Here’s the rough draft.

The big list.

Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Autolux – Transit Transit
Big Boi – Sir Lucious Leftfoot: The Son of Chico Dusty
Das Racist – Sit Down, Man
The Dead Weather – Sea of Cowards
The Depreciation Guild – Spirit Youth
Field Music – Field Music (Measure)
Girl Talk – All Day
Hot Chip – One Life Stand
Jónsi – Go/Go Live
Kylesa – Spiral Shadow
LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening
Los Campesinos! – Romance is Boring
Menomena – Mines
The New Pornographers – Together
The Radio Dept. – Clinging to a Scheme
Robyn – Body Talk Trilogy
The Roots – How I Got Over
Spoon – Transference
Superchunk – Majesty Shredding
Two Door Cinema Club – Tourist History
Vampire Weekend – Contra

Runners up

The Black Keys – Brothers
Janelle Monea – The Archandroid
Grinderman – Grinderman 2
Local Natives – Gorilla Manor
Sleigh Bells – Treats
Surfer Blood – Astro Coast
The Morning Benders – Big Echo
High on Fire – Snakes for the Divine
Erykah Badu – New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh)

Albums I wanted to like, but they faded into the background.

Belle & Sebastian – Write about Love
Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
Broken Social Scene – Forgiveness Rock Record
Broken Bells – Broken Bells
Frightened Rabbit – The Winter of Mixed Drinks
John Legend and the Roots – Wake Up!
The National – High Violet
Ra Ra Riot – The Orchard
Stars – The Five Ghosts
The Thermals – Personal Life
Sufjan Stevens – The Age of Adz
Underworld – Barking

I’ve been all over the Röyksopp catalog, after missing out on last year’s Junior. I went out and bought all the studio records (for a low low price at Newbury Comics) and I really like The Understanding more than I remember. Slow, building trance that doesn’t get mired in the monotony of typical trance music. Several guests appear on this album but it’s the Norwegian boy’s vocals that impress me the most. The whole album is like a warm blanket that soothes you and makes you bob your head at the same time.

Another artist I slept on was Robyn. I tried her s/t album a few years ago and didn’t get it. After hearing her song on Röyksopp’s newest record, I was intrigued, so I checked out Body Talk Vol. 1. It was the tasty pop confection I needed on a busy week of work. Fembot is my favorite track at the moment. It’s an incredibly intricate, well-crafted pop song about a metaphorical robotic female. Twisting in and out of Robyn’s crystal clear vocals, a snappy drum track and mechanical synths articulate what Robyn is talking about. The chorus is pure manufactured candy but what beautiful music it is. Once you go tech you can never go back, indeed.

Dance.

Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. Pure perfection from top to bottom. If you don’t like this album, you don’t have a heart.

St. Vincent – Actor. I see Annie Clark as the female Sufjan. An incredible album.

Future of the Left – Travels with Myself and Another. Good for those days when you feel really mad at everyone. Might not be for everyone, but “You Need Satan More Than He Needs You” is as good as it gets.

Washed Out – “Feel It All Around”. Jesus Christ, man. A beautiful, warm blanket of a song.

The Dead Weather – Horehound. Jack White on the drums. Alison Mosshart on vocals. It’s bluesy, intense and it rocks. When Mosshart snarls, “cuz I’m just like your mother”, I’m inclined to believe her.

Doves – Kingdom of Rust. Rainy day loveliness. You can always depend on Doves to crank out a dependable album and KoR does not disappoint. Heart-rending brit-pop with a dance beat.

Mew – No More Stories…I’m not sure how I missed Mew all these years (I’m currently obsessed with their earlier record, “Frengers”), but they’re fantastic. Skilled musicians, amazing arrangements.

The XX – The XX. This band came out of the nowhere, and while they can be a little mopey, that’s the point. Mopey club music.

Mastodon – Crack the Skye. Mastodon cleans up the metal and turns it on its head. Some of their best performances to date, with some crazy soloing, amazing drumming, and incredible vocal performances.

Them Crooked Vultures – Them Crooked Vultures. It’s obvious that Josh Homme took the helm on this project, but then that’s not a bad thing. Homme, John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) and Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana) join forces to fight flaccid riffs and succeed.

Animal Collective – MPP. Can’t believe it. After years of HATING Animal Collective. They win me over.

The Thermals – Now We Can See. Not as balls-out punk-rock as their older stuff, but it brings me great joy. The kids also love it.

Super Furry Animals – Dark Days/Light Years. My favorite SFA record since Rings Around the World. Filled with songs that were supposedly created from a single groove (each).

Dinosaur Jr. – Farm. This album, in a word, “rips”. The solo in “Said the People” is some history making stuff. Wonderful.

The Mountain Goats – The Life of the World to Come. An album that takes all of its song titles from Bible passages. Doesn’t sound like something I’d be into, but this album is touching, riveting, and happy all at the same time.

