Happy New Year!

So, it’s the dawn of a new year. A time to look back on the past year and evaluate what things were enjoyed during 2008, such things as oh music of course! Time magazine has created “The Top 10 Everything of 2008” List. If you wish to check it out, visit http://www.time.com/time/specials/2008/top10/. My particular interest was in the Top 10 Album category.
    
At the bottom of the list, ranked Duffy with her album, Rockferry, which was released on Polydor Records on March 3, 2008. She is a Welsh singer-songwriter, who has been active since 2003. Rockferry has sold over four million copies worldwide, and was the best selling album in the UK in 2008. Duffy is the first Welsh female to accomplish a number one pop single in the past 25 years, and is also the only female from the Llyn Peninsula to ever top the UK music singles charts! Her sound is '60s soul music, and has mostly been compared to Amy Winehouse.
   
The album, Little Honey, by Lucinda Williams stood at number nine. She is known for being the patron saint of broken hearts, and creates the mood of her songs with the music rather than the lyrics. It takes a close look at the words in Little Honey to realize what Williams’ mood truly is.  “I’m in a different phase of my life, so there are more happy moments on this album,” the American rock, folk and country music singer-songwriter commented. The album features a duet with Elvis Costello in "Jailhouse Tears," while other guest vocalists include Matthew Sweet, Susanna Hoffs, Jim Lauderdale, Tim Easton and Charlie Louvin.
   
Portishead ranked eighth, with their album, Third, that was released April 29, 2008. It’s their first release in ten years! The music is an exit from their preceding trip hop sound, into the entry of a darker, rawer and more industrial style. Third entered number two in the UK Album Chart, and also became the band’s first U.S. Top 10 album, where it reached number seven on the Billboard 200. It has sold more than 1.5 million copies since October 2008.  
   
Next, at number seven, came Santogold with her first debut album, Santogold. Her goal with the album was to “help break down boundaries and genre classifications” and to let it known that she wasn’t “a black woman singing R&B or hip hop.” The writing and recording process for the 14 tracks took only took eight weeks. It features a mix of dub, electronic and indie rock.
   
Kayne West’s fourth studio album, 808s & Heartbreak, is next up the ladder. It was released November 24, 2008 on Roc-A-Fella Records, and is his first album to not have a Parental Advisory logo. West is an American hip hop artist, however 808’s & Heartbreak has a slightly different feel as West felt he couldn’t fully express his emotions through rapping. There were “melodies that were in me – what was in me, I couldn’t stop.” The song, “Love Lockdown” is the first solo single by West that features no rapping and is instead sang using an auto-tune effect
   
Ranking in fifth place is Vampire Weekend, an American indie rock band that formed in New York in 2006. The album, Vampire Weekend, which was released in January sold over 27, 000 copies in the US in it’s first week of release, and ranked number seventeen on the Billboard album charts. By August 30 it had sold over 294, 000 copies and has also gone ‘Gold’ in the UK.
   
Feed the Animals, Girl Talk’s fourth album, hit fourth place. It is composed of samples taken from other artists’ songs, and small instrumentations by Girl Talk. It was created as a long piece of music and then broken up into single tracks. The album is being sold in a “pay-what-you-like” fashion, to “make it easier for people to get their hands on the music.” Those who chose to pay zip for the album have to choose an option of why.   
   
In third place, ranks American heavy metal band, Metallica with their ninth studio album, Death Magnetic that was released on September 12, 2008. Metallica is the first band to achieve five consecutive number one debuts, thanks to their new album. Vocalist, James Hetfield stated, “Death Magnetic, at least the title, to me started out as kind of a tribute to people that have fallen in our business, like Layne Staley and a lot of the people that have died, basically — rock and roll martyrs of sorts. And then it kind of grew from there, thinking about death… some people are drawn towards it, and just like a magnet, and other people are afraid of it and push away. And the concept that we're all gonna die sometimes is over-talked about and then a lot of times never talked about — no one wants to bring it up; it's the big white elephant in the living room. But we all have to deal with it at some point.”

TV on the Radio’s album, Dear Science, ranked a whopping second place! Their roots are in New York City, and they are an American experimental rock band that formed in 2001. Their music has a variety of different sounds including, post-punk, free jazz, doo-wop, soul, and electro.
 
And finally, the top rated album of 2008 was…
Tha Carter III by American rapper, Lil Wayne! It’s Wayne’s sixth studio album and was realased on June 10, 2008 on Cash Money Records. The first three singles released from the album have all achieved top ten success on the Billboard Hot 100 – a grand achievement for a rap album!

Well, there you have it! Evidently this is The Fringes blog, so really ratings don’t matter at all to me. I just thought it was interesting to see what other people thought and to learn about some more songs I might fancy listening to. Besides, my music is so entwined I could never ever create a top 10 list. There’s just too much music to love! And I can’t wait for the New Year to bring even more awesome tunes for me, and others such as yourselves, to enjoy.