I've been sittin' on this bad boy for a week and a half, so even though there's at least 5 albums that I meant to listen to which will tragically go unheard, it's time to get on my horse up in this piece. Listening-wise, I'm a hundred-plus albums into 2008 and hooooo mama am I ready to flip the calendar into '09.
You may or may not notice that this list lacks many staples of this year's Top Albums lists that you'll find elsewhere, which is for the simple reason that I didn't bother buying 'em. That stuff won't be on the list because it failed to impress during whatever brief shot I gave it, be it SNL performance (Vampire Weekend), radio session (MGMT), live set (High Places), or the band's previous work, of which I'm the only person I know who doesn't like it (TV on the Radio). As for the rest of the list, I'm still working on finishing up reviews for all of the other albums I heard in '08, but who the fuck knows when I'll get around to posting that one.
For this list, all the usual rules apply: these are all albums which I personally bought, so by actually spending a shitload of money on recorded music instead of stealing it like the rest of you deadbeats, I'm hopefully digging myself out from under a decade-and-a-half of karmic debt, slowly but surely. (That's how it works, right?) Also, reissues are not permitted, which is why you won't find the Bosco deal on here, or the Dennis Wilson joint. But otherwise anything else is permitted: EPs, compilations, live albums, you name it. In the name of RAWK, let's have at it, shall we?
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1.) Earth - The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull -- I liked Earth's previous incarnation as doomy dronesters, but The Bees' brand of repetitive, dreamy twang totally smokes anything else of theirs that I've heard. Make no mistake, though: this is not good driving music, nor is it much good for drinkin'. (Or, presumably, drinking and driving, although I haven't tested that one out.) And no, this album does not rock. But what it does manage to do -- unconditionally soothe, that is -- is so welcome that I'll be relying on this album as a stress reliever for a very, very long time. No joke, sidle on up next to this one and you'll find yourself thinking someone replaced your Folgers Crystals with straight up smack.
2.) The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust -- By opening this album with "Aly Walk With Me," the longest and most distortion-heavy song in their catalog, the Danish twosome draws a line in the sand: if you don't absolutely love The Raveonettes by this point, then you never will. And by returning to the template put forth on 2003's excellent Chain Gang of Love, Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo have once again hit upon a winning combination: perfect melodies, plenty of Psychocandy-esque fuzz, near-telepathic harmonies, and their own should-be-patented dirty/sexy aesthetic. Although Lust Lust Lust largely shies away from the genre-hopping of 2005's Pretty in Black, this year's four (count 'em, four) other Raveonettes releases (and a solo album) manage to provide Wagner with an outlet for his more experimental side(s). Song of the Year candidates: "Dead Sound" (#4), "Hallucinations" (#13), "Aly, Walk With Me (#15). "Blush," "You Want the Candy" and "Blitzed" are also great.
3.) The Magnetic Fields - Distortion -- Like usual, Stephin Merritt tosses out a whole mess of poppy goodness, yielding several unmistakeable gems in the process. Unlike past works, however, each of Distortion's 3-minute-or-so nuggets is swathed in a haze of distortion worthy of the best Jesus and Mary Chain (or Raveonettes, for that matter) records. Yes, there's a few bummers on here, but if you wield your skip button right, you're in for quite a treat. Song of the Year candidates: "California Girls" (#6), "The Nun's Litany" (#12), "Drive on Driver" (#17), "I'll Dream Alone" (#58). I also like "Three-Way," "Zombie Boy," and "Courtesans" quite a bit.
4.) Metallica - Death Magnetic -- Replacing baby-eater/Nazi/child pornographer/gift-giver Bob Rock at the boards, superultramegaproducer Rick Rubin famously challenged Metallica to "write the second half of Master of Puppets." Yeah, that wasn't going to happen, but what they wound up with mirrors ...And Justice For All, and almost eerily so: there's an opening song which sounds a lot like "Blackened," legit Metalli-classic at track 4 ("The Day That Never Comes"), a 9+ minute kickass instrumental and a relatively brief shot of molten fury to close the album. Now, to be sure, some remnants of Metallica's "lost period" (a/k/a the last two decades) remain, notably the cringetastic "Chicken Soup for the Aging Metalhead Soul"-style self-help lyrics. But before 2008, had I been asked which staple of my teenage years would seemingly against all odds roar back into relevance, I probably would have chosen Guns N' Roses, based on their track record of "practically nothing" over the last 17 years vs. Metallica's track record of "a lot of crappy music since Justice." But boy, would I have been wrong. Song of the Year candidates: "The Day That Never Comes" (#7) and "That Was Just Your Life" (#14). But they're all pretty good except "Judas Kiss."
