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The Vox Box

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Looking Back on 2008’s Tunes

The year is disappearing but these albums will live forever...picture found at blog.ning.com.
The year is disappearing but these albums will live forever...picture found at blog.ning.com.

The year is quickly coming to a close - we'll soon be watching the ball drop and partying along with Dick Clark's Rocking New Year's Eve; but now it's time to lovingly look back on the tunes that rocked 2008.

In its' The Best of 2008: Albums article, MSN writers and staff described the musical tastes of the year as "vintage dominated by rock, spiced with multi-cultural overtones and graced by country notes in its long, teasingly earthy finish." Ya, savor that one.  So here are the albums that made the list:

10.Taylor Swift - "Fearless"
Described as "no longer merely precocious, Swift is good enough to make us forgive the full court press of magazine covers, TV spots, and photo ops." 

9. Fleet Foxes - "Fleet Foxes"
 This lesser-known band straight out of Pudget Sound is making a name for themselves while being loved for their "earnest folk rock."

8. Coldplay - "Viva La Vida, or Death and All My Friends"
Wow - some of these songs are so catchy it's insane...and painful. 

7. Vampire Weekend - "Vampire Weekend"
Recognized as one of the year's officially amazing breakout bands, these Columbia University students rock their "chattering Afro-beat guitars and smark alek, preppy social observations."

6. Randy Newman - "Harps and Angels"
I have no idea who this is. All I know is that his last name reminds me of ranch dressing...

5. Lil Wayne - "Tha Carter III"
'Weezy' sixth studio album dominated in a year that was described by MSN writers as "weak for rap and hip-hop."

4. The Black Keys - "Attack & Release"
A blast from the past, this duo's sound is loved by those who dig " gripping, timeless blues rock."

3. My Morning Jacket - "Evil Urges"
These guys somehow manage to cover nearly every genre over the course of this album: "Funk to folk, metal to blues, [fueling] their smart, powerful music."

2. The Hold Steady - "Stay Positive"
I've never heard of these guys either, but they are described as a great 'transformation band', growing from "a great bar band to a great band, period," in the past year.

1. TV on the Radio - "Dear Science"
"They may be the most important band...that isn't Radiohead."  That's all I need to hear.

What has been YOUR favorite albums of the year? Which genres of music seemed to take over 2008?

In 2006, then-editor Steve Smith of The Spokesman-Review had the idea of starting a publication for an often forgotten audience: teenagers. The Vox Box was a continuation of the Vox, an all-student staffed newspaper published by The Spokesman-Review. High school student journalists who staffed the Vox made all content decisions as they learn about the trade of journalism. This blog's mission was to give students an opportunity to publish their voices. The Vox Box and the Vox wrapped up in June 2009, but you can follow former staffers' new blog at http://voxxiez.blogspot.com.