Tis' the season. And I ain't talking bout yuletides and elves. I'm talking about all those end of year lists that anyone with a "professional" opinion feels is necessary to cough up come December, year after year after year. Truth be told, we even feel entitled to get on this great golden soapbox ourselves here at Scene & Heard HQ, and we will soon enough before the year expires on us. But before we get to the top batch of records and movies that 2008 gave birth to, I thought it'd be fun--perhaps even, educational--to give you our TOP 5 BEST OF LISTS that we've seen so far on this year in music. What a concept, huh? And believe me, I went through quite a gamut of lists to come up with this list of lists, so do trust that this is the best of what 2008's 'best of' was.

The comforting thing is that no list really resembles what my list is shaping up like. Most rock music magazines tend to have the same a-la-cart lists, most indie blogs tend to have the same top 5, but this was an interesting year in which lots of lists seemed to veer off after newer artists and some daring, brilliant records. My list will probably be something of a conglomerate of all these lists here, although I don't really get this critical salivating for Fleet Foxes. Decent record, but it's like the number one album to make Number One on these year-end lists? No way, they're just doing what My Morning Jacket did 6 or 7 years ago. Anyway, here's the lists!

Scene & Heard's Top 5 Lists That List The Best Music Albums 0f 2008

5. NME Top 50 Albums of 2008
This British rock magazine gets a spot just because their list, expectedly, has a lot more lively records ripe with trumpets, grooves, and angular guitars than all the lo-fi and northwest folk that swept the American music underground this year (COUGH! Fleet Foxes... COUGH!). The whole of these records, from Santogold (one of Philly's own!) to Kings of Leon to TV On The Radio to number one MGMT, are all about making sound statements and living through these disastrous economic times. Although they scored The Verve's and Oasis' letdowns higher than Coldplay? Ugh...

4. Stereogum's Best Albums of 2008
Honestly, could have made the number 2 spot of this list if they DIDN'T GIVE FLEET FOXES THE NUMBER ONE SPOT! It's a great and expansive list that gives lots of proper tips of the hat to a lot of the right artists--big and small--who deserve the name check. Also, Stereogum just posts artwork and links to purchase the music...no blurbs about why they chose what they chose. Though it's cool to 'let the music do the talking,' I like to read about why something deserves more props than another on these year end lists. So, foul on the ol' Gum there too. But still, a pretty tight list.

3. Paste Magazine's Signs of Life: Best of 2008
I like Paste Magazine, and I really like their theme for this year's best of list: "Signs of Life." Kinda poetic and something to think about as the CD industry continues to die the ugliest death in the history of long, painful, squirming, gasping, economic deaths. But I dig this list for other reasons too. Like TV On The Radio gets their due, but at a much more reasonable #50, instead of #1 (see Rolling Stone, see Spin, see countless other etcs). But they also give due to Colour Revolt (#35), the brilliant Death Cab record (#18) which lots of lists seemed to develop amnesia for, Mugison, and a huge surprise of a number 1--She & Him. Not exactly something I would put at Number 1, but a pleasant surprise nonetheless.

2. Can You See The Sunset's 50 Favorite Albums of 2008
I look to a crap ton of music blogs for all the latest songs and artists circulating the ol' net, but Can You See The Sunset is the only music blog I read on a regular basis. Mainly because his taste in music is the closest I've found to mine in that he is a lover of most all music, but has the biggest weak spot for a good, jolting dose of punk rock. As long as the music has soul and/or an unwavering lifeforce, he unearths it, loves it, and shares it on his blog, and that's a kind of person that I can undeniably get behind and respect. So don't look to his year end list if you're looking for the stuff you'd expect to find on Spin or Rolling Stone, or Pitchfork for that matter. But his list is right on the money, and runs the gamut from grindstone folk (a surprising number one pick) to soul to punk to some decent mainstream indie. It's probably one of the least predictable and yet, most honest lists you will find this end of the year. Not to mention, he takes year ends lists really seriously. He even re-did his best of 2007 after spending an extra year with all those records, after those songs revealed their true colors.

1. eMusic's 88 Best Albums of 2008
Well, for starters, they give The Gaslight Anthem's "59 Sound" the Number One badge of approval, and that's awesome in my book. But also, the write up for the list riffs off the idea that this was the year of discovery--and I couldn't say it any better myself. And if that sentiment rings true, there is no better place to discover new music than eMusic. Their finely crafted list is limited in what it can list because there is a majority of recording artists signed to major labels who don't distribute downloads on eMusic--but eMusic gives you miracles with what they do have to work with. Paul McCartney's new Fireman record gets due. A live (and phenomenal) Otis Redding gem released this year gets due. Bon Iver, Raveonettes, and She & Him all get big props here, as well as a whole treasure trove of other surprises you never ever heard of before.

