We had a blast near the end of 2007 putting together the best indie rock music of the year, and from the reaction, many of IRC's regular and new visitors enjoyed the series.

This year will hopefully be no different, except there is more of an emphasis on band's whose labels are more friendly, or straight up encouraging, to offering some free music to their fans from the label sites or the artists' official websites.

Overall, 2008 didn't offer the volume and breadth that 2007 had. Nevertheless, there are plenty of album releases, and memorable songs, that emerged during the year, and worth noting.

To kick off the series, here are six songs from Tilly and the Wall, Wild Years, Tokyo Police Club, The Botticellis, Goh Nakamura and Hospital Ships.

The Best Indie 2008 series will run continuously until the end of this year, which is, as hard as it is to believe, two months shy of a new year. Let's just hope it's a better year than most of 2008 has been.

Best 2008 Indie MP3s:

"The Shots I Drank" - Hospital Ships
"Section of the Sky" - Goh Nakamura
"Old Home Movies" - The Botticellis
"In A Cave" - Tokyo Police Club
"Half Japanese Girl" - Wild Years
"Cacophony" - Tilly and the Wall

Next installment features bands and artists such as Ra Ra Riot, Unicycle Loves You, These United States, Passion Pit, Sleepercar and The Royal Bangs.

Labels: Best Indie 2008, Best Indie Rock Songs 2008, Top Songs 2008