Best Ofs 2008

For those of you who know me... or know at least one male, it shouldn't surprise you that I/we painstakingly like to compile, categorize and

rank all the meaningless drivel we spend our free time accumulating and consuming.

Frankly, these lists are the only way I can justify the amount of time I spend not making myself smarter, more fit or more accomplished.

If it weren't for these lists, I might start feeling like a loser.

Enjoy.

Top 20 Movies of 2008
(59 movies total)

20.Rachel Getting Married (3.0, October)
19. Tropic Thunder (3.0, August)
18. Cloverfield (3.0, January)
17. Leatherheads (3.0, April)
16. The Changeling (3.0, November)

15. Stepbrothers (3.0, July)
14. Funny Games (3.0, April)
13. Hancock (3.0, July)
12. Slumdog Millionaire (3.0)
11. Forgetting Sarah Marshall (3.0, April)

10. Ironman (3.0, May)
09. Wall-E (3.5, June)
08. Frost/Nixon (3.5)
07. The Wrestler (3.5, December)
06. Milk (3.5, December)
05. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (3.5, December)
04. Burn After Reading (3.5, September)
03. Revolutionary Road (4.0)
02. Doubt (4.0, December)
01. The Dark Knight (4.0, July)


Top 25 Songs of 2008

25. Jack Killed Mom - Jenny Lewis
24. Lost+ - Coldplay (feat. Jay-Z)
23. Gamma Ray - Beck
22. The '59 Sound - Gaslight Anthem
21. Geraldine - Glasvegas
20. Mr. Pitiful - Matt Costa
19. Pork and Beans - Weezer
18. Viva La Vida - Coldplay
17. Go Square Go - Glasvegas
16. M79 - Vampire Weekend
15. New Years Day - The Caesars
14. The Iron Wheel - The Nightwatchman (feat. Shooter Jennings)
13. We Are Winning - Flobots
12. Ottoman - Vampire Weekend
11. Oxford Comma - Vampire Weekend
10. California Girls - The Magnetic Fields
9. The Wrestler - Bruce Springsteen
8. Hold Up - The Raconteurs
7. Troublemaker - Weezer
6. Don't Forget Sister - Low vs. Diamond
5. Too Drunk to Dream - The Magnetic Fields
4. Handlebars - Flobots
3. Campus - Vampire Weekend
2. NYC - Gone, Gone - Conor Oberst
1. Salute Your Solution - The Raconteurs


TOP 10 ALBUMS of 2008


10. Stay Positive - The Hold Steady

If you like Springsteen, you'll like The Hold Steady, mostly because the Hold Steady really like Springsteen and Springsteen really likes the Hold Steady. Logically, the Hold Steady and Springsteen really like you too, which is nice. Big ups to bar bands. (1.91 rating)

09. Here We Stand - The Fratellis

There weren't any bad songs on The Fratellis' last album "Costello Music," just as there aren't any bad songs here. The Fratellis don't really make bad songs, they just seem to make fewer awesome songs with each new album...at least so far. (1.91 rating)

08. Acid Tongue - Jenny Lewis

Remember Jenny Lewis from "Mr. Belvedere?" Jenny Lewis was totally in "Mr. Belvedere" and although I haven't yet listened to "Bob Uecker Sings Tom Waits Songs," I'm pretty sure this album is the best record from any former member of that show. Also, Elvis Costello's choked voice makes a cameo, which people my age have told me is pretty great. (1.92 rating)

07. Distortion - The Magnetic Fields

You'll hear no better collection of ironic songs about hating beautiful girls, loving the slutty life or how much better being drunk is than being sober. Nuff said. (2.00 rating)

06. Glasvegas - Glasvegas

These Scottish dudes really like Phil Spector, the f-word in their choruses, The Raveonettes, feedback, Jesus and the Mary Chain and The Ramones. And you know what? So do I. (2.10 rating)

05. The Rhumb Line - Ra Ra Riot

It's a good sign that seemingly more bands are embracing more orchestral sounds on their albums. This light was ignited with Coldplay and Arcade Fire and seemingly continues with Vampire Weekend and here with Ra Ra Riot's second album. The liner notes for Vampire Weekend's album thanks Riot. Good enough for me. (2.10 rating)

04. Fight with Tools - Flobots

I've heard this album described as conscientious flow for a more responsible youth movement and I've heard this album described as pretentious hip-hop for laymen CNN viewers. At times it's both, but it always provides images to think about and an orchestral heartbeat that thumps this album past all others of its kind this year. (2.17 rating)

03. Weezer (The Red Album) - Weezer

The cover of Weezer's sixth album appropriately informs its content: familiar design, goofy posing. The good news is the band sticks to the familiar (a bunch of short geek-rock songs, rhyme dictionary-infused lyrics and one long form opus that graces most Weezer albums). The bad news is that I'm older and a little less tolerant of it all than I used to be. (2.30 rating)

02. Consolers of the Lonely - The Raconteurs

There are only a few musicians or groups that innately mirror my own music philosophy and emotional direction. Jack White has been that for me for more than a year. I know little about him personally, but aurally, White's influence over every group of which he's a part has greatly informed my musical vocabulary. (2.50 rating)

01. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

With a rock lineage tracing back to the Kinks and especially Paul Simon, this deceptively named Ivy League prep band orchestrated song after marvelously intricate song, without having to write a single sensical lyric. (3.00 rating)

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To see my previous rankings visit the 2007 link and the 2006 link