Every year ends with me looking at the list of CDs I meant to pick up and bands I meant to give a listen to but never quite got around to it. This year is no different, and actually my list seems even longer than usual. But, there is nothing to be done about it - and even with a list of yet-to-hears so staggeringly long, 2008 was still crammed with enough great music that I could throw together a top 10 without blinking. So with that in mind, here is my list of top 10 favorite albums of 2008. Stay tuned for some other lists, including favorite songs, top albums I still want to listen to, and some other honorable mentions.

10. Wild Sweet Orange - We Have Cause to Be Uneasy

I wandered into this band at Lollapalooza this year with zero background, and they were hands down my favorite "discovery" of the weekend. Their album, "We Have Cause to Be Uneasy" starts with my favorite track, "Ten Dead Dogs." At first listen the rest of the album doesn't seem to have the same power as the first single, but it is definitely a grower album. Different songs invoke comparisons to various singers. "Ten Dead Dogs" has a bit of a feeling of Magnet singer Even Johansen while "House of Regret" has a strong Conor Oberst vibe.

Stand out tracks: Ten Dead Dogs, House of Regret, An Atlas to Follow

9. Sigur Ros - Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust

Icelandic band Sigur Ros is back with their fifth studio album, and it may be my favorite yet. Gobbledigook the first song off of the album is a heart-lifting life-affirming song, and the video that accompanies it is perfect - it features people running naked and carefree through the woods. It is beautiful. I agree with Kramer - the track Ára Bátur is the album's strongest moment, with the sweeping strings and swelling choirs toward the end of the nearly 9 minute song that will make your heart swell. Also noteable is All Alright, the band's first English language song - although you'd hardly know unless you were paying attention. Jonsi represents, as far as I know, the only out gay performer in my top 10 this year. Thanks for representing!

Stand Out Tracks: Gobbledigook, Ára Bátur

8. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

I heard Oxford Comma back in 2007 and really enjoyed it, but then Vampire Weekend fell off my radar - until suddenly they were everywhere. They are, in my opinion, this year's Peter, Bjorn and John. They hit right at the beginning of the year, became hugely popular in indie circles and crossed over to mainstream appeal almost instantly before falling off of people's radar a bit. (P.S. Spin Magazine- it's never okay to declare a best CD of the year in March) This was the perfect summer CD and amazing outdoor festival music. It is fun and warm - and though inspired a lot by African percussion, it transports me to the East Coast. Maybe that is because of the (hot) band member's Ivy League look.

Stand Out Tracks: M79, Mansford Roof, I Stand Corrected

7. The Spinto Band - Moonwink

I first heard "Mountains" off of 2005's "Nice and Nicely Done" will staying at a hostel in Scotland, which is strange considering this band hails from Delaware! The Spinto Band have a pretty unique sound, and I was curious if they could manage another good CD. I was very pleasantly surprised by their latest album... it has everything that made me love their previous release, but with some very welcome additions. Specifically, I was very happy to hear some great instrumentation, including a piano solo in the opening track "Later On" and some horns (or horn synth) throughout the album's stand out track, "The Carnival." I was happy to hear this CD being used as the soundtrack to an episode of The Best Week Ever - and hope they keep making great music.

Stand Out Tracks: The Carnival, Summer Grof, The Cat's Pajamas

6. Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer

I was really impressed a couple of years back when I saw Wolf Parade open for the Arcade Fire, and I enjoyed their first full length "Apologies to the Queen Mary." However, their sophomore album blows their first album out of the water! There are a lot of fantastic songs, all building to the final track - arguably the most epic song of the year - "Kissing the Beehive" clocks in at 10:52 and the shift in tone at about 4:00 minutes in is probably my favorite musical moment of the year. And the experience is just as magical live.

