Well, another year has come and gone and yet again it's been another stellar year for music. I always have the most difficult time paring down my list to 50 titles because believe it or not I literally listen to over a thousand different releases a year. But in my humble opinion, there were two albums that were above and beyond fantastic and then there was everything else jockeying for position. Those two albums were Murder By Death's Red of Tooth and Claw and Department of Eagles' In Ear Park and these two albums couldn't have been more different. Murder By Death's new one is soaked in whiskey Punk murder ballads mixed with a hint of cello and done in the vain of rebels like a Johnny Cash or Nick Cave while Department of Eagles with its complex musical arrangements and sweet as honey harmonies was as addictive as any classic Beach Boys record. In the end though, I have to give the slightest of edges to Murder By Death simply because Red of Tooth and Claw is leaps and bounds better than anything this band has ever done before. Whereas if you've ever listened to the members of Department of Eagles' other band Grizzly Bear, you knew that an album like In Ear Park was probably forthcoming. So cheers to Murder By Death (who coincidently just announced a Salt Lake date for March 3rd, guess who'll be front and center for that one!), Department of Eagles and the other 48 artists on this list who made phenomenal music that I just couldn't get enough of in 2008.

1. Murder By Death – Red of Tooth and Claw
2. Department of Eagles – In Ear Park
3. The Cool Kids – Bake Sale
4. Portishead – Third
5. James Hunter – The Hard Way
6. Mates of State – Re-Arrange Us
7. Flying Lotus – Los Angeles
8. Alejandro Escovedo – Real Animal
9. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
10. TV On The Radio – Dear Science
11. Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid
12. Santogold –Santogold
13. The Helio Sequence – Keep Your Eyes Ahead
14. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – Real Emotional Trash
15. Black Milk – Tronic
16. Jamie Lidell – Jim
17. Alias – Resurgam
18. Devotchka – A Mad and Faithful Telling
19. The Mountain Goats – Heretic Pride
20. Death Cab For Cutie – Narrow Stairs
21. The Hold Steady – Stay Positive
22. The Big Sleep – Sleep Forever
23. Teddy Thompson – A Piece of What You Need
24. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
25. Wolf Parade – At Mount Zoomer
26. Kings of Leon – Only By the Night
27. I'm From Barcelona – Who Killed Harry Houdini?
28. Deerhunter – Microcastle
29. Torche – Meanderthal
30. Ray Lamontagne – Gossip in the Grain
31. Wale – The Mixtape About Nothing
32. Neon Neon – Stainless Style
33. Ra Ra Riot – The Rhumb Line
34. She & Him – Vol. 1
35. Grand Archives – The Grand Archives
36. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend
37. The Roots – Rising Down
38. Girl Talk – Feed the Animals
39. The Sea & Cake – Car Alarm
40. The Knux – Remind Me in 3 Days
41. Spiritualized – Songs in A & E
42. Nomo – Ghost Rock
43. Thievery Corporation – Radio Retaliation
44. Robert Forster – The Evangelist
45. Helms Alee – Helms Alee
46. The Black Keys – Attack and Release
47. Sam Phillips – Don't Do Anything
48. Johnny Flynn- A Larum
49. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
50. Horse Feathers – House With No Home