: I've Got Your Number, Smile Upon Me


9. Rat is Dead (Rage), CSS, Donkey
RIYL: wide-eyed electro rock, South American indie, Smashing Pumpkins' guitars, exterminators
Additional Album Tracks: Jager Yoga, How I Became Paranoid


8. Beautiful Beat, Nada Surf, Lucky
RIYL: straight-ahead guitar pop, big simple beats, chorus strings, music's salvific effect
Additional Album Tracks: See These Bones, Weightless


7. I'm Good, I'm Gone, Lykke Li, Youth Novels
RIYL: hand-claps, sultry Swedes, Peter, Bjorn & John, not answering your phone
Additional Album Tracks: Little Bit, Breaking It Up


6. Half Asleep, School of Seven Bells, Alpinism
RIYL: electronic shoegaze, angelic female harmonies, Stereolab, listening bored half asleep
Additional Album Tracks: Iamundernodisguise, Connjur


5. Skinny Love, Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago
RIYL: acoustic howling, a breakup opus, Sam Beam's beard, holing up in snow covered woods
Additional Album Tracks: Lump Sum, Re:Stacks


4. Lights & Music, Cut Copy, In Ghost Colours
RIYL: schoolboy crush vocals, indie guitar + synth beats, dancefloor cheddar, the best thing from Australia since Paul Hogan
Additional Album Tracks: Feel the Love, Out There on the Ice


3. Ghost Under Rocks, Ra Ra Riot, The Rhumb Line
RIYL: rock n'roll strings, co-ed Brooklynite vocals, Arcade Fire, wet dreams
Additional Album Tracks: Each Year, Dying is Fine


2. Gillian Was A Horse, Damien Jurado, Caught in the Trees
RIYL: literate acoustic pop, bar-room piano, Uncle Tupelo, the local library
Additional Album Tracks: Go First, Everything Trying


1. Electric Feel, MGMT, Oracular Spectacular
RIYL: falsetto funk, down beat breakdowns, The Flaming Lips, dancing until 3 AM
Additional Album Tracks: Time to Pretend, Kids

Best of 2008: 10 - 1