Alright so I did this last year...my top 5 albums of 2008.

The contenders:

Andy Yorke - Simple
Bitter:Sweet - Drama
Calexico - Carried To Dust
Coldplay - Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends
Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs
The Features - Some Kind Of Salvation
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree
Islands - Arm's Way
Kraak & Smaak - Plastic People
Ladytron - Velocifero
M83 - Saturdays=Youth
The Notwist - The Devil, You + Me
Okkervil River - The Stand Ins
Old 97's - Blame It On Gravity
Portishead - Third
The Presets - Apocalypso
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Cardinology
School Of Seven Bells - Alpinisms
Sigur Rós - Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust
Supergrass - Diamond Hoo Ha

All solid albums in their own right. My top 5 are (in no order but alphabetical by artist):

Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs
I have no doubt in my mind that this is Death Cab's best album to date...more sonically daring than any other that preceded it, Narrow Stairs has a sprawling, atmospheric tone set by the dreamy, room-filling echoing of the pounding opener "Bixby Canyon Bridge" and the positively entrancing "I Will Possess Your Heart", which utilizes a repetitive crescendoing beat that has no equal in DCFC's back catalogue. A personal highlight for me is the powerful "You Can Do Better Than Me", a short track that calls to mind the best of The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds. That's high praise.

Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree
2008's "Seventh Tree" feels like a classic album that's 30 years late in arriving, and I mean that in the best possible way. Alison Goldfrapp's full vocal capabilities are on display here, with each track receiving a different but equally compelling treatment. From the angelic breathiness of the opening "Clowns" to the oddly sardonic "Happiness" to the juxtaposition of high and low in the mid-tempo "Cologne Cerrone Houdini", there isn't a singing style that Goldfrapp doesn't conquer here. The music is equally beautiful, full of sweeping grandiose strings and real modern punch, Seventh Tree is not just one of the best albums of 2008, but one of the best albums of modern pop history.

M83 - Saturdays=Youth
In the past, M83 has bounced between producing loosely coordinated electronic noise and powerful cohesive post-rock, and there have been many gems from that approach. Saturdays=Youth is the first time that M83 has made an album that's truly compelling and listenable from beginning to end, however, combining catchy pop hooks with a sound that's as otherwordly and driving as the most obtuse of their previous works. The variety here is beyond reproach and even somewhat surprising, from the radio-friendly Kim & Jessie to the uniquely danceable Couleurs and everything in between...M83 is out there making a sound that nobody else is making.

Okkervil River - The Stand Ins
The continuation of last year's (even better) "The Stage Names", The Stand Ins shows just how mature Okkervil River has become in just a few years. Lyrically above reproach, weaving complex and verbose stories in and out through multiple tracks with undeniably poetic pacing and language, The Stand Ins also crafts pop rock sounds with unique instrumentation to back up its lyrical prowess.

School Of Seven Bells - Alpinisms
Every once in awhile you get an album and realize that it's actually a totally fresh sound. That is Alpinisms. Broadly ambitious, and though not always 100% successful, uniquely compelling, Alpinisms matches electronic dancehall beats to actual instrumentation and is backed by a wall of vocal harmonies that tie everything together. Unlike glitch music, Alpinisms flows calmly but steadily like a river, carrying the listener serenely down its course with plenty of interesting sights and sounds along the way.

I post a journal every 1,000 pageviews. My last one was February 1st.

So what's happened since February 1st? Well I finished my Senior Project, went to Germany, went backpacking in the Sierras, worked back at the 'ol Machine Shop, and now I'm a Community Advisor in the on-campus apartments here at my last year at CalPoly SLO (community advisor = resident advisor except not in the dorms). And that covers the big stuff. See you guys in another 1000 views.

I know I'm late on this, but whatever. It takes me awhile to digest music.

Here is the abridged list of possible contenders for my top 5 albums of 2007 (great albums all, in their own right):

Air - Pocket Symphony
Architecture In Helsinki - Places Like These
Battles - Mirrored
Beirut - The Flying Cub Cup
Blonde Redhead - 23
The Chemical Brothers - We Are The Night
Digitalism - Idealism
Feist - The Reminder
Jose Gonzales - In Our Nature
Justice - Cross
Mando Diao - Never Seen The Light Of Day
Radiohead - In Rainbows
The Rosebuds - Night Of The Furies
Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger
Shearwater - Palo Santo
The Softlightes - Say No! To Being Cool. Say Yes To Being Happy
Son Volt - The Search
Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Trans Am - Sex Change
UNKLE - War Stories
Voxtrot - Voxtrot
Wilco - Sky Blue Sky

And here's the 5 I picked and why (not in any order besides alphabetical):

Architecture In Helsinki - Places Like These
My god what a fun album. From start to finish this album works as both a collection of eclectic, energetic, and unique songs and also as an entire rollercoaster ride. Architecture In Helsinki's sound has evolved from a sound of utter chaos with flashes of brilliance amidst the bedlam down to something that's the opposite and better for it: Melodic, tight, poppy music with flashes of chaos that only serve to accentuate the eccentricity of it all. One for the ages.

Digitalism - Idealism
It was a tight finish between this and Justice's Cross; both are heavily glitch-influenced electronic albums, but Digitalism's take on it sounds more like a progressive concept album in its wholeness and manages to make some very entertaining clashing sounds without as much screechiness as Justice's effort, and with more of a melodic undercurrent to it all. The lyrics bring the whole effort down to earth, too, even when it sounds like you're flying through space.

Radiohead - In Rainbows
So even though it's not their best album (OK Computer and Kid A are better in my opinion), Radiohead proves that merely "good" for them is still damned excellent music. Each track accentuates the others, and they all carry a certain haunting beauty to them, most evident in the soft "Nude", the dark "All I Need", and the rolling "Reckoner". A damn fined piece of work.

UNKLE - War Stories
This album blew me away on first listen, and continues to on repeat listens. The inclusion of guest artists on nearly every track makes for a wide variety of sounds on one album...just about as wide a variety as you could get without it sounding like a hodgepodge. Every track is strong here, and the amazing thing is that the finished product is greater than the sum of its parts.

Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
Outside of the dull closing track, everything on this album is a smouldering fire, in some cases just burning below the surface, in other cases crescendoing into a brand of psychadelic-yet-undeniably-modern indie rock that seems utterly unique to post-YHF Wilco. The song structures take on a late-'60s sort of feel, with lots of Beatle-ey sounds and even what sounds to me like a bit of a Joe Cocker take-off in "Hate It Here", but without being plagiaristic...just timeless.

Yay for me and my popularity, amirite?

...but where are the flying cars? I was PROMISED flying cars! I don't see ANY flying cars!! Why? Why?! WHY!?!