It’s a bit odd to have a best-of-the-year list not even four months into said year, but we’ll give Rolling Stone a pass, because, hey, I flipped through all 44 pages of Rolling Stone’s “Best of Rock 2008” this morning. It’s cool to hate it, but I’ve always liked Rolling Stone – I’ve had a subscription since I was 10, and I don’t think I’ve ever taken a plane ride without one in hand.

There’s some dumb things in the list – RS’s love affair with U2 continues, and they suggest a pair of $1,500 headphones – but for the most part, it’s a pretty fun read. A few loose local connections too:

• Radiohead named as “Best Festival Band” – As we may have mentioned before, Radiohead’s playing a festival in our little city in August, so, um … yay for us!
• Amoeba Records is named “Best Record Stores” – OK, yes, it is the one in L.A., but the one on Haight is still pretty damn cool.
• The Stranger will be estatic too – Baltimore is named “Best Scene”. I’ll go with that one. I’m no expert on Charm City (who dreamed that name up, by the way?), the music scene is pretty cool. It has a pretty heavy connection with the neighboring scene in Philly, and between Diplo and Hollertronix, Spank Rock (and Bangers and Cash), Amanda Blank and others in the family, there’s some pretty creative shit coming out of there. Hooray for sweaty hipsters!

Other highlights include best music blogs (The Stranger Dance better be in there next year, or I’ll have Jann Wenner’s balls); Flosstradamus as best DJs; an Uncle Corey-approved group, Chicago-based The Cool Kids as one of the best indie hip-hop groups; best reunion, which mercifully wasn’t Stone Temple Pilots (Led Zeppelin!); and Lil’ Wayne named best MC. The Stranger and I have talked about whether Wayne should actually call himself “Favorite Rapper Alive” because really, he’s a totally likable dude and it seems like that likability gets translated into inflated MC prowess by people. Probably does, but who really cares, right?

MP3s: