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Friday, December 19, 2008
Leilani's Top 10 albums of '08
Posted by Leilani Polk on Fri, Dec 19, 2008 at 2:45 PM
Lots of great music this year; here's my subjective list of the best. Snider's will be posted later.
1. of Montreal: Skeletal Lamping (Polyvinyl)
2. Bon Iver: For Emma… Forever Ago (Jagjaguwar)
Bon Iver is Wisconsin singer/songwriter Justin Vernon. His rootsy debut album under this moniker is the sort that takes your breathe away with its stunning, austere beauty -- light drums, acoustic guitar, the occasional wash of background sonics. But the sole element that makes For Emma’s subtleties and well-crafted songs of longing and loss work so well is Vernon’s delicate, soulful falsetto, sometimes multi-tracked to elegant effect and so magnificently expressive it brings a tear to the eye.
3. TV on the Radio: Dear Science (Interscope)
Bumpin’ disco-funk dance music marked by out-of-the-box beats and brimming with sexiness and soul, Dear Science found a rather serious Brooklyn art rock band building upon their dark meditative style by letting loose and having fun with it.
4. MGMT: Oracular Spectacular (Columbia)
People use the word “derivative” a lot when discussing this band. But MGMT does ’70s-style psychedelic
5. Icy Demons: Miami Ice (Obey Your Brain)
The experimental Chicago/Philadelphia ensemble departed from their distinctly Zappa-esque-jazzified-prog-rock-meets-New-Wave-pop sound to an album so out there that even I couldn’t wrap my mind around it at first – off-kilter melodies, shifting time-signatures colliding with warm and mellow samba beats, menacing cello and buzzing synthesizers broken up by a xylophone-infused vocal interlude. In the end, the novelty spoke to me.
6. The M’s, Real Close Ones (Polyvinyl)
The Chicago band’s third album is psychedelic pop with personality that culls from a myriad of late ‘60s rock styles. Bouncy and boisterous, ambling and easy, or heavy and distorted, all of it augmented by horns, chiming bells, electronic blips, hand clapping and all-manner of other small but noteworthy
7. Marco Benevento, Invisible Baby (Hyena)
Marco Benevento of jazz rock twosome Benevento/Russo Duo has managed to rise above the jam band scene’s rather lackluster year with a debut solo studio effort that captures what the masterful keyboardist does best – experimenting with texture to create dense layers of sound, pairing electronic bursts from his hodge-podge of noise-making and circuit-bending gadgets with banjos, drum loops and even a Glockenspiel for some lighthearted dimension, and using clear, lyrical piano notes rather than vocals to convey a feeling.
8. Department of Eagles, In Ear Park (4ad Records)
The third effort of a side project by Grizzly Bear’s Dan Rozzen, In Ear Park is a lovely, surreal work that manages to take the 60’s folk-pop style of Grizzly Bear and combine it with the organic elements of 2007’s The Cold Nose – ghostly vocals, buoyant percussion, acoustic guitar – without losing the inherent electronic touches.
9. Black Keys, Attack & Release (Nonesuch)
I really dig the Black Keys’ rough-and-tumble neo-blues style and was eager to hear what Danger Mouse’s production skills brought to the table. Some critics complained that it wasn’t very much. I think DM managed to enhance what the Keys do best without becoming overbearing; a swell of strings here, spooky gospel-tinged back-up vocals there, hand claps and B3 organ and key-flute and banjo and spacey electro-
10. Cloud Cult, Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes) (Rebel Group)
I discovered this gem a little less than two weeks ago and liked it on first listen. It’s not quite a concept album, but the bulk of the songs deal with the man/environment life cycle. The Americana-informed chamber pop manages to come off as lighthearted despite the sometimes sinister subject matter, and though the precious lilting vocals and joyous Wes Anderson film score-style moments almost border on cheesy, the album is so goddamn sincere that it makes up for any missteps.
Comments (167)
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Sometimes, the icy demons make me poop in my pants...just a little bit, and in as good a way as possible. You seem smart.
I can't believe I never heard about Cloud Cult before -- this is like their eighth or ninth album! I love that -- now I get to go back and dig up those other albums. (Good old Pitchfork had to be all "Their last album was better." Fuckers.)
#1.. Of Montreal, yes. their show at the Ritz was one of the bests performances I've ever seen. Big L knows how much fun that was!
Interesting list...some names of bands I haven't heard yet...can't wait to listen to them
You are totally right about that cloud clut. At first, when I listened, I wasn't sure the vocals were going to work for me, but that fear was quickly squashed. They have that ethereal quality, where I feel like I might have a breakthrough at any moment as to where their haunting familiarity is coming from, but it dashes away before I ever really place it. Each song grows on me more each listen... Thanks for turning me on ;)
"At first, when I listened, I wasn’t sure the vocals were going to work for me, but that fear was quickly squashed." I thought the very same
Great list. I am not familiar wtih Icy Demons, but respect your opinion, so will def check it out. Maybe it will make me shart my pants like Phil Up.
I love MGMT, great pick! i have not heard some of these, but now i have new music to listen to. Great list!
Tuff Lion's follow up to "Utterance", "Ten Strings" shows how this guy is the best reggae guitar player around. He gets my nod for record of the year!!!
You left Bon Iver in Joe's car. Your description of the album is spot on, as is your description of Skeletal Lamping. Thanks for introducing me to Iver. I think we're going to get along great. PS. TV on the Radio is the best music to drive over the Sunshine Skyway to - at night.
Just seeing this now, but this list is the most spot on that I have seen. Can't wait for the mgmt and Barnes sideproject!
Just wanted to say great job with the blog, today is my first visit here and I’ve enjoyed reading your posts so far Mukluk boots
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