Best of 2008 in Music, Part 2

Albums I never thought I’d say I like:

Nine Inch Nails: The Slip

-Maybe I just never even heard them to give them a chance, but this album was nothing like I imagined it would be. I enjoyed it a good bit.

Kanye West: 808s and Heartbreak 

-He's the most self-absorbed person in show business, in my opinion. And I don't know what I think about his new affinity for using Auto-Tune when he sings, because on SNL last week he was out of tune a LOT. Despite all of that, this is pretty cool stuff. 

Albums that I probably would have liked more had I had more time with them:

The Airborne Toxic Event: (Self-titled)

MGMT: Oracular Spectacular (Bobby Parker loves this)

Black Kids: Partie Traumatic

Deerhunter: Microcastle

Delta Spirit: Ode to Sunshine (Can’t stop listening to this…probably would have been top 10)

The Gaslight Anthem: The ’59 Sound

Good Old War: Only Way to Be Alone (Same as Delta Spirit)

Newton Faulkner: Hand Built By Robots

The Hold Steady: Stay Positive

I’m From Barcelona: Who Killed Harry Houdini?

Jose Gonzalez: In Our Nature

LCD Soundsystem: Sound of Silver

Nada Surf: Lucky

Katie Herzig: Apple Tree

The Killers: Day & Age (This one might be too big/much for its own good.)

William Fitzsimmons: The Sparrow and the Crow

No Age: Nouns

Working for a Nuclear City: Businessmen and Ghosts

And now, my top 30 favorite albums of 2008 (Keep in mind, there are probably plenty that I haven't even heard. That's why I use the word "favorite" instead of "best". Who am I to say what is best?)

30) She and Him: Volume 1

            -This had to be on the list because of my new affinity for Zooey Deschanel (one half of this duo with popular guitarist M. Ward). I’m developing quite the crush. I need to see Yes Man.

29) Kathleen Edwards: Asking For Flowers

            -Saw her perform at Workplay last spring, and really liked her sound. Good little album from the Canadian singer/songwriter.

28) The Whigs: Mission Control

            -Good ol’ Athens, Georgia rock and roll. 

27) Sandra McCracken: Red Balloon

            -Not as good as her last one, Gravity/Love, but nonetheless a good one. I love hearing Derek Webb doing background duties, and her version of The High Countries, a song she wrote about the CS Lewis book The Great Divorce that Caedmon’s Call originally recorded, is really moving.

26) Jon McLaughlin: OK Now

            -This one is almost a disappointment for me, but I think I just expected too much. And after seeing him perform live twice, no amount of disappointing albums could convince me that this man doesn’t have something special. 

25) Ryan Adams: Cardinology

            -Probably couldn’t put out a bad one if he tried. 

24) My Morning Jacket: Evil Urges

            -Weird stuff, but good stuff. One of America’s best young bands.

23) Gnarls Barkley: The Odd Couple

            -Danger Mouse is a genius.

22) Dave Barnes: Me and You and the World

            -I thought this one was going to be disappointing for the first few months after its release. But now I think I get it, and for it being only his first album on a label, he’s got a long career ahead of him. Probably has a career in comedy as well. Best of all, John Mayer likes him. 

21) Panic at the Disco: Pretty. Odd.

            -I shouldn’t like this band. But this album is just plain fun. Lush arrangements and fun punk harmonies.

20) Death Cab for Cutie: Narrow Stairs

            -Another band everyone loves to either love or hate. Little bit of a rockier edge to this one, but I enjoyed it much.

19) The Black Keys: Attack and Release

            -Bluesy rock. Produced by Danger Mouse. They have a very "throwback" sound to them. Gotta love it.

18) Kings of Leon: Only By the Night

            -Not as reckless as their older stuff, but this is still a great album. Sex on Fire is one of the best songs of the year.

17) Ray Lamontagne: Gossip in the Grain

            -Another solid release from the man with my favorite voice in all of music. I like to see that he’s developing his sound and trying different things.

16) Gabe Dixon Band: (self-titled)

            -Likeable piano pop. Gabe can play the crap out of the piano and has a deceptively powerful voice.

15) Fleet Foxes: (self-titled)

            -3-part folk harmonies that sound like they were recorded in a racquetball court. Never heard anything quite like this.

Favorite songs: White Winter Hymnal, Ragged Wood

14) TV on the Radio: Dear Science

            -One of the hardest bands out there for me to understand, but I still like this album a lot. Don’t even know how to describe it.

Favorite songs: Halfway Home, Golden Age

13) Mates of State: Rearrange Us

            -New to this husband and wife piano-based duo. Fun harmonies. Fun music.

Favorite songs: The Re-Arranger, Get Better

12) Sigur Ros: Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaus         

   -Icelandic jibberish lyrics. Lush arrangements. This one is definitely a step in a different direction. There’s even a song in English!

Favorite songs: Ara Batur, Festival

11) Act of Congress: Declaration

            -More Birmingham goodness. Bluegrass meets pop. A poor man’s Nickel Creek.

Favorite songs: The Nature of Things, The Well

10) John Mayer: Where the Light Is

            -John Mayer doing what John Mayer does best. Playing the heck out of a guitar. I love that this concert featured all three facets of John’s “game”: an acoustic set, a set with the John Mayer Trio (which showcases his blues chops), and a full-band set. I will say that I’m a little sick of hearing about JM’s take on the Tom Petty classic Free Fallin’. It's good, but the people most obsessed with it have probably never even listened to another Tom Petty song in their life. 

