I was never a huge fan of Zack but Theodore is just a monster so I'll be sure to check this out.

Btw, there are a couple of new Conor Oberst songs on his website. Nothing special imo.

I love Katy Perry

I think Stay Positive is damn good the whole way through, and I'm not a HUGE Hold Steady fan.

Yeah, it does. I'd noticed that too-- it's just so cohesive as an album, an increasingly rare thing in the digital / singles age.

i'm not sure where it would fit among best of the decade, but i feel i'll know more as time passes. excluding that, here's a list of 14 i came up with once i caved in to my personal biases (because how else is music experienced, anyway?)

14. the shins - chutes too narrow
13. interpol - turn on the bright lights
12. air - talkie walkie
11. my morning jacket - z
10. the exploding hearts - guitar romantic
9. the arcade fire - funeral
8. jay-z - the blueprint
7. kanye west - the college dropout
6. the hold steady - separation sunday
5. the new pornographers - mass romantic
4. radiohead - kid a
3. ted leo and the pharmacists - hearts of oak
2. of montreal - the sunlandic twins
1. wilco - yankee hotel foxtrot

thinking about it, right now, i would put in ghost colours at #10, behind funeral, though that is subject to change still.
also, i think the first three new pornographers albums might all be in the top 20.

Some albums missing from consideration:

Rilo Kiley - The Execution Of All Things
The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
Grandaddy - The Sophtware Slump
Spiritualized - Let It Come Down
Basement Jaxx - Kish Kash
The Cardigans - Long Gone Before Daylight
The Go! Team - Thunder Lightning Strike
Idlewild - Warnings/Promises

...for a reason.

****, this reminds me that I left off Castaways and Cutouts

both in my top 50 I think but I'm not totally sure

are people joking when they say they like katy perry, or is it some hip ironic thing that is going over my head, or are you just ******s? i mean she can sing but the music sounds like someone wanted to put avril lavigne in a burlesque show or something.

Guilty pleasure, good pop songs imo. Like with "Toxic" or "Hips Don't Lie" or "SOS"; I would never buy the album or proudly blast it when driving through town but I think it's catchy.

new nas album leaked.

Some albums to check out that I'm not sure have or haven't been mentioned

HILOTRONS - Happymatic http://www.myspace.com/hilotrons
Invincible - Shapeshifters http://www.myspace.com/invincilana
School of Language - Sea from Shore http://www.myspace.com/schooloflanguage
Brent Cash - How Will I Know if I'm Awake http://www.myspace.com/brentcashmusic

I'm enjoying the new Black Kids Partie Traumatic. It's the full-length follow-up to Wizard Of Ahhhs. And no, I didn't spell Partie wrong. But I may have misused a hyphen or two. And I've started too many sentences with conjunctions. Ok I'll stop.

Myspace

saw them with cut copy and mobius, liked them alot

Weird to have these ranked above other albums by these bands as I consider these to be both bands weakest albums.

I would have Twin Cinema, Thunder, Lightning, Strike, Oh, Inverted World, and You in Reverse all very high on my list.

I've been getting re acquainted with some of my mid 90s alternative music, I threw on my HUM cd the other day and was blown away by how cool they sound

If you're into 90s alternative, check them out.

Always had a soft spot for Hum. One of the first 'indie' rock shows I went to - Hum, Swervedriver and Pedro the Lion. I think their lead singer went back to being a substitute teacher after the band broke up. There was some talk of a new album but I don't think it ever really materialized.

Ironically I think their 'biggest' album (You'd Prefer an Astronaut), the one that got me into the band in the first place, is maybe my least favorite of their releases at this point.

I used to be way into those spacey Midwestern bands... Failure, Shiner, Texas is the Reason, etc. Good stuff.

I just checked out Illmatic for the first time about a month ago (I know how out of touch that makes me). I'd consider it probably my biggest musical discovery of the last few years.

The new album is patchy but has some great stuff on it imo. Y'all My *****s is the standout for me at the moment.

edit: with an 'a' and all.... I think the filter knows I'm white.

Cheers for this nath, this could really grow on me.

Yeah illmatic is definatly in my top 10 albums of all time.

New album is ok, haven't had a proper listen. The rhymes seem really good but some of the beats suck.

I seem to have left a few other things off my list as well (oops, it'll happen when you bang out a quick one from memory), but I consider those two albums easily the best by those bands. Any of the NP's first three albums makes a reasonable "best" choice; my favorite handful of their songs are on Mass Romantic, though (not to mention I think Neko's voice sounds best there). Pretty much everyone disagrees with me about the Shins, so I just chalk it up to some personal attachment I formed that they didn't. Or maybe I think it's just James Mercer's best and most personal songwriting.

Glad you like it. It took a few listens to grow on me, but after it did it became one of my favorites. I strongly recommend it with a good set of headphones.

I know I helped contribute to the thread hijack, but let's keep the discussion on track to 2008 music. If someone wants to create another thread to discuss best music of the decade (or any other type of music thread for older stuff), go ahead. But this one will get ridiculous to keep track of if we don't stick to 2008 releases.


P.S. I tried listening to that M83 everyone loves so much and I just can't get into it. What's the big deal?

This could be a good thread imo.

Oh, man, I agree. I think they had a good song or two in 2004.

After my first listen, I was unimpressed. Right now, I cannot get enough of this album and it's #1 in my rotation to the point where I had to get a hold of the other 4 M83 cds I could get my hands on, although I don't think they compare to Saturdays=Youth.

My favorite tracks:
We Own the Sky
You, Appearing
Too Late

Give it another listen.