25. The Magnetic Fields - Distortion
24. Marnie Stern - This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That
23. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig! Lazarus! Dig!
22. Earth - The Bees Made Honey In The Lion’s Skull
21. No Age - Nouns
20. Department of Eagles - In Ear Park
19. Fennesz - Black Sea
18. The Walkmen - You & Me
17. Women - Women
16. Juana Molina - Un Dia
15. Atlas Sound - Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel
14. Zazen Boys - Zazen Boys 4
13. Evangelista - Hello, Voyager!
12. Ponytail - Ice Cream Spiritual
11. WHY? - Alopecia
10. Mount Eerie - Dawn / Lost Wisdom
09. Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna
08. Times New Viking - Rip It Off
07. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
06. Beach House - Devotion
05. The Music Tapes - Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes
04. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
03. TV On The Radio - Dear Science
02. Portishead - Third
01. Deerhunter - Microcastle / Weird Era Cont.
As a critical publication, TMT are a little disorganized and populist for me -- the sn monikers, the unchecked ratings, etc. -- but I tend to like their lists a lot. They have a very good blurb for Portishead (my AOTY) here:
A near-incinerated songbook of starkly beguiling, musclebound eulogies, this belated evolution of one of the best doom-cabaret trios in existence was undoubtedly overwhelming. The metronomic, unnervingly simple, yet often dramatically upsetted grooves were not as inviting as the blue moonlit lulls of the past. It was a shear-drop dystopia, and Beth Gibbons’ desperate laments were given decidedly more weight than before, as these songs refused to head-noddingly drift by. Even the sweet little detour “Deep Water” had the feel of a tiny hymn popping from tiny speakers lying in wait between the gear notches of machines too massive to fathom. Like any classic album, it stayed with the listener, and like a classic horror film, it didn’t relent in its commitment to a unified, oppressive mood. Among other events, 2008 was the year of one of the best comebacks in pop music history. Third’s beauty was innate, and its gothically novel atmosphere corresponded to no current trends whatsoever. For a band whose past commercial success was likely tied with being “good come-down music,” this was truly a risky album to make. Third was music for coming down, going down, and staying down — and more than worth the stress.
I'm also particularly thrilled to see Music Tapes & Beach House. There are generally fewer "underdogs" here than in past years though...
