At the beginning of the year I expressed some concern over the concept of a “best of” list, suggesting that most should be classified as “best records I received and listened to in the last 12 months.” With that in mind, rather than pegging this as the best records of 2008, I prefer to view it as 50 albums released in ’08 that I am glad are in my collection. (One change made at 10:55 am Tuesday: I forgot Blitzen Trapper. This is Ivy League is now on a different list.)

1. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
2. TV on the Radio – Dear Science
3. Sigur Ros – Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum
4. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
5. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
6. Portishead – Third
7. John Mellencamp – Life, Death, Love and Freedom
8. Bob Dylan – Tell Tale Signs
9. William Parker Quartet – Petit Oiseau
10. Missy Higgins – On a  Clear Night
11. James Blackshaw – Litany of Echoes
12. Hays Carll – Trouble in Mind
13. Adele – 19
14. Randy Newman – Harps and Angels
15. Anthony Braxton - The Complete Arista Recordings of Anthony Braxton
16. She & Him – Vol. 1
17. Santogold - Santogold
18. Anthony Hamilton – The Point of it All
19. DeVotchKa – A Mad and Faithful Telling
20. Conor Oberst – Conor Oberst
21. Duffy - Rockferry
22. Hold Steady – Stay Positive
23. Alice Russell – Pot of Gold
24. Al Green – Lay it Down
25. Why? - Alopecia
26. Brian Eno and David Byrne – Everything That Happens …
27. Laura Marling – Alas, I Cannot Swim
28. Johnny Flynn – A Larum
29. Delta Spirit – Ode to Sunshine
30. Beck – Modern Guilt
31. Break and Repair Method – Milk the Bee
32. John Pizzarelli – With a Song in My Heart
33. Freddie Stevenson – All My Strange Companions
34. Norma Winstone – Distances
35. Shelby Lynne – Just a Little Lovin’
36. Beach House – Devotion
37. Neil Young – Sugar Mountain – Live at Canterbury House 1968
38. Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet - Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet
39. Bodies of Water – A Certain Feeling
40. Various Artists –  Nigeria Special 1970-1976
41. Blltzen Trapper - Furr
42. Roy Harper – Counter Culture
43. Butch Walker – Sycamore Meadows
44. Dennis Wilson – Bambu (the unreleased half of the Pacific Ocean Blue reissue)
45. Priscilla Ahn – A Good Day
46. Peter Moren – The Last Tycoon
47. Mary Chapin Carpenter – Come Darkness, Come Light
48. Van Morrison – Keep it Simple
49. My Brightest Diamond – A Thousand Shark’s Teeth
50. Brad Mehldau Trio – Live