It’s becoming an annual tradition for my musical-minded husband to create a best and worst list of albums for the previous year.  So, without further delay:

Keith’s Top Ten Albums of 2008

1. “Who Killed Amanda Palmer?” – Amanda Palmer
Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls teamed up with producer Ben Folds (thankfully making up for his own mediocre album earlier this year) for her first solo project. The results are beautiful, messy, raw, confusing, desperate and hopeful. Her voice is imperfect and scratchy, his mixes are muddy – yet no album, for me, better captured the year that was 2008. Essentially, it’s a quest for love and meaning in times that don’t necessarily care about either one.

2. “Pretty. Odd” – Panic at the Disco
Many claimed that this album was too drastic of a shift from their previous emo-band success. Others dismissed it as Beatles-lite. However, once listners get past what they expected from the album and hear it for what it actually is – beautiful melodies, lush arrangements and Lewis Carol-esque lyrics emerge, making the statement that this young band has many more musical tricks up its sleeve than anyone anticipated.

3. “Dear Science” – TV On the Radio
This album is completely here and now, mixing funk, soul, hip-hop and pop to create hopeful yet frightened observations of the times. Despite the economic destitude and the bombs falling, the thru line speaks volumes: “love, don’t you falter.”

4. “Harps & Angels” – Randy Newman
Those who only know Randy Newman from his meandering movie scores need to understand that he gets it, he understands the joke of himself. And it’s through this lens that he’s written some of the best political and personal satire of modern rock. This album finds him in top form, including the most potent song of the year,”A Few Words In Defense of My Country” in which he inverts the chords to “America the Beautiful,” turning it into an sarcastic lullibye for a fading empire.

5. “Volume One” – She & Him
Actress Zooey Deschanel and songwriter M. Ward recorded this side-project without expectation of mainstream release and it ended up one of the best of the year. There is no hidden meaning here. It is simple, unpretentious pop perfection echoing 60’s girl bands, 70’s AM radio with a hint of country western twang. And it doesn’t hurt that Zooey’s voice colors the record in shades of Karen Carpenter.

6. “Oracular Spectacular” – MGMT
This album is so catchy it’s almost annoying, but I mean that in a good way. The production values are über-sleek, adding a sense of conscience to their disco acid punk themes.

7. “Two Men With the Blues” – Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis
Recorded live earlier this year at Lincoln Center, this album is far from perfect: Willie sings a little too much on the beat, while some of the instrumental soloists are too bebop to match it. However, after several listenings, it dawned on me that that’s precisely what makes this album so special. The blues is the common ground between country western and jazz, and each legend is a master of their particular understanding of it. By the end of the record, it suddenly clicks and you can hear the two worlds of music freely conversing to make a cohesive whole. If only the rest of the world tried so hard to understand one another’s perspectives…

8. “Feed the Animals” – Girl Talk
Pittsburgh DJ Gregg Gillis combined thousands of song samples, creating mashup style remixes that suddenly become a statement entirely of his own. Its almost like pointilism art, exhilerating your ears as they pick out the recognized pieces and brillant to watch the big picture unfold into something altogether new.

9. “Fleet Foxes” – Fleet Foxes
A beautiful, lush debut album reminiscent of CSNY with a side of pastorale imagery. The sounds wash over you like ocean waves on the beach.

10. (tie) Ok, so I cheated a little here. One is the soundtrack to a show, one is a reissue. Whatever. The two put together can still count, right?
“Passing Strange” – Original Broadway Cast
Singer-songwriter/Narrator Stew’s semi-autobiographical musical about escaping oneself by travelling the world is search of “art”, only to find that love and family is whatever and wherever you deem it to be. This album was recorded live the very next morning after Chris and I saw the show, so it’s as close to our experience as possible. The essence isn’t fully captured here, but Act One ender “Keys (Its Alright)” was one of my most spiritual music moments of 2008.

“Pacific Ocean Blue” – Dennis Wilson
Reissued and remastered for the first time since it’s original 1977 release, the album is beautiful and haunting. Dennis Wilson was always the pretty boy drummer of the Beach Boys with questionable music talent, so he shocked the world with this darker take of brother Brian’s California sun. It gains even more depth when you realize he drown to death in the ocean a few years later.

And to round out the rest of the year,

Keith’s Pick for Worst Music of 2008 

1. “Another Way To Die” – Jack White and Alicia Keys
Two of the most talented people in popular music come together and create…this? The melody of this Bond theme was aimless, the drums sloppy (I guess Meg does play a role in White Stripes after all) and the key too high for either voice. Sigh.

2. “808 & Heartbreak” – Kanye West
Things I learned from this album:
(a) there’s a difference between being heartbroken and boring
(b) there’s a difference between being ego-centric and self-serving
(c) there’s a difference between writing rap lyrics and song lyrics
(d) there’s a difference between an R&B singer and a computer

3. “Discipline” – Janet Jackson
Yes, Ms. Jackson, we know you’re nasty and naughty. We just don’t care. Let me know when you get back to interesting tunes and Paula Abdul choreography.

4. “Chinese Democracy” – Guns N Roses
15 years in the making, Axl Rose unleashes this overbloated mess on the world. It took 13 studios, 5 solo guitarists, hip-hop beats melding into world music, a full choir, syring section, rambling lyrics intertwined with confusing snippets of Dr. Martin Luther King speeches – and that’s all on one song. Part of me feels guilty for listing this on the worst list because it was also one of the year’s most fascinating listens. You can hear the potential in each song, but then it all implodes under the weight of Axl’s  paranoid expectations of himself.

Happy New Year, everyone! May next year bring you much love, happiness and music!