Top Ten Albums of 2008

In this day and age of mp3s (and cookies...yucka yucka), iTunes, et cetera, albums do carry a whiff of uselessness about them. Nonetheless, there are a few good people that manage each year to create a few good LPs, and this is a rundown of my picks for 2008. A'here we go...

1. Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend deliver one of the year's best indie rock albums, filled with sprighty guitars and drums that would make The Strokes proud and bizarre touches of Afropop. Its snobby East Coast roots aside, Vampire Weekend is a satisfying ode to nerdy perspectives and the enigmas of being a 20-something kid raised on blogs and hipster tunes in the 21st century.
Highlights: "Oxford Comma", "A-Punk", "Campus"

2. Santogold, Santogold
Santogold's self-titled debut mixes indie rock, electronica, and new wave into a tight, easy-flowing package that successfully steers clear of mundane. It's a triumphant work that shows there are some individual voices still lingering in this manufactured industry.
Highlights: "L.E.S. Artistes", "Lights Out"

3. MGMT, Oracular Spectacular
Headbands and all, MGMT made a name for themselves in 2008 thanks to this endlessly pleasing record. Psychedelia takes the wheel here, crashing into the windows of synthpop and '80s funk, and leaving a trail of achingly good indie anthems in its wake.
Highlights: "Electric Feel", "Time to Pretend", "Kids"

4. Girls Aloud, Out Of Control
Continuing to trump even the most hardset pop cynics, Girls Aloud unleash another batch of quirky pop numbers delivered with the clever knowingness we've come to know and love about them. It's also their moodiest album to date, with even some of the upbeat tracks echoing a sense of longing and melancholy.
Highlights: "Untouchable", "Miss You Bow Wow", "The Loving Kind"

5. Goldfrapp, Seventh Tree
Think of this as the sound of Goldfrapp hanging up their dancing shoes and wanting to escape the nightclubs for the country. After exploring glam hedonism with Black Cherry and Supernature, the duo paints from a softer pallette this time around. Sprinkles of acoustic guitars and pianos layer themselves across dreamy, ambient landscapes. It's a weird progression, but a most welcome step-forward from one of the most interesting groups of our time.
Highlights: "A&E", "Happiness"

6. Crystal Castles, Crystal Castles
It can get a bit mundane, but the sampled-to-death style somehow works in the hands of Toronto's Crystal Castles. If Daft Punk hadn't gone and pissed off a generation with Human After All, their last album should have sounded something like this- icy electro with a bite behind its snarl.
Highlights: "Knights", "Crimewave", "Air War"

7. Hercules and Love Affair, Hercules and Love Affair
Who would have thought that an album chock-full of disco throwbacks would find itself one of the year's best-acclaimed releases? Hercules and Love Affair have succeeded in creating a unique re-imagining of glittering mirrorball nights, adding artsy touches to make it palatable for the hipster crowd.
Highlights: "You Belong", "Time Will", "Blind"

8. Tokyo Police Club, Elephant Shell
More pop than their excellent EPs were, Tokyo Police Club are nevertheless entertaining. In a world where they're running in the same leagues as pretentious indie bands, there's a delightful satisfaction in Tokyo's sprighty, guitar-chugging anthems, and in all it just makes the world a better place.
Highlights: "Tessellate", "Your English Is Good"

9. The Teenagers, Reality Check
Vapid and frothy like an episode of Gossip Girl, Reality Check nonetheless taps into the strange psyche of new millennium youth- we're bawdy, oversexed, drama-guzzling hedonists who crave instant satisfaction in a shiny package. The Teenagers have done precisely that- what-the-fuck songs packaged in sleek yet trashy synthpop and delivered with a wink and a lifted middle finger.
Highlights: "Homecoming", "Starlet Johansson"

10. of Montreal, Skeletal Lamping
Weird, wondorous, and just plain wacky, Kevin Barnes never fails to interest. Skeletal Lamping has been described as Barnes' black, cross-dressing alter ego Georgie Fruit trying to take over, resulting in the album's psychedelic swizzles that border the outrageous. If nothing else, it's the year's most adventurous album, even if it comes with a hangover.
Highlights: "Id Engager", "An Eluardian Instance"