Destroyer – Bay of Pigs. 13 minutes of heaven. I think I’ve begun every Destroyer review I’ve written with “Dan Bejar’s voice is an acquired taste” so I’m going to do it again. Dan Bejar’s voice is an acquired taste, but this 13 minute epic EP (it’s only 2 songs) is a must listen. What could be best described as “ambient disco”, Bejar constructs a fantastic song that lingers in the shadows long enough to burst forth and capture your ears.

Andrew Bird – Noble Beast. A Spring day. You can almost see the bugs, flitting about in the afternoon sun, as you listen to Noble Beast. All of Bird’s trademarks are there, the whistling, the violin, and his unmistakable voice. The deluxe edition comes with an album of instrumentals that are wonderful to read to.

The Clientele – Bonfires on the Heath. A Fall day. Much like Noble Beast above, this album conjures seasonal imagery: dead leaves crunching underfoot, the smell of fires in living rooms, the look of snow in the air. 60′s jangly Brit-pop through orange/brown colored lenses.

Up next, my favorite records of the 00′s.

Andrew Bird – Noble Beast. While not as strong as as the last one and nowhere near as good as the Mysterious Production of Eggs, which I’ve had a recent love affair with, it has its moments. I love Anonanimal, Fitz & Dizzyspells, and a few of the instrumentals off Useless Creatures are spectacular.

Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion. So I never thought I see the day that an AC record would grace my one of my lists but the day has arrived. On the strength of “My Girls” I went out and bought this album and I was not disappointed. I don’t think it will drive me to dive into their back catalog, but as a solitary album, it works for me.

Cymbals Eat Guitars – Why There Are Mountains. Sure, CEG sounds like Modest Mouse and Built to Spill had a 3 way with Pavement, but oddly, it works. I can’t honestly say I think this has year-end top 10 type material on it, but it entertains me.

Dinosaur Jr. – Farm. Old reliable. They could churn out albums like this for the next 10 years and I wouldn’t mind. The whole thing sounds amazing and I couldn’t be happier with it.

Dodos – Time to Die. I’m not even sure if this is officially out yet, but it’s a great record. A logical progression from Visiter and cleaner yet truer production from Phil Eck. Meric Long is starting to sound a bit like Andy Partridge vocally.

Doves – Kingdom of Rust. Old reliable pt. 2. I can always depend on Doves to deliver an enjoyable record, and KoR is no different. The title track is K’s favorite song of the summer and I love the whole thing.

Future of the Left – Travels with Myself and Another. Many thanks to Dave for bringing this to my attention. My favorite crank it in the car album of right now. Hard hitting, aggressive and yet funny punk rock. You might find the vocals grating, but they’re not cookie monster grating. “You Need Satan More Than He Needs You” is one of my favorite songs of the summer.

Japandroids – Post-Nothing. I’ve been avoiding the whole noise rock, Times New Viking type thing up until I heard this record. I think it far outshines the No Age record in its listenability, but then that’s just my taste. The guitar tone is warm and enveloping and the songs poppy but loose enough to make me happy.

Jarvis Cocker – Further Complications. I’ve read a couple reviews that said Jarvis’ schtick is getting old, but I disagree. This album already wins with its Steve Albini production and the song Leftovers is brilliant.

Lily Allen – It’s Not Me, It’s You. I enjoy me a fun, snarky pop album.

Mastodon – Crack the Skye. Just an all around great album. Variety, chops, screaming, solos, drums, prog.

Mos Def – The Ecstatic. I hate saying a return to form, but this is a return to form. Much of the backing tracks are from previously released Stone’s Throw records, but Mos adds a freshness to the beats with his most relevant flows in years. It’s nice to have him back.

Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. My favorite album of the year so far. Perfect pop music. There’s no reason this album shouldn’t make them huge, but alas, it won’t.

Sonic Youth – The Eternal. Old Reliable pt. 3. I’ve been happy with all of SY’s output for the past couple years and The Eternal is no different. I do miss the longish jam songs like “Rain on Tin” or “Dripping Dream” but this album is quite good.

St. Vincent – Actor. Annie gets me over my Sufjan deficiency for this year. She’s a great guitar player a great song writer and she makes beautiful music.

Super Furry Animals – Dark Days/Light Years. I like the idea that all these songs evolved from bits and pieces of fragments. Each song has a definitive groove and it’s a great record for road trips.

The Thermals – Now We Can See. I guess I needed this softer version of the Thermals to make me appreciate them as a whole, because now I get it. I love this album, my 2 year old loves this album, it has broad appeal. Short but sweet, rockin’ but friendly. Great stuff.

Trashcan Sinatras – In the Music. I had a hard time accepting this album for what it is but I think I was finally able to cross over and appreciate it. I couldn’t get past the “adult contemporary” feel of the album (it may have been all the death metal I was listening to at the time), but once I settled down and listened to the songs, I’ve grown to love it.

