So we're halfway through 2008; what are your top 10 albums of this year, so far?

Off the top of my head:

Hold Steady
Orchestra Baobab
Vampire Weekend
Atmosphere
Al Green
The Roots
Jay Reatard
Drive-By Truckers

Update:

1. Portishead - Portishead
2. Fuck Buttons - Street Horssing
3. Lindstrom - Where You Go, I Go Too
4. Torche - Meanderthal
5. Made Out Of Babies - The Ruiner
6. Harvey Milk - Life... The Best Game In Town
7. James Blackshaw - Litany Of Echoes
8. Ponytail - Ice Cream Spiritual
9. The Roots - Rising Down
10. The Breeders - Mountain Battles

update

1. vampire weekend- s/t
2. the-dream- love/hate
3. los campesions!- hold on now youngster
4. hercules and love affair- s/t
5. cut copy- in ghost colours
6. hot chip- made in the dark
7. lil wayne- tha carter III
8. deerhunter- microcastle
9. lil boosie- da beginning
10. no age- nouns
---
11. abe vigoda- skeleton
12. the hold steady- stay positive
13. studio- yearbook 2
14. lindstrom- where you go i go too
15. rich boy- bigger than the mayor

im listing these last 5 because they'd be entrenched in my top 10 in any of the past few years. as i stated up thread (i think), this has been an extraordinary year for albums esp. indie

Shearwater
The Notwist
Polar Bear
The Do
Elbow
Portishead
Seu Jorge
Vampire Weekend
Why?
Four Tet

Rings - Black Habbit
Black Pus - Black Pus 4: All Aboard the Magic Pus
Fuck Button - Street Horrrsing
Spiritualized - Songs in A&E
Atlas Sound - Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See but Cannot Feel
Dan Friel - Ghost Town
Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
Deerhunter - Microcastle
Autechre - Quaristice
Pocahaunted - Island Diamonds

The Notwist - The Devil, You + Me
The Goslings - Occasion
Bauhaus - Go Away White
Made Out Of Babies - The Ruiner
Ufomammut - Idolum
Earth - The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull
Seu Jorge - America Brasil o Disco
Sons And Daughters - This Gift
Torche - Meanderthal
Kaki King - Dreaming of Revenge

While we're reviving the singles thread:

1 Erykah Badu
2 Portishead
3 Kelley Polar
4 Hercules & Love Affair
5 Calle 13
6 Solange
7 Nappy Roots
8 The-Dream
9 Jazmine Sullivan
10 Ne-Yo

1. los campesinos
2. the-dream
3. deerhunter
4. vampire weekend
5. t-pain
6. young jeezy
7. cut copy
8. hercules & love affair
9. lil boosie
10. hot chip

in a rough order...everything outside of the top 2 is still v fluid. and there's still ciara and beyonce to come! and i haven't included any mixes! aaagh.

erykah badu - new amerykah part one (4th world war)
mariah carey - e=mc2
the-dream - love/hate
young jeezy - the recession
wiley - grime wave
jazmine sullivan - fearless
lil' wayne - tha carter iii
luomo - convivial
danity kane - welcome to the dollhouse

the bug - london zoo
ne-yo - year of the gentleman
gang gang dance - saint dymphna
anja schneider - beyond the valley
solange - sol-angel and the hadley st dreams
laura marling - alas i cannot swim
kanye west - 808s and heartbreak
mlle caro & franck garcia - pain disappears
ashlee simpson - bittersweet world
kuniyuki takahashi - all these things

ear dis - welcome to floorboogie
roots manuva - slime and reason
tinchy stryder - cloud 9
portishead - third
akiko kiyama - 7 years

Lay it Down- Al Green
Oracular Spectacular- MGMT
Flying Lotus- Los Angeles
That Lucky Old Sun- Brian Wilson
The Weather Clock- July Skies
Gebel Barkal- Om
Sou- Marcelo Camelo
The Way of All Flesh- Gojira
Other Channels- The Advisory Circle
Attack & Release- Black Keys

deerhunter - microcastle
sigur ros - meo veopoefinvnqneqnne'oeknk'gfvneqpogne'on
the walkmen - you & me
of montreal - skeletal lamping
eat skull - sick to death
vampire weekend - st (i know, i'm a gay retard)
no age - nouns
SM + the jicks - real emo trash
the hold steady - stay positive
marnie stern - this is it...

