Wow what a GREAT year of music in my opinion, there have been so many brilliant records from artists that are new to me and old favorites. Compiling a top 10 is no easy feat but here goes, in no particular order.
Santogold - Santogold. One of the most original albums I've heard in a while, love this one all the way through. Missed seeing her at Summer Stage though, but heard her from outside the closed of gates! LOL :(
Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part One: 4th World War. A long wait for this one, but it certainly was worth it. As always an album with a message, portrayed through creative lyrics that make you think but songs that get you grooving!
Jill Scott - The Real Thing: Words and Sounds vol 3. This one took me some time to get into but seeing her live in concert really brought it home, and now I really love this album. Classic poetic lyrics from Jill!
Grace Jones - Hurricane. Waited for this one for a really long time, I expected it to be good, but nothing on the scale of greatness that this is. It's modern Grace yet with elements of those classic 80's tracks. Every song here is a winner!
Madonna - Hard Candy. I had low expectations for this based on the leaked demos of Candy Shop and Beat Goes On. I still don't feel like this is as much 'Madonna' as some of the other recent albums, but I wont hold that against it. I love Give It To Me and She's Not Me. The Beat Goes On improved a lot, and Miles Away is fabulous in every sense of the word. The most 'Madonna' track on the album if you ask me.
The Pretenders - Break Up The Concrete. I either excited or bored you with the tracks from this one, week by week as they were released this year. I didn't really start to get into it as a whole album until I had the complete set. I saw them live this year and like with Jill, it brought the album alive!
Cyndi Lauper - Bring Ya To The Brink. Who knew that Cyndi Lauper would come out with such a great record in 2008? I downloaded this on a whim and am glad I did, really well produced and a straight up fun record.
Estelle - Shine. American Boy was one of my soundtrack songs for the summer. The rest of the album is great too LOL
Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke. What an amazing debut, nothing disappoints here, I knew it was gonna be remarkable from the time I heard 'Back Of The Van'. As you might have noticed I love a good 80's sound!
Lykke Li - Youth Novels. It's all about 'Breaking It Up' and 'Little Bit'. Nuff Said!
Wow, I saw four of these acts live this year, and heard one but didn't see! I did pretty nicely!
What are your top albums of the year? leave em in the comments!
