This is where you would be reading about my top three CDs of 2008 right now, if I hadn’t procrastinated like a pro, and put off writing these entries one a day like I was planning. So… you will just have to wait until tomorrow to find out my three favorite CDs of 2008. I hope that you will be able to make it, because I feel bad enough for not being able to get in “under the wire”; seriously, don’t pummel me with tomatoes or shout too fervently at me, I know I let you down.
Now, I’m off to imbibe some cocktails with friends, and celebrate the one minute of the year where everyone seems far too focused on! Happy New Years everyone, and rest assured, I promise to deliver the goods tomorrow!
For some reason, everyone has been going crazy over Duffy this year; who is just continuing that foray into the “sounds of the past” that really hit the mainstream last year with Amy Winehouse’s 
I feel compelled to mention this, because for me, Adele so far outshines Duffy at playing the same game, that it really makes me wonder where all the Adele love is hiding (well, the Grammys took notice, so I am not THAT bitter). From the first time I heard Hometown Glory back in January, I knew that I had to get my hands on everything that this AMAZING singer was going to release; her vocals are massive and so sweetly beautiful. She really harnesses the classic style that her predecessors like Billie Holiday and Etta James perfectly presented so many years ago. With her music, and amazing vocals, it’s almost as if Adele has the ability to transport you back in time to a bluesy cafe in the 60s, where she performs amazing song after amazing song for the patrons. 
(which was her age at the time of release) was released in the UK, and then finally in the US in the first few months of 2008. It really only took one listen to know that this CD would be perched near the top of my list; and look, here it is. She has made an album that is filled with heartbreaking tales about love and loss, and even though she sings from a place of youth, she really has a way with turning phrase to really hammer home her point. When she sings lines like “whenever you look at me I wish I was her” and “as you tear your way right through me/I forgive you once again/without me knowing/you’ve burnt my heart to stone” you really get the sense that the talent in Adele is not solely focused in her voice. She has made an epic debut, and it really blew me away this year. I will say, that I can not get enough of Adele, and I look forward to seeing her live early in 2009 when she comes to Atlanta. 
Sometimes, all it takes is a MASSIVE lead off single to gain major interest in your album. This is definitely the case with Uh Huh Her’s first full length release, Common Reaction. Late this summer, I heard one of the catchiest, most amazing pop rock songs of the year, Not A Love Song, and because of that track, I instantly pre-ordered 
(this is not something that I normally do). I couldn’t believe how much I liked the song, and I couldn’t stop myself from playing it on repeat. Well, a few weeks went by, and the album (which was pre-ordered at that point; which was a great idea, because I got it before it was released AND it is autographed) was highlighted on Logo, who allowed you to listen to the whole album before it was released. I definitely enjoyed it with the first listen, but one of the paramount features of this album for me, is that it is definitely a grower; somehow, it gets better each time I listen to it. It is electro-pop-rock brilliance, which features sweet female, electro-distorted beats, beautiful rhythms, and a lyrical journey to the land of heartbreak, relationships, and sex. 
Talk about “taking me by storm”! I had never heard of Kings of Leon before this autumn, and while on vacation, I randomly saw them on Saturday Night Live. I was intrigued by their sound, and when I got back home, I decided to check them out. At the time, they had the number one single on the UK charts with Sex On Fire, and I figured that they were definitely worth downloading. After I downloaded 
I was not expecting to get something so impressive and amazingly produced as I did. This album is raw, distorted, powerful, pure rock and roll, and each song becomes an anthem with the amazing vocals of lead singer, Caleb Followill. I’m not joking when I say that hearing his voice makes me a bit weak in the knees, and he isn’t too shabby looking either; I bet he gets laid a LOT. Seriously, that voice is emotive, fragile, tender, amazing, beautiful; I could go on and on about how much I love his voice, and the amazing music that accompanies it, which definitely made this one of my favorite albums of 2008.