overall not as strong as 07 was for me

jeezy, nyg'z, erykah, the-dream, ABN, webbie, peven everett, AZ, raheem devaughn, statik selektah,

is everyone counting the gucci mane as last year

anyway im holding a spot open for scarface's new record. i havent listened to that prodigy record yet either. and whats up with a dro record this year.

i see killer mike didnt get much traction

If people are counting The-Dream, you can probably count Gucci Mane

gucci mane should've been in my list, i think i deleted a line accidentally

1. Portishead – Third
2. TV On The Radio – Dear Science
3. Fuck Buttons – Street Horrrsing
4. Lindstrøm – Where You Go I Go To
5. Torche - Meanderthal
6. Made Out Of Babies – The Ruiner
7. The Roots – Rising Down
8. Gang Gang Dance – Saint Dymphna
9. Harvey Milk – Life… The Best Game In Town
10. Vivian Girls – Vivian Girls

agh, lindstrom was deleted from my list too!!

This is what I've got at the moment (apologies for the formatting, I pasted this from RYM):

1
Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes (2008)
2
Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend (2008)
3
Thao With The Get Down Stay Down
We Brave Bee Stings and All (2008)
4
Stephen Malkmus
Real Emotional Trash (2008)
5
Santogold
Santogold (2008)
6
Opeth
Watershed (2008)
7
Pete & the Pirates
Little Death (2008)
8
Jenny Scheinman
Crossing the Field (2008)
9
Destroyer
Trouble in Dreams (2008)
10
Jenny Scheinman
Jenny Scheinman (2008)

If I could include Kevin Ayers Unfairground, which I didn't hear until this year, then that would probably be around #3.

devotchka, july skies, mogil, auburn lull, ruby suns, gareth s brown, moto boy, cocoanut groove, library tapes, lodger, regina, motifs, randomnumber, moscow olympics, rockettothesky, soda fountain rag, sound of arrows ep, stereolab, still corners ep, vapnet

As with my singles, this is extremely, extremely provisional:

1. Ne-Yo, Year of the Gentleman (Def Jam)
2. Poplife Sucks (N.E.W.S.)
3. Erykah Badu, New Amerykah Part 1: 4th World War (Motown)
4. Spoon, Daytrotter Session (http://www.daytrotter.com/article/1322/spoon)
5. Raphael Saadiq, The Way I See It (Columbia)
6. Hercules and Love Affair (DFA/Mute)
7. Fucked Up, The Chemistry of Common Life (Matador)
8. Portishead, Third (Mercury)
9. Lil’ Wayne, Tha Carter III (Cash Money)
10. Flying Lotus, Los Angeles (Warp)

Second ten: Etran Finatawa, Benga, Dave Aju, Tape, the Hold Steady, Bob Dylan, Gang Gang Dance, caUSE co-MOTION!, Girl Talk, the Muslims.

1. The-Dream - Love/Hate
2. Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now, Youngster/We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
3. Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Pt 1: 4th World War
4. Jay Reatard - Singles 06-07/Singles 08
5. Jerusalem and the Starbaskets - The Howling
6. Kelley Pollar - I Need You to Hold on While the Sky is Falling
7. Kleerup - s/t
8. Mariah Carey - E=MC2
9. Mahjongg - Kontpab
10. Scarlett Johansson - Anywhere I Lay My Head

I should point out that my top five artists were all slated to release two albums this year.

Extremely tentative Top 25 snapshot of this random point in time, including a number of releases (asterisked) that might conceivably make more sense on a reissues ballot, if there is one, and if I made the more-or-less aribitrary decision to put them there:

1 - 10:
Jamey Johnson – That Lonesome Song (Mercury)
Rose Tattoo – Blood Brothers (Wacken)
Ross Johnson – Make It Stop! The Most Of Ross Johnson (Goner)*
The Knux – Remind Me In 3 Days… (Interscope)
Rick Springfield – Venus In Overdrive (New Door/Universal Music Enterprises)
The Tonic Rays – The Tonic Rays (thetonicrays.com ’07)
Woodbox Gang – Drunk As Dragons (Alternative Tentacles)
Carter’s Chord – Carter’s Chord (Show Dog Nashville)
Teacher’s Pet – Teacher’s Pet (Smog Veil)*
Prisonshake – Dirty Moons (Scat)

