Best of 2008 (So Far)

It's been an interesting year so far. There have been some great albums, but there have also been plenty of complete disappointments (Stephen Malkmus, Magnetic Fields) and albums that didn't hold up well on repeated plays (Gnarls Barkley, Counting Crows) and genre exercises that I never find myself in the mood to listen to (Protest The Hero). Here are five albums from this year that I can't stop playing, from great to greater:

5. Kathleen Edwards' Asking For Flowers: I didn't see this one sticking with me, but it did. "The Cheapest Key" and "Oil Man's War" are great Springsteen-esque rockers, and her ballads like "Asking For Flowers" and "Sure As Shit" are always great for a cry.

4. Drive-By-Truckers' Brighter Than Creation's Dark: This one should be higher, but like all of their best records, did they really need all these songs? Nineteen tracks feels like homework. Buy it, put it on your ipod, and extract the gems like "Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife", "The Righteous Path", and "Self-Destructive Zones".

3. Vampire Weekend's Vampire Weekend: Pretentious? Hipster? Over-hyped? Yes, but engaging and original as debut records come. The second half is a little weak, but "Mansford Roof", "Oxford Comma" and "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" are more than enough fun to keep me coming back.

2. REM's Accelerate: At first, I was just happy to hear them playing rock again. After repeated listens, this really is a classic. "Man-Sized Wreath" and "Horse To Water" are perfect punk-pop, while "Houston" proves that they only need two minutes to deliver a complex epic.

1. Nick Cave and the Bad Seed's Dig, Lazarus Dig!!!: I really don't think there will be a better album this year. He found punk music and David Bowie's influence to combine to his already impressive repertoire. Every track here could end up being your favorite, from the unrestrained punk of "Lie Down Here (& Be My Girl)" to the creeping "Hold On To Yourself" to ballad "Jesus Of The Moon". Everything this guy touches becomes gold.