AllMusic Loves 2008

We will begin our 2009 blowout very soon -- later this week. For now, here is the expanded, remastered, reissued, double-disc-plus-DVD version of The AllMusic Pop Editors' Favorites of 2008. While the editors' lists of favorite songs and albums in that feature maxed out at ten, some of the lists in this feature go up to 20, providing a more in-depth look at 2008, a year highlighted by some exceptional album debuts (including the self-titled releases from Santogold, Fleet Foxes, and Vampire Weekend) and adventurous returns (Portishead, Erykah Badu).

John Bush
Benga - Diary of an Afro Warrior
Santogold - Santogold
Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak
Weezer - Weezer (Red Album)
Portishead - Third
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
The Kills - Midnight Boom
TV on the Radio - Dear Science
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Q-Tip - The Renaissance
Solange - Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams
Duffy - Rockferry
The Mars Volta - The Bedlam in Goliath
Jazzanova - Of All the Things
Los Campesinos! - Hold on Now, Youngster...
Ne-Yo - Year of the Gentleman
Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
Taylor Swift - Fearless
Flying Lotus - Los Angeles
The Verve - Forth

M83 - "Kim & Jessie"
Duffy - "Rockferry"
Ryan Adams - "Magick"
Solange - "Dancing in the Dark"
Ne-Yo - "Miss Independent"
Fleet Foxes - "Red Squirrel/Sun Rises"
Jay Reatard - "See/Saw"
Blitzen Trapper - "Sleepy Time in the Western World"
Bon Iver - "Flume"
Kanye West f/ Kid Cudi - "Welcome to Heartbreak"
Girl Talk - "Play Your Part, Pt. 1"
The Ting Tings - "Great DJ"
Kid Cudi f/ Wale - "Is There Any Love?"
Jonas Brothers - "BB Good"
Alphabeat - "Boyfriend"
Adele - "Daydreamer"
The Phenomenal Handclap Band - "15 to 20"
Black Kids - "Hit the Heartbrakes"
Q-Tip - "Gettin' Up"
Benga - "Zero M2"

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Portishead - Third
The Kills - Midnight Boom
Randy Newman - Harps and Angels
Foxboro Hot Tubs - Stop Drop and Roll!!!
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue
Neon Neon - Stainless Style
The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely
Juliana Hatfield - How to Walk Away
Paul Weller - 22 Dreams

Weezer - "Troublemaker"
Christina Aguilera - "Keeps Getting Better"
Oasis - "Waiting for the Rapture"
Oasis - "The Shock of the Lightning"
Katy Perry - "Hot N Cold"
Scott Weiland - "Blind Confusion"
The Raconteurs - "Hold Up"
AC/DC - "Rock 'n' Roll Train"
Britney Spears - "Womanizer"
Portishead - "Machine Gun"

Heather Phares
Beach House - Devotion
The Breeders - Mountain Battles
Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
Deerhunter - Microcastle/Weird Era Continued
Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing
Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree
Grouper - Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill
Hercules and Love Affair - Hercules and Love Affair
Hot Chip - Made in the Dark
Indian Jewelry - Free Gold!
Johan Johannsson - Fordlandia
The Kills - Midnight Boom
Leila - Blood, Looms and Blooms
M83 - Saturdays=Youth
Mogwai - The Hawk is Howling
Benoît Pioulard - Temper
Portishead - Third
Santogold - Santogold
TV on the Radio - Dear Science
The Walkmen - You & Me

Beach House - "You Came to Me"
Crystal Castles - "Alice Practice"
Hot Chip - "Ready for the Floor"
Department of Eagles - "No One Does It Like You"
Deerhunter - "Nothing Ever Happened"
Kerli - "Walking on Air"
The Kills - "Cheap and Cheerful"
Pop Levi - "Never Never Love"
Metronomy - "Radio Ladio"
Vampire Weekend - "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"

Matt Collar
Drew Andrews - Only Mirrors
Deerhunter - Microcastle
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Drew Gess - The Irrational Numbers
Neon Neon - Stainless Style
Jason Palmer - Songbook
Pia Fraus - After Summer
The Primary 5 - High Five
St Deluxe - St Deluxe
Marnie Stern - This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That...

