'08's Music to Love More Than Music: Love, Pt. 1

Stay tuned for the next 2 sections: "Love More" and "Love More Than Music." They'll be up in the next five or so days. Then, after they're up, a post describing my favorite album of the year will be up. Hurray!

Love (<)
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Town Topic EP
Basically anything that Owen Ashworth touches turns to gold. As far as my opinion is considered, that is. This EP is no different. I absolutely adored it. I only wish there was more to it. But next year there shall be! (his next full length is coming out next yr).
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Ice Cream Truck

Dragonforce - Ultra Beatdown
one could not forgive such a title for an album unless one understood that the band that named their album such was a band such as Dragonforce (i.e. the rebirth of Power Metal.). I honestly think that there will be few bands to follow in the footsteps of Dragonforce in terms of popularity (I'm certain bands like HammerFall are currently scratching their heads asking what exactly they're doing wrong), but that aside, Dragonforce is a damn good band. I'm certain I would have liked the album more if I like the singer more (I believe him to be the weakest member of the group, as good as he is).
Dragonforce - The Fire Still Burns

Aaron Jerome - Time To Rearrange
A very eclectic release, to say the least. Some songs are jazzy, some are straight up Hip-Hop, others are ambient and soothing, others are energetic and rocking. Mr. Jerome is a fantastic DJ/Producer, and this is evident in the fact that, despite the fact that these songs span so many genres, each song just sounds awesome. He knows music.
Aaron Jerome - Reel Time (feat. Voice)

The Roots - Rising Down
Sometimes listening to Black Thought spit rhymes is a little uncomfortable, because he doesn't do things that are stereotypical ... sometimes. He still uses a lot of the stereotypical words, but I can only imagine that's his upbringing coming out. If he were to be completely stereotypical or vice versa, it wouldn't be uncomfortable, but the switching puts me a little on edge. The Roots will always be a great band in my mind because they truly are a hip-hop band, and that's rare, and I think we need to cherish rare jewels like The Roots. This is a Roots album, and it sounds like them, so if you like them, you'll like this.
The Roots - Rising Down

Say Hi - The Wishes and the Glitch
With a name change came a change in how the group approaches music ... at least that's how I saw it. Some people didn't like the new album, some people absolutely adored it. I did enjoy it quite a bit, but it was not an album of the year. the live show was particularly confusing when they didn't appear to be able to get the emotions that were portrayed in the album across. Still, a very touching and great album.
Say Hi - Northwestern Girls