Let me start this review off by talking about one of the best concerts I saw this year. The show was the amazing Feist, who managed to captivate me in 2007, and ended up at the 
(which I snagged before the concert to get reacquainted with him), and he was down right amazing in concert. As I mentioned, I first heard about him in high school, but I hadn’t really followed him; mostly because he’s a Canadian artist, and much of his work is difficult to get commercially here in the states. Well, I’m glad that this album was more readily available, because it was a huge surprise to me, and his album of aching love songs ended up in my top ten for the year because of how amazing it is. It seems that time has been good to Hayden. 
I know that this is probably going to alienate some of you, but hear me out; this album is magnificent and down right brilliant. I am sure that some of you will hate on Leslie, but that is probably because you are taking yourself far too seriously; 
but all joking aside, she has actually produced an album that is filled with fresh beats, and slick rhymes; all of which she weaves into a web of glamor for your senses. 
Given the fact that it was a little less than three years ago since the last amazing Death Cab For Cutie album was released, news of a new Death Cab earlier this year was literally music to my ears. Death Cab For Cutie is amongst my favorite bands, because they have this amazing musical style that completely captures my attention and emotional state. I can listen to Death Cab For Cutie and literally feel better, as if a warm blanket has been draped over my cold shoulders. Couple that with the fact that the voice of Ben Gibbard is that of the ones that angels use to sing, and the nerd-loving, heart-focused romantic in me longs for him to bat his eye lashes behind those thick rimmed glasses, and sing sweet love songs directly to me. 
almost didn’t even sound like a Death Cab record. This caused some concern, because unlike some fans, I thought their major label debut was an amazing growth in their sound, and was a truly fantastic work of music. Additionally, after finding out that the first single from the album, I Will Possess Your Heart, clocked in at no less than 8:35, I was beginning to worry if one of my favorite bands of all time would continue to be on that list after I heard their new “direction”. Well, after actually hearing I Will Possess your Heart, I was no longer worried; it is brilliant. The use of the extra time in the intro really hammers home the point of the song, and once again, Ben Gibbard has truly mastered the art of song writing and song production (sometimes, repetition really exasperates desperation and longing, as it does in this case). However, the buck doesn’t stop there, every song on Narrow Stairs takes Death Cab For Cutie in a slightly different musical direction (a little heavier and slightly more raw; which is indicative of them recording the album as a band, live, which I must say is awesome), but the Death Cab I have come to love is definitely still in there, living and breathing, as healthy as ever. 
and 
(a little less smitten than 
A fellow 
is so fresh, fun, fluffy, and fabulous that I could not get enough of it in 2008 (oh yeah, you know you loved that alliteration). 
Perhaps this could best be described as preppy indie-pop at its best! I’ll admit 
was a complete surprise for me, because it was one of those bands that I heard one song, and was like, “hmm…”, and then listened to the record and was like, “wow!”. They instantly became a very guilty pleasure after I heard the album. It’s almost like eating too many Jelly Belly’s; you know you should stop, but they are just so damn sweet and good that you can’t! However, unlike ingesting too many Jelly Belly’s, over-listening to the amazing self-titled debut by 
Now, I am sure than more than a few of you were expecting this; so don’t act surprised that Britney (the only other album released this month that did so) made my year end list. I for one, was filled with trepidation about Britney staging another “comeback” so close to last year’s failed attempt, but after hearing Womanizer, I knew that she wasn’t playing around this time. The song, albeit annoying to some, has everything that is necessary to be a pop hit; and it was. In fact, Womanizer was only Britney’s second number one single, after the massive pop classic Baby One More Time, and if that isn’t indicative of a comeback, I don’t know what is. 
I must say that I almost forgot about Blackout; not only is miles above Blackout, but Britney managed to actually sing on this album, and it sounds like she did way more than phone it in (which is what was wrong with much of Blackout, and why it didn’t really serve as a real comeback). She picked top producers, like she always does, but this time, they gave her hit after hit to fill her record to the brim with radio-ready pop singles. Seriously, this may be the most single-heavy album of her career; this record is put together with the style and swagger of a greatest hits record. 