Drew Andrews - "I Could Write a Book"
Attic Lights - "Never Get Sick of the Sea"
Hot Club of Detroit - "Seven Steps to Heaven"
The Primary 5 - "Lost and Confused"
St Deluxe - "New Wave Stars"
Marnie Stern - "Transformer"
Robin Thicke - "Magic"

Greg Heaney
Torche - Meanderthal
The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
No Age - Nouns
Mogwai - The Hawk Is Howling
She & Him - Volume One
Harvey Milk - Life...The Best Game in Town
Melvins - Nude with Boots
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
The Sword - Gods of the Earth
Earth - The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull
Firewater - The Golden Hour
Cult of Luna - Eternal Kingdom
Akoya Afrobeat - P.D.P.
Girl Talk - Feed the Animals
Murs - Murs for President
Champions of Breakfast - Pleasure Mountain
Pas/Cal - I Was Raised on Matthew, Mark, Luke and Laura
Russian Circles - Station
Silver Jews - Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea

David Jeffries
88 Keys - The Death of Adam
Benga - Diary of an Afro Warrior
Bizzy Bone - A Song for You
Black Milk - Tronic
The Bug - London Zoo
Girl Talk - Feed the Animals
Heavy D - Vibes
Khold - Hundre Ar Gammal
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
Scarface - Emeritus

Andy Kellman
Erykah Badu - New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War
The Foreign Exchange - Leave It All Behind
Flying Lotus - Los Angeles
Newworldaquarium - The Dead Bears
School of Seven Bells - Alpinisms
Portishead - Third
Quiet Village - Silent Movie
Wighnomy Brothers - Metawuffmischfelge
Robert Hood - Fabric 39
Hercules & Love Affair - Hercules & Love Affair
Osborne - Osborne
Jean Grae - Jeanius
The Bug - London Zoo
Kelley Polar - I Need You to Hold on While the Sky Is Falling
Theo Parrish - Sound Sculptures, Vol. 1
Zomby - Where Were U in '92?
Jazmine Sullivan - Fearless
Scarface - Emeritus
Solange - Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams
Autechre - Quaristice

The-Dream - "I Luv Your Girl"
The Foreign Exchange - "Daykeeper"
Erykah Badu - "Soldier"
Portishead - "Machine Gun"
TRG - "Broken Heart [Martyn's DCM Remix]"
Dances with White Girls - "Took My Love Away"
José James - "Park Bench People"
Hercules & Love Affair - "Blind [Frankie Knuckles Remix]"
Dâm-Funk - "Galactic Fun"
Moody - "Freeki Mutha F cker"
Ryan Leslie - "Diamond Girl"
Geiom - "Reminissin'"
Shackleton - "Death Is Not Final"
Matias Aguayo - "Minimal [DJ Koze Mix]"
Mathew Jonson - "Symphony for the Apocalypse"
Aeroplane - "Whispers"
Raheem DeVaughn - "Customer"
DJ Koze - "Let's Love"
Kissey Asplund - "Silverlake"
Pangaea - "You & I"

Andrew Leahey
Miniature Tigers - Tell It to the Volcano
Lykke Li - Youth Novels
M83 - Saturdays=Youth
Priscilla Ahn - A Good Day
Drive-By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark
Nada Surf - Lucky
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Meiko - Meiko
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
Old 97s - Blame It on Gravity
The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age of the Understatement
Prabir & the Substitutes - Five Little Pieces
Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line
Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers - Turbo Ocho
Sloan - Parallel Play
Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul
Ruby Suns - Sea Lion
Butch Walker - Sycamore Meadows
My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges

Birdlips - "Some Kind of Death"
Botticellis - "Up Against the Glass"
Miniature Tigers - "Hot Venom"
Paramore - "That's What You Get"
Prabir & the Substitutes - "The Kiss"
Fleet Foxes - "White Winter Hymnal"
The Last Shadow Puppets - "Standing Next to Me"
Margot & the Nuclear So and So's - "As Tall as Cliffs"
Coldplay - "Strawberry Swing"
MGMT - "Electric Feel"
M.I.A. - "Paper Planes"
Meiko - "Reasons to Love You"
M83 - "Graveyard Girl"
KaiserCartel - "OK"
Tilly & the Wall - "Falling Without Knowing"
The Weepies - "Antarctica"

Jason Lymangrover
The Breeders - Mountain Battles
Girl Talk - Feed the Animals
Justice - Cross
The Kills - Midnight Boom
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
M83 - Saturdays=Youth
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
No Age - Nouns
Quiet Village - Silent Movie
Times New Viking - Rip It Off
Torche - Meanderthal
Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing
Fucked Up - The Chemistry of Common Life
Kap Bambino - Zero Life, Night Vision
Jay Reatard - Matador Singles '08
Santogold - Santogold
Marnie Stern - This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That...
The Walkmen - You & Me
Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak
The Wilderness - (k)no(w)here

Brian Jonestown Massacre - "Dropping Bombs on the Whitehouse"
Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip - "Thou Shalt Always Kill"
Crystal Castles - "Crimewave"
31 Knots - "Worried But Not Well"
Benji Hughes - "Baby, It's Your Life!"
XX Teens - "Sun Comes Up"
Oxford Collapse - "The Birthday Wars"
Beck - "Chemtrails"
Zach Hill - "Dark Art"
Yo Majesty - "Club Action"