5.) Times New Viking - Stay Awake EP -- These arty Ohioan lo-fi devotees have long professed their admiration for Guided by Voices, and this EP is their best approximation of "classic" period GbV's awesome melodicism. Short and sweet, without a duffer in the bunch. Song of the Year candidate: "Sick and Tyred" (#19), but fuckin' a, they're all money.
6.) Blood on the Wall - Liferz -- Immature, lo-fi, garagey, and as fun -- and welcome -- as free blow. Sure, you'll find yourself playing the "sounds like..." game throughout this album, but c'mon, that's part of the fun: brother-sister duo Brad and Courtney Shanks make no attempt to disguise their unabashed Pavement/Sonic Youth/Pixies worship, and neither should you. Song of the Year candidates: "Junkeee... Julieee..." (#23), "Sorry Sorry Sarah" (#37).
7.) Sigur Ros - Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust -- When describing this album, it's easy to get bogged down by discussing the most obvious, soundbyte-worthy qualities: there's a song sung in English; a coupl'a tunes which display a newfound jaunty positivity; a lack of the band's trademark bowed guitar sound; super lush orchestration. But make no mistake, this is very much a Sigur Ros record, and probably the most uplifting record of the year. Song of the Year candidate: "Inni Mer Syngur Vitleysingur" (#24)
8.) Tapes 'n Tapes - Walk It Off -- All year I was trying
to think of a reason to dislike this other than Dave Fridmann's totally
blown-out production, and, at last, I couldn't. The songwriting is
just too strong here, even if the mix is way, way too harsh. Although
there's nothing as subtly awesome as The Loon's "Manitoba,"
"Time of Songs" comes damn near close, and the rockin' songs
(especially "Le Ruse," "The Dirty Dirty" and "Headshock") do, in fact,
rock. But buyer beware: turn down your subwoofer or you're going to
need some new speakers (and maybe some new neighbors). Song of the Year candidates: "Le Ruse" (#27), "The Dirty Dirty" (#40), and "Le Ruse" (#47), with "Headshock" just barely missing the cut.
9.) School of Seven Bells - Alpinisms -- Meticulously concieved without being heavy-handed, this breezy electropop masterpiece is based around the splendid vocal harmonies of the lovely Deheza twins (Alejandra and Claudia), layers of ooey-gooey synth, and former Secret Machines dude Ben Curtis' bend-but-don't-break peppy hip-hop beats. In a fair universe, this fine album would yield several chart hits, but alas, the world is filled with assholes who have terrible taste in everything. Song of the Year candidates: "Half Asleep" (#30), "Face to Face on High Places" (#54), and "My Cabal" should be up there somewhere, too.
10.) David Byrne and Brian Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happen Today -- Who'd'a thunk that: 1.) Byrne/Eno would regroup for a follow-up to Bush of Ghosts and 2.) the ensuing result would be so coherent, bordering on MOR and 3.) said album would feature several outstanding cuts. (Well, I guess that last one is pretty reasonable.) A very optimistic, affirming pop album. Song of the Year candidates: "Everything That Happens Will Happen Today" (#16), "One Fine Day" (#55). Everyone else seems to like "Strange Overtones" quite a bit, but I prefer "My Big Nurse" along with the other two.
11.) Goes Cube - Not What We Thought and Hutchinson EPs -- Few bands 'round these parts have had as much positive bandwidth devoted to them as Brooklyn's mighty Goes Cube. Which makes sense: they mix incredibly heavy riffs, stunning chops and attitude straight out of a Dischord manifesto. Face it, it's only a matter of time before the powers that be wise up and hand these guys a kickass record deal. 'Til then, get to know 'em while they're still playing the small rooms and putting out self-released EPs. Song of the Year candidates: Goes Cube Song 54 > Goes Cube Song 50 medley (#22), and Goes Cube Song 57 (#31), although I'm also partial to Hutchinson's "Gravestones Like Chess Pieces."
12.) The Thermals - Live at the Echoplex -- If 2008 was the year of the "solid-if-unspectacular" album, this good-not-great live album's placement on the list is more indicative of a void in the Tuddd Archive: high-quality live Thermals (other than their Daytrotter session and Pitchfork.tv's awesome Don't Look Down mini-set) is apparently hard to come by. Unfortunately, this appears to be a straight, unaltered 'board mix, meaning that the vocals are way too prevalent in the mix and the guitar too low, but Kathy Foster's all-meat-no-filler basslines thankfully come across loud and clear. Song of the Year candidates: I disqualified live tracks from the Best Songs list, but this one's jampacked with all your favorite Thermals favorites.
