It is December. HatchetArts likes music. HatchetArts sometimes writes about music.

DEDUCTIVE REASONING: HatchetArts presents its choice albums of 2008. All are albums HatchetArts reviewed. HatchetArts probably made snide comments about these albums. This is because HatchetArts doesn’t understand how to love. But it is the holiday season. Bask in the sincerity:

The Hold Steady
Stay Positive (VAGRANT)
Album of the summer until guitarist Tad Kubler announced that he hated Radiohead. Now it’s the album of the decade.
-Alex Carusillo

The Music Tapes
Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes (MERGE)
Complete with banjo, a singing saw and an orchestra straight out of a New Orleans funeral precession, Music Tapes maestro Julian Koster’s 9-years-in-the-making sophomore album paints him as a young child in an old, twisted world. Actually, that may not be too far from the truth.
-Alex Abnos

The Game
L.A.X. (GEFFEN)
Named for the intersection of travel in Los Angeles, L.A.X. hits every mark of West Coast wannabe gangsta album. It includes the voices of Lil Wayne and Travis Barker, and features a track performed from the perspective of Tupac, Biggie and Eazy-E. And would it be Cali without a sample of “She Works Hard for the Money?” I think not.
-Chloe Popescu

Girl Talk
Feed the Animals (ILLEGAL ART)
Can’t squeeze out a playlist of all the best jams pop has to offer? Let Girl Talk.
-Ben Doak

Deerhoof
Offend Maggie (KILL ROCK STARS)
If you can’t live with incomprehensible lyrics about things like hoofies (whatever the hell those are), Deerhoof probably just isn’t for you. Otherwise, you’ll be pleased to know that their latest effort might just be the best thing they’ve done. All it took was them trying to be a funk band. Drummer Greg Saunier is massive, as always.
-Alex Abnos

[EDITORIAL NOTE: You should probably buy* these albums. Then you can tell HatchetArts that these albums are really bad, and that HatchetArts has no taste. Then you and HatchetArts will have so much to talk about.]

*(steal)