Randy Newman’s latest effort, Harps and Angels, is called a “brilliant” work.

Did pop music go into hibernation during the last third of 2008? It sure seems that way.

In compiling an annual list of the year’s best recordings, an odd statistic emerged: Every entry came from the first eight months of the year. Usually, best-of lists can’t help but favor more recent releases. If for no other reason, such music is fresher in everyone’s minds. While a few autumn items caught the ear (including albums by Ryan Adams, Kings of Leon and Chrissie Hynde’s ageless Pretenders), all of these Top 10 picks were released by early August. Nine came out by the end of June.

Even entries on an unusually lengthy list of runner-up albums — by Elvis Costello, Adele, Bill Frisell, Vampire Weekend and John Hiatt — surfaced before summer began to fade.

Maybe the keener pop visionaries knew the economy was going to tank. Maybe they were glued to the election. Who knows? But a look back at the finer music of the year this time meant sifting further through the calendar than usual.

From Randy Newman’s vicious Americana postcard to Fleet Foxes’ new-generation psychedelia to Tift Merritt’s country music from a foreign shore, the year’s richest recordings surfaced before 2008 went south.

Here’s the list:

Randy Newman, Harps and Angels (released in August): On a brilliant but frightening return to pop duty, Newman offered a sadly hysterical testament of the times — a saga full of warped patriotism, bloated self-worth and ways those demons designed an ugly world vision.

Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes (June): Though not a debut record, Fleet Foxes nonetheless introduced most listeners to the Seattle band’s modern view of pop psychedelia — an atmospheric, spiritual, folk-based sound that referenced The Beach Boys, Fairport Convention, My Morning Jacket and more.

Tift Merritt, Another Country (February): The best country album that country radio never touched, Merritt’s third studio outing was more appealing, emotive and lyrical than any modern Nashville fare — but was inspired by the singer’s recent pilgrimage to Paris.

Marcin Wasilewski Trio, January (May): As Tord Gustavsen did last year on Being There, Polish pianist Wasilewski created an ECM record of understated instrumental grace that is jazz by definition more than execution. I’ve listened to no other 2008 album more than this one.

Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog, Party Intellectuals (June): Aided by a fearless new electric trio, New York avant-garde guitar slinger Ribot cranked up the volume and emerged with a dance album for the apocalypse. Rich in distortion, dissonance and radical groove.

Teddy Thompson, A Piece of What You Need (June): The sleeper pop treat of the year, A Piece of What You Need came packed with vintage Merseybeat melodies, twilight cool, articulate story lines and a seasoned sense of musical adventure and fun.

James McMurtry, Just Us Kids (April): “I like to pretend I’m just a visitor here,” sings a crackhead heroine in one of Just Us Kids murkier tales from the on-the-edge outskirts. Such songs reaffirmed McMurtry as a master spinner of dark, rural Americana yarns.

Dr. John and the Lower 911, City That Care Forgot (June): Lamenting his native New Orleans, Mac “Dr. John” Rebennack fashioned eulogies for the past, protests for the present and prayers for the future with the celebratory soul/funk spiritualism of his homeland.

Jenny Scheinman, Crossing the Field (April): The second of two recent albums by the New York violinist (the first was a vocal effort) was a panoramic instrumental journey of animated jazz, classical and folk terrains as well as the wonderfully indefinable locales in-between.

Marah, Angels of Destruction! (January): The Philly-turned-Brooklyn rockers designed a pop tabernacle of joyous pub-style righteousness. Banjos and bagpipes along with hints of minstrel music and vaudeville fueled Marah’s infectious rock ’n’ roll revival.