13.) The Futureheads - This Is Not the World -- After these guys stunk up the joint with '06's downright putrid News and Tributes, fans had reason to think The Futureheads had completely jumped the shark. Fortunately, This Is Not the World takes a step in the right direction towards re-establishing The Futureheads as postpunk juggernauts (sub-category: "spiky/angular/uber-energetic"). Joyous? Fun? Hells yeah, although the band would have done well to throw a couple of downtempo curveballs (think "Danger of the Water" or "Hounds of Love" from the debut album) into the mix, as well as relying a bit more on their awesome four-part harmony vocals. Song of the Year candidates: "Walking Backwards" (#10), with "Think Tonight" and "The Beginning of the Twist" also as standouts.
14.) Russian Circles - Station -- I loved '06's Enter (that year's fourth-best record) because it married the flash-fingered virtuosity of thrash to the atmospherics of straight-up post-rock. Like, imagine if somehow Stuart Braithwaite had wandered into a Puppets-era Metallica jam session. (Fuck yeah!) Although Station relies less on guitarist Mike Sullivan's incredible chops -- to the album's detriment, in my opinion -- songs like "Harper Lewis," the title cut, and especially "Verses" are undeniably beautiful melodies. Song of the Year candidate: "Verses" (#9).
15.) Torche - Meanderthal -- Critics have been creaming their collective Levis over Torche's near-perfect blend of heaviness and pop sensibilities (I'm lovin' Earfarm's "Melvins-meets-what-the-Foo Fighters-should-sound-like" comparison), and it's no wonder: these guys are both riff-tastic and hooky at the same time. Great, great listen, and probably my favorite album to make multiple appearance during setbreaks at live shows in '08. Song of the Year candidates: "Across the Shields" (#3), "Without a Sound" (#66).
16.) Deerhunter - Microcastle/Weird Era Continued -- Aaaah, fudgesicles. I'm conflicted about where to rank this album, and for many reasons. First off, Deerhunter are absolutely one of my favoritest bands (I've seen 'em live six times this year). I ranked Cryptograms #3 on last year's Best Of Albums list. When it comes to Microcastle proper, the first few tracks and last several tracks are better than anything anybody else has done this year, although the album's middle proves mushy. What's more, it took me at least 50 listens before I figured out that Cryptograms was totally fucking awesome, and Weird Era definitely has similarly impenetrable-at-first qualities. And although I have to admit to a little bit of disappointment about the band's refusal to release a "definitive" version of "Calvary Scars" (the Microcastle version is too short; Weird Era's too long), allow me to remunerate for them with the following: Download 02 Calvary Scars . (Yes, there's a little static during the first few seconds, but after that you're golden.) Song of the Year candidates: "Nothing Ever Happened" is the year's best song, and "Twilight at Carbon Lake" (#8) and "Never Stops" (#26") aren't far behind.
17.) King Khan and the Shrines - The Supreme Genius of King Khan and the Shrines -- This one's a real crowd-pleaser. If you're into Rhino's incredible Nuggets box set (and who isn't), then this album is for you. Imagine top-notch garage-psych married to throat-shredding classic soul and you've got a pretty good idea as to what this one sounds like. In an informal polling of "People That Have Visited Me At My Apartment or Ridden Shotgun in My Car 2008", this album easily comes out on top.
18.) Krallice - Krallice -- To me this album sounds like a cross between a nuclear holocaust and vigorous, relentless genital mutilation.
19.) Portishead - Third -- After over a decade of dormancy, Portishead manage to break new ground on this newest long-player, instead of simply conjuring nostalgia by resting on their trip-hop laurels. As original, inscrutable and downright creepy as ever, Third incorporates the best elements of "old" Portishead by relying on painstaking production and harrowing vocal performances, while still sounding nothing like their previous work. Song of the Year candidates: "The Rip" (#18) and "Silence" (#57).
