Let me just say something. Let me just say that 2008 was no 2007. Personally and as far as I'm concerned musically. But then again, I bought more music in 2007 than ever, so I was exposed to more. This year I was unemployed for half the year. So I scaled back on my purchases during this period. Then there was the suburbs thing. That didn't help my general exposure to new music. Nor was the fact that the internet mostly didn't work here. I have four awards to give out. If I missed anything worthy of these awards, please tell me. Now, because I was jobless for 6 months, I should certainly start off with...
FREE IS THE BEST award you can BE. Much to my luck, lots of music was released for free in 2008. It kinda became the thing to do. And what's the deal with the free music being better than the "official" releases? Nas, for example, and Murs, for another example, had fairly disappointing albums come out, but they were preceded by fantastic free albums. Part of what made the stuff you paid for so disappointing. Here we go. List ON:
11. Jelani - Wait, You can Rap?!?! - Thanks to freehiphopnow, I was exposed, while my internet was working, to some undergound rappers I would not have otherwise known about. This was a fun album.
10. Danielson - Danielson Alive! - Just an EP of a bunch of live songs. But it was free and charming.
9. Elucid - Police & Thieves - Another freehiphopnow find. Political and pretty great.
8. The Blak Experiment - Utica Ave. - OK this is the last real obscure hip hop album. This one was laid back and very creative.
7. Ham1 - The Underground Stream - This has some Elephant 6 connections. I forget what exactly. If my internet were working, I could totally look it up. I think some folks from the Elephant 6 collective played on it. Either way, this is a good indie pop record, much like most E6 related stuff.
6. The Charlatans - You Cross My Path - This came out the same weekend as some Trent Reznor free stuff. So it didn't get much attention. Still, one of the better Charlatans albums to be released.
5. Girl Talk - Feed The Animals - This was only free if you had justification. I did pay $5 for my copy. Either way, this is a fantastic party album. If you're reading this, you probably already know about this. This guy takes mashups to a whole new art form.
4. Murs & 9th Wonder - Sweet Lord - This preceded the very annoyingly disappointing Murs For President. This one was fantastic though. Murs is one of the great storytellers of hip hop.
3. Hearts of Palm - The Bridge - Just an EP. Just four songs. But four of the most perfect power pop songs you'll ever hear.
2. Rhymefest - Man In The Mirror - Holy crap. A tribute to Michael Jackson. A very loving tribute. Very expertly produced by Mark Ronson. But the real star here is Rhymefest. He demonstrates very well why he's one of the best MCs working today. It just seems like the most natural flow. Like he's talking but he's actually rapping and it's actually amazing. It's probably a good thing El Che didn't come out this year, it may have been disappointing after this.
1. Wale - Mixtape About Nothing - I don't even really like Seinfeld! But this is one of the most promising debuts I've ever heard. I am very excited to see what he has in store for us.
Where were you, public? award. This is stuff that I happened to discover in one way or another but I didn't really hear about from anyone else. They were all too busy talking about vampire weekend, or the backlash to vampire weekend, or the backlash to the backlash to vampire weekend. i was busy in my apathy over the backlash to the backlash to vampire weekend discovering stuff that was much more interesting to me.
5. Dr. Dooom - Dr. Dooom 2. Pitchfork didn't like this one. But I did. Especially in principle. When the Return of Dr Octagon came out and pissed off almost every Kool Keith fan, I thought it was over. But then he came back with this. Kind of an "I killed Dr Octagon, remember? He's dead. Y'all are trying to bring him back but he's dead. Fine, I'll kill him again." I just liked the statement. But beyond that, it is a very good album for the most part. There are a couple really lame songs, but some are very poignant, some are very fun, and most are very good.
4. Miss Kittin - Batbox. I know electro has been dead for some time. But there's something about a new Miss Kittin album that got me super stoked. Didn't seem to get anyone else very stoked, but I was. And it did not disappoint. It's got all the attitude of her excellent solo debut I Com. While it's not quite at that level, it is definitely something else. It would have done a lot better 5 years ago, but in my opinion it transcends the dead genre it, to most people, represents.
3. Little Jackie - The Stoop. I saw them on Conan one night and was hooked. I got the album the next day and was still hooked. It's kinda silly, yes, but oh so much fun. I feel like this should have been a mainstream sensation but I only ever saw them on Conan. I spread the love as much as I could to my friends, but that's all I could do.
2. Jonathan Richman - Because Her Beauty Is Raw and Wild. This wasn't totally ignored, but it didn't get nearly as much attention as it deserved. I did see it on the Paste list of most criminally slept on albums or something (I really wish I could cross-reference this stuff!), and that's good enough for me to put him on this list.
1. KatJonBand - KatJonBand. This album was very very awesome. Combine the rhythm of The Ex with the songwriting of the Mekons and you have very high expectations. And it delivers. The biggest problem this album had was the fact that it came out the same day as Dear Science. Oops.
HEY! It's the MAINSTREAM GOT SOMETHING RIGHT award!! Sure, they missed those 5 stellar releases (and others), but mainstream music wasn't entirely horrible this year.
