No Ripcord's Top 50 Albums of 2008

No Ripcord's Top 50 Albums of 2008

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50.

August 5, 2008
Critic Score
83
17 reviews

This is Newman’s most touching, musically rich and consistent record since Good Old Boys way back in 1974; and it’s hilarious to boot.

49.

November 24, 2008
Critic Score
75
32 reviews

Unsurprisingly Heartbreak is a grower. At first it does sound minimalist and sparse but the album is layered with delicacy and marked with a maturity.

48.

The Sea and Cake - Car Alarm
October 21, 2008
Critic Score
76
8 reviews

47.

July 8, 2008
Critic Score
72
17 reviews

45.

October 7, 2008
Critic Score
82
28 reviews

Whatever shortcomings The Chemistry Of Common Life present, and there are very few, Fucked Up cancels them out with some imagination and a refusal to so easily fit into the Mallternative crowd.

43.

August 19, 2008
Critic Score
78
16 reviews

Where You Go To I Go Too is one of the finest pieces of music I have heard in years.

41.

April 15, 2008
Critic Score
73
22 reviews

The Age of the Understatement might have been conceived as a tribute to a beloved era in music but thanks to the industry, enthusiasm and talent of Alex Turner and Miles Kane it’s become something much more interesting than that: a great record in its own right.

39.

September 29, 2008
Critic Score
69
18 reviews

37.

October 21, 2008
Critic Score
72
28 reviews

Skeletal Lamping is the brain dump of a troubled psyche, and you shouldn’t feel too bad if you ultimately don’t get it. I don’t think you’re supposed to.

36.

Wire - Object 47
July 15, 2008
Critic Score
74
11 reviews

33.

June 24, 2008
Critic Score
84
24 reviews
Though the overall impression is decidedly retro, it is moments like these that make this self-titled debut simultaneously modern and timeless.

31.

September 23, 2008
Critic Score
73
26 reviews

30.

October 7, 2008
Critic Score
75
17 reviews

28.

January 29, 2008
Critic Score
67
20 reviews

Quaristice can occasionally be on the sloggish side. However, there's a lot to admire in such a brazen display of accomplishment, and, while it may not be looking to court the most gushing of affection, this will undoubtedly prove to be one of '08's most singular releases.

27.

February 26, 2008
Critic Score
72
21 reviews

26.

October 7, 2008
Critic Score
79
23 reviews

Despite the fact that Offend Maggie is, in some ways, a “nothing new” addition to Deerhoof’s canon, it’s also one of their best.

25.

April 29, 2008
Critic Score
70
24 reviews

23.

March 18, 2008
Critic Score
80
20 reviews

22.

March 18, 2008
Critic Score
79
22 reviews
This is one of the few releases of 2008 that shook me out of my complacency and forced me to accept it on its own terms.

21.

February 19, 2008
Critic Score
74
19 reviews
Bradford Cox has created a work that musically and lyrically will attach itself to your consciousness, reflecting exterior experience and encouraging inner association with the former.

20.

October 7, 2008
Critic Score
78
11 reviews

This Is It And I Am It And You Are It And So Is That And He Is It And She Is It And It Is It And That Is That, down to its mouthful of a title, is a fearless album, brought to fruition by a desire to push boundaries and explore sound.

19.

September 9, 2008
Critic Score
79
22 reviews

The Stand Ins is a solid achievement cut from the same charming cloth, even if it doesn’t crisp in quite the same way The Stage Names did.

17.

November 11, 2008
Critic Score
73
17 reviews

16.

July 7, 2008
Critic Score
87
11 reviews

14.

November 25, 2008
Critic Score
76
15 reviews

13.

April 8, 2008
Critic Score
84
32 reviews

It’s a vital record, one that’s Nick Cave through and through, and whether he’s exploring his garage roots or his spooky, narrative tendencies it’s at all points a triumph.

11.

June 24, 2008
Critic Score
78
30 reviews

Overall, it’s an improvement over the yawnfest of Takk, but not nearly as consistent as one would like.

10.

May 26, 2008
Critic Score
81
24 reviews
I’m gonna go way out on a limb and say that this is their best album yet.

9.

January 29, 2008
Critic Score
82
27 reviews
Vampire Weekend is indie rock with its edges sanded off, polished to a clean, sparkling sheen.

8.

July 14, 2008
Critic Score
82
27 reviews
This is the band’s most mature and consistent record yet.

5.

September 22, 2008
Critic Score
86
32 reviews

They haven’t exactly lost their sense of intrigue, it’s just that on Dear Science it all sounds a lot less intriguing.

4.

April 15, 2008
Critic Score
70
19 reviews

Saturdays = Youth finds itself in the higher echelons of '08 so far for radically different reasons, and, unpredictedly, it wouldn't be too surprising if M83's decision to avoid making a by-the-numbers album saw those overdue dividends finally reaching them.

3.

July 8, 2007
Critic Score
85
23 reviews

These songs are raw, bold and slightly uncomfortable, but at the same time authentic and therefore extremely special, like the offspring of creativity and isolation at their most fruitful.

1.

June 3, 2008
Critic Score
87
28 reviews

Fleet Foxes is certainly a very good record, but it is kept from greatness by its failure to capture the communal feeling of its excellent, buzz-building live shows.

Original Source: http://www.noripcord.com/features/top-50-albums-2008-part-one
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