Why Hey Ladies? There's a significant trend this year with a record number of female voices in my choices for this year's mix—half of the songs. Last year, it was two. The other big trend was that this was the year of the male/female duo, most of them married couples. There was some great music this year:

Favorite Albums This Year:

• Fleet Foxes
Who knew that the best My Morning Jacket album this year wouldn't be put out by My Morning Jacket? Far and away, this was my favorite album of the year. The band describes itself as "baroque harmonic pop jams." Calling them just a My Morning Jacket sound-a-like really doesn't do the album justice. MMJ couldn't pull off the Beach Boys-esque sound of White Winter Hymnal.

Watch to them perform Sun Giant (from a separate EP and Blue Ridge Mountains in a park in Paris:

• She and Him - Volume One
Usually when an actor tries to make a crossover into music, it's because of an ego trip. They know that they'll make a ton of money because people will buy the album just because it's their face on the album. That's not really the case with Zooey Deschanel. She's done some good work in the movies, and some not so good work (see The Happening). Her partnership album with M. Ward came out of a soundtrack for a film, but it's really a great pairing. It's a very 60's retro vibe, and it works.

• Phantom Planet - Raise the Dead
I was really sad to hear that Phantom Planet broke up. I guess you want to go out on a high, and this was really a swan song for them. It's catchy and crunchy at the same time, and really not for folks who only like their theme song to The O.C.

The Best Songs of 2008

Download zip of all songs | Preview Songs in iTunes

1.	Cloud Cult	No One Said It Would Be Easy
2.	Phantom Planet	Do the Panic
3.	Beck	Gamma Ray
4.	Jenny Lewis	The Next Messiah
5.	The Dexateens	Altar Blues
6.	Liam Finn	Second Chance
7.	Shearwater	Leviathan Bound
8.	Aimee Mann	Thirty One Today
9.	Tift Merritt	Broken
10.	She & Him	Why Do You Let Me Stay Here
11.	Fleet Foxes	Ragged Wood
12.	Mates of State	Get Better
13.	The Submarines	You and Me and the Bouregoise
14.	Sons and Daughters	Split Lips
15.	The Ting Tings	Keep Your Head
16.	Pomplamoose	Beat the Horse
17.	Death Cab for Cutie	No Sunlight
18.	Anathallo	The River