Best of 2008 (so far, again)

I think this is the second such list I've made so far this year, but this list got much longer during the month of June.  I suppose I should put a giant asterisk on it due to the fact that several of these albums are mere days or weeks old.  Always hard to tell what will stick it out until the end of the year.

But, as it stands today, here's my preliminary Top Albums list for 2008:

1. Alejandro Escovedo – Real Animal
2. Sam Phillips – Don’t Do Anything
3. Emmylou Harris – All I Intended To Be
4. Hayes Carll – Trouble In Mind
5. The Black Keys – Attack & Release
6. Drive-By Truckers – Brighter Than Creation’s Dark
7. Old 97’s – Blame It On Gravity
8. Sigur Ros - Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust
9. My Morning Jacket – Evil Urges
10. Lizz Wright – The Orchard
11. Tift Merritt – Another Country
12. Allison Moorer – Mockingbird

I'm sure I missed something, and I'm sure someone will point it out for me.

Comments

[Josh]

Wow, you really DO like that Alejandro album, don't you? I'm pretty sure it'll be in my Top 10 this year, but it won't be #1.

Surprised to see Tift so low.

And man, you gotta hear The Tallest Man on Earth.

[David Kennedy]

I think Tift has a good chance of rebounding a bit. She's not really in rotation right now, but I can see revisiting it a lot -- maybe once the June hype winds down.

[Dan]

you're killin' me... "best of"s already?!

:-D

ah, I should do one, too... Sigur Ros will be on it, fo sho'.

~Dan
http://jazzsick.wordpress.com/

[John C]

You need to try Justin Townes Earle's CD. He was really great at Cactus (I couldn't make the later show at Warehouse).

[Andy from UK]

Aimee Mann man!
New, shiny, no hype, just great tunes.

And Kathleen Edwards, surely?

[Chris in Happy Valley]

At the halfway post already, wow. I'll have to think about things so far and check out the Alejandro Escevedo record.

[Dan]

I'm horrible... I couldn't limit it to 10...

Top 5 so far...
1 The Secret Chiefs 3 play Masada Book Two: Book of Angels, Vol. 9: Xaphan ( Tzadik )
2 The Bar Kokhba Sextet play Masada Book Two: Book of Angels, Vol. 10: Lucifer ( Tzadik )
3 My Brightest Diamond A Thousand Shark’s Teeth ( Asthmatic Kitty )
4 Opeth Watershed ( RoadRunner )
5 Earth The Bees Make Honey in the Lion’s Skull ( Southern Lord )

the rest for my "halfway" mark...
http://jazzsick.wordpress.com/2008/06/30/halfway-2008/

~Dan

[David Kennedy]

To Andy's points...

Kathleen Edwards is another one I might've worn out too soon. Look for a comeback on that one when it finds it way back to my playlists.

Aimee Mann? It will shock my regular readers to hear that it actually left me a little indifferent. I'm pretty sure I haven't given it a fair shake, but I dunno. It's just not hitting my sweet spot the way The Forgotten Arm did (though many Aimee fans seem to be indifferent about that one and love the new one).

[Dan]

Re: Aimee Mann... yeah, I dug Lost in Space, was indifferent to The Forgotten Arm, and I think this new one is similar to Lost in Space... good stuff usually. I think Bachelor No. 2 was her pinnacle one, but she continues to put out stuff in the "solidly good" category.

~Dan

[Andy from UK]

You just get so much good stuff comin' in from all over David that it must be hell trying to pick the great from the good. Nice problem to have though - keep on giving us the tips and we'll make up our own minds!

Am surprised you're not digging the new Aimee Mann though. 'Freeway' has the BEST groove ever!

[Happy]

I'm going to have to add

Eliza Gilkysons - Beautiful World

The Weepies - Hideaway

Ben Sollee - Learning to Bend

Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet (Bela Fleck, Ben Sollee & Casey Driessen)

That's all I got to add.

[Happy]

I'm with you on Aimee did nothing for me.