Best Albums of 2008

I'm interested in reader opinions after receiving my copy of Paste's latest issue, detailing its editor's fairly offbeat, and uncharacteristically careless top 25 albums of the year. I could identify with close to 90% of 2007's best-of-list, but this year I'm just a little confused. Josh Jackson and company chose She & Him's Volume One as the #1 record of the year. Really? It's a solid sunshine 60's era pop record from guitar virtuoso M. Ward and actress/musician Zooey Deschanel, but I think this is a wildly irresponsible choice. Jackson's testament to his reasoning behind making this the magazine's #1 choice is basically just a biography of Ward and Deschanel, culminating in the statement "The 13 songs on Volume One are lovely throwbacks to blissful '60s pop, tastefully arranged and produced by the uber-talented Ward." That's it? I'm gonna need a little more convincing.

I am blown away by how Jackson and co. failed to include even one of the following albums...

-Radiohead, In Rainbows
-Dr. Dog, Fate
-Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Real Emotional Trash
-EmmyLou Harris, All I Intended to Be
-Coldplay, Death and All His Friends
-Aimee Mann, @#%&*! Smilers
-R.E.M., Accelerate
-Punch Brothers, Punch
-Cut Copy, In Ghost Colours

I'm not saying all should be on Paste's list, but how they ignored any of these in favor of My Morning Jacket's Evil Urges or The Raveonettes' Lust Lust Lust is a bit shocking. Oh well, I guess that's the beauty of subjective journalism!

What are your favorites of 2008?

If you have a few spare minutes, contribute to the All Songs Considered Poll. Results are announced on December 8.

-G