In short, 2008 was the sound of us all looking for something new. A new chord to ride, a new melody to hum, a new horizon to walk off towards.

My Morning Jacket - "Evil Urges"

For the longest time, I really tried to like My Morning Jacket. I really really did.

From the beginning of the band's buzz very early on, I literally had to force myself to understand what all the mouth-watering hootenanny from their uber obsessive fanboys was all about.

"The best live band alive."

"Each song off each record is different and unique, you gotta hear them, man. Fo realz!"

Anyone who was anyone in the taste making music-sphere spoke the world of them, so how could I not at least attempt to see what the uproar was about?

I bought each record of their's since 2001's "At Dawn" and most of the time, I found my self WANTING to like them, instead of finding myself past the point of no return in a profound obsession, like everyone else spurring off about their records.

Beginning with that record, I saw the diamond seeds of something wonderful. Some of those songs were impeccably gorgeous, some of the best songs written from that pre 9-11 time period. "Bermuda Highway" is, to this day, one of the most beautiful songs I've ever listened to. And Jim James' transcendental vocals showcased the most wide-open soul-baring wails I'd ever heard. What an angel voice. A white wolf of super soul! Otis Redding, Etta James, Michael Jackson all put to shame, like THAT! His voice was perfect. TOO perfect. Too pristine and instrumental to sit in a set of headphones with any other instruments around it.

But, the seeds were all I saw, and they weren't sewn. None of the record really bloomed for me. The songs were awesome, but executed much differently than they begged to be. I was totally wowed by the details, but as a whole, the record was just too dusty Kentucky. And it's not that I don't dig some folk or some Band of Horses and Limbeck, because I totally do. But My Morning Jacket were doing the wrong things with their razor sharp talents, and it turned me off where it turned others on. Their grungey southern dirt rock needed less twang and more verve to properly exude their fabled greatness. They barked when they should have wailed. And so I found myself digging holes in the wrong fields.

With each new record, I found myself gravitating towards more and more of their growing songs, but still, it was Jim's voice and his lyrics that kept my ears perked, not the records, feedback-heavy solos or set of songs.

That mostly changed with Z, released in 2005. It was like they were Bob Dylan and went electric. Out of nowhere came this ethereal record with a new and lucid air to the music and performance. It was a new jacket for the morning. They mostly cutaway the southern jam band carnival fest taste, but kept the same ingredients to make the spacey trip of "Z." And my mind was blown, as was all the ever-so-smug "I told you so" scenesters, who alas, told me so, oh so long ago.

The half a dozen songs I've heard from their upcoming "Evil Urges" (due June 10) takes that and masters it further. Descending even deeper into the abyss of undefinable music style and uncanny music vision. Remember when Radiohead dropped "Ok Computer" on the world? Yeah, this ain't all that different of a trip, broheem.

"Touch Me I'm Going To Scream (Part 2)" is perhaps the wickedest track I've heard in ages. The song is so alive. It breathes, like a new baby born. It's bristling and bold. It's a rhythmic firecracker, with Jim's voice harrowing from the inside like the warm stirring core of planet earth, spinning out of control. I'm finally and totally convinced this band is every ounce of gravy so many have spoke of for so long now.

But even better than that, I tripped across the band's brightest light while sniffing out these "Evil Urges" tunes. And I hate myself for not digging this up sooner; the "Acoustic Citsuoca" EP from 2004.

I've listened to this on repeat all freaking weekend long and there is no sign of me stopping now. It's sparse, twinkling, live and acoustic, letting Jim man the reigns mostly on his own through this laid-back set of 5 songs. They cherry pick some of the best tunes off their earlier stuff and polish them off here. And boy do they shine. This starry-eyed cut of "Bermuda Highway" is what I will refer to when people ask me what my favorite song is. Mind. Blowing.

And wrapping this all up, have you been wanting to see what all this fuss about The Jacket is for, like I used to? Sign up for eMusic, and use your 50 free downloads you get for signing up to start chomping into their entire catalogue, because eMusic has every release of theirs now, including "Acoustic Citsuoca," and will land "Evil Urges" when it's released in June. eMusic, btw, is my best friend. If you're a music head, and aren't a "I only buy vinyl and/or physical CD" snob, eMusic is a total indie world godsend.