The AllMusic Pop Editors' Favorites of 2008

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
John Bush
Benga - Diary of an Afro Warrior
Santogold - Santogold
Weezer - Weezer (Red Album)
Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak
Portishead - Third
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
The Kills - Midnight Boom
Joseph Arthur - Temporary People/Could We Survive/Crazy Rain/Vagabond Skies/Foreign Girls
TV on the Radio - Dear Science
The Verve - Forth

Animal Collective - "Water Curses"
Kanye West - "Welcome to Heartbreak"
Weezer - "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)
Ryan Adams - "Magick"
Q-Tip - "Gettin' Up"
Gonzales - "Let's Ride"
Duffy - "Rockferry"
MGMT - "Time to Pretend"
The Ting Tings - "Great DJ"
Ne-Yo - "Closer"

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" (MySpace)
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
Deerhunter - Microcastle/Weird Era Continued
Grouper - Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill
Hercules and Love Affair - Hercules and Love Affair
The Kills - Midnight Boom
Leila - Blood, Looms and Blooms
M83 - Saturdays=Youth
Benoît Pioulard - Temper
Portishead - Third
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" (YouTube)
Vampire Weekend - "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"

Tim Sendra
Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
The Ettes - Look at Life Again Soon
Grouper - Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill
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 Age - Nouns
Serpentina - Planeando en Tu Azotea
Times New Viking - Rip It Off

Absentee - "Bitchstealer"
Alphabeat - "Fascination"
Los Campesinos! - "Death to Los Campesinos!"
Headlights - "Cherry Tulips"
The Lodger - "The Good Old Days"
Love Is All - "Wishing Well"
Pacific! - "Sunset Blvd."
The School - "Let It Slip"
Sexy Kids - "Sisters Are Forever" (MySpace)
Speedmarket Avenue - "Way Better Now"

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" (YouTube)
Hot Club of Detroit - "Seven Steps to Heaven"
The Primary 5 - "Lost and Confused"
St Deluxe - "New Wave Stars" (YouTube)
Marnie Stern - "Transformer"
Robin Thicke - "Magic"

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-Dream - Love/Hate
Newworldaquarium - The Dead Bears
Flying Lotus - Los Angeles
Wighnomy Brothers - Metawuffmischfelge
The Foreign Exchange - Leave It All Behind
Black Milk - Tronic
Hercules and Love Affair - Hercules and Love Affair
Robert Hood - Fabric 39
School of Seven Bells - Alpinisms

Portishead - "Machine Gun"
Erykah Badu - "Honey"
TRG - "Broken Heart (Martyn DCM Remix)"
Omar-S - "Psychotic Photosynthesis" (Omar-S)
Matias Aguayo - "Minimal (DJ Koze Mix)" (YouTube audio)
Dances with White Girls - "Took My Love Away" (MySpace)
Lil Wayne - "A Milli"
Ryan Leslie - "Diamond Girl" (YouTube)
Geiom - "Reminissin'" (YouTube audio)
Tobias - "I Can't Fight the Feeling" (MySpace)

Andrew Leahey
Priscilla Ahn - A Good Day
Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers - Turbo Ocho
Drive-By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul
Old 97's - Blame It on Gravity
Prabir & the Substitutes - Five Little Pieces
Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line
Butch Walker - Sycamore Meadows

Birdlips - "Some Kind of Death" (MySpace)
The Botticellis - "Up Against the Glass"
Margot & the Nuclear So and So's - "As Tall as Cliffs"
MGMT - "Time to Pretend"
M.I.A. - "Paper Planes"
Oasis - "The Shock of the Lightning"
Paramore - "That's What You Get"
Prabir & the Substitutes - "The Kiss"
Tilly & the Wall - "Falling Without Knowing"
The Weepies - "Antarctica"

Jason Lymangrover
The Kills - Midnight Boom
Times New Viking - Rip It Off
The Walkmen - You & Me
Fucked Up - The Chemistry of Common Life
Kap Bambino - Zero Life, Night Vision
Jay Reatard - Matador Singles '08
The Breeders - Mountain Battles
Santogold - Santogold
Girl Talk - Feed the Animals
Marnie Stern - This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That...

Torche - "Grenades"
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"
No Age - "Sleeper Hold"

J. Scott McClintock
Pop Levi - Never Never Love
Original Broadway Cast - Passing Strange
Quiet Village - Silent Movie
Shugo Tokumaru - Exit
The Week That Was - The Week That Was
Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree
The Kills - Midnight Boom
The Duke Spirit - Neptune
Chris Connelly - Forgiveness and Exile
Eric Matthews - Imagination Stage

The Roots - "Criminal"
Zuco 103 - "Beija a Mim (Saudade)"
Wild Beasts - "Devil's Crayon"
Ratatat - "Falcon Jab"
MGMT - "Time to Pretend"
My Brightest Diamond - "From the Top of the World"
Daedelus - "Make It So"
Heloise & the Savoir Faire - "Po'T"
French Kicks - "Said So What"
Dirty Pretty Things - "Buzzards and Crows"

James Christopher Monger
Shearwater - Rook
Johnny Flynn - A Larum
TV on the Radio - Dear Science
Protest the Hero - Fortress
British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?
Original Broadway Cast - Passing Strange
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Tyr - Land
Lindsey Buckingham - Gift of Screws
The Horse Flies - Until the Ocean

Wild Beasts - "Devil's Crayon"
Andy Prieboy - "Bands" (Andy Prieboy)
The Duke Spirit - "The Step and the Walk"
Nick Cave - "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!"
Mates of State - "Get Better"
Hot Leg - "Trojan Guitar" (MySpace)
The Futureheads - "Radio Heart"
Baby Dee - "The Earlie King"
Cloud Cult - "When Water Comes to Life"
The Kills - "Black Balloon"

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