Best Albums of 2008: Let the Madness Begin!

O, End of Year lists. Fun and all, yet immensely stressful. I'm gonna be totally forthcoming here and say I haven't heard nearly as many of the releases of 08 as I probably should have. So if, over the course of the next few weeks, you see things omitted that you are one hundred percent convinced should be on every single Best Of list out there, I apologize in advance.

My criteria ended up being pretty simple. My top albums (all 18 of 'em, with a tie for first) are the albums I gravitated towards the most, the ones that grabbed me and didn't let go, and the ones I find myself humming in the shower. These are albums made by some of my favorite bands, and some by bands who I'd never heard of until now. In any event, I'm darned excited about my list. I hope you'll like it, too.

What's going to happen is this: over the course of the following weeks, I'll post one album out of my top 18 every day (hopefully!). Please feel free to start speculating about my top 2 albums, I'll even give you a hint. I've written about both of them!

And to get things going, here's my list of the top 10 albums I felt were worthy of Honorable Mention. Enjoy!

Adele - 19

Black Mountain - In the Future

British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?

Calvin Harris - I Created Disco

Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip - Angles

David Byrne & Brian Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happen Today

The Duke Spirit - Neptune

Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree

Santogold - Santogold

Scary Mansion - Every Joke is Half the Truth

And for your viewing pleasure, videos from Black Mountain ("Angels"), British Sea Power ("No Lucifer"), and Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip ("The Beat That My Heart Skipped").