BEST MUSIC OF 2008

I’ve always feared writing about music. I feel I know a great deal about music, lord knows I consume as much as I can, and I couldn’t imagine life without it. But unlike film or TV I just don’t quite know how to put my thoughts into words. I had enough gusto to compile what I liked this year, and I might as well go through with this. So I’m gonna do a top 20 and write little blurbs for some. Enjoy.

 

20 Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree

19 Beck - Modern Guilt

18 Dr Dog - Fate

17 Cat Power - Jukebox/The Dark End of the Street (EP)

 

That smokey, raspy, low key thing she does just turns my knobs. She's pretty, too, so that doesn't hurt. Chan Marshall turns a varied collection of tunes into her very own, changing up the sound of Motown, classic rock and jazz into her own brand of soul. Cover records should never be this interesting.

16 Q-Tip - The Renaissance

 

The great one returns. One of my very favorite rappers finally made a new record, and it’s worth the wait. His raspy, unique delivery is still just as fresh and special as it was when A Tribe Called Quest emerged, and Q-Tip’s evolved with the sound of hip-hop music today just perfectly.

15 Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line

14 Jake One - White Van Music

13 Thrice - The Alchemy Index Vol. I-IV

12 Kings Of Leon - Only By the Night

 

11 Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple

 

A record that outclasses their debut with just ONE track. I’m not dumping on "Crazy" or anything else on St. Elsewhere, but "Who’s Gonna Save My Soul" is my favorite song this year. There are other great tracks on the album, in fact the whole thing is great, but that song sealed the deal for me. The video is the icing on the cake.

10 Ray Lamontagne - Gossip in the Grain

An old-Italian-west ode to Meg White? Fascinating choice. Also the best track on here. Ray is an act whom has eluded me live for entirely too long, and would have ended had one of my best friends not gotten married at the exact time he was playing in St.Louis. Well, not the SAME time, but the wedding was out of town...wait, this isn’t about me. At any rate, this disc is the consolation prize, and it has at least four classic tunes on it. I love Ray’s Sam Cooke/Otis Redding vibe that he filters through a folky jaunt through Cat Stevens’ catalogue. Unique, and I hope he stays that way.

09 Lykke Li - Youth Novel

08 Coldplay - Viva La Vida/Prospekt’s March (EP)

This picture wouldn't load. The album is still great, though.

07 Louis XIV - Slick Dogs and Ponies

One of my very favorite bands. Incredible songwriting and production.

06 The Cool Kids - Bake Sale

 

This hip-hop duo are a breath of fresh air. I miss "groups." I’m nostalgic for the days of A Tribe Called Quest, The Pharcyde, NWA, and De La Soul. Since nothing like that’s happening, I’ll settle for two guys as being called a "group." And lucky me, these guys are good. Throwback production, simple beats and clever samples, matched with quickfire lyrics and wit, not to mention a good sense of humor. I’m happy to be on the bandwagon early as these guys still aren’t very well known, though they are much respected within the industry.

05 88-Keys - The Death of Adam

 

A hip-hop concept album isn’t exactly something that comes along often. Experimental hip-hop albums, sure, but this thing tells a story through 15 tracks about a guy named Adam and his mistakes, and it does so with the greatest of ease. Each track is crafted to tell a part of the story, and interludes with a female storyteller fill in the blanks. The best part is that each track is good. Maybe I don’t love all of them, but it’s amazing that I think they’re all solid tracks, and every beat is quite nice. 88-Keys is a producer whose name wasn't familiar, but he's on my radar now. Guest spots are great, from Redman, Kanye, Bilal, and hot upstart Kid Cudi. Don’t sleep on this if you like the intelligent side of hip-hop, the kind that’s more interested in the craft than how it sells.

04 Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

03 People in Planes - Beyond the Horizon

 

Talk about out of nowhere. I traveled with friends to Chicago to see Stereophonics play a rare US gig at a cheap price in a much smaller environment than they usually play back in Europe. They were super. The big shock though was discovering this opening act play, a group from Wales. People in Planes was a name I had heard back in 2006, and I was familiar with one song, but I had no frame of reference for the rest of their material. And as it turned out they had just released their sophomore album that week. I picked it up after hearing them live, and it’s simply great. It’s rock, but it’s not heavy. It’s alternative, but not so far left to be labeled as such. It’s got great hooks and great instrumentation, but it’s not radio music (though it could be). It’s just awesome. Their first album ain’t no slouch either.

02 TV On The Radio - Dear Science

Begins and ends with perfection.

01 Portishead - Third

 

The heart can grow fonder with absence. In the time between Portishead’s ten year hiatus, I discovered the band had conjured two perfect albums, and was dying to hear more. Then this arrived and I didn’t instantly know what to think. Since their trip-hop style has mostly disappeared in the time passed, they had to modernize slightly. Now it’s some sort of electronic machine pumping. Gone are the scratches and the beats, replaced by (still) discomforting coldness and Beth Gibbons’ siren voice guiding you through. Machine gun drums, helicopter blades, and mean synths = amazing. They still sound totally unlike any other bit of music out there. It is the perfect example of what a band can do to fit comfortably into a world of music where they do not belong, sitting comfortably where they once sat a decade ago – pushing against the grain, tripping you out, and blowing your mind. It’s far too short.

