Back in my day, we saved up our pennies to buy the latest wax cylinders

[rootbeer1]

Every year the Village Voice polls the music critics of the country for their Pazz n Jop roundup of the best releases of the previous year. And every year I look over their album listings, and sadly discover that I am even further out of the loop when it comes to modern music. I mean, I haven't even heard of the Fuck Buttons before, and evidently they produced one of the top albums of 2008. Twenty years ago, it was rare for an album to be in the top 50 with which I wasn't familiar.

So let's see how out of touch we all are. Look over this list of the top 200 albums of 2008, and see which ones you either:

• purchased as a physical CD or album;


• bought on iTunes or similar sites; or


• listened to enough times that you could recognize the group and the album if it were played for you.

Count up the number of albums you possess or know well, and fill in the poll at the end of the list. Let's see how current we all are.

1. TV on the Radio, Dear Science
2. Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend
3. Portishead, Third
4. Erykah Badu, New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War
5. Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes
6. Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III
7. Santogold, Santogold
8. Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago
9. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
10. Kanye West, 808s & Heartbreak
11. Deerhunter, Microcastle/Weird Era Continued
12. Randy Newman, Harps and Angels
13. The Hold Steady, Stay Positive
14. No Age, Nouns
15. Girl Talk, Feed the Animals
16. My Morning Jacket, Evil Urges
17. MGMT, Oracular Spectacular
18. Hercules and Love Affair, Hercules and Love Affair
19. Raphael Saadiq, The Way I See It
20. Bob Dylan, The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs - Rare and Unreleased 1989-2006
21. Coldplay, Viva La Vida, or Death and All His Friends
22. Los Campesinos!, Hold On Now, Youngster...
23. Cut Copy, In Ghost Colours
24. The Gaslight Anthem, The '59 Sound
25. R.E.M., Accelerate
26. Q-Tip, The Renaissance
27. Drive-By Truckers, Brighter Than Creation's Dark
28. M83, Saturdays=Youth
29. David Byrne & Brian Eno, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
30. She & Him, Volume One
31. Torche, Meanderthal
32. The Walkmen, You & Me
33. Hot Chip, Made in the Dark
34. Frightened Rabbit, The Midnight Organ Fight
35. Kings Of Leon, Only by the Night
36. Alejandro Escovedo, Real Animal
37. Metallica, Death Magnetic
38. Fucked Up, The Chemistry of Common Life
39. Roots, Rising Down
40. T.I., Paper Trail
41. Beck, Modern Guilt
42. Blitzen Trapper, Furr
43. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Real Emotional Trash
44. Gang Gang Dance, Saint Dymphna
45. Elbow, The Seldom Seen Kid
46. Death Cab For Cutie, Narrow Stairs
47. Al Green, Lay It Down
48. Young Jeezy, The Recession
49. The Magnetic Fields, Distortion
50. Vivian Girls, Vivian Girls
51. Ne-Yo, Year of the Gentleman
52. Lucinda Williams, Little Honey
53. Duffy, Rockferry
54. Sigur Ros, Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust
55. The Black Keys, Attack & Release
56. Jamey Johnson, That Lonesome Song
57. Estelle, Shine
58. Taylor Swift, Fearless
59. Flying Lotus, Los Angeles
60. Hayes Carll, Trouble in Mind
61. James McMurtry, Just Us Kids
62. Lindstrøm, Where You Go I Go Too
63. Beach House, Devotion
64. Nas, Untitled
65. Kathleen Edwards, Asking for Flowers
66. Of Montreal, Skeletal Lamping
67. Guns N' Roses, Chinese Democracy
68. Dr. Dog, Fate
69. Times New Viking, Rip It Off
70. Wolf Parade, At Mount Zoomer
71. Fennesz, Black Sea
72. The Raconteurs, Consolers of the Lonely
73. Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Primary Colours
74. Glasvegas, Glasvegas
75. Ponytail, Ice Cream Spiritual!
76. The Raveonettes, Lust Lust Lust
77. Robyn, Robyn
78. Jay Reatard, Matador Singles '08
79. Elvis Costello and the Imposters, Momofuku
80. Spiritualized, Songs in A & E
81. Lykke Li, Youth Novels
82. Opeth, Watershed
83. Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Lie Down in the Light
84. Fuck Buttons, Street Horrrsing
85. Arthur Russell, Love Is Overtaking Me
86. Conor Oberst, Conor Oberst
87. Toumani Diabate, The Mande Variations
88. Marnie Stern, This Is It . . .
89. Orchestra Baobab, Made in Dakar
90. Franco, Francophonic
91. The-Dream, Love/Hate
92. Charlie Haden Family & Friends, Rambling Boy
93. Steinski, What Does It All Mean? 1983-2006 Retrospective
94. Flight of the Conchords, Flight of the Conchords
