simply listed in alphabetical order, i’ve assembled the best albums of 2008. struggling over the past few weeks to decide which ones deserve to be listed as ‘the best’, i tend to be drawn to indie music covering all types and tones. a lot of you won’t know some of these bands… that’s okay… that’s the point of these lists. i strongly encourage you to explore ALL of these artists and enjoy! let me know what you like…

the black keys  attack & release
bon iver  for emma, forever ago
butcher the bar  sleep at your own speed 
cold war kids  loyalty to loyalty 
culture reject  culture reject 
kings of leon  only by the night  
m83  saturdays = youth 
marianne dissard  l’entredeux 
the notwist the devil, you + me 
sigur rós  með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust 
sun kil moon  april 
tindersticks  the hungry saw 
the walkmen you & me 
vampire weekend  vampire weekend
the whitest boy alive  dreams (liked so much, transcended from ’06)
windmill  puddle city racing lights (technically ’07 & ’08 but whatever) 
wolf parade  at mount zoomer 
xoxo, panda the new kid revival

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i ordered my copy early so i got my name in the book. sweet! we had about 14 of us at the concert this summer… have a look!

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i kept hearing this track on the cinemax hd promo commercial. it’s super infectious and it becomes the first in a new series of posts *song of the day!

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artist: dizzy rascal
track: fix up, look sharp
album: boy in da corner

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i have seen many concerts over the years… all i can say is brilliant.

the band: sigur rós

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to see more pictures, (more…)

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we’ll i’ll have to say the summer releases haven’t all been up to par. i’ve seen a good handful over the past few weeks and here’s a few 5 second reviews…

here we have the ‘a-squad’

…indiana jones 4: better than the 2nd but not as good as the 1st and the 3rd. he’s getting older but he held his own and it was really fun.

…iron man: fantastic. the only one who could have played him was downey jr. brought his personal celebrity into the character. and yes, the ladies will enjoy… jami is recommending it too!

…kung fu panda: best animated film since the incredibles. both of which have compelling, well thought out and complete stories. balancing of comedy, drama, action, emotion – excellence!

and now we have the ‘d-squad’

…the happening: saw this against my better judgement but tyler insisted it was ‘good’. i think if he had added that watching it as a comedy instead of a thriller – i would have enjoyed it. sorry becky & jami.

…the strangers: better than ‘the happening’ but fell short as the story was laid out to set up a sequel. the cinematography was excellent and it was a little ‘scary’ but it just missed the mark.

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whenever possible, i try to make my way down to central phoenix and go to one of my favorite coffee shops, lux coffee bar. so i figure, why not go to stinkweeds (independent music store). and yes, in this fantastic age of digital wonder, i still buy the occasional cd :)

after picking up the new ‘mates of state‘ & ‘joan of arc‘. i hit the listening stations and find two new bands ‘okay‘ and ‘fleet foxes‘.  i grabbed a few band t-shirts as well. top that all off with a trip to lux for a large latte and some homemade chocolate chip cookies and you have a fantastic sunday afternoon!

here’s the first track from okay’s album, huggable dust called ‘my’…enjoy!

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