The Best Albums of 2008 (10-1)!!!
Feb 03 '09 (Updated Feb 21 '09)
The Bottom Line thinks I'm superior in every way. Time for the fans to agree.
I'd like to take a moment here, before unveiling my immutable top ten list, to give a hearty shout-out to the departing updateghost. Long recognized as a slightly inferior version of knowncutter, updateghost has graciously and deftly covered indie rock at this site with a skill and succinctness that no one else comes close to. Unfortunately, he will actually be doing something with his life for an extended period of time in the near future. His presence will surely be missed, but before he goes I have a plan: I will allow the use of my comment section (my own personal comment section!) for readers to write who they think has superior taste, updateghost or knowncutter. This way, people, we can send updateghost packing his bags dejected and forced to think long and hard about what ways he can attempt to match up to knowncutter's superior good looks and charm upon his return. We can do this, dear reader! Yes we can! As a side note, if you are planning on voting for updateghost, I suggest you simply don't vote. We don't want one bad seed spoiling this for everyone else, now do we?
Oh yeah, here's my top ten of 2008.
10. Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Flight
This subtly beautiful ode to confused adolescence and the soaring pop melodies of The Shins made a late run at the top ten largely because of its terrific lyrics. Singer Scott Hutchinson sings with such a nervous, impassioned, Scottish sincerity that each word is given that all important air of utmost authenticity. Lines like "it takes more than fucking someone to keep yourself warm," could easily fall very flat in the wrong hands. Thankfully we have Frightened Rabbit to carry these and other words into the realm of instant quotable. The sort of memorable, significant sayings that you can carry with you to get you through another day.
9. Stephen Malkmus - Real Emotional Trash
I've probably mentioned my man-crush on former Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus enough where people are genuinely concerned. I mean, there are all sorts of crazies on the internet and what if, by some strange coincidence, you were just minding your own business reading a, frankly, overly-long, insufficiently-detailed review of Real Emotional Trash when all of a sudden the author went all stalker on you, Bjork-fan style? What if he started saying crazy things like he'd even enjoy listening to Stephen Malkmus shitting into a tin can? What is your plan of action now? Do you call the police? How do they handle matters of internet lunacy? Surely such a lunatic wouldn't use his real name or contact information on a website, though, right? So what if the cops thought that you were, in fact, the lunatic? You think you're doing Stephen Malkmus a favor, saving his life from a madman, and then the cops are interrogating you about how often you frequent this site and what your relationship to Mr. Malkmus is. Pretty soon, you wish you'd never even said anything and just let the crazy have his way. Good. Very good. Let this be a lesson to mind your own business. Stephen and I will be just fine by ourselves. Heeheeheee (still working on my evil laugh...).
8. Neon Neon - Stainless Style
Without fail, any album claiming to have some sort of concept will sucker me in. This one, in particular, was particularly wily. What follows is a brief excerpt of a conversation I had with Stainless Style upon receiving a promotional preview of eight tracks off the album.
"Hello, Stainless Style. I am unsure of whether I should be excited to listen to you."
"Well, what if I told you Gruff Rhys, singer for the Super Furry Animals, played a major role in making me?"
"That would help I suppose. I do like me some Gruff."
"Yes, yes. And what if I said he was working with a hip-hop producer, meshing retro 80's synths and beats with rap?"
"Hmmm. Interesting, Stainless, very interesting. Sounds a bit like the Gorillas without the suck."
"It is, it is. Oh, and did I mention it's a concept album about carmaker John DeLoreon. Knowncutter? What are you doing? Ummm, maybe I should go."
[At this point I am ejaculating all over the insides of my pants. I have been doing this since Stainless mentioned concept and now it won't stop. Oh goodness gracious, it's everywhere. I try to plead with Stainless not to leave, to make up some sort of excuse about my rare disease that makes me act like this, but my face won't stop contorting. Screw it, I might as well enjoy it. Ohhh concepts. Ohhh yeah. Right there concepts, right there...]
7. Titus Andronicus - The Airing of Grievances
What happens when you combine Shakespeare, Seinfeld, punk-rock ferocity and indie-rock hooks? You get one kick-ass album, is what. The rare debut where intensity and passion matches an intuitive sense of how to write a song. When the band screams "You're life is over!" on their self-titled mission statement, nothing has ever sounded so cathartic and life-affirming all at once.