NOT MY BEST, BUT PRETTY GREAT:

 

Fleet Foxes, We Are Scientists, Glasvegas, Crystal Castles, Jessica Lea Mayfield, The Black Crowes, Santogold, Shinedown, Rhymefest, Wale, Neil Halstead, Antony and the Johnsons, My Morning Jacket, AC/DC, The Raconteurs, David Cook, Scars on Broadway, Katy Perry, The Roots, The Verve, Oasis, Lovedrug, Kevin Rudolf, Kardinal Offishal, Innerpartysystem, Grace Jones, Ludacris, Ting Tings, The Kooks, Vampire Weekend, Lil Wayne, Flobots, Elbow, Locksley, Maroon 5, Razorlight, Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, Rise Against, Ryan Adams.

HAVEN’T SPENT ENOUGH TIME WITH, BUT SOLID:

 

Deerhunter, Anthony Hamilton, Jenny Lewis, Land of Talk, Common, Lenka, The Kills, The Black Keys, Nick Cave, Sigur Ros, The Whigs, The Parlor Mob, NERD, Nine Inch Nails, CSS, Bloc Party, The Virgins, Shiny Toy Guns, Punch Brothers, Cold War Kids, Bonnie Prince Billy, Family Force 5, Dir En Grey, Chairlift, Ben Kweller, French Kicks, Keane, Mogwai, Lindsey Buckingham, Marc Broussard, All That Remains, Sun Kil Moon, Pendulum, Senses Fail.

DISAPPOINTMENTS:

Jennifer Hudson - S/T

 

Wins an Oscar, a Globe, a BAFTA, and then released a great single...on an album as forgettable and bland as they get. I had high hopes. I can count the memorable tunes on half a hand.

Mariah Carey - EMC2

The Killers - Day and Age

 

This is oddly one of the top images Google found for me when searching for The Killers Day and Age. WAIT, let me clarify why this is here; I’m not disappointed IN The Killers, more in the people of the world who keep supporting this awful, awful group of musicians and their horrible singer, continuing to pollute the airwaves and charts. Jesus, people, listen to ACTUAL 80s groups instead of one who wishes they were, posing inane questions like "are we human, or are we dancers?" I firmly believe "Human" is the worst song I’ve heard all year.

Buckcherry - Black Butterfly

 

I was a fan of their debut back when I was in high school. The world’s kinda been looking for a successor to Guns N Roses for years now, and with Buckcherry’s last album 15 they hit a hard rock and pop stride of which they hadn’t touched yet. They then squander all that with a wretched collection of tunes, highlighted by an ode to "whiskey dick" called "Too Dunk To Fuck." I HATE when bands I liked while they were nobodies get popular and it all goes to their head. Stephen King named this his favorite album of the year, proving that Stephen King knows fuck all about music.

Guns ‘N Roses - Chinese Democracy

 

Waiting any number of years for this would have felt underwhelming, let alone waiting eternity for a shockingly-poorly-mixed hoshposh of styles popular in the number of years it took to make this. There are a few good tunes, but we didn’t actually get a piece of art here. There’s no reason it should have taken so long to make this.

Kanye West - 808's and Heartbreaks

An experimental album, Kanye? Really? A few tracks aren’t bad, and some of the productions are nice, but if this is the future of Kanye as an artist, count me out.

Nelly - Brass Knuckles

If abs were good songs, Nelly would have one hell of an album. Unfortunately, they aren't.

Filter - Anthems For the Dead

Girl Talk - Feed The Animals

 

I don’t really like Girl Talk, and I can’t fathom why everyone goes nuts over this A.D.D. overload of random noise. I feel like a cranky grandpa, but...what’s so wrong with songs with a FOCUS? I find nothing really interesting about most mash-ups in general, nor do I need to hear a whole album full of them -- let alone one with fifty different songs on each track. This is like being inside the head of a toddler with musical information from the past 30 years. It’s squirrel music. Pass. It gives me a fucking headache.

Flo Rida - Mail On Sunday

Slipknot - All Hope Is Gone

The Fratellis - Here We Stand

Toadies - No Deliverance

Lady GaGa - The Fame

 

Euro-pop was perfected by Europeans. You aren’t, Lady GaGa.

Britney Spears - Circus

 

Why do people WANT her to have a comeback so bad?? Why did they claim this as the comeback of Britney after her album LAST year was supposed to be her comeback? You can’t have so many shots at this, especially with so very little talent. "Womanizer" may be catchy, but it sure is stupid. There ain't much else to speak of either. And what is up with that hazy, 70s Playboy glamour shot vibe on the cover??

Look out for the best and worst of the year in film coming no later than January 23rd, the THIRD ANNIVERSARY OF THIS BLOG! Have a lovely Christmas! 

-M