20.) Times New Viking - Rip It Off -- If there's a theme to the top portion of this list, it would have to be "I like albums that are filled with distorted pop songs." Seriously, look above: numbers 2, 3, 5, 8 and 16 all line up neatly under that description. Listening to this album evokes similar feelings to those first few glorious listens of Alien Lanes or Bee Thousand, with the pedal firmly to the metal in an immediate, melodic vein. Only unlike GbV, who always seemed to succeed in spite of their primitive recording techniques, Times New Viking's genius is in making the hiss and distortion into an actual instrument in and of itself. (I'm aware that last sentence makes little-to-no sense, but fuck it.) Song of the Year candidates: "Teen Drama" (#39). "The Wait" and "My Head" both also rock.
21.) Boris - Smile -- A good album, but one gets the feeling Boris could shit something like this out in their sleep (to coin a phrase). You have breakneck barn burners in the vein of Pink's "Woman on the Screen," slower numbers, and the compulsory lengthy slab of drone that closes the record -- all pretty standard, really. The new ground that's broken can be found in the hypnotically dubby "My Neighbor Satan," which evokes the greatness of Bill Laswell's Charged project. Come to think of it, I'd love to hear a Laswell/Boris collab. Southern Lord, make it happen! Song of the Year candidate: "My Neighbor Satan" (#34)
22.) Viking Skull - Doom, Gloom, Heartache and Whiskey -- Man, I loves me some good ol' fashioned meat-n-taters stoner metal, which begs the question why I don't randomly check out more music similar to this. A New Year's resolution for '09 perhaps? Anyway, these guys' sound falls somewhere around Bad Wizard's whiskey-n-meth party rock and more traditional Sabbath-worship. (A winning combo.) And you have to root for any band that proclaims in song their desire to "drinky-drinky-drink, drink-drink-drink, drink 'till we shit our pants." Song of the Year candidate: The title track is friggin' great, although I hadn't heard it in time for the Best Songs list.
23.) White Denim - Exposion -- Although this album isn't able to capture the raving lunacy of their live show, it's still a tasty collection of jams. Sonically these guys represent a nice amalgam of Creedence, Allmans, Nuggets, scrappy soul outfits, and your favorite garage bands. Song of the Year candidate: Transparency (#60)
24.) Jay Reatard - Matador Singles '08 -- As a fan of much of the esteemed Mr. Reatard's music, this is undoubtedly his most cohesive collection yet, which is odd when considering that its material is drawn from the 7" sides that comprised his Matador singles series. To be sure, he's still DIY, just with a little more variety as to the instrumentation. The world eagerly awaits his next offering, set for release in the early months of '09.
25.) Early Man - Beware the Circling Fin EP -- These guys are another band with a highly anticipated upcoming '09 release on tap, and this EP serves admirably as a tide-you-over placeholder until the full-length is released. These guys do the Judas Priest/Kill 'Em All thing better than anyone. Song of the Year candidate: Sinking the Blade (#56).
26.) Melvins - Nude With Boots -- Adding the members of Big Business to their roster hasn't changed the way The Melvins operate, and why should it -- anyone who's ever heard/seen Big Business immediately notices the sonic debt they owe to Buzz Osbourne and Dale Crover. Similar to previous releases, Nude With Boots has plenty of sludge, ranging between deceptively poppy numbers and slower doomy shit. Song of the Year candidate: "Billy Fish" (#52).
27.) Chairlift - Does You Inspire You -- Loved these guys' live show both times I saw 'em with Caroline Polachek's impeccable vocals framed poifectly by the sparse instrumentation provided by her bandmates. The album plays out similarly, with some majorly diverse pure pop styles on display. From Erasure's bubbly electropop to Annie Lennox' confident songcraft, even to grandeur worthy of The Cure. Song of the Year candidates: "Evident Utensil" (#2), "Bruises" #61.
28.) The Kills - Midnight Boom -- I felt that The Kills perfected their dark, beat punk/no wave dramas on No Wow, so the slightly gussied-up, gimmicky feel of singles "URA Fever" and "Cheap and Cheerful" is a bit disappointing. Midnight Boom was supposedly heavily influenced by schoolyard chants and cadences, which succeeds most notably on the standouts "Hook and Line" and "Sour Cherry" but comes off as grating on cuts like "Alphabet Pony." Also notable is the successful foray into Luscious Jacksonish territory with the uberchill "Black Balloon." Uneven record but still very listenable and catchy throughout. Song of the Year candidate: "Hook and Line" (#21).
29.) The Big Sleep - Sleep Forever -- Some nice instrumentals, some great '90s-ish alt-rock, and some more reflective pieces. Nothing groundbreaking, but still worthy of many, many listens. Song of the Year candidate: "Pinkies" (#50).
