I don't think that any of these songs actually came out this year. This is purely a list of the songs that have been the favourites of all those I've heard this year. It always surprises me where the sources of my new music come from. When I was a lot younger I used to have this belief that there were something like only 10,000 good tunes that were possible. I had this notion of there being a Platonic realm with these 10,000 songs, and I thought that I'd probably herd about 1000 of them, and that maybe 4000 of them were out there in the actual world somewhere and the other 5000 hadn't been "tapped into" by any earthly songwriters yet. Of course all of the other songs that did exist were just rubbish, and barely qualified as music. So now I'm constantly surprised when I discover some new music that I really like, as if I was completely ignorant prior to hearing it. By adopting that view I'm pretty much committed to a never-ending ignorance, which suits me I suppose.
Anyway, the top 20 of the year so far for me:

1. Dropkick Murphys- I'm Shipping Up to Boston
2. Joan Baez- Diamonds and Rust
3. Luke Kelly- The Foggy Dew
4. Joni Mitchell- A Case Of You
5. Sonic Boom 6- September to May
6. Joan Baez- Boots of Spanish Leather
7. Dropkick Murphys- (F)lannigan's Ball
8. Eva Cassidy- Fields of Gold
9. Luke Kelly- The Lifeboat Mona
10. Fairport Convention- the Card Song/Shuffle The Pack
11. Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Phenomena
12. Joan Baez- Silver Dagger
13. Mouse- Helicopter Trees
14. Karine Polwart- Behind Our Eyes
15. Sonic Boom 6- Flower
16. Faiport Convention- Breakfast in Mayfair
17. All About Eve- Martha's Harbour
18. Kristin Hersh- Your Ghost
19. Sarah Curtis- Isn't it Clear
20. Rodrigo y Gabriela- Stairway to Heaven

I think when I look back at my musical life I might find that the first half of 2008 has produced some of my all-time favourite songs. I surely hope that the trend continues anyway, as I was under the impression not too long ago that I may have already exhausted all of the good music there was. How good life is, that there is always something amazing out there that you haven't yet experienced.