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Blender Magazine recently released their top 33 albums of 2008.  Although it’s by no means close to what my top 33 albums would be, I gotta give them credit for coming up with a pretty eclectic mix.  I mean, they cover it all from Erykah Badu, to Katy Perry to Girl Talk.  It is the latter’s presence on the list that gives us some comfort knowing they didn’t just focus on albums released on major labels.  And the presence of artists like Bon Iver and Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks confirms that they didn’t just focus on mainstream artists.  Even old folks like Randy Newman and Al Green made the cut!  But let’s take a deeper look at the magazine’s choices:   Â
GOOD: Girl Talk is #2! And really, who doesn’t enjoy that album? Even though I liked Feed the Animals way more than I did Carter 3, I gotta hand it to Lil Weezy for making such a major comeback and being #1 album of the year.  I still remember when he was a little twerp running around with the Cash Money Millionaires back in the ’90s.
Although Lykke Li is my Swedish pop star of choice, it was cool to see Robyn beat Katy Perry and Mariah Carey at #6.  I don’t want to hate, but Mariah needs to give up already.  Daydream was a great album, but that was a long time ago.       Â
BAD: This list just might be a little too eclectic.  The variety makes you wonder if Blender sat down and grouped 2008 releases into different genres and categories, and then tried to pick at least one from each.  I’m definitely puzzled at Fall Out Boy’s appearance on the top 10.  I mean, people still like them?  Not only that but they beat Bon Iver and My Morning Jacket.  And what is with the Roots actually making it as #24? Don’t get me wrong, I love them, but Rising Down was pretty disappointing and there are definitely better hip hop albums released this year (i.e. Atmosphere, Murs, Common Market).     Â
OMGWTF: Mettalica is back!? Just kidding. I’m not sure if they deserve to be the 4th best album of 2008, though. What’s really shocking is they didn’t completely suck! That and they beat Hot Chip’s Made in the Dark! Even more shocking is that country music actually made the list. Way to go Hayes Carll & Taylor Swift for filling the last two spots on the list.   I’m betting it’s Taylor’s good looks that got her on the list in the first place.  Â
How does Ponytail make it on here as #18, or even Usher as #26, but MGMT is nowhere to be found?! I mean, C’MON!! I thought everyone loved MGMT.  And Coldplay didn’t even make top 20. Instead they got #22 behind Erykah Badu, Wale and Katy Perry.
Blender’s Top 33 Albums of 2008
33 Hayes Carll – Trouble In Mind
32 Taylor Swift – Fearless
31 Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds – Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
30 Young Jeezy – The Recession
29 Raphael Saadiq – The Way I See It
28 Stephen Malkmus And The Jicks – Real Emotional Trash
27 Mariah Carey – E=MC²
26 Usher – Here I Stand
25 Santogold – Santogold
24 The Roots – Rising Down
23 The Cool Kids – The Bake Sale
22 Coldplay – Viva La Vida
21 Erykah Badu – New Amerykah: Pt. One (4th World War)
20 Wale – The Mixtape About Nothing
19 Katy Perry – One Of The Boys
18 Ponytail – Ice Cream Spiritual
17 Conor Oberst – Conor Oberst
16 Be Your Own Pet – Get Awkward
15 Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
14 Jenny Lewis – Acid Tongue
13 Al Green – Lay It Down
12 My Morning Jacket – Evil Urges
11 Death Cab For Cutie – Narrow Stairs
10 Fall Out Boy – Folie A Deux
09 Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend
08 Randy Newman – Harps and Angels
07 of Montreal – Skeletal Lamping
06 Robyn – Robyn
05 Hot Chip – Made In The Dark
04 Metallica – Death Magnetic
03 TV On The Radio – Dear Science
02 Girl Talk – Feed The Animals
01 Lil’ Wayne – Tha Carter III
BONUS: Blender’s Top Songs of 2008
1. Lil Wayne – A Milli
2. M.I.A. – Paper Planes
3. Flo Rida – Low
4. Estella & Kanye West – American Boy
5. Coldplay – Viva La Vida
6. T.I. & Jay-Z feat. Kanye West & Lil Wayne – Swagga Like Us
What are your top picks for 2008? Don’t forget to e-mail Luis with suggestions!
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Half Note is a guest-blogger here at Pretty Much Amazing. You can read her other musical musings at her blog, the Daily Eargasm.
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
Um, go suck a toe. E=MC2 is a dope album and Mariah has not lost her swagger. That was clearly a biased (and uncalled for) comment. If shit is not your cup of tea, then it never will be.
You make some good points.
At first glance, I would like the variety of the selections, but now.. its like.. trying to hard
I like Mariah, but E-MC2 was TERRIBLE!
Just wanted to clear that up…
Anyway, great comments — I agree with you 100%
lol, yeah, Blender has always been a huge question mark.
good stuff. i like that they put Tha Carter III at #1. Not because it was the best or anything, cuz it wasnt, but because they recognize what a MONSTER year the album had. ya know? Weezy was inescapable this year
I dunno.. I didn’t really like the Girl Talk album all that much. Sorry.
but this list is a lot better than Paste’s… you guys should take a look at that one.
haha, way to rip on Mariah.
