Blender's 1001 Downloads: The 33 Best Albums of 2008

30. Young Jeezy, The Recession
Young Jeezy owes Ben Bernanke a thank-you. In a more bullish year, this collection of dope-boy anthems would have been standard trap-rap—enjoyable but hardly revelatory. But with the economy in freefall, Jeezy’s coke-dealing boasts are more than descriptive; they’re instructional. Half the time he’s the hood Jim Cramer, teaching would-be hustlers how to get rich. The other half, he’s the hood Walker Evans, chronicling the miseries of those who don’t.
Download “Vacation,” “Put On” (feat. Kanye West), “My President” (feat. Nas)

31. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
By now, the style is well established: Nick Cave rants and croons a torrent of literary lyrics like a fallen preacher possessed by Satan, as the Bad Seeds roar and sway. Still, their 14th album is one of their toughest—sardonic and roof-raising, with garage-rock riffs punctuated by blisters of noise, it’s often darkly riotous, as when Cave sings about a woman with two black eyes who “filled herself with panda blood to avoid all the confusion.” 
Download “More News from Nowhere,” “We Call Upon the Author,” “Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!”

32. Taylor Swift, Fearless
How much heartbreak can anyone cram into 18 years? If you’re Taylor Swift, a lot. Boys are to this Nashville blonde what booze is to Homer Simpson: the cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems. The kicky twang pop on her second album shows she’s country by accident as much as by design; if her parents had moved to L.A. instead of Tennessee, she could have been Avril Lavigne. But Avril never wrote a song as smart as “That’s the Way I Loved You.”
Download “You Belong With Me,” “Fearless,” “That’s the Way I Loved You”

33. Hayes Carll, Trouble in Mind
He’s kind of a loser, and dim like an old truck’s headlights: When his girl leaves him for Jesus, Hayes Carll vows revenge if he sees Him around town. In a long Southern tradition, this 32-year-old Texan is just playin’ possum: His unshaven romps mix in banjo or feisty slide guitar, finding comedy and tragedy in barrooms from Beaumont to Henrietta. He’s the only Americana singer-songwriter with tour sponsorship from The Onion.
Download “Bad Liver and a Broken Heart,” “I Got a Gig,” “She Left Me for Jesus”