ALBUMS (descending points)
1.
2. Wye Oak - If Children
3. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
4. Okkervil River - The Stage Names
5. Bat for Lashes - Fur and Gold
6. Kanye West - Graduation
7. Band of Horses - Cease to Begin

TRACKS
1. Alicia Keys - No One
2. Spoon - You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb
3. Wye Oak - Obituary
4. Beyonce - Irreplaceable
5. Rihanna - Umbrella
6. Kanye West - Champion
7. Tegan and Sara - Back in Your Head
8. Sean Kingston - Beautiful Girls
9. Fall Out Boy - Me and You
10. Rilo Kiley - Silver Lining

COMMENTS
So this is basically like Kate's Ballot of Shame '07. As the Idolator intern I should REALLY be more on top of music, but I'm lucky enough to have bosses who let me write almost exclusively about YouTube tribute videos and mall emo fan fiction, so I've managed to remain basically oblivious to almost all new releases for yet another year.

My albums list represents the records that I managed to purchase or illegally download, listen to at least twice, and legitimately enjoy this year. There is no number one because while I do love that Wye Oak album, I'm not convinced it was the best thing put out all year. My main problem is that I inevitably only get around to listening to an album about 6 months to a year after I get it. The list of albums that I obtained this year, but will probably not truly listen to until March includes:

-Sound of Silver, LCD Soundsystem
-In Rainbows, Radiohead
-The Con, Tegan and Sara

The albums that I think I would probably like, but haven't yet even bothered to obtain are:

-Kala, M.I.A.
-American Gangster, Jay-Z
-5th Gear, Brad Paisley
-Good Girl Gone Bad, Rihanna
-Armchair Apocrypha, Andrew Bird
-etc., etc., etc.

The albums that I was looking forward to, actually obtained, actually listened to, and was very disappointed by this year are:

-Under the Blacklight, Rilo Kiley (do NOT get me started on this one)
-Sky Blue Sky, Wilco
-Emerald City, John Vanderslice
-Neon Bible, Arcade Fire

There was some good stuff on the radio, but I can't remember it all. Truth be told, I spent most of the year listening to Fleetwood Mac, Midlake, and Jerry Jeff Walker. I'm sure in a couple of years I'll be raving about that Andrew Bird album, though.