You can determine exactly how much relevance the following lists have, comprising of Red Eye records' top selling albums, staff picks and so on.
Top Selling Records
1. SIGUR ROS - MED SUD I EYRUM VID SPILUM ENDALAUST
2. RADIOHEAD - IN RAINBOWS
3. GEOFFREY GURRUMUL YUNUPINGU - GURRUMUL
4. KINGS OF LEON - ONLY BY THE NIGHT
5. NICK CAVE NICK & THE BAD SEEDS - DIG LAZARUS DIG
6. PORTISHEAD - THIRD
7. VAMPIRE WEEKEND - VAMPIRE WEEKEND
8. FLEET FOXES - FLEET FOXES
9. BON IVER - FOR EMMA FOREVER AGO
10. MGMT - ORACULAR SPECTACULAR
11. DEERHUNTER - MICROCASTLE
12. PRESETS - APOCALYPSO
13. BLACK KEYS - ATTACK & RELEASE
14. DRONES - HAVILAH
15. MARS VOLTA - BEDLAM IN GOLIATH
16. CRYSTAL CASTLES - CRYSTAL CASTLES
17. DENNIS WILSON - PACIFIC OCEAN BLUE / BAMBU : 2008 Re-Issue
18. RED SUN BAND - SHIRALEE
19. PAUL WELLER - 22 DREAMS
20. ROBERT FORSTER - EVANGELIST
Metal Store Top Sellers
1. METALLICA - DEATH MAGNETIC
2. MESHUGGAH - OBZEN
3. NINE INCH NAILS - SLIP
4. NINE INCH NAILS - GHOSTS I - IV : 2CD SET
5. OPETH - WATERSHED
6. SLIPKNOT - ALL HOPE IS GONE
7. EARTH - BEES MADE HONEY IN THE LIONS SKULL
8. EINSTURZENDE NEUBAUTEN - ALLES WIEDER OFFEN
9. CAVALERA CONSPIRACY - INFLIKTED
10. DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN - IRE WORKS
Staff Picks
Abbe May - Howl & Moan
Alejandro Escovedo - Real Animal
Asecretdeath - Secret Death
Beck - Modern Guilt
Black Mountain - In The Future
Bloodbath - Fathomless Mastery
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
Bowerbirds - Hymns For A Dark Horse
Brian Eno & David Byrne - Everything That Will Happen Will Happen Today
Cult Of Luna - Eternal Kingdom
Cut Off You Hands - You & I
Danny George Wilson - Danny & The Champions
Deerhunter - Micocastles
Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue / Bambu : 2008 Re-Issue
Department Of Eagles - In Ear Park
Doug Wimbish - Cinemasonics
Drive By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark
Duffy - Rockferry
Dungen - 4
Earth - Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull
Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Primary Colours
Emiliana Torrini - Me & Armini
Enslaved - Vertebrae
Eric Matthews - Imagination Stage
Exodus - Let There Be Blood
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Flight Of The Conchords - Flight Of The Conchords
Flo & Eddie - Phlorescent Leech & Eddie / Flo & Eddie (2 on 1 2008 Re-Issue)
Further - Tactics
Gas - Nah Und Fern
Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree
Harvey Milk - Life...The Best Game In Town
Haunted - Versus
Hush Arbors - Hush Arbors
Imaad Wasif With Two Part Beast - Strange Hexes
James Jackson Toth - Waiting In Vain
Jean Grae - Jeanius
Jeff Loomis - Zero Order Phase
Kills - Midnight Boom
Ladyhawk - Shots
Laura Jean - Eden Land
Lawnsmell - Lawnography
Lee Hazlewood - Strung Out On Something New
Lupe Fiasco - The Cool
M83 - Saturdays = Youth
Marnie Stern - This Is It...
Martha Wainwright - I Know You're Married But I Have Feelings Too
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
Moffs - Collection
N*E*R*D* - Seeing Sounds
Neon Neon - Stainless Style
Nick Cave & Bad Seeds - Dig Lazarus Dig
Ohana - Dead Beat
Optimo/Various - Sleepwalk
Padded Cell - Night Must Fall
Peabody - Prospero
Phoenix Foundation - Happy Ending
Plants & Animals - Parc Avenue
Portishead - Third
Quiet Village - Silent Movie
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Randy Newman - Harps and Angels
REM - Accelerate
Replacements - Let It Be : 2008 Re-Issue
Retribution Gospel Choir - Retribution Gospel Choir
Russian Circles - Station
Sam Phillips - Don't Do Anything
School Of Language - Sea From Shore
Scott Walker - Til The Band Comes In : 2008 Re-Issue
Sea & Cake - Car Alarm
Silver Jews - Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea
Songs - Songs EP
Starling Electric - Clouded Staircase
Streets - Everything Is Borrowed
Studio - Yearbook 2
Supergrass - Diamond Hoo Ha
Syclops - I've Got My Eye On You
Tan Or Boil - Seamstress In A Suitcase
Testament - Formation of Damnation
Todd Rundgren - Arena
Todd Sparrow - Modern Western
Tricky - Knowle West Boy
Trus'Me - Working Nights
TV on the Radio - Dear Science
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
War On Drugs - Wagonwheel Blues
Wedding Present - El Rey
Week That Was - Week That Was
Whitechapel - This Is Exile
Wire - Object 47
Yael Naim - Yael Naim
Various - Death Before Distemper : Volume 2
Various - Nigeria Rock Special
Various - Nigeria Disco Funk Special
Various - Notwave
There are definitely some good selections made by the staff and consumers this year, but there are definitely some ones which are pretty embarrassing (read: all records that sold due to being fashionable and not based on their actual artistic merit). Hopefully sometime this week, I'll post up Rollaroll's "Best of 2008" and we'll see how that compares with some of the more corporate or mainstream lists out there, who most often focus entirely on trends and commercial sales and leave some people with the impression that as each year goes by less and less good music is being made. Hopefully our list will open you up to some music that will boggle your mind.
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