via//chicago

So Far... So Good... So What: The Best of 2008, Halfway Point Edition

We've made it to the halfway point of 2008, seems like a good time to look back and take stock of the year in music so far. Personally, it's been a really interesting year when it comes to the music I've been listening to since January. One of the biggest changes is that I'm now writing for two outlets - Static Multimedia and, more recently, Metal Edge. Which means I'm swimming in more promos than ever before. I know I don't need to listen to everything that comes across my desk or inbox, but there is just so much stuff that seems so interesting and worth a listen. I love diving headfirst into bands, and hell... whole subgenres, I've never heard before. So I've heard more albums in the past six months than I probably heard in any single year before. It's a lot to absorb and a lot to digest, but I like it... so far anyway. I'm sure overload will kick in one of these days and I'll have to step back and distance myself a little bit. It's all a part of learning to best appreciate music.

With that in mind, I'm approaching the list making a little differently this time. Rather than numerically ranking my "favorites" from the past six months, I'm going to alphabetically list the 25 albums that have most engaged me since January 1st. Records I've been compelled to return to time and time again, records I've poked around and lived in for stretches at a time. What this means to my list is that there are some records that have come out in the past month or two that I absolutely love so far, but haven't yet had the time to really wrap my brain around them - and because of this, I'm leaving them off the list. The 25 records below are ones that I have lived with enough to feel comfortable putting them on any kind of "best" list.

Without further ado...

Atlas Sound - Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel (Kranky)
Erykah Badu - New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War (Motown)
Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward (Ecstatic Peace)
Black Mountain - In The Future (Jagjaguwar)
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago (Jagjaguwar)
Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours (Modular)
Dead Meadow - Old Growth (Matador)
Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs (Atlantic)
The Dodos - Visiter (Frenchkiss)
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes (Sub Pop)
Foals - Antidotes (Sub Pop)
Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight (Fat Cat)
The Goslings - Occasion (Not Not Fun)
Gutter Twins - Saturnalia (Sub Pop)
Hercules & Love Affair - Hercules & Love Affair (DFA/Mute)
Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now, Youngster (Arts & Crafts)
No Age - Nouns (Sub Pop)
Portishead - Third (Mercury)
Ruby Suns - Sea Lion (Sub Pop)
Spiritualized - Songs in A&E (Fontana Int'l)
Sun Kil Moon - April (Caldo Verde)
Torche - Meanderthal (Hydra Head)
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend (XL)
Vandermark 5 - Beat Reader (Atavistic)
The Whigs - Mission Control (ATO)

And there you have it... twenty five releases from the first half of this year that have made me really happy to be a music fan. As I mentioned, there are quite a few more recent albums that I've really been enjoying but haven't heard quite enough to have made this list. So special mentions should be made to Sigur Ros, Nachtmystium, Opeth, Coldplay, Lair of the Minotaur, Wolf Parade, and Harvey Milk for their albums that may end up figuring out this same sort of list at the end of the year.

As a sidenote, it certainly looks like Sub Pop has been working wonders for me this year. Five albums out of those 25 listed came out on that veteran label, not to mention the awesome Mudhoney reissue and that Wolf Parade album. Great way to celebrate the 20th Anniversary guys!