The Best of 2008 - CD's

here is my list, in alphabetical order...

alejandro escovedo – “real animal”
ben sollee – “learning to bend”
bob dylan – “tell tale signs - rare and unreleased 1989-2006”
carrie rodriguez – “she ain’t me”
cat power – “jukebox/dark end of the street"
cowboy junkies – “trinity revisited”
david byrne & brian eno – “everything that happens will happen today”
johnny cash - “johnny cash at folsom prison: legacy edition”
kathleen edwards – “asking for flowers”
kris delmhorst – “shotgun singer”
over the rhine - “live from nowhere volume 3”
ray lamontagne - “gossip in the grain”
rodney crowell – “sex and gasoline”
ryan adams and the cardinals - "cardinology"
shelby lynne – “just a little lovin’ "
teddy thompson – “a piece of what you need”
tift merritt – “another country”
the waifs - "sundirtwater"

*and i'm combining cat power's "dark end of the street" [ep] with "jukebox." they are out of the same sessions and it is just like an extension of that project.

and here is "Rolling Stone's" top 50 albums of 2008:

1 | TV on the Radio: Dear Science
2 | Bob Dylan: Tell Tale Signs — The Bootleg Series Vol. 8
3 | Lil Wayne: Tha Carter III
4 | My Morning Jacket: Evil Urges
5 | John Mellencamp: Life, Death, Love and Freedom
6 | Santogold: Santogold
7 | Coldplay: Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
8 | Beck: Modern Guilt
9 | Metallica: Death Magnetic
10 | Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend
11 | Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes
12 | Guns n' Roses: Chinese Democracy
13 | Blitzen Trapper: Furr
14 | Ryan Adams and the Cardinals: Cardinology
15 | The Black Keys: Attack & Release
16 | Randy Newman: Harps and Angels
17 | B.B. King: One Kind Favor
18 | Lucinda Williams: Little Honey
19 | Erykah Badu: New Amerykah: Part 1 (4th World War)
20 | Kings of Leon: Only by the Night
21 | Kaiser Chiefs: Off With Their Heads
22 | Jackson Browne: Time the Conquerer
23 | Conor Oberst: Conor Oberst
24 | Girl Talk: Feed the Animals
25 | The Magnetic Fields: Distortion
26 | Mudcrutch: Mudcrutch
27 | Brian Wilson: That Lucky Old Sun
28 | The Knux: Remind Me in Three Days...
29 | Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago
30 | Duffy: Rockferry
31 | MGMT: Oracular Spectacular
32 | Jamey Johnson: The Lonesome Song
33 | Ne-Yo: Year of the Gentleman
34 | Stephen Malkmus: Real Emotional Trash
35 | Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
36 | The Hold Steady: Stay Positive
37 | Nine Inch Nails: The Slip
38 | Ra Ra Riot: The Rhumb Line
39 | Taylor Swift: Fearless
40 | Jonas Brothers: A Little Bit Longer
41 | AC/DC: Black Ice
42 | David Byrne and Brian Eno: Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
43 | Nas: Untitled
44 | The Raconteurs: Consolers of the Lonely
45 | Be Your Own Pet: Get Awkward
46 | The Academy Is...: Fast Times at Barrington High
47 | Of Montreal: Skeletal Lamping
48 | Raphael Saadiq: The Way I See It
49 | Hot Chip: Made in the Dark
50 | No Age: Nouns

the best of 2008 (so far),..

submitted by: bill ivester

as you've probably noticed, the year is now, incredibly, half over. so i thought i'd list some of my favorites through the first six months of 2008.

so here they are...

CD's (top ten, roughly in order*)
teddy thompson – "a piece of what you need"
cat power – "jukebox"
shelby lynne – "just a little lovin’ "
kathleen edwards – "asking for flowers"
cowboy junkies – "trinity revisited"
alejandro escovedo – "real animal"
tift merritt – "another country"
ben sollee – "learning to bend"
r.e.m. – "accelerate"
kris delmhorst – "shotgun singer"
honorable mention
steve winwood – "nine lives"

*(order subject to change depending on what i just finished listening to)

CONCERTS
02.10 - cat power @ the vic (chicago)
05.25 - over the rhine / ohio: in concert (cincinnati)
06.11 - alejandro escovedo (w/ben sollee) @ headliner’s (louisville)
04.26 - over the rhine (w/julie lee) @ canal street tavern (dayton)
04.17 - kathleen edwards @ headliner's (louisville)
03.11 - grace potter and the nocturnals @ headliner's (louisville)
*03.14 - over the rhine @ the ryman, opening for ani difranco would have to be my top concert experience and had it been a full set, would have unquestionably topped this list.

if you are unfamiliar with any of these artists, i highly recommend checking out their music and seeing them live if they are anywhere in your general area.

should you be so inclined and/or curious, there are links to their (and many other great artists) websites and/or myspace pages on the right hand side of my blog.

do yourself a favor and give them a listen.

and enjoy.