When I started posting my 42 Favorite Finds of 2008 over at WNEW, I declined to say what I thought were the best records of the year. Instead I decided to write about my favorite listens of the year. That means anything from any year could be included thereby freeing myself myself from writing the gratuitous, overplayed, phone-it-in “Best Of” list.

Then Rolling Stone released their list of Records Of The Year.

Clearly, a bunch of caffeine-swilling, underpaid, cubicle-inhabiting, self-aggrandizing weenies sat around the Starbucks one day and set about making the most preposterous, starving-for-attention list of records they could possibly consider, largely for the purpose of getting someone (anyone) to read their behind-the-times, Britney-Spears-loving rag. Got knows, no one’s paying attention to their writing or the music they “cover” the other 11.9 months of the year.

I figure if all it takes to make a list of the Best of the Year is to be attention-craving dork, I can be as attention-craving and dorky as the next guy.

Hence, here are the Top 10 records in my iTunes library that say 2008 under “Year” and why they are the best the last 12 months have to offer:

10: Adele’s debut record, 19, because she’s the only neo-soul singer out of the UK in the past year who actually has soul (instead of a rap sheet)

Adele – Right As Rain

9: Danielia Cotton’s May 2008 release Rare Child, because she’s got the balls of Melissa Etheridge (without the lesbian baggage) and the across-all-genres style of Dionne Farris. Never heard of her? Now you have.

Danielia Cotton – Bang My Drum

8: Dr. Dog’s record, Fate, because I’ve always wanted to know what Paul McCartney would sound like if he didn’t sound so much like, well, Paul McCartney.

Dr. Dog – The Old Days

7: David Byrne and Brian Eno’s Everything That Will Happen Will Happen Today record, because Byrne is brilliant and Eno is weird and the world needs more of both of those qualities.

David Byrne And Brian Eno – Everything That Happens Will Happen Today

6: Nils Lofgren’s ode to Neil Young, The Loner, because old guys alone with their guitar (or pinao) can teach something to the youngsters about wisdom, loneliness and rock and roll.

Nils Lofgren – I Am A Child

5: I See Hawks In L.A.’s Hallowed Ground, because they can talk about how we’re turning the beautiful earth into a sludge pot…and make you want to sing along.

I See Hawks In L.A. – Good And Foolish Times

4: Chatham County Line’s album, IV, because bluegrass isn’t dead but it needs to evolve…and Bill Monroe’s just a start.

Chatham County Line – Chip Of A Star

3: Glen Campbell’s revival, Meet Glen Campbell, because a 72-year old legend covering the Velvet Underground is far cooler than Axl Rose will ever be.

Glen Campbell – Sing

2: Ruthie Foster’s The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster because she is just that: phenomenal.

Ruthie Foster – Heal Yourself

1: Michael Franti’s All Rebel Rockers, because no one can make you dance and think about your life like he can.

Michael Franti – All I Want Is You

The picture above is of my 8-year old son, Skyler, appearing in his first feature role as Theo in the local high school production of Pippin. My wife is the theater teacher at the school so it makes perfect sense that Sky is her go-to guy whenever there is a role for a kid.

I’ll dispense with the typical “he was tremendous” gushing that would come from a proud father with his own public forum. But, I will admit that when Sky did his little acapella version of Corner Of The Sky at the end of the show, I choked up every time.

The only problem is that the soundtrack is stuck in my head and it won’t go away. I guess that’s what happens when you see the show a dozen times within a week. The only thing that’s coming close to pushing Magic To Do out of my mind is this one, a great version of Travis‘ Sing, from the new Meet Glen Campbell album.

Glen Campbell – Sing

Artwork: Skyler as Theo in Pippin (Photo courtesy of Dad)

Truth be told, the little blue-haired lady I mentioned a few days ago in my post about Strawbs had one up on me. She may not have known about Strawbs — who, according to White Ray at Echoes In The Wind, were said to be the British version of the Band – but she knew John Hartford and I really didn’t. Oh, the shame.

The short story on Hartford is that he came from a fairly wealthy, intellectual background, was obsessed with the banjo, the fiddle and the Mississippi River and spent most of his life pursuing his knowledge of all three. He wrote one of the most famous pop songs of the 1960’s, Gentle On My Mind, a song he said “bought his freedom”.

The little old lady might have known Hartford from his appearances on the Glen Campbell and Smothers Brothers TV shows. Or, she might’ve known him from actually listening to the 1969 John Hartford album she sold me for 25 cents. Given the content of the record — bizarre and certainly left of center — the mind reels at the kind of conversation blue-hair and I could’ve had had I known what I was getting into.

John Hartford – The Poor Old Prurient Interest Blues