2008 was a terrible year for music as far as I was concerned but there were a few albums here and there that caught my attention and actually stayed in heavy rotation on my iPod.
So, here ya go, the top 10 albums of 2008 as far as me and my pod are concerned.
10. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges.
I hated Z. HATED Z. A lot.
But I love Evil Urges. The title track? The breakdown bridge is better than the rest of the tune but if the whole song was that bridge then I wouldn't love it as much. And that stupid disco tune, Highly Suspicious? I love it for all it's campiness. Aluminum Park is a great little rocker ala Fountains of Wayne and there's enough retro-Dan Hillness to make your stomach churn with nostalgia.
9. Mates of State - Re-Arrange Us
I love Mates of State, even though this is the first full album of theirs that I heard. Their singles are refreshingly poppy and earnest. "My Only Offer" is like a bug that you can't get rid of. Once you hear it you want to sing it over and over. And the rest of the album, which doesn't wear out it's welcome too soon is just as much fun.
8. The Gaslight Anthem.
Okay, I'm cheating here. There are just three or four songs that get crazy airplay but they are so good that the rest of the album counts. (The rest is just as good). This is this year's Against Me!. The descendants of Springsteen, grab the title track and try not to fall in love.
7. Vampire Weekend.
Man I really didn't want to put this on this list but every time A-Punk comes on I wanna dance. Or Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, Or mansard Roof. Or..... This is just that particularly great first album that we would have devoured in college. Like this generation's Violent Femmes. Equally poorly named. Both start with a V. Both are infectiously great and indefinable. Have you heard it? No? How can that be? Once you do you won't stop. You'll want to kill yourself for loving it, but you will, nonetheless.
6. Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
It's a pretty new entry. I just got it the other day. But the truth be told, this album is far and away more accomplished than most music ought to be. Somewhere between Pink Floyd and Coldplay is Elbow. Moodiest fucking album in a long time and a welcome replacement for Yoshimi as music to get high and screw by.
5. Black Mountain - In the Future
I love the idea of this band more than I love the album but I am drawn to it and find, on many occasions that I need to come down and give in to the sludgy goodness. This is a band for whom Spinal Tap never existed and music never progressed beyond Sabbath's Paranoid. We're all better for that, btw.
4. AC/DC - Black Ice
Would AC/DC rated this high had I not done the Listening Post this year? Probably not. But I did. And then I was hooked. And then I heard the album and it's pretty damned good. And then I saw them in concert and, fuck it, this has been in heavy rotation ever since.
Give it a spin. It's the best collection since Back in Black. And I'm not overstating. It's that good.
3. Rick Springfield - Venus in Overdrive
What? Who? really? Yeah, really. Venus in Overdrive is great. I've already talked about here. The single, What's Victoria's Secret proves that Rick can rip himself off while at the same time sounding just like he should, with all that power poppy goodness. This isn't as dour as Anger/Denial......it's a rollicking good time.
2. The Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride
I was assigned this one when I was writing for ShuffleBoil. I had never heard of The Mountain Goats, never knew who John darnielle was. It was a complete surprise to learn that Darnielle has been recording under this moniker since the early 90s and that this wasn't even considered his best offering. (Tallahassee has that honor). Darnielle is ridiculously literate (Sax Rohmer #1), often poignant (San Bernadino), cheeky (Michael Myers Resplendent) and terrifying (Heretic Pride).
Autoclave would have been a hit in 1981 in the New Wave underground.
This album is perfect. The original review is here
1. Jukebox the Ghost - Let Live and Let Ghost
I use Peel to find new music. It's easier than trolling all the blogs. And I dump a lot of music or just pass it by. Then one day, early this year two songs popped up on a couple blogs by the Washington trio, Jukebox the Ghost; Hold it In and Good Day. After a week of finding myself playing them over and over, during feeding time or on the motorcycle I decided to give the guys a chance and buy their album.
I'm so glad I did. This is, without a doubt, my favorite album of the last 2 years. It's part Ben Folds, part Queen, cheeky and sublime all at once. Towards the end of the album two songs bleed into each other a suite and if that wasn't enough for you, the last three are part of a suite as well.
Eminently hummable, it never gets tired or tiresome. Funny how this has not ended up on anyone's top ten list but is, without equal, the best album of the year and the best debut I have heard in a many a year.
Disappointments:
Hold Steady - Stay Positive. The title might refer to the fact that the boys were putting out an album vastly inferior to 2006's Boys and Girls in America. That album was perfect. This album was considerably less so.
Fratellis - Here We Stand. Costello Music was in my top 3 in 06. This follow up is a severe letdown. Where they had embraced a glam-britpop on that one, this one finds them lacking in ideas and turning to their inner Lennon when they should be all about their inner McCartney.
Weezer - Red Album. This album is on a few top ten lists. It shouldn't be. It should be used to patch up holes in concrete. But then again, I think make Believe is one of the catchiest albums of the decade.
R.E.M. - Accelerate. Too little too late. This is the album they should have put out four albums ago. But where that would have been a nice capper to the 90s this is just a bunch of fogies riding out a contract.
Update:Queen + Paul Rodgers "Cosmos Rocks". This is awful. I actually hate it so much I forgot to include it at first. Holy god, this is an abortion but even more than that it points to the truth that Queen took it's audience for granted and tried to milk every penny out of them. May and Taylor don't love their fans. They know that, like Live Free or Die Hard, if they slap the brand name on it it will move some units. This should never be listened to and, in fact, the unsold cd's should be used to slaughter puppies abandoned at the pound. Don't buy it. Don't listen to it.
Honorable Mentions
The Diviners - The 13th Generation.
The Diviners are 1/4 ex Throttle Back Sparky and 1/4 guy who was thrown out of Throttle Back Sparky. Should I include it? Can I be unbiased?I think so. To be honest I think that lyrically it needs a little polishing. But that isn't supposed to be the record's strong suit. This is conceptual pop rock. And while much of it harkens back to classic U2 and REM, some of it is catchy as hell. There are tracks like Sell Your Childhood, State of Mind and Just Us that, once heard, you can't drop them. (I think a few of them could have been big hits in a different time. Lovin' Gurl is classic 60's garage band, Sell Your Childhood is 90's alternative to a T) For my money I've never been that much of a fan of over production (unless it's Queen) and there is a fair share of it here. But there's a lot of good ideas in there as well. Funnily enough, songs like Mechanical, which i did NOT like upon listening in my car and on my motorcycle, offered more to appreciate when cranked LOUD on a 5.1 surround system. A testament to production, I guess. There's a lot to love on The 13th Generation. I'm excited for this project and proud as hell of David.
Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue.
More of the great stuff that is Ms. lewis. Proving that Blake Sennett was the one responsible for the mess of Under the Blacklight, Jenny offers one of the catchier singles in "Carpetbaggers". I could listen to her mangle her melodies all day long.
Conor Oberst
The eponymous album by Bright Eyes' Oberst is a simple alt-country offering. It's easy and relaxed and "Cape Canaveral captures the right tenor for his weird voice. I look forward to more.
Low Vs. Diamond
More Bruce type rock/80s retro. If you can't have another Nightmare of You album this year, then this will have to do.
Sons & Daughters
new wave gets its due from a band that I expected to be sludgy classic rock sounding with that name and that album cover. But it's not. It's edgy and angular and fun.
So, there ya have it. 2008 is over. Hopefully 09 will offer more and better. But get that Jukebox the Ghost album cuz it's great.
