What I Listened To in 2008

As the year comes to a close I decided to look back at what I've been listening to over the year. So I took a look at my last.fm account and my most played artists and albums over the last 12 months.

MOST PLAYED ARTISTS

10. Fleet Foxes - 214 Plays

• Their self-titled debut made it onto practically every magazine's Top 10 list, so its only fitting that it cracks my Top 10 most listened artists. I did not listen to any album more in 2008 than Fleet Foxes (202 plays) and I did not listen to any track more than "White Winter Hymnal (27 plays).

9. Wilco - 215 Plays

• I finally was able to give their 2007 "Sky Blue Sky" a listen along with a significant portion of their catalouge preceding "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot." It's clear that I was not dissappointed. 

8. The Beatles - 222 Plays

• Is it possible to go a year without listening to Sgt. Pepper's, Abbey Road, Revolver, and Rubber Soul at least once?

7. Coldplay -226

• Viva La Vida was the most played album of the year in the Last.fm community. Although It clearly wasn't the best album of the year, but I think the critics were too harsh on Chris Martin and the gang. I found myself returning to the sweeping sounds found on "Lovers in Japan" and "42."

6. Death Cab for Cutie - 246 Plays

• An old favorite whose new album Narrow Stairs got 152 plays alone. I've written about this album twice already. If its not clear--I really liked it. In fact, I listened to this album exclusively for 2 weeks (NPR podcasts aside). 

5. Vampire Weekend - 263 Plays

• Vampire Weekend is more addictive than crack cocaine. It's impossible to listen to just one Vampire Weekend song. Their infectious hooks should be outlawed; they postponed my and my roomate's studying on several late evenings. Their self-titled album got 164 plays, the 2nd most of any album. "Oxford Comma," "A-Punk," "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa," and "Walcott" were all played over 25 times each.

4. Counting Crows - 288 Plays

• Easily the most embarassing artist I listen to regularly, the Counting Crows have been a constant over the past three years. Adam Duritz is one of the premier song writers and lyricists of my generation. Although Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings is no August & Everything After it still caught my ear this year.

3. Ben Folds - 302 Plays

• Way To Normal was a big disappointment, but it still had it's moments. "Kylie From Connecticut" and "You Don't Know Me (featuring Regina Spektor)" are 2 stand-out tracks from 2008. I gave this record many listens just to see if it would grow on me. It did. But not enough.

2. Bob Dylan - 445 Plays

• The best songwriter of all time won't be able to go a year without his fair share of plays. Blonde on Blonde and Blood on the Tracks are two of my most listened to albums ever. Each is so carefully mastered and filled with raw emotion.

1. Radiohead - 468 Plays

• My favorite band. Period. (Plus In Rainbows' official release was in 2008).

MOST PLAYED ALBUMS

1. "Fleet Foxes" - Fleet Foxes (203 plays)

2.  "Vampire Weekend" - Vampire Weekend (164 plays)

3.  "Narrow Stairs" - Death Cab for Cutie (152 plays)

4. "Conor Oberst" - Conor Oberst (121 plays)

5. "Way To Normal" - Ben Folds (110 plays)

6. "Third" - Portishead (107 plays)

7. "Let Go" - Nada Surf (97 plays)

8. "Kicking Television: Live in Chicago" - Wilco (89 plays)

9. "Acid Tounge" - Jenny Lewis (86 plays)

10. "Pet Sounds" - The Beach Boys (78 plays)

Best Albums of 2008

1. Vampire Weekend "Vampire Weekend" - It's clear that at some point at Columbia University this four-piece mastered how to write pop songs. Although their debut is only 38 minutes in its entirety, it packed a big enough punch to turn these recent college graduates into a musical leviathan in less than a year. What is most intriguing about Vampire Weekend is that they don't seem to try too hard, but Afro-pop songs like "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" and "Oxford Comma" are perfect in every way.

2. Portishead "Third"- Portishead's aptly titled third studio album (and first in over ten years) is a departure from their trip-hop sound. Taking a cue from Trent Reznor, the band's sound has moved towards the more haunting and industrial. Beth Gibbon's desperate lyrics only enhance match the bare, desperate sound of Third.

3. Fleet Foxes "Fleet Foxes" - The Seattle five-piece has mastered vocal harmonies that pop music hasn't seen since the Beach Boys, but the soft twang of acoustic guitars is reminiscent of Dylan's Nashville Skyline and Neil Young's Harvest Moon. "Winter White Hymnal" is the catchiest song of 2008-impossible to listen to just once.

4. Death Cab for Cutie "Narrow Stairs" - I Will Posses Your Heart" is a 4-minute Phish-like jam that grows into a radio-friendly track. Death Cab tried to get creative on their seventh album and although their sound might not have evolved significantly, Ben Gibbard's song-writing supremacy remains clear.

5. MGMT "Oracular Spectacular" - Vampire Weekend aside, MGMT wrote the most powerful singles of the year-"Time to Pretend," "Electric Feel," and "Kids." If MGMT continues to crank out infectious psychedelic electro-pop then their dreams of a flawed rock star life from "Time to Pretend" may just come true.