Why I consider myself snooty enough to post my own lists: a) Obviously, I foremost dedicate myself to discovering and listening to new music, namely albums, over the course of the year. This includes nearly every major new release I find interesting or generates decent critical acclaim from major publications. b) I have compulsively gorged myself every year on Year-End Best of Lists since the beginning of time, and I never feel that hip-hop gains enough respect from most outlets such as Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, and others, which seem more interested in either the most popular/hyped indie pop/rock and R&B. c) I have wide and varied tastes, although my two most cherished genres, as should be evident, are hip-hop and indie rock.

But without further ado:

My Top 10 Albums of 2008:

10. Be Your Own Pet-Get Awkward: I was feeling this album before “Black Hole” even reached its chorus.  Get Awkward essentially amounts BYOP doing what the band does best: making being immature possibly the coolest shit ever. “The Kelly Affair” places the Nashville crew in the setting where it has always belonged, L.A., and subsequently results in their best track to date.

9. MGMT-Oracular Spectacular: Hailing from Memphis, I was pleased to hear that MGMT lead singer/reigning Indie Rock heartthrob Andrew VanWyngarden attended White Station High School before making the pilgrimage to Wesleyan University that would launch the most hyped band of 2007.  The hype was legitimate, this album is more or less the indie rock equivalent of Van Halen’s 1984. Want proof: The last two fraternity keggers I have attended have borne witness to a living room jam-packed with drunken frat guys and sorority girls jamming out to the likes of “Kids,” “Time to Pretend,” and “Electric Eel.” The rest of the album sounds like the A-sides to Id Engager, so props to my Memphis boy.

8. The Game-LAX: The Game is at his best when he’s feeling slighted, but it’s not just his vengefully dark anthems that stand out on the album. Instant classic “My Life” featuring who else but Lil’ Wayne crooning with soulful melancholy on its chorus is an intense reflection on the misgivings The Game feels about the life he has led thus far, and when he compares the fulfillment in his life to a loaded weapon, all suburban white kids like myself can do is nod in agreement and take notes from the teacher.

7. Foals-Antidotes: You gotta love an album where every song sounds like part of the soundtrack to some life or death battle in some futuristic electronic universe.  Shit, the album’s closing track, “Tron,” even alludes to this.  Credit to newcomers Foals for choosing not to sound like Room on Fire British Strokes and rejecting Dave Sitek’s more expansive production sound.  The sparseness of the album gives the songs their intensity, and also make the whole feel of the album work. Detractors decry the album’s lack of soul or emotion, but I find this nuance of Antidotes to be its most gripping. Tracks like “Two Steps Twice” and “Red Socks Pugie” sound like the warning sirens of some forthcoming, metaphysical oblivion, and like most great albums of its nature, you end the album with a gloomier view of the world than beforehand.

6. Fucked Up-The Chemistry of Common Life: The opening hundred seconds of this album alone makes it a Top 10 lock. At once face-melting and life affirming, this opening is positively timeless.  I don’t care who you are, you need to hear this opening world.  Did I mention the rest of the album is the exemplar of the type of band Against Me! wishes it could be? Fucked Up channel their anger at humanity’s ignorance in a way that takes delight in being over-the-top and ultra-serious at the same time, just listen to “No Epiphany,” which continues the religion-mocking theme found in opener “Son the Father’s” chorus, “It’s hard enough being born in the first place, why would you ever want to be born again?”

5. The Hold Steady-Stay Positive: The Hold Steady are quickly cementing themselves as the modern-day reporters on everyday life for the indie/youthful crowd. When I first heard “Constructive Summer” back in June, I sensed similar false hopes similar to those in the lines, “We’re gonna build something this summer” in my own plans.  Newsflash: The Hold Steady have already predicted your immediate future’s path. Every time I hear a song I know I shouldn’t like but somehow end up enjoying, which sums up my attitude towards half the album (“Sequestered in Memphis,” One for the Cutters,” “Yeah! Sapphire”), I become more impressed with the group.  “Stay Positive” is no less than an Obama-esque rallying speech for America’s younger, disenchanted generations.

4. Lil’ Wayne-Tha Carter III: Any halfway talented emcee with a crunk beat and a tight lyrical hook can craft a modern hip-hop equivalent to “A Milli,” “Mrs. Officer,” or “Lollipop.” Any unusually talented emcee can create an album full of smoking tracks like these. Only the reigning king supreme of hip-hop can make an album full of hot tracks and “Playin’ With Fire,” which is without question the most disconcerting manifestation of one’s own inner hysteria.

