It’s that time of year again… time for “Best Of” lists! I love making lists–I know it’s OCD, but I really enjoy doing it and it helps me sort out ideas and get the creative juices flowing. So I relish the opportunity that the end of the year presents to me.

Last year I only did a top ten… but for this year’s list, I’ve decided to post five albums for the next eight days (40 total) until culmination with what I feel is the best album of 2008.

In making this list, I’ve come to realize a few things… I can’t find a new hip hop album I truly love, I can’t stand that indie rock has turned into adult contemporary, I’ve really started to appreciate what it takes to make good commercial pop (Phil Collins what!), and that there are way too many bands with “crystal” in their name. Anyway, on to the list….

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40) Yo! Majesty – Futuristically Speaking (Domino)

This is all-out party music. Electro rap, booty-bass, call it what you want, this album is just fun. As an added bonus, it can get downright trippy at times, thanks to the killer production. I’m always on the look out for a good, no-frills party album like this.

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39) Earth – The Bees Made Honey In the Lion’s Skull (Southern Lord)

Earth has a come a long way since the days when I first discovered them. This band has undergone a very natural and profound transformation in almost two decades. Gone are the days of 5 minute songs of the same repeating riff or pointless drones that seem to go nowhere. What was once a very inaccessible band strictly for noise/drone heads and Nirvana completists has now transformed into one of the preeminent instrumental bands of our time. While sounding like a totally a different band, Dylan Carlson has still left what made Earth, Earth, at its core. The Bees Made Honey In the Lion’s Skull is like the soundtrack to a steer slowly decomposing in the plains of the southwest during a sunset. The album is filled with intricate arrangements, instrumentations, and perfect pacing for a mood piece. This album actually reminds me of one of my favorite movie scores of all time, Neil Young’s score to Dead Man. This is the beautiful sound of impending doom, and your resolve to accept its coming.

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38) Toxic Holocaust – An Overdose of Death (Relapse)

This is the first of three thrash albums on this list. 2008 has seen the blooming of a very exciting thrash metal revival (more on that later).  What I look for in a thrash metal album isn’t innovation, but rather dumb hard pounding fun. All I want  is some killer riffs and something to chant and mosh to, and I’m set. Hard & heavy Motorhead-influenced thrash metal…this is the sound of a good time on a Saturday night, fresh out of the grave.

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37) Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles (Lies)

The backlash is setting in, but this is still a very solid debut album, sounding like an IDM attempt at synthpop with all the best elements of Atari Teenage Riot and SNES game rolled into one handy album. I have to be honest, some of the tracks are kind of interchangeable hipster bedroom dance experiments, but when Crystal Castles hit the right mix, they hit it hard. “Crimewave” is easily one of the best songs of the year.

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36) Gentleman Jesse & His Men – Gentleman Jessie (Douchemaster)

I haven’t heard as good of a power-pop throwback as this since The Exploding Hearts (R.I.P.). Most revival bands leave some trace in their sound to current times, but not here. Had I not known upon hearing, I would have thought this was some obscuroid 70’s band in the vein of 20/20, on a Hyped 2 Death compilation.

Stay tuned for parts 35-31 tomorrow as we continue the count down to #1!