SIS The Best of 2008: Top 30 Albums, #30-#21

For as long as I can remember, I was always picking albums of the year. Actually I know the first album of the year I ever picked was in 1998. Do you know what it was? Version 2.0 by Garbage. I'm not kidding. For as much as I pride myself in those posts called My Formative Years on being in to all the hip and cool stuff at the time, thus giving me more than enough indie cred years later. But, yeah, I was 14 at the time and this just goes to show that I like good, catchy pop songs and singles. Do you remember "Push It"; if not go find the single just for their rather good cover of Big Star's "Thriteen" that is a b-side. And you know what, I'm not afraid to say it - "Temptation Waits" is a great opening song.

When I was a DJ and Music Director at my college radio station, I started to really take the whole Albums of the Year thing pretty seriously. I heard lots of albums over the year, and would keep a word doc listing every album in alphabetical order before narrowing it down to 50 and begin to rank it by drawing boxes numbered 1-5 and putting them in the according box and then ranking them. I would then print out the rough version, draw arrows and pluses, minuses, check marks denoting if it was good where it was or it needed to be moved around. This is a science I still keep in tact to this day for my Top 30.

And now you know, and the secret is out on how I pick my Albums of the Year. So, without further ado, I unveil numbers 30 through 21. Truth be told, I was still locking up the bottom 20 24 hours ago or so. In this third of my list, we find an album of mine that was once actually destined to be Top 10, but then a few albums got in its way. There's also an album that I've been spending a lot of time with since seeing them open for Nada Surf a few weeks ago that if I had longer, would have an even stronger case to make a run for the top. Instead, it's down here with a pretty stellar set of records none the less.

30. Lambchop / OH (Ohio) / Merge
29. Portishead / Third / Island
28. Kings of Leon / Only By The Night / RCA
27. Bloc Party / Intimacy / Atlantic
26. Plus/Minus / Xs On Your Eyes / Absolutely Kosher
25. Nine Inch Nails / The Slip / Null Corporation
24. Throw Me The Statue / Moonbeams / Secretly Canadian
23. French Kicks / Swimming / Vagrant
22. Delta Spirit / Ode to Sunshine / Rounder
21. The Walkmen / You & Me / Gigantic