As I was struggling to rank my top albums of 2008, I read Roger Ebert's top twenty films of 2008 where, finally giving up winnowing his choices down to just ten, he wrote:

If you must have a Top 10 List, find a coin in your pocket. Heads, the odd-numbered movies are your 10. Tails, the even-numbered.

This served as a moment of inspiration. Rather than ordering twenty albums, I thought, I would put them into two tiers and then write a bit of code to randomize their ordering within the tiers with each page refresh.

Perhaps luckily for my readers, in the end I decided against this. As I started to write my little blurbs, momentary preferences started to sink in. But I admit they are just that: momentary preferences. I still like my number one album from last year, but man that Spoon album, which I ranked #16, sure has been getting a lot of play this year.

So here it is: a snapshot of what I currently think are my top twenty albums of 2008. Last year, some of the recommendations in the comments became new favorites, so please tell me where I went astray.

20. Kanye West -- 808s & Heartbreak

When I heard the first singles coming from this percussively stripped-down and AutoTune-obsessed breakup album, I was expecting throwaway tracks, some filler before his next proper album. But it turns out that this is a proper album, with only the live freestyle on the final track meriting the skip button. It isn't quite Kanye at his finest, but it just goes to show that we all benefit by his persistent sincerity.

Favorite tracks: Paranoid; RoboCop

19. El Guincho -- Alegranza

Yes, it sounds like it was produced in exactly the same way as an Animal Collective album, but on Alegranza the loop components come almost strictly from the tropical realm (think steel drums and maracas). But it's never exhausting in the way Animal Collective can be, and it's surprisingly danceable throughout.

Favorite tracks: Antillas; Fata Morgana

18. Coldplay -- Viva la Vida

While I've always had a guilty pleasure like of Coldplay's singles, their past albums have been filled with aimless, tiresome songs. On Viva la Vida, they still wear their influences on their sleeves (along with colored ribbons), but the songs are rarely boring and benefit from Brian Eno's light touch.

Favorite tracks: 42; Death and All His Friends

17. Gang Gang Dance -- Saint Dymphna

How to describe this eclectic album? I could say Pure Moods meets Battles, but that really only describes a few tracks on here, and doesn't manage to explain the electronic touches or dancefloor moments. I guess I'll give up and say this is the best compilation album of 2008 by one band.

Favorite tracks: First Communion; House Jam

16. Hercules and Love Affair -- Hercules and Love Affair

Yes, 2008 was the breakout year of new-wave/disco (see also Cut Copy's In Ghost Colours). And it's not even "retro-influenced" anymore -- much of this album sounds straight out of the 70's, with the exception of Antony's voice, which has finally found a comfortable home. It started with the Junior Boys a few years ago, but I've been a sucker for this stuff ever since.

Favorite tracks: Hercules Theme; Blind

Darn kottke had to go ahead and post a list of the "1001 Movies That You Must See Before You Die" (plus an addendum). Like the book list, the selections are highly debatable, particularly in the past couple decades. (e.g., The Constant Gardener?)

I've seen 302 of the movies, so I'm batting 30%, three times better than with the book list. Same drill: the full list of movies I've seen on the list is after the jump, with asterisks next to my favorites.

Following kottke's lead, I present the list of the 1001 Books That You Must Read Before You Die (from this book) that I have read. I've completed exactly 100 of the books on the list, nearly 10%, 30 of which I read because it was assigned in an academic setting. Those that are among my favorites I have marked with an asterisk -- the full list of the 100 I have read is after the jump.

Update: I should clarify that I don't think the book's full list of 1,001 is either definitive or unflawed, especially for the past 100 years. Still, those that I have read happen to be representative of some of the best books I've encountered.

It takes me awhile to catch up with a year's output of movies, and I'll never be able to grasp a year's worth of books. Music is really the only art form that I can make sense of by the end of the year; that's why I'm posting my top 20 albums of the year, and no other lists.

Flea mocked my posting this list by calling it self-aggrandizing -- perhaps it is, but then so is maintaining a public blog. Compiling my top albums each year is a way for me to get a sense of how my musical taste changes with time, and of how the splintering music world is evolving. And maybe I'll encourage one of you to listen to something they wouldn't have otherwise, and vice versa. My list in 2005 led me to listen to albums recommended in the comments section that I wouldn't have found otherwise.

One more thing: I didn't post a list in 2006 because I was woefully behind in music discovery due to my employment at Nevada's Question 7 campaign. If you're curious, my top 5 from 2006 is here. Now, onto 2007:

20. The Arcade Fire -- Neon Bible

The disappointment of the year (next to maybe the Clap Your Hands Say Yeah followup), yet it still barely qualifies for my top 20 by virtue of several killer tracks. There's no room for me in this Bruce Springsteen revival, but excise the Boss and you have a pretty good album.

Favorite tracks: The Well and the Lighthouse, No Cars Go

19. Iron & Wine -- The Shepherd's Dog

It was initially offputting for me to hear Sam Beam add tropical and African rhythms to his compositions while maintaining his soft and measured vocals, but I eventually came around. Perhaps it was the realization that this album resembles 1980's Paul Simon only superficially.

Favorite tracks: House by the Sea, Resurrection Fern

18. The Field -- From Here We Go Sublime

Another grower. I don't usually give uhn-tse-uhn-tse electronic albums repeat listens, but the glitchy repetition and floating vocals kept me interested. It's Fennesz with a backbeat.

Favorite tracks: The Little Heart Beats So Fast, Silent

17. Caribou -- Andorra

How does one assign Caribou to a genre? He started off with jazzy electronica, moved to shoegaze and psychedelia, and played around with motorik. allmusic.com uses the term "Dream Pop" -- sure. I'll just say that it's melodic, percussive, and infectious. And "Irene" is one of two songs from 2007 that make me feel drunk just listening to it.

Favorite tracks: After Hours, Irene

16. Spoon -- Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

Even Stranger than Fiction -- the mediocre Will Farrell film -- couldn't ruin Spoon. They can still make an album where every single darn song is catchy.

Favorite tracks: Rhthm & Soul, The Underdog

Once again, I'm befuddled by Prevention magazine's list of the most walkable cities. Last year, they comically put Las Vegas in the top ten, and this year -- after perhaps being ridiculed for Vegas's inclusion -- they slipped in Henderson, NV at number 6.

Henderson, NV, a somewhat wealthy suburb south of Las Vegas, is not by any means walkable, unless you're considering walking on golf courses and within gated neighborhoods and casinos as your sole criteria. When I think of walkable, I think of cities where it's both possible and common to live without a car. I would bet that less than 2% of working residences in Henderson are carless, and as far as I know, it would be extremely difficult to get around without a car. And it is severely uncomfortable to be outside for two or so summer months of the year, when temperatures commonly hover between 100 and 115. Walking in, say, Boston during the few months where it's icy cold is far more doable with proper clothing and footwear.

That's not to say that Henderson doesn't have some good walking paths and hiking trails, especially those in the nearby River Mountains. But to call that "walkable" is misleading -- unless you live in a development right on the park's boundary, you'll have to drive to get there. Plus, it's only fair to mention Henderson's old downtown area, which could become pedestrian-friendly in the future, but is currently mostly quiet and economically depressed.

This list is a product of unbalanced criteria, and I wouldn't be surprised if Prevention was heavily lobbied by real estate companies.