E=MC² was terrible, even by Mariah’s standards and who did Usher have to blow to get a spot in here? Lack of Chinese Democracy and Day & Age is disappointing. I can’t really comment on the fallout Boys new album but from their single releases Im surprised they got top 10. Lil’ Wayne’s album, despite selling, is not all that great. In fact, id consider it his worse album. Metallica deserves top 4, in fact, Id say they deserve higher. Death Magnetic was an amazing album and a huge step up from the last few albums. Good for them. Viva La Vida should be higher.
Overall I don’t really agree with this list at all but thats usually what happens with lists. People have very different musical tastes.
I gotta say I’m shocked at some of the things that are on there and some things that are missing.
I totally agree about The Roots, they are amazing! I have every album they made (2 copies of Phrenology, you know how it is, one for the house and 1 for the car). However, Rising Down has not received many listens from me yet.
Same for Fall Out Boy, last 2 records were catchy as hell pop but based on the singles from Folie A Deux, seems like a week choice for a best of 2008 especially with it not being out that long either.
It’s good to see Wale, The Cool Kids, Girl Talk and Santogold on the list.
Was surprised not to see (albums I found to be amazing):
The Black Ghosts
Bloc Party
Does It Offend You, Yeah?
Foals
Kings Of Leon
Metronomy
Starfucker
Also, maybe they left out MGMT because it was first released digitally back in October 2007?
Uh correct me if I am wrong but Fall Out Boy has not released their New CD yet. So, its not even out.
legit, vampire weekend has got to be higher
and i too was surprised that mgmt was not on there!
Technically MGMT came out in 2007 (was given away digitally last year). Same actually goes for “Paper Planes”, but no one will bother to remember that.
Lack of GN’R and Killers also bothers me, but so does lack of Snow Patrol. That album was way better than people give it credit for
I like to pretend MGMT was released in 2008 because the physical album was released in January. But then again, so was In Rainbows…
Paper Planes became popular in 08 though. I never understood what took people so long, MIA is amazing.
Young Jeezy – The Recession? I mean, I like Young Jeezy but I wouldn’t consider it a top 33.
Good for Katy Perry. Shes talented, and its good to see her stepping out of the shadows and getting the fame she deserves. Hopefully it lasts.
I especially do not agree with their top songs of 2008. O well.
Katy Perrry deserving MORE fame? She’s big enough already. She needs to go away.
That Jenny Lewis album was terrible, Kings Of Leon deserve her spot. Actually, they deserve Randy Newman’s spot, because Only By The Night was definitely Top-10 material. And while we’re on the topic… Randy Newman at #8? Really?
i didn’t know people actually liked the girl talk “album”. i mean… it’s entertaining, but it sounds like a preview of itself. it’s interesting that this came up just after a post on the transient nature of the blog scene (hypem). i mean, if bloghouse really is a genre, girl talk’s adhd cut-and-paste 4 second sampling has got to epitomize it’s capriciousness more than anything.
i just dont it. i thought paper planes was pretty dam popular when it first came out. it was some kinda weird phenomena that it got so much more popular its second time around and just cause of a movie trailer.
Katy Perry? Lil’ Wayne? Girl Talk’s cut & paste album ranked higher than Santogold? You’ve got to be effin effin me! The Blender panel is clearly comprised of a bunch of unfortunate 14-year old MTV-watching, kissing/blue-steel’ing-for-the-camera-guy-in-the-bar-that-they’re-too-young-to-be-in clowns who don’t really think too much about anything they listen to. That list is atrocious.
Exactly, Lil’ Wayne being number one is a joke. The album wasn’t terrible but it was great either, had like 5 good songs and the rest were ok. In fact, the album shouldn’t be top 10 just for having Ms. Officer..worst song of all time.
Haha. I totally agree with Ms. Officer.
All I want to know is……
Where is Portishead – Third?
and does anyone else think that the new Of Montreal CD should not be so high on this list compared to their last album
Yeah, not everyone likes MGMT. There’re a lot of us out here who thing they suck big time. Really big time.
And really, people? The new Guns & Roses album? It’s shit. Definitely not worth the wait and dfefinitely undeserving of any end of year accolades. Poor Axl, just trying to fulfill a record company contract he has no business filling. Guns & Roses apparently has finally dropped the album that proves they’re no longer relevant.
While Blender’s list does puzzle me in many ways, Conor Oberst definitely deserved to be recognized. Too bad he’s alongside artists like Fall Out Boy but before you make any judgment, listen to his song “I don’t want to die (in the hospital)” and then read this blog post: http://www.stophospitalinfections.org/2008/11/i_dont_want_to_die_in_the_hosp.html
Woot! Atleast they included my Top 2 albums of the year!
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Dig! Lazarus Dig!
TV On The Radio – Dear Science