Favorite song: In Your Atmosphere

9) Punch Brothers: Punch

            -This is Chris Thile’s (of Nickel Creek fame) band. The are pushing the envelope of bluegrass. The highlight and main focus of this album is the 42-minute, four movement chamber suite for bluegrass instruments called “The Blind Leaving the Blind”. I’ve never heard anything like it, that’s for sure.

Favorite song that’s not part of “TBLTB”: I Know You Know (actually, it’s a bonus track, but it’s excellent)

8) Ari Hest: 52

            -This one isn’t really an “album”. After leaving his record label, Ari decided to put out a song every week in 2008, and dubbed the project 52. Most of these songs are recorded on his own laptop, in his apartment or on the road somewhere in a hotel. Often times he will send the songs to his friends to add electric guitars, drums, bass, and others instruments, but many of them have just been Ari and a guitar. I think out of 50 songs so far, there has only been one that I didn’t even appreciate. I’d say 45 out of 50 have been really good songs, which is quite an accomplishment. He plans to take a fan vote of the best ones and release an album of the most popular 12 re-mastered tracks.

My favorites: Sky Blue, Erica, What Story I Am On, Making the Move, Never Look Back

7) Coldplay: Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends

            -I know a lot of people want to hate Coldplay, and others want to hate this newest album because it’s a lot different. But for me it’s a HUGE step in a great new direction. It’s hard to ignore that this is a great album.

Best songs: Lovers in Japan, Violet Hill, Death and All His Friends

6) Wild Sweet Orange: We Have Cause to be Uneasy

            -The Birmingham-based band who I never wanted to give a chance has knocked me off my feet with their debut major-label album. So much EMOTION on this one. I think the lead singer, Preston Lovinggood, went to Hoover High, too. Maybe we’ll finally have a famous alum who isn’t a fledgling athlete or former MTV star wannabe.

Best songs: Ten Dead Dogs, Tilt, Aretha’s Gold

5) Andrew Peterson: Resurrection Letters, Volume 2

            -Again, I’ve dedicated a long post to this album in particular. Again I will say, Andrew Peterson is a poet in a musician’s body. Love this album, love his other albums.

Favorite song: Don’t Give Up On Me

4) Matthew Perryman Jones: Swallow the Sea

            -MPJ’s first album, Throwing Punches in the Dark, is probably my favorite album of the last 3 years, so I had high hopes for this one. It fortunately didn’t really disappoint. The songs are bigger in their production, but there’s still something about MPJ’s voice and songwriting that gets me. There are some artists that just seem to have an “it” that draws me in, and he has that. I long for more people to hear his music, because everyone I’ve introduced him to loves it.

Favorite song: Feels Like Letting Go

Song to get acclimated: Save You

3) Frightened Rabbit: The Midnight Organ Flight

            -Frightened Rabbit is a Scottish indie rock band that I was introduced to earlier this year, soon after this album came out. I was drawn in by their song My Backwards Walk and its repetitive ending line, “You’re the sh*t and I’m knee deep in it”. Vulgar? Maybe so. But catchy? Unfortunately yes. And just wait until you hear Keep Yourself Warm. That line has nothing on some of the subject matter in that song. But still, I love it. The best word I can think of to describe this band is “reckless”. And the lead singer’s voice is just so damn cool. I bet their live show is outstanding.

Favorite song: Good Arms vs. Bad Arms

Song to get acclimated: Old Old Fashioned

2) Ben Shive: The Ill-Tempered Klavier

            -I’ve already had a lengthy post about this one, but after hearing Ben perform one of these songs live the other night, it reminded me of just how much I love this album. He was already one of my favorite producers and session musicians, having worked with Dave Barnes, Matt Wertz, Andrew Peterson, Jill Phillips, Derek Webb, and others, but now he can be called one of my favorite singer-songwriters. The piano-based songs are catchy and fun, but with much underlying sentimentality. New favorite part of the CD: the bass line on Out of Tune.

Favorite song: She Is the Rising Sun

Best song to get acclimated: Out of Tune

1) Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago

            -What can I say about this album that hasn’t already been said? Justin Vernon, under the moniker of Bon Iver (a purposeful misspelling of the French for “good winter”) has created a masterpiece, and he did it cooped up in a cabin. This is not your mom’s “guy and a guitar” folk album though. The two months Vernon spent clearing his head in the Wisconsin wilderness produced this nine-song beauty that features him singing in a weird falsetto, turning himself into a lush choir on many tracks, and playing seemingly random percussion craziness on a few songs. But somehow he’s managed to make something that has caught my attention and hasn’t let it go since May. Most of the songs on the album are sad, but all of them are poignant in their own way. Metaphors that I don’t always understand. Stories that don’t seem like they could have really happened, yet for some reason I believe that they did. I have a fear that this could be a one-hit wonder type of act, but he nailed this one. May not be for everyone, but it got me.

Favorite song: re:stacks

Best song to get acclimated: Skinny Love

So, there are mine. What are yours? What did I miss out on this year? And feel free to tell me if you hate any of those albums that I liked. And definitely check them all out if you're looking for something new or are just curious. I know I tend to have musical taste that is pretty schizophrenic, but most of all, I appreciate someone who is obviously talented and is obviously MUSICAL.