BEST OF NOOOOOOOOO - As December decends upon us (clever intentional misspelling what the whaaaaat?), we find ourselves under siege, our eyeballs and earholes attacked by a media frenzy of end-of-year "best of" lists. These things annoy me. Yet I am compelled to share with you one of my consumer impulses - just this one little thing: The Roots Rising Down. It is so rare that I am even paying attention to new releases, never mind actually buying them and listening to them and really fucking loving them. Get Busy, Rising Down, 75 Bars, Criminal, Rising Up (oh my god the cowbell breakdowns...COME ON)... all Really Fucking Awesome Songs. Awesome cover art, too. Buy this album. Other 2008 worthy-mentions from my limited sampling: The Sword's Gods of the Earth and Cat Power's Jukebox.