11 - 20
Morel – The Death Of The Paperboy (Outsider Music)
The Lizards – är-chē-ol’-ō-gy (Hypserspace)
Banastre Tarleton Band – Huzzah! Greatest Hits (Green Horse)*
(Various) – 1970s Algerian Proto-Rai Underground (Subliminal Frequencies)*
Steinski – What Does It All Mean?: 1983-2006 Retrospective (Illegal Art)*
New Bloods – The Secret Life (K EP)
Girlschool – Legacy (Steamhammer/SPV/Wacken)
Trace Adkins – X (EMI)
Eddy Current Suppression Ring – Primary Colours (Goner)
Toby Keith – That Don’t Make Me A Bad Guy (Show Dog Nashville)

21 - 25
Black Diamond Heavies – A Touch Of Someone Else’s Class (Alive)
Sonny Rollins – Road Shows Vol. 1 (Doxy)*
Final Solutions – Songs By Solutions (Goner EP ’07)
Ashlee Simpson – Bittersweet World (Geffen)
Fotheringay – 2 (Fledgling)*

1. The-Dream - Love/Hate
2. Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now, Youngster/We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
3. Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Pt 1: 4th World War
4. Jay Reatard - Singles 06-07/Singles 08
5. Jerusalem and the Starbaskets - The Howling
6. Kelley Pollar - I Need You to Hold on While the Sky is Falling
7. Kleerup - s/t
8. Mariah Carey - E=MC2
9. Mahjongg - Kontpab
10. Scarlett Johansson - Anywhere I Lay My Head

― Tape Store, Sunday, November 2, 2008 4:09 PM (1 hour ago)

jerusalem and the starbaskets put out a full-length? i can't find it anywhere. i really like their song "i cannot radiato without you"

pretty close to the tracks list...

1. The Drones - Havilah
2. Made Out of Babies - The Ruiner
3. Shearwater - Rook
4. Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
5. Parts and Labor - Receivers
6. Wolf Parade - At Mt Zoomer
7. Drive-by Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark
8. Hilotrons - Happymatic
9. Hot Chip - Made in the Dark
10. Jaguar Love - Take Me to the Sea

Portishead, The Cure, Badu, Santogold, Mountain Goats

jerusalem and the starbaskets put out a full-length? i can't find it anywhere. i really like their song "i cannot radiato without you"

i ordered mine from their myspace a month or so ago, so they might still have some, and they also seem to have copies here:

http://www.goner-records.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=3379

there's also another LP coming out on great pop supplement early next year

add au revoir borealis to my list, it is absolutely beautiful.

i'll talk to jeremy this week...i only have the lp, not a cd.

the usual disclaimers apply.

1. Hercules and Love Affair - s/t
2. Erykah Badu - the long-ass title of that record
3. Ital Tek - Cyclical
4. Flying Lotus - Los Angeles
5. Luomo - Convivial
6. Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple
7. David Byrne & Brian Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
8. TV On the Radio - Dear Science
9. Autechre - Quaristice
10. The Sea and Cake - Car Alarm

not that it matters, as i don't/won't vote in the vv poll, but here goes my top 25, not necessarily in order. remember it is only november 2.

erykah badu, nuamerykah vol. 1: fourth world war
dub colossus, a town called addis
gipsy.cz, reprezent
lila downs, shake away
gilfema, gilfema +2
lil mama, voice of the young people
a.r. rahman, jodhaa-akbar soundtrack
plastilina mosh, all u need is mosh
xx teens, welcome to goon island
esperanza spalding, esperanza
various artists but mainly stew, passing strange soundtrack
eddie floyd, eddie loves you so
akoya afrobeat, p.d.p.
cuong vu, vu-tet
t.i., paper trail
george clinton and the gangsters of love, s/t
solange, sol-angel and the hadley st. dreams
tv on the radio, dear science
goldfrapp, seventh tree
kasai all-stars, in the 7th moon...
fuck the facts, disgorge mexico
of montreal, skeletal lamping
gym class heroes, the quilt

There's a lot I haven't heard that I want to hear (not necessarily on the lists above), but these are my favorites so far (a list which has hardly changed since the spring):

Boris - Smile [Japanese version]
Nejo & Dalmata - Broke and Famous [realy late 2007]
Soneros All Stars, Featuring Cesar "Pupy" Pedroso - La Timba So Yo
Henry Fiol - De Cachete

Also, Cesar Pedroso has a solo album out which I'm pretty sure will be one of my favorites once I hear the rest (two tracks I haven't heard yet).

