here it is. finally! it's taken me 2 weeks to figure out which albums to choose and how big the lists had to be and so on. and since i found 15 foreign albums and 6 danish albums from 2008 in my library it became clear that it had to be a top 10 in foreign albums and a top 5 in danish albums...but believe it or not i�m not finished with the danish one yet. so here you have the foreign list + some other categories.

top 10 foreign albums:

1. the last shadow puppets - 'the age of the understatement'

- i bought this record shortly after a friend of mine introduced it to me in a train and shortly after i realised that it would definitely be amongst the best records of 2008. so here you go...it is probably one of the records i've listened to the most during this year. it has a fantastic 60's sound and i'm a sucker for the 60's!

2. malcolm middleton - 'sleight of heart'

- it's a rarity that you hear an artist like malcolm middleton interpret a song by someone like madonna but he does it to perfection...with 'stay' i was completely sold right away and afterwards for every time i've heard the album since i've fallen more and more in love with it. you would be very cynic if you didn't fall for charm of malcolm's voice.

3.fleet foxes - 'fleet foxes'

- i think it was T recommending this to me and it's absolutely fantastic. i love the harmonies and the lovely melodies. i actually woke up with 'tiger mountain peasant song' stuck in my head the other day...what a lovely way to start your day. they kind of remind me of akron/family in a good way. they are just a little less experimental.

4. the notwist - 'the devil, you + me'

- as i told you in here some weeks ago a friend of mine has told me about this band several years ago and i didn't listen. so when A played this record to me i loved it right away. hmm.

5. death cab for cutie - 'narrow stairs'

- it was the band i never got to see at roskilde festival back in 2006 because i was too tired after having seen rufus wainwright and the thought of how far away the stage was made me go back to my tent crossing my fingers that the reviewer would reward the concert with everything beneath 3 stars...it was the only concert rewarded with 6 stars that year and i've regretted it ever since that i gave my sleep a higher priority that night. this is a band that has taken years for me to like and worship...and finally they've touched something inside me.

6. shugo tokumaru - 'exit'

- i like this record very much. especially the songs 'parachute', 'green rain' and 'wedding' have impressed me. the heavy use of glockenspiel is definitely not a bad thing either...then it doesn't matter that you can't understand what he's singing about.

7. benni hemm hemm - 'murta st. calunga'

- i've known this record for almost one week...but it has made a huge impression. huge enough to enter this list. hurrah. especially the last song 'beethoven � brasil�u' has made an impression. 'whaling in the north atlantic' was the first song i ever heard with him...and i loved it right away because it's very well arranged and yet it has this funny touch.

8. mogwai - 'the hawk is howling'

- every kind of lists like this should have an instrumental record on it...so here you go. my favourite of this year. right from the anger on 'batcat' to the beautifulness of 'thank you space expert'. rock on!

9. department of eagles - 'in ear park'

- this is a brilliant record. i can't get the song 'teenagers' out of my head. mmmm.

10. tim ten yen - 'everything beautiful reminds me of you'

- of course this one had to be somewhere at this list. it's a very short but charming record with highlights as 'when the song applies to you', 'the bear and the fox', 'sea anemone' (the glockenspiel intro!!) and 'something sinister'. the only weakness this record has, is that tim ten yen is definitely best when you experience him live. have i told you that he thanked me during his concert at the student house ? - in between some of the numbers he held a little speech and pointed me out amongst the audience just to jump down from the stage to give me a kiss on the cheek and a huuuuge hug while telling the audience that he couldn't have asked for a better hostess.

bubbles...the ones who almost made it or didn't make it at all!:
bon iver - 'for emma, forever ago'
almost everyone i know are praising this album. maybe it's just me being slow again...'cause i can't really hear the great things at the album yet... 're: stacks' is a winner though.
billie the vision & the dancers - 'i used to wander these streets'
this album is good. the lyrics and the music are naive in a very lovely way. i like the up tempo songs best, like 'groovy', if they'd had more songs like this, the album would for sure had been a part of the list.
dirty pretty things - 'romance at short notice'
to be honest i like the first album better than this one. there's a few high lights, but that's it.
mystery jets - 'twenty one'
the same thing as the dpt album...i like their debut even better. the only high light at this album is 'flakes'
nico muhly - 'mothertongue'
he makes very beautiful music...but there's only two or three songs on this album that i actually like.

my top 9 of the best live experiences during the year:
1. the last shadow puppets, store vega 16/10
2. the flaming lips, tivoli 8/8
3. explosions in the sky, lille vega 7/5
4. dirty pretty things, pumpehuset 14/11
5. the good the bad, pitstop 25/1
6. snake & jet's amazing bullit band, spot festival 6/6
7. music for modern man, pitstop 24/10
8. the tremolo beer gut, pitstop 29/11
9. bodebrixen, pitstop 10/10

new to me during this year:
patrick watson
loney, dear
fleet foxes
bodebrixen
shugo tokumaru
samamidon
gustav mahler
nico muhly
fionn regan
the last shadow puppets
snake & jet's amazing bullit band
scott walker
the notwist
billie the vision & the dancers
bon iver
the middle east
doveman
department of eagles
phosphorescent
noah and the whale
j. tillman
jon brion

wouw...that were a lot of names...and i know i could keep going on but you'd probably not even care to read them all through anyway. seems like i've been very inspired this year. the list is by the way random.

so here you go. what a christmas present huh?! merry christmas by the way hope you'll have a great day/night. i�ll be back in a couple of days with the danish part.