10 Year Vintage: The Best of 2008

I'll be taking the vintage blogs on somewhat of a hiatus, in that I'm not going to be as comprehensive in terms of territory as I usually am. I find myself becoming obsessive and this year I didn't even really get through a good deal of music I wanted to hear but had not before. It doesn't help that the years in question- '68, '78, '88, '98, and '08 were thriving years for music production- an explosion of sounds and peak years in psychedelic/rock, punk, disco, hip-hop, et al. So, I may still post here and there but might not make it as central a pursuit as previous years. I hope to still deliver some year end bests for the next few years though to deliver a fairly extensive (though still incomplete!) superlative index of the last 60 or so years.

 I had previously made a list of 2008 during the year in question (see side window). While somethings have definitely remained steady, it's clear I missed quite a bit, even as I was regularly reviewing music and mostly listening to new stuff.

 So here's the top 25 LP, 10 EPs, and 50 singles from 2008:

 Top LPs of 2008

1. Grouper- Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill

2. High Places- High Places

3. Flying Lotus- Los Angeles

4. Cut/Copy- In Ghost Colours

5. The Bug- London Zoo

6. Oneohtrix Point Never- Transmat Memories

7. Actress- Hazyville

8. Erykah Badu- New Amerykah Part One

9. Nite Jewel- Good Evening

10. Legowelt- The Rise and Fall of Manuel Noreaga

11. Pocahaunted- Island Diamonds

12. Max Tundra- Parallax Error Beheads You

13. Zomby- Where Were U in 92?

14. Portishead- Three

15. Wale- The Mixtape About Nothing

16. Grace Jones- Hurricane

17. Burial Hex- Initiations

18. Kanye West- 808s and Heartbreak

19. Diplo and Santogold- Top Ranking

20. Burning Star Core- Challenger

21. Coil - The New Backwards

22. David Byrne & Brian Eno- Everything That Happens Will Happen Today

23. Fennesz- Black Sea

24. Yo Majesty- Futuristically Speaking…Never Be Afraid

25. Various- Round Black Ghosts

Top EPs of 2008

1. Belong- Colorloss Record

2. Fleet Foxes- Sun Giant EP

3. Factory Floor- Planning Application

4. Oneohtrix Point Never- Ruined Lives

5. Memory Cassette- Rewind While Sleepy

6. One Day As A Lion- One Day As A Lion

7. Kanji Kinetic- Shock Tactics

8. Zomby- Zomby EP

9. Air France- No Way Down

10. Kid606- Die Soundboy Die

Top Singles of 2008

1. Fever Ray-  "If I Had a Heart""

2. Grouper-  "Heavy Water/I'd Rather Be Sleeping""

3. Nite Jewel-  "Artificial Intelligence""

4. Zomby-  "Spliff Dub (Rustie Mix)""

5. Sun Araw-  "Horse Steppin""

6. Various Production-  "Lost (Actress mix)""

7. Beyonce-  "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)""

8. Max Tundra-  "Will Get Fooled Again""

9. Grace Jones-  "Corporate Cannibal""

10. Cut/Copy-  "Lights and Music""

11. Jamie Foxx ft Kanye West and The-Dream-  "Digital Girl""

12. Portishead-  "Machine Gun""

13. T.I. feat Kanye West and Lil Wayne-  "Swagga Like Us""

14. Joker-  "Snake Eater""

15. DJ Sprinkles-  "Ball'r (Madonna-Free Zone)""

16. Kanye West ft Mr. Hudson-  "Paranoid""

17. M83-  "Kim & Jessie""

18. Darkstar-  "Need You""

19. Friendly Fires ft Au Revoir Simone-  "Paris (Aeroplane mix)""

20. Deerhunter-  "Nothing Ever Happened""

21. Mala-  "Miracles""

22. Black Kids-  "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You (The Twelves Mix)""

23. Kid Cudi vs Crookers-  "Day N Night""

24. Estelle ft Kanye West-  "American Boy""

25. Fleet Foxes-  "White Winter Hymnal""

26. Shackleton-  "Death is Not Final""

27. Yo Majesty-  "Grindin and Shakin""

28. Sigur Ros-  "Gobbledigook""

29. The Advisory Circle-  "Fire, Damp & Air""

30. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti-  "Can't Feel My Eyes""

31. Ratatat-  "Mirando (Animal Collective mix)""

32. Flying Lotus-  "RobertaFlack""

33. Erykah Badu-  "The Healer""

34. Ancient Methods-  "Second Method""

35. Fatima-  "Wildchild""

36. Leila ft Martina Topley Bird-  "Why Should I""

37. Britney Spears-  "Womanizer""

38. Lil Wayne-  "A Milli""

39. Coldplay-  "Viva La Vida""

40. Koushik-  "Bright and Shining""

41. Christina Aguiliera-  "Dynamite""

42. Factory Floor-  "Bipolar""

43. Dabyre feat AG-  "Get Dirty""

44. Trina feat Killer Mike-  "Look Back At Me""

45. Palms-  "Der Koenig""

46. Peverelist-  "Clunk Click Every Trip""

47. Untold-  "Test Signal""

48. Mike Slott-  "Knock Knock""

49. Scuba-  "Twitch (Jamie Vex'd mix)""

50. Santogold-  "Lights Out""