I just got Dungen 4, which will probably bump something off my list above.

Right now I'm feeling like:

The-Dream - Love/Hate
Luomo - Convivial
Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna
Air France - No Way Down EP
V/A: Wighnomy Brothers - Metawuffmischfelge
Young Jeezy - The Recession
Lindstrom - Where You Go I Go Too
Shy Child - Noise Won't Stop
V/A: Fred Deakin - Presents Nu-Balearica
El Guincho - Allegranza

The albums I haven't heard that I suspect are most likely to smash this list are Taylor Swift and Ne-Yo. School of Seven Bells is just on the outside and might end up overtaking stuff in the lower stretches, too.

good list. i forgot guincho

100% agree on dream and jeezy. whats that nu-balearica comp about?

It's a bit of a 'NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL NU-BALEARIC' cash-in - lots of stuff like Reverso 68, Aeroplane, A Mountain of One, Prins Thomas, Todd Terje etc. etc.

Predictable and objectively rather samey at times (subjectively this stuff is catnip for me so I don't really notice), but there's an astonishingly high number of amazing tracks. In some ways it's more of a chance to collectively big-up a whole bunch of stuff I loved last year than a life-changing statement in and of itself.

The best track I hadn't heard before is Wallis Bird's "Counting To Sleep (Reverso 68 Remix)" (and the best track I HAD heard is probably Reverso 68's "Piece Together Part 2" - god I love them).

Re El Guincho - I'm kind of hoping it falls outside of my top ten by the end of the year. I love it but I'd be even happier if it was, say, only the thirteenth best album I had in 2008.

Let's see. Not sure it's ten yet and in no particular order but...

No Age - Nouns
Quiet Village - Silent Movie
Lindstrom - Where you go I go too
Melchior Productions - No Disco Future
Deerhunter - Microcastle
Walkmen - You and Me
Air France - No Way Down
The Breeders - Mountain Battles
High Places - High Places

Prisonshake – Dirty Moons (Scat)

You just made my day Chuck.
I had no idea they had a new one.

1. Bon Iver-For Emma, Forever Ago
2. Erykah Badu-New Amerkyah, Pt. 1: 4th World War
3. Antony & The Johnsons-Another World EP
4. Tape-Luminarium
5. Portishead-Third
6. Hercules And Love Affair-S/T
7. Bird Show-Untitled
8. Four Tet-Ringer
9. Autechre-Quaristice
10.Lucky Dragons-Dream Island Laughing Language

I don't even know if I could make a top 10 out of things I heard this year, but...

people need to quit sleeping on the bug CD

I couldn't get into a mountain of one until the other day when I had a massive hangover and it was the only thing in the pile that made any sense. how is it not on any of these lists? also liked:

landed - how little will it take?
naked on the vague - blood pressure sessions
teeth mountain
some of that destroyer album

things I need to spend more time with: endless boogie, prurient

things I still haven't heard: the ex & getatchew mekurya, indian jewelry, made in mexico, usaisamonster, growing, no age, cut copy

things I tried to listen to but stopped because it felt like homework: marnie stern, ponytail, portishead, times new viking, guns n roses, vampire weekend

If it makes you feel any better it is actually the 2nd top album on metacritic:

http://www.metacritic.com/music/bests/2008.shtml

As of today...although I feel like I'm forgetting something

1 Erykah Badu
2 Solange
3 The Foreign Exchange
4 Portishead
5 The-Dream
6 Robin Thicke
7 Kelley Polar
8 Nappy Roots
9 Calle 13
10 Hercules & Love Affair
11 The Bug
12 Matmos
13 Vampire Weekend
14 T.I.
15 Labelle
16 Lil Wayne
17 Ne-Yo
18 T-Pain
19 Sebastien Tellier
20 Jazmine Sullivan
21 J*Davey
22 TV on the Radio
23 Lupe Fiasco
24 Lindstrom
25 Janet Jackson

1. Made Out of Babies – The Ruiner
2. Secret Chiefs 3 – Xaphan: Book of Angels
3. Asva – What You Don’t Know is Frontier
4. Meshuggah – obZen
5. Harvey Milk – Life...the Best Game in Town
6. Mike Patton – A Perfect Place
7. Marnie Stern – This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That
8. DeSalvo – Mood Poisoner
9. Melvins – Nude with Boots
10. Koenjihyakkei – Hundred Sights of Koenji

