1. Hercules And Love Affair - S/T

I love Disco. I always have and probably always will. I covet, collect, and dj records that were (for the most part) produced and released before I was born. I completely wore out my first Larry Levan’s “Paradise Garage” album, and obsessively scowered records stores on two continents looking for anything Jean-Marc Cerrone, Giorgio Moroder, Arthur Russell or Tom Moulton (who single handedly created the remix because he wanted to extend the enjoyment of songs by making them longer, natch). When I first heard Hercules And Love Affair I got excited. Brooklyn DJ Andrew Butler and DFA’s Tim Goldsworthy had managed to take the glitterball sound, so camp and familiar, and re-imagine it as something completely modern. This is a beautiful and complete album and proves, once and for all, that dancing and art are not mutually exclusive.


2. Cut Copy – “In Ghost Colors”

I remember the first time that I heard a Cut Copy song. I was DJing at the DKNY House during Coachella. Someone handed me a sampler and “Future” from “Bright Like Neon Love” was the first track. I instantly and thoroughly fell in love. I received “In Ghost Colors” in parts. First I got the singles, one at a time. I played them out and watched the first few songs and their various remixes slay my dancefloors. When I finally got the full album, even with my unreasonably high expectations, I was completely blown away. This record is flawless.

3. M83 – “Saturdays = Youth”

Anthony Gonzalez has delivered an introspective album that revels in its own understatement. It is a beautiful and soulful work and, as I recently discovered, the perfect soundtrack for a Las Vegas casino floor.


4. Bon Iver - "For Emma, Forever Ago"

Emotional. Rich. Stark. Perfect.


5. Santogold - “Santogold”

“L.E.S. Artists” alone is enough for this to make my best of 2008 list. Add to that “Starstruck,” “Lights Out,” “I’m a Lady,” “You’ll find a Way,” and me jumping around my bedroom like a teenager, and you’ve got gold. Solid fucking (Santo)gold!


6. Sebastien Tellier – “Sexuality”

“Sexuality” makes me what to produce porn. Hipster porn. I would like to employ boys with full beards and headbands to do dirty things to girls in American Apparel cotton panties. I’ll film them with golden-filtered lenses in a basement in Silverlake with brown-carpeted walls. “Sexuality” will be my soundtrack. Sebastien Tellier coos like a young Serge Gainsbourg and to put it quite simply, this record turns me on.


7. Neon Neon – “Stainless Style”

I really like that this album is basically about cars, money, and coke, and that people who don’t take themselves too seriously can make a seriously innovative record. “Stainless Style” gets props for being the most interesting album of 2008.

8. Nick Cave – “Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!”

My only issue with this album is that I have trouble getting past each individual song. I keep playing them - over and over and over. Other then my minor repeat obsession, “Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!” is a classic.

9. Portishead – “Third”

It took them a while but sometimes it’s really worth the wait.

10. Fleet Foxes – “Sun Giant”

All of the hype surrounding Fleet Foxes "Sun Giant"is well deserved. This album is absolutely beautiful.




Honorable Mentions:

Brian Eno & David Byrne – "Everything That Happens Will Happen Today"
Lil Wayne – "Tha Carter III"
The Notwist - "The Devil, You + Me"
Hot Chip - "Made In the Dark"
Air France - "No Way Down"
Deerhunter – "Micocastle"
TV on the Radio - "Dear Science"
Vampire Weekend – "Vampire Weekend"
Crystal Castles – "Crystal Castles"
Raphael Saadiq – "The Way I See It"
TV on the Radio - "Dear Science"
MGMT - "Oracular Spectacular"
No Age – "Nouns"
Sigur Ros - "Me_ su_ í eyrum vi_ spilum endalaust"
Gang Gang Dance- "Saint Dymphna"
The Dodos – "Visitor"
Radiohead – "In Rainbows"
Lindstrom – "Where you go I go too"
Spiritualized - "Songs in A&E"
Q-Tip – "The Renaissance"