Stand Out Tracks: Kissing the Beehive, Fine Young Cannibals, The Grey Estates

5. Islands - Arm's Way

Yes, I have two Montreal bands in a row on my list! Islands was the band I saw the most times (3) at SXSW 2008. They hardly played any songs from their first album, showcasing mostly their then unreleased new album. And I didn't care at all - that is how strong their new tracks were. And talk about epic... they give Wolf Parade a run for their money. Only a third of the songs clock in under 5 minutes, with two over 7 minutes and one at just over 11 minutes long! It is quite the experience live. However, on the first few listens, the CD fell short. Don't give up on this album though! Start with the singles like "Creeper" and "The Arm" but stay for gems like "To A Bond" and "Vertigo (If It's a Crime). Even my least favorite song (Abominable Snow, featuring the totally creepy lyric "rack of lamb of god, we ate you instead") is redeemed by an extremely catchy bridge.

Stand Out Tracks: The Arm, Creeper, Vertigo (If It's a Crime)

4. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

Bon Iver, french for Good Winter, has released the perfect winter CD (a good answer to Vampire Weekends perfect summer album). Recovering from a rough year, Justin Vernon, who is Bon Iver, secluded him self in a cabin deep in the woods of Wisconsin for three months. This masterpiece emerged while he was there and drips with the solitude and frailty of the experience. He recorded everything by himself and my favorite part is some of the very in the moment voice cracks and blemishes that have been left unpolished in the finale product. While originally released independently in 2007, it was rereleased on a label this year (I always seem to have one of those on my list!) The falsetto heavy singer was by far my favorite performance at SXSW 2008.

Stand Out Tracks: Blindsided, Skinny Love, Lump Sum

3. Margot and the Nuclear So & Sos - Not Animal & Animal

Margot had my #1 album in 2006 and I have been chomping at the bit for their follow up ever since. From neighboring Indiana, I have had numerous opportunities to see them, and their unreleased songs always are as exciting as their released stuff. Unfortunately there were some delays in getting these albums released - Epic disagreed on what should be on the album. As a result, a vinyl only release of the band's preference, Animal!, was released along with the CD release of Epic's preferred song list - titled Not Animal. Many of the songs make appearances on each release. I don't know, it seems a little like a money making gimmick to me, but I don't care, I needed both! (The release of Animal! has a song called "Love Song for a Schubas Bartender" - props for name dropping my favorite music venue!) While the band themselves seem to be eternally on the brink of imploding, the albums lived up to expectations set by their first album. While they don't get my top spot this year, they are at the top of my "follow up albums" list which is saying something, considering how many of my favorite bands released new albums this year.

Stand Out Tracks: Broadripple is Burning, As Tall As Cliffs, Pages Written On A Wall

2. Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit - A Larum

Amazingly for me, Johnny Flynn is the first Brit on my list this year! Not only is he gorgeous, but his folk album skyrocketed amazingly quickly to my #2 position. I had heard the beautiful and heart-wrenching "Brown Trout Blues" back in 2007 but then he slipped my mind until I saw him perform with Laura Marling at Bottom Lounge. His CD, as good as it is, is topped by his amazing stage performance. You can tell by listening to his lyrics that he is well read, and he lists Yeats and Shakespeare as influences. According to wikipedia, he lists the origin of the album title as the Middle English word for "alarm," used in Shakespeare's manuscripts to signify a disturbance occurring offstage among other things. The title is also an anagram of "Laura M", a possible reference to fellow folk singer Laura Marling, with whom Johnny Flynn has done several informal collaborations who just happens to be...

Stand Out Tracks: Brown Trout Blues, The Box, Sally, Eyeless in Holloway

1. Laura Marling - Alas I Cannot Swim, My Manic and I EP, Cross Your Fingers EP

The only female on my top 10 list is also my number 1! Laura is busy in the indie circles - she is a former member of Noah and the Whale, and has collaborated with The Rakes and The Mystery Jets. As mentioned above, she has collaborated with fellow Brit Johnny Flynn, and I first saw them performing live together. She was nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize up against the powerhouse Radiohead among others (both lost to Elbow's most recent album). I first fell in love with track one on her album, "Ghosts" which was a doorway to a nearly perfect album, that I can listen to through and through. I can't pinpoint any one singer she sounds like, but I occasionally get inklings of Fiona Apple and Rachael Yamagata. Comparisons aren't really fair though - she's in a class of her own.

Stand Out Tracks: Ghosts, Cross Your Fingers, Alas I Cannot Swim