The 50 Best Albums of 2008

31

MGMT ORACULAR SPECTACULAR Columbia

A freaky, tuneful record about growing up that's equal parts tongue-in-cheek and heart-in-mouth. MGMT wrap their idealism in sweet, woozy tunes that know how to groove — check the ecstatic disco funk of "Electric Feel." But they also spike their bliss with absurdity and darkness: It's acid rock for realists.

32

Jamey Johnson THE LONESOME SONG Mercury Nashville

The year's best country album, The Lonesome Song chronicles Johnson's real-life divorce and overflows with vivid details about drugs, booze and tossing an ex's possessions into a bonfire. The Alabama-bred former Marine worked up a meaty neo-traditionalist sound while playing both a sensitive guy and an entertaining hell-raiser.

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