James Christopher Monger
Shearwater - Rook
The Horse Flies - Until the Ocean
Blitzen Trapper - Furr
Protest the Hero - Fortress
Lindsay Buckingham - Gift of Screws
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
The Kills - Midnight Boom
Johnny Flynn - A Larum
British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?
Mother Mother - O My Heart
Mates of State - Re-Arrange Us
Randy Newman - Harps and Angels
Wild Beasts - Limbo, Panto
Duke Spirit - Neptune
Santogold - Santogold
TV on the Radio - Dear Science
Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree
Killers - Day & Age
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
Baby Dee - Safe Inside the Day

Futureheads - "Radio Heart"
Pop Levi - "Dita Dimoné"
Pop Project - "Never Got the Breaks"
Plants & Animals - "Bye Bye Bye"
Okkervil River - "Lost Coastlines"
Last Shadow Puppets - "Age of the Understatement"
Hot Leg - "Trojan Guitar"
Hot Chip - "Ready for the Floor"
Andy Prieboy - "Bands"
Bonnie Prince Billy - "Easy Does It"
Brazilian Girls - "Berlin"
The Chap - "Fun and Interesting"
Cloud Cult - "When Water Comes to Life"
Crooked Fingers - "Modern Dislocation"
Elbow - "Grounds for Divorce"
Gnarls Barkley - "Run (I'm a Natural Disaster)"
Steve Wynn - "Manhattan Fault Line"
The Week That Was - "The Good Life"
What Made Milwaukee Famous - "Self-Destruct"
Vampire Weekend - "M79"

Sean Westergaard
Curlew - Curlew 1st Album + Live at CBGB 1980
Danny! - And I Love Her: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Bo Diddley - Road Runner: The Chess Masters 1959-1960
Endless Boogie - Focus Level
Rudresh Mahanthappa - Kinsmen
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez - Apocalypse Inside of an Orange
Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog - Party Intellectuals
Steinski - What Does It All Mean? 1983-2006 Retrospective
Toby Summerfield/Never Enough Hope - The Gift Economy
Various Artists - Miles from India

Tim Sendra
For me, 2008 was kind of an amazing year musically. Looking at this list of singles and songs, I see an incredible mixtape filled with girl-group lovers, disco dancers, fuzzy dreamers, screaming post-post-punkers, and purveyors of twee goodness. There's one song on there I'd like to listen to once a day until I die (the School's "Let It Slip"). There are plenty of songs to get my feet moving, and quite a few that fill me with that warm, happy feeling the best singles always do. OK, so maybe No Kids or Minisnap won't change the course of mankind with their songs, but if you love pop music (from the 1950's on) and you somehow manage to hear these songs, you'll hear the same feeling of teenage energy, the same sense of experienced tenderness, and the exact same unconditional love for a good melody in them that you would in a Buddy Holly or Fleetwood Mac song. As for the albums, I feel that the same holds true. Most of these records have a kind of timeless appeal that laughs at the constraints of time and era. The super-hazy summer daydream of Koushik's Out My Window, the breathtaking energy and fever of Los Campesinos!' Hold on Now, Youngster..., the easy grace of the Rubies' Explode from the Center, the insular and beautiful melancholy of Grouper’s Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill -- these are pleasures that will not fade anytime soon. And if anyone's ever made a better synth-pop record than Cut Copy's In Ghost Colours, I'd like to hear about it. In fact, I'd like to hear anything. Maybe that's why I treasure 2008 as much as 1965 or 1977 or 1956...

Black Kids - Partie Traumatic
Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
The Ettes - Look at Life Again Soon
Grouper - Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill
Neil Halstead - Oh! Mighty Engine
It's a Musical - The Music Makes Me Sick
Koushik - Out My Window
Los Campesinos! - Hold on Now, Youngster…
Love Is All - A Hundred Things Keep Me Up at Night
Minisnap - Bounce Around
No Kids - Come into My House
Rubies - Explode from the Center
Serpentina - Planeando en Tu Azotea
Times New Viking - Rip It Off
Pacific! - Reveries
Yelle - Pop Up

The Absentee - "Bitchstealer"
Comet Gain - "Love Without Lies"
Crystal Stilts - "Prismatic Room"
Cut Copy - "Hearts on Fire"
Friendly Fires - "Paris"
Headlights - "Cherry Tulips"
Eero Johannes - "We Could Be Skweeeroes"
Ladyhawke - "Paris Is Burning (Cut Copy Remix)"
Little My - "All But the Beeps Meep"
The Lodger - "The Good Old Days"
Los Campesinos! - "Death to Los Campesinos!"
Love Is All - "Wishing Well"
Minisnap - "New Broom"
No Kids - "Bluster in the Air"
Osbourne - "Ruling"
Pacific! - "Number One"
Pas/Cal - "Summer Is Almost Here"
Ratatat - "Mirando"
Jay Reatard - "Always Wanting More"
The School - "Let It Slip"
The School - "All I Wanna Do"
Sexy Kids - "Sisters Are Forever"
Speedmarket Avenue - "Way Better Now"
Surf City - "Dickshakers Union"
Walter Meego - "Girls"