95. Jenny Lewis, Acid Tongue
96. The Knux, Remind Me in 3 Days...
97. Why?, Alopecia
98. Okkervil River, The Stand Ins
99. Nada Surf, Lucky
100. Juana Molina, Un Dia
101. Crystal Castles, Crystal Castles
102. Be Your Own Pet, Get Awkward
103. Shelby Lynne, Just a Little Lovin'
104. Nachtmystium, Assassins: Black Meddle, Pt.1
105. The Dutchess & the Duke, She's the Dutchess, He's the Duke
106. The Gutter Twins, Saturnalia
107. Laura Marling, Alas I Cannot Swim
108. Grouper, Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill
109. The Breeders, Mountain Battles
110. Adele, 19
111. The Bug, London Zoo
112. Mudcrutch, Mudcrutch
113. Gnarls Barkley, The Odd Couple
114. The Mountain Goats, Heretic Pride
115. The Sword, Gods of the Earth
116. dj/Rupture, Uproot
117. Goldfrapp, Seventh Tree
118. The Black Crowes, Warpaint
119. Crystal Stilts, Alight of Night
120. Robert Forster, The Evangelist
121. Harvey Milk, Life...The Best Game in Town
122. Jazmine Sullivan, Fearless (Jazmine Sullivan)
123. High Places, High Places
124. The Kills, Midnight Boom
125. Wale, The Mixtape About Nothing
126. Ryan Adams, Cardinology
127. Deerhoof, Offend Maggie
128. Joe Jackson, Rain
129. Solange Knowles, Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams
130. The Whigs, Mission Control
131. Paul Weller, 22 Dreams
132. Shearwater, Rook
133. The Ting Tings, We Started Nothing
134. Neil Young, Sugar Mountain: Live at Canterbury House 1968
135. Dodos, Visiter
136. Sun Kil Moon, April
137. Radiohead, In Rainbows
138. Atmosphere, When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold
139. The Cool Kids, The Bake Sale
140. AC/DC, Black Ice
141. The Helio Sequence, Keep Your Eyes Ahead
142. Max Tundra, Parallax Error Beheads You
143. Sloan, Parallel Play
144. Calexico, Carried to Dust
145. The Fireman, Electric Arguments
146. B.B. King, One Kind Favor
147. Paul Westerberg, 49:00
148. El Guincho, Alegranza
149. Cat Power, Jukebox
150. The Night Marchers, See You in Magic
151. Seun Kuti, Seun Kuti + Fela's Egypt 80
152. Sam Phillips, Don't Do Anything
153. John Legend, Evolver
154. Janelle Monae, Metropolis: The Chase Suite
155. Los Campesinos!, We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
156. Hank Williams, The Unreleased Recordings
157. Last Shadow Puppets, The Age of the Understatement
158. Esau Mwamwaya and Radioclit, Esau Mwamwaya and Radioclit are the Very Best
159. Brian Wilson, That Lucky Old Sun
160. Sam Amidon, All Is Well
161. The Baseball Project, The Baseball Project, Vol. 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails
162. The Duke Spirit, Neptune
163. The Pretenders, Break Up the Concrete
164. Mates Of State, Re-Arrange Us
165. Black Milk, Tronic
166. Atlas Sound, Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel
167. Earth, The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull
168. Enslaved, Vertebrae
169. Black Mountain, In the Future
170. Ra Ra Riot, The Rhumb Line
171. Air France, No Way Down
172. Sic Alps, U.S. EZ
173. Jamie Lidell, Jim
174. Kaiser Chiefs, Off With Their Heads
175. Love is All, A Hundred Things Keep Me Up at Night
176. Rodney Crowell, Sex & Gasoline
177. Ratatat, LP3
178. Gojira, The Way of All Flesh
179. Made Out of Babies, The Ruiner
180. Amanda Palmer, Who Killed Amanda Palmer
181. Abigail Washburn, Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet
182. Rodriguez, Cold Fact
183. The Killers, Day & Age
184. Little Joy, Little Joy
185. Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson, Rattlin' Bones
186. NOMO, Ghost Rock
187. Calle 13, Los De Atrás Vienen Conmigo
188. Meshuggah, obZen
189. Ray Davies, Working Man's Cafe
190. Jolie Holland, The Living and the Dead
191. Man Man, Rabbit Habits
192. Punch Brothers, Punch
193. Neon Neon, Stainless Style
194. Darker My Love, 2
195. Department of Eagles, In Ear Park
196. Fall Out Boy, Folie a Deux
197. Jean Grae, Jeanius
198. War on Drugs, Wagonwheel Blues
199. Britney Spears, Circus
200. Boris, Smile

[Poll #1335906]

Comments

[furmuslbulk.livejournal.com]

I just hummed "In the Name of Love." what about it?

[nfotxn.livejournal.com]

You probably just hulled a few bars from the chorus. Try humming the rest of the song. Bono likes to sing vocal warm ups and call them lyrics.

[furmuslbulk.livejournal.com]

Umm are you dissing Bono? Oh right, you're too cool to like U2.

[nfotxn.livejournal.com]

Well no actually. I certainly think their last two records were stinkers. But this is just something I was talking to a friend about. A friend who is a fairly good singer.