Artists Pick the Best Albums and Singles of 2008

MY FAVORITE ALBUM
BY JIM JAMES
of My Morning Jacket

New Amerykah: Part 1 (4th World War) by Erykah Badu

The sound quality is similar to some of my favorite records, like Guided by Voices' Bee Thousand, where it sounds really low-fi and hi-fi all at once. But it also sounds futuristic, as if it were recorded on some army surveillance mike in the back of a tank on some battlefield in the year 3013. And the bass is huge — it warms my butt. I feel beautiful when I hear this record. It makes me feel like a praying mantis: I want to mate, but I also want to kill my mate when it's over.

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