2008: album of the year

This gets harder every year, it seems.  With that said, here’s your winner:

STEINSKI – What Does It All Mean?

The key here is not just the first disc of cut-up, sample-built classic jams…but the second disc, a mix that Steve Stein did for Ninja Tune’s Solid Steel show back in 2002, and which ranks up there with Coldcut’s Journeys By DJ in terms of feel and scope and humanity.  Calling Steinski the Kurt Vonnegut of hip-hop is probably a compliment that has no meaning – but it’s one hundred percent true just the same.

Honorable mentions to:  Steve Reich, Jesse Somfay, Limbo, Portishead, Prefuse 73, Thom Yorke, Aesop Rock, and Radiohead.