Top 10 Albums of the year as voted on by the FOT....

[Gibby]

#8

I was listening to the Ambrosia Worst Song Ever entry podcast from mid-07 last night at work and DJ Cinnabuns (sp?) recommended this guy.

[ian]

actual purchased music listed here!!!

new releases

titus andronicus THE AIRING OF GRIEVANCES
wavves WAVVES
hank iv REFUGE IN GENRE
cheap time CHEAP TIME
the hospitals HAIRDRYER PEACE
indian jewelry FREE GOLD
raphael saadiq THE WAY I SEE IT
caethua QUEENLY WOMAN CROWNED AND UNCROWNED
good luck INTO LAKE GRIFFY
fabio orsi AUDIO FOR LOVERS

old stuff put out again

big dipper SUPERCLUSTER
aphex twin SELECTED AMBIENT WORKS '85-92
sir victor uwaifo GUITAR BOY SUPERSTAR
willie nelson STARDUST
david bowie LIVE IN SANTA MONICA '72
v/a WELL HUNG: 20 FUNK ROCK ERUPTIONS FROM BENEATH COMMUNIST HUNGARY VOl. 1
v/a IVG VOL. 1: FUTUR ANTERIEUR FRANCE 75-85
gas NAH UND FERN
dennis wilson PACIFIC OCEAN BLUE
PEANUT BUTTER WOLF PRESENTS LADIES FIRST! (ran out of steam)

probably a lot of other things but thats what came to mind

[Andy]

Wale is the artist of the year.

biggest musical dissapointment: No El Che from Rhymefest.

[Ignore Function]

Random Order:
Thee Oh Sees The Master's Bedroom is Worth Spending a Night In
Clinic Do It!
Black Keys  Attack and Release
The Dials  Amoeba Amore
Dan Melchoir und das Menace  Christmas for the Crows
Drive-by Truckers  Brighter Than Creation's Dark
Ladyhawk  Shots
Black Mountain  In The Future
Old Time Relijun  Catharsis in Crisis
Dead Meadow  Old Growth
 
Also: Bottomless Pit  Congress ep
Disappears 2008 7inch

[Nicksy]

I was really feeling that Raphael Saadiq album until I heard the line: "Don't know bout' you/I need some sex/Some sex with you."

[<<<<<]

I've liked everything I've heard off US Girls album, but it's on vinyl only, I think.   

Perhaps 2009 will be the year I break down and begin buying vinyl.

[Dan B]

Top Albums (no particular order)
No Age - Nouns (SubPop)
Fucked Up  - Chemistry of Common Life (Matador)
Vivian Girls - Vivian Girls (Mauled by Tigers/In the Red)
BORIS - Smile (Japanese version)
Sic Alps - US Ez (Siltbreeze)
Eat Skull - Sick to Death (Siltbreeze)
WHY? - Alopecia (Anticon)
Cheap Time - Cheap Time (In the Red)
Gentleman Jesse & His Men - s/t (Douchemaster)
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Lie Down in the Light (Drag City)

Top Singles/EP's
The Barbaras - Summer Time Road 7" (Goner)
XYX - Sistema de Terminacion Sexual 7" (S-S)
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - Rapid Response EP (Touch & Go)
Box Elders - Hole in my Head 7" (self-released)
Mutators split 12" with Shearing Pinx (Ugly Pop)

Top Reissues/Compilations:
Supercluster: The Big Dipper Anthology (Merge)
Jay Reatard Singles 06/07 (In the Red) and the Matador Singles 2008 collection
Danielson - Trying Hartz (Secretly Canadian)

[<<<<<]

Oh, I just noticed that Death Sentence: Panda! had an album this year.  I haven't listened to the whole thing yet, but it goes straight up the list anyway.  I was familiar with most of these songs already and they all kick ass.

[jbissell]

1.  The Shivers - Beaks to the Moon
2.  Spiritualized - Songs in A&E
3.  Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna
4.  Vivian Girls - S/T
5.  Grouper - Dragging a Dead Deer up a Hill
6.  The Dirtbombs - We Have You Surrounded
7.  Max Tundra - Parallax Error Beheads You
8.  The Dodos - Visiter
9.  Gentleman Jesse & His Men - S/T
10.  Black Milk - Tronic

Honorable mentions for TV on the Radio, Portishead, Shearwater, The Cool Kids, The Walkmen, Scott Tuma, The Mountain Goats, Paavoharju, Micah Blue Smaldone, and The Weird Weeds.

Favorite reissues/compilations/etc.
Andy Daly - Nine Sweaters
Big Dipper - Supercluster
Jay Reatard - Singles 06-07/Matador Singles 08
King Khan & the Shrines - The Supreme Genius of King Khan & the Shrines
Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison (Legacy Edition)
Mission of Burma - Signals, Calls and Marches EP (Definitive Edition)
Portastatic - Some Small History

[Erik]

Brightblack morning light — 'Motion to Rejoin'
Alexander Tucker — 'Portal'
Life is a problem comp. (mississippi recs.)
Eat Skull — 'Sick to Death'
Hospitals — 'Hairdryer Peace'
The Clean comp. (mississippi recs)

and THIS winter-synth-soundtrack album from Mutant Sounds
http://mutant-sounds.blogspot.com/2008/07/angel-rada-upadesa-lp-1979-venezuela.html
So good!

[Gibby]

Oh, I just noticed that Death Sentence: Panda! had an album this year.  I haven't listened to the whole thing yet, but it goes straight up the list anyway.  I was familiar with most of these songs already and they all kick ass.

My first ever performance was supporting these guys (and gal). Love them, the album is nuts.

[Andy]

1   Vivian Girls-   Vivian Girls
2   TV on the Radio-   Dear Science
3   Hank IV-   Refuge in Genre
4   Vampire Weekend-   Vampire Weekend
5   Times New Viking-   Rip It Off
6   Beck-   Modern Guilt
6   Portishead-   Third
6   The Dirtbombs-   We Have You Surrounded
9   Marnie Stern-   This Is It…
10   Deerhunter-   Microcastle/Weird Era Cont
10   Fleet Foxes-   Fleet Foxes
10   Thomas Function-   Celebration

[Andy]

I'll post the full rankings later.

[Nicksy]

I know the vivian girls! It's so funny that they are blowing up...

[Shaggy 2 Grote]

I'm changing my answer because I just heard 3 new albums that I like better:

1) The Dirtbombs - We Have You Surrounded
2) The Black Keys - Attack & Release
3) v/a - Love, Peace, & Poetry: Chilean Psychedelic Music (reissue comp)
4) The Black Hollies - Casting Shadows
5) Big Dipper - Supercluster: The Big Dipper Anthology (reissue)
6) Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Rapid Response EP
7) Santogold - s/t
8 ) v/a - Disco Not Disco: 1974-1986 (reissue comp)
9) Hank IV - Refuge in Genre
10) Cheap Time - s/t
11) v/a - Well Hung: 20 Funk Rock Eruptions From Beneath Communist Hungary (reissue comp)
12) Jay Reatard - Singles 06-07
13) Dengue Fever - Venus on Earth
14) Bonde do Rolê - s/t
15) Seun Kuti & Fela's Egypt 80 - s/t
16) Titus Andronicus - The Airing of Grievances
17) Vivian Girls - s/t
18) Wavves - s/t
19) Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna
20) v/a - Nigeria 70 - Lagos Jump (reissue comp)
21) The Clash - Live at Shea Stadium (1982 concert)

Plus it's 21 records because I'm indecisive and have no respect for the rules.