I forgot Santogold, which would be about #20 or so.

you didnt forget anything rev

here's a rough version of the top 50 I will continue to tinker with over the next month:

Erykah Badu - New Amerykah: 4th World War
Young Jeezy - The Recession
Parts & Labor - Receivers
Jaguar Love - Take Me To The Sea
Robin Thicke - Something Else
Evangelista - Hello, Voyager
Pink - Funhouse
A.B.N. - It Is What It Is
Coldplay - Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
Nine Inch Nails - The Slip

Raphael Saadiq - The Way I See It
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
Raheem DeVaughn - Love Behind The Melody
Jonathan Richman - Because Her Beauty Is Raw And Wild
Sloan - Parallel Play
My Brightest Diamond - A Thousand Shark's Teeth
Prodigy - Product Of The 80s
Sheek Louch - Silverback Gorilla
T.I. - Paper Trail
Walter Becker - Circus Money

The Raconteurs - Consolers Of The Lonely
Rich Boy - Bigger Than The Mayor
Q-Tip - The Renaissance
John Legend - Evolver
David Byrne & Brian Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
T-Pain - Thr33 Ringz
Termanology - Politics As Usual
Ne-Yo - Year Of The Gentleman
Grand Buffet - King Vision
Blake Leyh - X-Ray Yankee Zulu Tango

The B-52s - Funplex
Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I-IV
R.E.M. - Accelerate
Dan Friel - Ghost Town
Jazmine Sullivan - Fearless
Nas - Untitled
Statik Selektah - Stick 2 The Script
Dwele - Sketches Of A Man
Prodigy - H.N.I.C. 2
Mike Doughty - Golden Delicious

various artists - The Wire: " … and all the pieces matter"
Firewater - The Golden Hour
Foxboro Hottubs - Stop Drop And Roll!!
Slim - Love's Crazy
The Roots - Rising Down
AZ - Undeniable
Apollo Sunshine - Shall Noise Upon
The Pretenders - Break Up The Concrete
Little Feat - Join The Band
The Alchemist - The Cutting Room Floor Vol. II

Top 20 I submitted in a couple of places

1 Be Your Own Pet ‘Get Awkward’ (XL)
2 The Doubtful Guest ‘Acid Sauna’ (Planet Mu)
3 Blood Ceremony ‘Blood Ceremony’ (Rise Above)
4 Silver Jews ‘Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea’ (Drag City)
5 Billy Bao ‘Dialectics Of Shit’ (Parts Unknown)
6 Hercules & Love Affair ‘Hercules & Love Affair’ (DFA)
7 Geoffrey Oi!Cott ‘The Good, The Bad & The Googly’ (Boss Tuneage)
8 RTX ‘JJ Got LIve RATX’ (Drag City)
9 Jex Thoth ‘Jex Thoth’ (I Hate)
10 Fucked Up ‘The Chemistry Of Common Life’ (Matador)
11 Gnaw Their Tongues 'An Epiphanic Vomiting Of Blood' (Crucial Blast)
12 Half Man Half Biscuit 'CSI: Ambleside' (Probe Plu)
13 Volcano! 'Paperwork' (Leaf)
14 Krallice ‘Krallice’ (Profound Lore)
15 Harvey Milk 'Life... The Best Game In Town' (Hydra Head)
16 Lords ‘Everyone Is People’ (Gringo)
17 Racebannon 'Acid Or Blood' (Southern)
18 Koushik ‘Outside My Window’ (Stones Throw)
19 Black Mountain ‘In The Future’ (Jagjaguwar)
20 Dimension X ‘Dimension X’ (KML)

Top Twenty:

The-Dream - Love/Hate
Luomo - Convivial
Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna
V/A: Wighnomy Brothers - Metawuffmischfelge
Air France - No Way Down (UK Version)
DJ Sprinkles - Midtown 120 Blues
Ne-Yo - Year of the Gentleman
Young Jeezy - The Recession
Lindstrom - Where You Go I Go Too
Shy Child - Noise Won't Stop

Trus'me - Working Nights
Lee Jones - Electronic Frank
Taylor Swift - Fearless
El Guincho - Alegranza!
V/A: Fred Deakin - Nu-Balearica
School of Seven Bells - Alpinisms
Move D & Benjamin Brunn - Songs From The Beehive
TV on the Radio - Dear Science,
Noze - Songs on the Rocks
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
Fleet Foxes - Ragged Wood