6. TV on the Radio - Dear Science
Putting this band here because everyone else seems to agree that they are very talented, yes indeed, very talented. I think even Rolling Stone ranked them highly (#1?) in their year end list. And get this. There are black people in this band. Think about it. Rolling Stone admitted to liking an album with black people. Do you have any idea how good an album has to be for that to happen? Like 100 points of good! AND, and wait til you hear this. Neither Bob Dylan or Bruce Springsteen have anything to do with this band! Nothing! And Dear Science still ranked higher than a really boring bootleg of newer Dylan tracks in Rolling Stone. Are you understanding the magnitude of this, dear reader. This is huge! Like President Obama being President huge! I should probably even listen to this album now.
5. Deerhunter - Microcastle/Weird Era Cont.
I couldn't quite convince myself that Cryptograms was quite the debut everyone wanted it to be, but on Microcastle Deerhunter have undoubtedly figured out how to make a great album. The dream-pop hooks are so consistently excellent on this record that even the additional Weird Era Cont. tracks don't feel like enough Deerhunter. Sadly, the actual game is a poor substitute for the quality music at hand here. Pretending to slay nature just doesn't measure up.
4. Wale - The Mixtape About Nothing
How good is this mixtape? Well, I'm legitimately tempted to just type out the lyrics to "The Opening Title Sequence" in their entirety. They blow my mind every single time. Wale is the lone hip-hop representative in my top ten (more a reflection on my own personal music seeking preferences than the state of hip-hop in 2008) and yet he slays so effortlessly and impressively on this mixtape that I'm pretty sure he more than makes up for everybody else in the rap community. Granted, the production here could be much better, but Wale as an individual performer is so intelligent and so refreshing that I'm more excited for his official debut (this year I think) than almost any other album this year. If you haven't heard this one already just google it and you should be able to download the whole thing from Wale's website for free. Very worth the six minutes it make take you.
3. WHY? - Alopecia
"I'm not a ladies man, I'm a landmine filming my own fake death." With that first line WHY? frontman, Yoni Wolf, announces his arrival as a captivating, original voice in indie rock/hip-hop. Much like Frightened Rabbit, the lyrics on Alopecia are every bit as relevant and important to this album's success as are the ominous soundscapes the band manages to come up with. Better yet, just when you start thinking that maybe Alopecia is a bit too self-loathing, the band drops the wonderfully lasting pop of Fatalist Palmistry. Easily one of the best songs this year (although I still think I'll have to crown Okkervil River's Lost Coastlines as my true favorite). If you haven't bothered to check this band out, I'm not sure what you're waiting for.
2. Man Man - Rabbit Habits
Dear lord this album got overlooked this year. In my midyear best-of I had this to say about it: "Calling their act a circus at this point is cliché, but this album is one of the best junkyard, care-free romps of all time. Captain Beefheart and Tom Waits must be proud." That statement still holds, but these guys deserve better than the recognition Rabbit Habbits got. Not that they probably care at all. This is the same band that runs around stage wearing Indian war-paint and hollering like a tribe of savage children. In fact, the album title might refer to their habit of hunting and slaying rabbits with their bare hands. All that makes the intricate layers of horns, keyboards, and random household items even more impressive. Sounding as simultaneously catchy and bizarre as Man Man is not easy, but they make it look that way.
1. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Dig Lazarus Dig!!!
If this album had nothing else on it but the opening title track, Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, There's a good chance it would still be locked into my top ten. The very concept of Lazarus reluctantly being revived from the dead into modern America is ripe enough to fill out an entire novel. Cave doesn't disappoint either, incorporating enough black humor and brilliant lyrics throughout this album that you could write a proper dissertation on the thing. Add to all this the fact that the Bad Seeds sound truly inspired, turning the likes of a buzzsaw into a wildly catchy, entertaining riff, and you have yourselves the best album of 2008. And for the first time in my writing here, Spencer Krug is nowhere to be found!
For those who can never consume enough: http://www.epinions.com/content_5274706052
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Epinions.com ID:
knowncutter
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Member: Dave X
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