Listwatch ’08: New York Magazine

Fleet Foxes / photo by David Greenwald

[Editor’s Note: Rawkblog contributor Alfred Lee will be making a big comeback in the coming weeks. This post marks his return. Welcome back, bro.]

For all I know, Dave may have never even opened a single issue of New York, but I still imagine it to be his newsstand glossy of choice. (Maybe it’s the fact that of all mainstream pubs, New York comes closest to the high-low approach adopted by most arts/culture-related blogs.) [Ed. — Vulture is my pop culture blog of choice!]

Anyway, the magazine’s released its year-end culture issue, which is exactly what it sounds like — a bunch of lists, sprinkled with a few going-through-the-motions thinkpieces. But for what it’s worth: Mad Men is TV show of the year, Rachel Getting Married the film of the year and Aleksander Hemon’s The Lazarus Project the book of the year.

And since this is, after all, a music blog, here’s their full, Pitchfork-approved year-end music list.

1. Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III
2. TV on the Radio, Dear Science, (which just picked up Rolling Stone AND Spin top spots)
3. Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago
4. Portishead, Third
5. Hercules and Love Affair
6. Santogold
7. Fleet Foxes
8. Erykah Badu, New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War
9. Beck, Modern Guilt
10. Vampire Weekend

Not too controversial. And finally, because I know deep down you all miss him, here’s some vintage Ja Rule for ya.
–Alfred Lee

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Best of 2008: Only the strong survive. Click below for more.