30.) Thalia Zedek Band - Liars and Prayers - Just as Johnny Cash's raspy howl said as much as his lyrics, as do Thalia Zedek's leathery vocal cords at this stage in her career. Many gloomy artists seem to revel in a "light at the end of the tunnel" theory of songwriting, but Zedek largely eschews any thoughts of redemption in most of her songs, much to her credit. Song of the Year candidate: "Lower Allston" (#51).
31.) Jay Reatard - Singles 06-07 -- In the Red Records helpfully collects many of Reatard's out-of-print vinyl sides on this one, including alternate versions of several Blood Visions tracks. Good shit. Song of the Year candidate: "Another Person" (#58).
32.) Cheap Time - Cheap Time -- These guys sound like Richard Hell fronting the Heartbreakers. Or Johnny Thunders fronting the Voidoids. Or both. Or something. Song of the Year candidate: "Too Late" (#41)
33.) Witch - Paralyzed -- I loved Witch's debut record (#6 on 2006's Best of Albums list) and although this one doesn't have anything as immediately awesome like "Seer" or "Rip Van Winkle," it manages to de-emphasize the Claypoolish vocals, which is an improvement. By and large, the songs are leaner and quicker paced, adding a Motorheadish to their rock solid Sabbath template. Good shit. Song of the Year candidate: "Eye" (#73)
34.) Young Knives - Superabundance -- Among their British post-punk soundalike counterparts, these guys are better than Kaiser Chiefs but worse than The Futureheads. So they're pretty good. Song of the Year candidate: "Turn Tail" (#36).
35.) Boat - Topps EP -- I liked their last full length (perhaps a bit underrated at #35 on last year's list), and their live show also hit home. This l'il 4-song morsel continues in the vein of adorable scrappiness, but you'd be a fool to deny these melodies. A fool I say!! Song of the Year candidate: "Four Beds for Boat" (#72) made the list, and I fucked up majorly leaving "Bee Buzz" off.
36.) Death Vessel - Nothing Is Precious Enough for Us -- There's plenty about Joel Thibodeau that sets him apart from other contemporary "neo-trad" folk artists. First, the gender-bending vocals and flawless upper register make for a pleasant listening experience. And second, the songwriting is just so much better than that of Devendra and other freakfolkies as to render them kinda irrelevant. Solid follow up to '05's Stay Close, which I also liked quite a bit. Song of the Year candidates: "Block My Eye" (#44), "Bruno's Torso" (#64).
37.) Mogwai - Batcat EP -- This teaser EP seemed to bode well for those (all four of us) that dug the direction the band took on '06's Mr. Beast with the title track reminiscent of Beast's Pelican-esque "Glasgow Mega-Snake." Unfortunately the Hawk Is Howling album proved to be boringly mediocre, with "Batcat" the belle of the ball. Song of the Year candidate: "Batcat" (#35)
38.) Los Straitjackets - Los Straitjackets in Concert -- I love Los Straitjackets, especially in the live setting, but this album would have benefited from being seriously edited down, to, say, maybe 45 minutes or so. Take the classics ("Casbah," "State Fair," "University Blvd." "Pacifica," etc.) and throw on a bunch of the theme song covers (Batman, Titanic, Munsters, Magnificent Seven, Midnight Cowboy) and you'd have a fine set of songs. As with most live experiences, when you can't actually be there, less is usually more.
39.) Sian Alice Group - 59'59 -- This music traverses the same territory as the live show: simple and pretty ("As the Morning Light"), stuff a bit darker ("Way Down to Heaven"), tracks that sound kind of like Mogwai ("Kirilov") and stuff that wouldn't sound out of place on the new Portishead album ("Contours"). Overall, this album shows off a style that's vaguely gothy post rock, and the vocals are stunning. Is there some filler? Sure, and they probably should have cut the album down to match their usual 40-45 minute set length, but for the most part I'm diggin' it.
40.) Scars on Broadway - Scars on Broadway -- Well, it's clear from comparing this (effectively Daron Malakian's solo debut) to last year's Elect the Dead (by System of a Down vocalist Serj Tankian) who contributed what to System: Malakian the tight, blatantly poppy metal riffing, apocalyptic lyrics and the bathroom humor; Tankian the ranting homeless guy-style sloganeering ("PRAISE THE LORD AND PASS THE AMMUNITION!"), the apocalyptic lyrics and the bathroom humor. Although this is probably too slickly produced, it never approaches anything like Linkin Park or whatever, so that's good. Song of the Year candidates: "World Long Gone" (#38), "They Say" (#46)