We Were Promised Jetpacks – These Four Walls. Not quite Frightened Rabbit caliber stuff, but very good, explosive, emotional Scot-rock.

Wheat – White Ink Black Ink. I’m an “Every Second…” kind of guy, so I was very disappointed by “Everyday…”. This record gets Wheat back on track. Some of the songs are still pretty fragmented, but Scott Levesque has his melodic-muse back and he is choosing to actually sing on key this time. A fun, summery album.

1. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Again.

Technically not a 2008 release, but not introduced to me until 2008 and not released on a label until 2008. Not the kind of album I thought I’d ever like. Quiet, cold and lonely, but full of emotion. Justin Vernon’s falsetto over his acoustic guitar in the cold Wisconsin woods. Perfect.

2. Frightened Rabbit – The Midnight Organ Fight.

One of the best break-up records I’ve ever heard. Self-pitying and then vengeful and then sad, the album has a logical progression through all the stages of a busted relationship. It kicks of with one of the best songs of the year, “The Modern Leper.”

3. Fleet Foxes – Sun Giant EP/Fleet Foxes.

Fleet Foxes could be classified as “folk” but Robin Pecknold’s vocals and harmonies carry the music to a different place. Excellent musicianship and interesting song structures help make this record one of the most pleasant listens on the list. “Blue Ridge Mountains” and “Ragged Wood” are spectacular and “White Winter Hymnal” will probably end up being an all time classic.

4. Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid.

Guy Garvey writes some of the best lyrics of any modern day songwriter, period. A very strong Elbow album with a variety of styles like the barroom stomp of “Grounds for Divorce” to the soft, sweet pop of “Mirrorball”. A great record.

5. The Week That Was – The Week That Was.
6. Los Campesinos! – Hold on Now, Youngster…/We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed.
7. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend.
8. The Dodos – Visiter.
9. School of Language – Sea to Shore.
10. Q-Tip – The Renaissance.
11. Cut Copy – In Ghost Colours.
12. Pete & The Pirates – Little Death.
13. American Music Club – The Golden Age.
14. Girl Talk – Feed the Animals.
15. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
16. GZA/Genius – Pro Tools.
17. Coldplay – Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends.
18. The Roots – Rising Down.
19. The Sea & Cake – Car Alarm.
20. Sigur Rós – Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust.
21. TV on the Radio – Dear Science.
22. Nine Inch Nails – The Slip.
23. Protest the Hero – Fortress.
24. Atmosphere – When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold.
25. Meat Beat Manifesto – Autoimmune.

Sure, some of it might read like a critic’s end of the year list, but I can’t disagree with some of them critics. It was difficult to rank the first three as they all circle in and out of my heavy rotation on a daily basis. They could just all be number 1.

Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago (Folky)

The Dodos – Visiter (Folky-Poppy)

Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes (Folky)

The Week That Was – The Week That Was (Pop)

School of Language – Sea to Shore (Pop)

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! (Rock)

Genius/GZA – Pro Tools (Hip-Hop)

Coldplay – Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends (Pop?)

Brendan Canning – Something for All of Us… (Rock)

Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend (Pop)

Q-Tip – The Renaissance (Hip-Hop)

Los Campesinos! – Hold On Now, Youngster / We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed (Rock/Pop/Twee-ish)

Girl Talk – Feed the Animals (Dance Party)

The Sea and Cake – Car Alarm (Rock-lite)

American Music Club – The Golden Age (Rock-lite)

Al Green – Lay It Down (Soul)

Atmosphere – When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold (Hip-Hop)

Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid (Brit-Rock)

Frightened Rabbit – The Midnight Organ Fight (Scot-Folk Rock)

Meat Beat Manifesto – Autoimmune (Electronic Bleeps and Bloops)

Nine Inch Nails – The Slip (ROCK)

Pete and the Pirates – Little Death (Rockish Pop)

The Roots – Rising Down (Hip-Hop)

Sigur Ros – Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust (Lofty Pop)

Death Cab for Cutie – Narrow Stairs (Rock)

Protest the Hero – Fortress (Speedy Metal)

And after being literally disgusted by the new Portishead record, it shuffled through my iPod the other day and I suddenly became interested. So we’ll see.

A refined list with capsule reviews will follow. It’s going to be tough with so many choices.

There’s still plenty of violin, bleeping, dinging keys and shouting and talking, but it’s a bit more focused and less erratic. Gareth C. can still be a whiney brat, but he seems to be coming to terms with his faults and the lyrics tend to focus inward instead of outward.

The record is out digitally and will be released in a physical package soon that includes a DVD. If you like HONY, you will be a fan, and if you’ve not yet heard the Campesinos! this may be a good record to start with.