3 . Young Jeezy-The Recession: Not so much the “Black CNN” street level view of The Recession that it has been billed to be, The Recession is something different, but of equal importance. Jeezy, the ultimate marketer/spokesman, puts his gritty vocals skills to work weaving tales that convey the swagger, frustration, and hope of the streets with a sense of inspiration most evident on “Amazin’,” “Welcome Back,” and the year’s top two hip-hop tracks, “Put On” and “My President.”

2. Girl Talk-Feed the Animals: The opening to Feed the Animals is the realization of a dream only a few years ago seemingly impossible to realize: What would “International Players’ Anthem” sound like rapped over “Gimme Some Lovin’?” The answer: breathtaking. Greg Gillis’ latest album is fluid, consistent, and flat-out banging. Like few other artists, Gillis has shown the ability to create entire album’s of party-starting material, in itself an impressive feat. “Shut the Club Down’s” nostalgia-inducing mash-up of “Young Turks” and “Sexy Can I” is downright astonishing.

1. TV on the Radio-Dear Science: Can there be a better candidate for album of the year. A somewhat disappointing concert aside (The Hold Steady was much better), TV on the Radio proved their worth as rock and roll’s number one band this year with this release. Opener “Halfway Home” is the logical starting choice for the band, who apparently considered leading off Return to Cookie Mountain with “Wolf Like Me,” a move they disappointingly ultimately rejected, allowing tension to mount until blowing up with into a sleek wave of sonic thunder. “Dancing Choose” and “DLZ” are pointed criticism at the state of America in 2008, yet their gloomy outlook is assuaged by the optimism of “Golden Age” and “Shout Me Out,” which signal the harbinger of a new, better time for the nation. We can only hope they album’s fortune telling, brought forth in shades of dark, tightly-controlled funk, proves correct.

Top 20 Tracks of the Year:

20. Friendly Fires-”Jump in the Pool” First-Round KO’s Vampire Weekend by dropping pretense and adding fun.

19. David Banner-”Get Like Me” The Dirty South’s reminder to the rest of the states that down here, stunting is a habit.

18. Kanye West-”Love Lockdown” Raw, yet futuristic vibe makes up for Kanye’s unimpressive lyrics.

17. Lil’ Wayne-”Lollipop” Weezy’s had better tracks, but I doubt that any of his tracks got as many kids laid as this one.

16. Okkervil River-”Lost Coastlines” Mix of crooning and “OH OH” outro perfect recipe for masterfully pop indie rock.

15. Be Your Own Pet-”The Kelly Affair” The  year’s coolest guitar riff from the coolest band there is (was r.i.p.).

14. The Dodos-”Fools” Urgent and earnest little ditty, featuring a chorus that soars beautifully over the music.

13. Glasvegas-”Geraldine” A U2-styled rebuttal to Sarah Palin’s smug remarks about community organizers.

12. T.I.-”Swagga Like Us” T.I. lands body shots in a closing verse delivered over an ominous M.I.A. sample.

11. The Game-”My Life” Grace never sounded so gangsta on this Lil’ Wayne and Game collaboration.

10. MGMT-”Kids” Skyrocketing synths and an indomitable beat pay spectacular homage to youth’s carefree innocence.

9. Shawty Lo-”Dey Know (Remix)” The remix combines the year’s “who’s who” of hip-hop with its most infectious chant.

8. Foals-”Two Steps Twice” Hypnotic, electronic hazes begs you to “swim this off” before thrillingly making good.

7. The Killers-”Spaceman” Sci-Fi number perfectly captures equally stratospheric ambitions of the band.

6. Fucked Up-”Son the Father” A pure, uninhibited punk rock Panzer attack equal parts venom and bloodthirst.

5. Young Jeezy-”My President” Released before the election, Jeezy’s risk paid off with its topic’s realization.

4. Deerhoof-”Nothing Ever Happened” The rhythm never lets up in this shoegaze blast of sonic fortitude.

3. The Hold Steady-”Slapped Actress” Written by a band wiser than its age, all sledgehammer riffs and cool gruffness.

2. TV on the Radio-”Halfway Home” Desperate and uneasy, the track that captured the American mindset of 2008.

1. Young Jeezy-”Put On” Kanye West’s final verse is career-defining, exposing a lonely and isolated side of bombast.

Thanks for coming. The aim of my blog is to release the passions I have discovered during my time as a college student, namely History, English, Political Science, and especially music and some other aspects of culture I find most insightful/interesting.

In order to do this, I plan to publish multiple personal essays, lists, and ruminations relevant to the site’s pertinent topics, as well as relevant articles, studies, and other information to these topics. If done properly, I expect this site to be text heavy, but also very informative. New posts should come daily.

I’m writing this thing with no map, no blueprint of where I want it go. I know this goes against all the advice on blogging I have come across, but I still have the conviction that it will serve its purpose.

Thanks for listening,

Jeremy