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Pitchfork 50 Best Albums of 2008

Topics: Music | 2 CommentsBy admin | December 26, 2008

The Enhanced, Condensed Version

As I said a few weeks ago, I’m helpless without Pitchfork Media’s Top 50 list. It has totally dictated my January listening habits for three years running. Well, the 2008 list is finally available, and as usual they’ve spread it across five web pages, which is a minor annoyance to me and a few other people I know. So, I’ve done you all a little favor, and summarized the list without reviews. I’ve also gone one step further and provided product and torrent search links for most of the list. I tend to torrent, review, then buy if I like it or delete if I don’t. Try to be cool and support the artists if you do the same. By the way, the The Pitchfork 500 book (pictured) is a treasure trove too, if you haven’t checked it out. It chronologically covers indy music from ’77 Punk to the present, and is written in the same clever style as their site content. So free up some hard drive space, ’cause here it is, our condensed list —>

Note: “Torrent Search” links lead to BtJunkie, title links lead mostly to Amazon..

50: Ponytail – Ice Cream Spiritual
Label: We*Are*Free

49: Crystal Stilts – Alight of Night
Label: Slumberland
Torrent Search

48: High Places – High Places
Label: Thrill Jockey
Torrent Search

47: The Tallest Man on Earth – Shallow Grave
Label: Gravitation
Torrent Search

46: Beach House – Devotion
Label: Carpark
Torrent Search

45: Lykke Li – Youth Novels
Label: LL/Atlantic
Torrent Search

44: 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
Label: Kill Rock Stars
Torrent Search

43: Shearwater – Rook
Label: Matador
Torrent Search

42: Bonnie “Prince” Billy – Lie Down in the Light
Label: Drag City
Torrent Search

41:David Byrne and Brian Eno Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
Label: self-released
Torrent Search

40: The Very Best – Esau Mwamwaya & Radioclit are the Very Best
Label: Ghettopop/Green Owl
Torrent Search

39: Times New Viking – Rip It Off
Label: Matador
Torrent Search

38: The Bug – London Zoo
Label: Ninja Tune
Torrent Search

37: Grouper – Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill
Label: Type
Torrent Search

36: Wale – The Mixtape About Nothing
Label: self-released
Torrent Search

35: Girl Talk – Feed the Animals
Label: Illegal Art
Torrent Search

34: Arthur Russell – Love Is Overtaking Me
Label: Audika
Torrent Search

33: Frightened Rabbit – Midnight Organ Fight
Label: Fat Cat
Torrent Search

32: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
Label: Mute UK/Anti-
Torrent Search

31: Fennesz – Black Sea
Label: Touch
Torrent Search

30: Los Campesinos! – Hold on Now, Youngster…
Label: Wichita/Arts & Crafts
Torrent Search

29: The Hold Steady – Stay Positive
Label: Vagrant
Torrent Search

28: Flying Lotus Los Angeles
Label: Warp
Torrent Search

27: Max Tundra – Parallax Error Beheads You
Label: Domino
Torrent Search

26: Atlas Sound – Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel
Label: Kranky
Torrent Search

25: Titus Andronicus – The Airing of Grievances
Label: Troubleman Unlimited
Torrent Search

24: Gang Gang Dance – Saint Dymphna
Label: The Social Registry
Torrent Search

23: Hot Chip – Made in the Dark
Label: Astralwerks
Torrent Search

22: Santogold – Santogold
Label: Downtown
Torrent Search

21: Kanye West – 808s and Heartbreak
Label: Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam
Torrent Search

20: Fuck Buttons – Street Horrrsing
Label: ATP
Torrent Search

19: The Walkmen – You & Me
Label: Gigantic
Torrent Search

18: The Mae – Shi HLLLYH
Label: Team Shi
Torrent Search

17: Fucked Up – The Chemistry of Common Life
Label: Matador
Torrent Search

16: Vivian Girls – Vivian Girls
Label: Mauled by Tigers/In the Red
Torrent Search

15: Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles
Label: Last Gang
Torrent Search

14: Air France – No Way Down
Label: Something in Construction
Torrent Search

13: Erykah Badu – New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)
Label: Motown
Torrent Search

12: Lindstrøm – Where You Go I Go Too
Label: Smalltown Supersound
Torrent Search

11: Lil Wayne – Tha Carter III
Label: Cash Money/Universal
Torrent Search

10: DJ/rupture – Uproot
Label: The Agriculture
Torrent Search

09: Hercules and Love Affair – Hercules and Love Affair
Label: DFA/Mute
Torrent Search

08: M83 – Saturdays=Youth
Label: Mute
Torrent Search

07: Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend
Label: XL
Torrent Search

06: TV on the Radio – Dear Science
Label: 4AD/Interscope
Torrent Search

05: Deerhunter – Microcastle / Weird Era Cont.
Label: Kranky
Torrent Search

04: Cut Copy – In Ghost Colours
Label: Modular/Interscope
Torrent Search

03: No Age – Nouns
Label: Sub Pop
Torrent Search

02: Portishead – Third
Label: Island
Torrent Search

01: Fleet Foxes – Sun Giant EP/Fleet Foxes
Label: Sub Pop
Torrent Search

Read Comments

  1. Posted by » Pitchfork Media’s 50 Best Albums of 2009 ? - Dissociated Press on 12.02.09 4:52 pm

    [...] It’s time once again for me to start drooling as I await the Pitchfork Media 50 Best Albums of 2009. The annoying thing about one of the best of the “best of 2009″ music lists is that they won’t post it until it’s almost 2010! Until then, we’ll have to endure the inevitable mind-numbing assault of year-end “best of” lists from thousands of other sources. It took me awhile to figure out what exactly it was about Pitchfork’s list that draws me in and basically dictates my listening habits for about three months of the year: it’s the fact that every year, I utterly and completely disagree with about half of it! In their staff’s striving for uber-hipness, they end up exploring the remote fringes of pop that even weirdos like me are unwilling to embrace. Along the way though, I’m forced to listen to indy acts that otherwise wouldn’t have crossed my radar. The problem with lists like NPR’s Best Music Of 2009 (So Far) or Paste Magazine’s lists with the same name is that whether it’s poll-driven like NPR’s list, or staff-selected as in the case of Paste’s, they’re both from mid-year! They also tend to be topped with obvious choices like Animal Collective’s “My Girls” or Grizzly Bear or Neko Case songs. I mean c’mon. Who doesn’t like Animal Collective? They’re like the Beach Boys of the 21st century, produced by Cocteau Twins. So…we grumbled about our frustration with finding the best of the “best of” lists last year about this time, and didn’t get much feedback. So don’t bother offering suggestions this year, we don’t care what you think. Until Pitchfork’s list comes out, we’ll just amuse ourselves with this insane but fascinating collection of Pitchfork lists  presented as infographics, broken down by genre, gender, and other factors. See an example below. And if you haven’t even checked out the 2008 list yet, we did a roundup last year with Torrent searches and Amazon preview links here. [...]

  2. Posted by » Pitchfork Top 50 Albums of 2009 - With Torrents? - Dissociated Press on 12.21.09 8:47 am

    [...] no summary, so we’ve done the dirty work and summarized the list for you below. Last year we posted the 2008 list with both torrent and Amazon links, and we’ve done the same this year, but have a suggestion: We know some people torrent so [...]