5. Ludacris - Theater of the Mind. Did this count as mainstream? I don't care. Ludacris has achieved something great here. I was worried after his horrible mixtape (exception to the rule mentioned above), but I went out and bought this anyway. So glad I did. There's a song here with Jay-Z and Nas. And it's as good as it should be. That alone puts it on this list. Throw in the fact that it's got a lot less filler than his other recent albums and it's enthusiastically on this list.
4. Nikka Costa - Pebble To A Pearl. I never really paid her any mind. But my friend Amy told me to check this out. So glad she did. As a lover of all things soul, I was stoked that this album was on Stax. Then I heard it. Wow. There's some funky, funky shit on here.
3. Al Green - Lay It Down. How does he still sound so good? My god.
2. Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple. LOVE IT. Spoiler alert: I will talk about it more on the "top thirteen" list.
1. Duffy - Rockferry. Total mainstream. This one's not on the top list but it's the top of this list. Get it? What I mean to say here is that this is the most fitting example of the mainstream "getting it right" that I heard this year. Total pop star here. But she sounds so good! When I first even saw this album cover I knew it would be what it was. And it was!
OK now it's MAIN TIME LIST WORTHY TOP YES: TOP THIRTEEN. There are thirteen because that's how many albums I considered to be of a certain calibur. I felt there were only thirteen that were good enough for this list. Last year there were probably about 25. At least it makes listing and ranking a lot easier.
13. Jonathan Richman - Because Her Beauty Is Raw and Wild. Again. It's heartbreaking at times. Smart at times. Funny at times. But at all times it's just fantastic.
12. Frida Hyvonen - Silence is Wild. It she Finnish? I hope so. There's not enough Finnish representation and I'm 1/4 Finnish. But she is definitely from the Nordic area. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the female Jens Lekman. Not just in the fact that she's Nordic and a singer-songwriter. She just finds that same place in my heart that Jens does. That spot that most music misses. Clever, but not just clever. She sneaks in other feelings. Sneaks them through my brain. Not the quickest way to a man's heart, but one of the most effective.
11. Ladytron - Velocifero. Back up a few lists, when I talked about Miss Kittin, I mentioned that electro has been dead for some time now. Yet Ladytron manages to stay relevant. I don't know how they do it.
10. Rhymefest - Man In The Mirror. I think I basically said it all in the "FREE is the best AWARD you can BE" list. But just to emphasize. I was obsessed with this album this year. So much fun, such a natural flow.
9. Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping. This received kind of lukewarm reviews. Mostly because last year's Hissing Fauna... was so brilliant and amazing (my #1!). People were kind of quick to write this off as a "victory lap" or something. But this was something else entirely. On the surface, it is Georgie Fruit (Kevin's alter ego) just having a blast, being a pervert, indulging, getting his "Prince" on. The character isn't particularly likable, but is fun to listen to. But there's some real depth at work here. Kevin yelling out from beneath. Crying for help. It's beautiful. Don't you pimp out my heart.
8. The Roots - Rising Down. Artful, masterful, gorgeous, but very forceful and angry at the same time. All of this. The Roots did it again. When this came out I listened to it over and over and over and over. Then I took a break. Now I listen to it again and remember why I listened to it over and over and over.
7. She & Him - Volume One. At first I wrote this off as just one of those indie pop things that everyone would get excited about for about a month and then forget about. That it would be kind of lacking. Possibly boring. Then I actually heard one of the songs on a Merge sampler. Fabulous! It sounded like 60s girl groups! I bought the album when it came out on vinyl. It became my favorite album of the year. Mostly because it was my standby this year. (last year it was Blonde Redhead, the year before it was Belle & Sebastian). The album I could always put on when I didn't know what to listen to and it would bring up my spirits. Definitely my album of the first half of 2008. The unemployed half. The kind of depressing half. Because that's when I needed it the most. Something to help me through the times of uncertainty and all that. But then the second half of the year came, I got a job, and I was able to listen to some more "artsy" stuff (and the good shit finally started coming out) so this got pushed down 6 spots! But still, it's a standby for me.
6. KatJonBand - KatJonBand. I repeat. This album was criminally ignored by most. But it's Kat from The Ex and Jon from The Mekons! Two punk rock legends. It combines what I love from both of these two bands. The Ex has the coolest rhythm section ever, lead by Kat. The Mekons kind of started alt country in the punk rock scene (cow punk) and inject a whole lot of heart while retaining their punk rock edge. So together? Fucking awesome rhythm. And heart. But not too much heart. Remember in 2005, when Calexico and Iron & Wine combined forces for that EP? It sounded exactly like a combination of Calexico and Iron & Wine. Not really anything surprising. But it was such a brilliant combination that it was one of the top releases of the year. That's what we have here.
5. Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple. This was an album I held off on buying for awhile. Not because of anything against the band. I actually love the band. And I was excited. But I was unemployed and it just wouldn't go on sale. I eventually saw them at a free concert and all the new stuff was just brilliant. So I bit the bullet and bought it for $15 or whatever stupid price it was after I had a job. And man. It's better than the first album. Much better. More consistent, more realized. Without losing any of its creativity. And I think it's even more fun than the first.
4. Okkervil River - The Stand Ins. Damn, dudes! Two in two years? Two top fivers? Who does that? It's a sequel to last year's The Stage Names but it's every bit as brilliant. It's The Godfather Part II, man. It's The Dark Knight.
3. Wale - Mixtape About Nothing. Seriously though, this is the best debut ever. I would like to thank my friend Mark for telling me about this. I don't even like Seinfeld that much!
2. Calexico - Carried to Dust. And they bring it all full circle. I feel like it's the most complete Calexico album. It has everything Calexico could possibly do (make me eat my words here next time, Calexico!) while staying within the somewhat limited space they work in. That sounded bad. But it's not. It's just that the idea of Calexico is somewhat limited. And that's why this album works so well. It explores that whole territory and goes spelunking. And it's beautiful. I could spend all day in those caves.
1. TV On The Radio - Dear Science, No surprise here. The biggest disappointment of the year, for me, was the fact that once this album came out, there was no question. Nothing came close to challenging this as album of the year. I already wrote about this extensively, but I repeat: Desperate Youth went deep. Cookie Mountain took everything from Desperate Youth and went deeper. Dear Science took Cookie Mountain and went wider. Vastly wider. While retaining the depth. This band is better than any other form of any art that exists today. Better than any of today's painters, directors, architects, writers, anything. I always speak in hyperbole when I speak of TV on the Radio, but that's just because I am so excited about everything they've done, and everything they will do. Because in order to continue their trend of growing exponentially in every release, next album will have to discover a new dimension. Then they will be bigger than Science. They've already conquered Art. I bet the full title of this album was "Dear Science, You better watch your ass!"
i must MENTION a few more-- with honor. These weren't on the other lists but you should understand that these are also GREAT.
Atmosphere - When Life Hands You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold - because it has Tom Waits beatboxing. And man, it's just stories about real people, and man, they painted that shit gold.
Beck - Modern Guilt - because it's beck, man!
Breeders - Mountain Battles - This really probably should have gone on a list. There's something about Kim Deal's bass playing and her singing that is just instantly comforting and warming to me. No matter what.
David Byrne & Brian Eno - Eveything That Happens Will Happen Today - because it's two masters, together again. and because it was almost as good as it should have been.
Deerhoof - Offend Maggie - I shoulda listened to this more than I did.
Del The Funky Homosapien - Eleventh Hour - It's awesome just to hear some new material by him, but I'm pretty sure we're all just waiting for that new deltron album that's been promised for a couple years now.
DeVotchKa - A Mad and Faithful Telling - because, man, colorado has some good shit.
El Perro Del Mar - From The Valley To The Stars - I feel like this is a better album than her first one, which was very well received by me, but this year for some reason I couldn't get into it as much.
Elvis Costello - Momofuku - I liked the idea of this (releasing it on vinyl before cd, shortly after recording it, without much notice) more than the execution. Which breaks my heart a little. Elvis Costello has always been my favorite songwriter and I just felt like I was starting to get over him or something when I listened to this album. However, don't fear, because his new show on the Sundance Channel is pretty much the best thing ever so I am still a huge fan.
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes - A casualty of me not having the internet/money for much of the year. This good-apparently great-album by this apparently great band just passed me by all year. I heard of it, but I heard of a lot of things. I couldn't listen to everything like I nearly did last year. But just today (December 16 I am writing this) I saw it on/near the top of lots of best-of-08 lists, and now that I have employment and more income than I used to, I decided to buy this. It's too late for it to make the list. I am just listening to it now. But damn, it's pretty awesome. I could have used this during that unemployment period. Certainly it would have ended up high on my list.
Janelle Monae - Metropolis - She is just fabulous. I can't wait for more from her.
Magnetic Fields - Distortion - Let me make one thing clear. This isn't really a "new direction" for the band, in my opinion. The sound is very similar to some of their earlier albums. So I feel like it's kind of a return to form to the pre-69 love songs magnetic fields. But there's nothing wrong with that. The lyrics are as great as any Stephin Merritt album and that's what it's always been about with these guys.
Nada Surf - Lucky - there's just something about nada surf. they just make me feel good. this new one is no exception.
Nick Cave - Dig! Lazarus! Dig! - so kick-you-in-the-face-with-its-power awesome.
People Under The Stairs - Fun DMC - This is the sort of music that makes me wish I could have parties where you just put on an album, don't really do much talking, and just listen to it and have a good time.
Smoking Popes - Stay Down - I was so worried and excited when I found out this was coming out. When they reunited I kind of felt like it was a reunion for reunion's sake and the band wouldn't have anything new to say. Plus, how do you follow up an album like Destination Failure? You can't do it. But they did it anyway. It's not better (if it was you'd see it on another list up there), but it's really a respectable, enjoyable album. A worthy follow-up.
