The Star Tribune has published their annual Critics Tally of the year’s best local albums (songs/live acts list here).

No surprise to me (although predictable and imo a tad overrated album) that Atmosphere took the #1 spot, but other than that I have very few complaints about the results .

Here is my full ballot:

Best Local Albums of 2008

1. Crescent Moon Is In Big Trouble
2. The Absent Arch – Keep Calm And Carry On
3. Solid Gold – Bodies of Water
4. Doomtree – Doomtree
5. Vampire Hands – Me & You Cherry Red
6. Kid Dakota – A Winner’s Shadow
7. Haley Bonar – Big Star
8. Dillinger Four – C I V I L W A R
9. Heiruspecs – Heiruspecs
10. Jeremy Messersmith – The Silver City

Best Local Songs of 2008

1. Solid Gold – Get Over It
2. Kid Dakota – Stars
3. Crescent Moon Is In Big Trouble – Hunting Season
4. Doomtree – Game Over
5. Haley Bonar – Queen of Everything

Best Live Acts of 2008

1. Evening Rig
2. Solid Gold
3. Vampire Hands
4. Crescent Moon Is In Big Trouble
5. The Plastic Constellations

No. 1 sign the local music scene was alive and well in 2008.

The big gigs. While we don’t quite have a festival on par with Coachella, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, etc., i think we’re not far off from having something closer to the level of Pitchfork, Monolith, Sasquatch, etc. in the near future. Considering how huge of a success Soundset was, which was a total local endeavor filled with more local than national acts. Second, the big return of Rock The Garden with one local (Cloud Cult), one pretty-much local (Bon Iver), and one with local band members and ties (Andrew Bird). Not to mention all of the RNC week shows (Take Back Labor Day, Substance, Provention, Spark 24, RATM, etc.), and lastly River Rocks with a great mix of local & national acts. I’m expecting only bigger things like this in 2009.