Hi

Not sure if these are the "best" of 2008, but they are certainly the ones I liked the most... Not sure this is the most "Audities-centric" selection... 

1 - The Gaslight Anthem - The ‘59 Sound
2 - She and Him - Volume One
3 - Peter Bruntnell - Peter and the Murder of Crows
4 - The Baseball Project - Volume 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails
5 - Justin Townes Earle - The Good Life
6 - Drive By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation’s Dark
7 - Ryan Adams and the Cardinals - Cardinology
8 - Buckcherry - Black Butterfly
9 - The Gutter Twins - Saturnalia/ Adorata
10 - Paul Westerberg - 49 (plus other downloads)
11 - Nick Cave - Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
12 - Hold Steady - Stay Positive
13 - REM - Accelerate
14 - Tift Merritt - Another Country
15 - Marah - Angels of Destruction
16 - Lucinda Williams - Little Honey
17 - Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely
18 - Foxboro Hot Tubs - Stop, Drop and Roll
19 - Black Crowes - Warpaint
20 - AC/DC - Black Ice

The top 10 were pretty easy to chose - the Gaslight Anthem being far and away my favourite this year.

One album that I messed last year and that would have been top 5 then or now is Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - This is Somewhere.

rob