I know a few days ago I praised 2008 for its individual tracks. And, indeed, it was a fairly impressive year on the song level. Where 2008 did drop the ball was with individual albums. It also had the unenviable task of following 2007, which was a ridiculously strong year in all media. By comparison, I'm unsure of how many items on the '08 list would even merit inclusion alongside the '07 highlights (the top two for sure; after that, I'd have to break each album down a bit more). But that just goes to show how unpredictable both the music scene and my personal taste can be. Which isn't to say the ten albums I've chosen are bad by any means. It's more to say that 2007 was so damn good that, if you haven't heard them, you should go back and check those out too.
Best Pre-2008 Album Heard: The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me by Brand New. As it turns out, Jesse Lacey's pitch-black meditation on life, death, and everything in between resonates with me far more than I could have ever expected. The first six songs (half the album, for god's sake) are the closest thing to a perfect stretch I've encountered in a long, long time, and the album as a whole is probably one of the twenty or so best I've ever heard (which, given how many I've heard, is astounding).
10. The Dodos, Visiter
A best-of-year list is a festive occasion, so let's get the complaints over with first: this album is way too long. By a good quarter, actually. Length itself is never really an issue with me (there are other albums on this list that are just as long); it's the way an album chooses to carry that length that makes the difference. Nothing on Visiter qualifies as bad (or even not-good), but evidently this admittedly intriguing flavor of minimalist guitar-and-drums indie-rock starts to wear thin over the course of a solid hour. As cool as the music is, by the end I just don't feel much like listening to it anymore, and that is a bit of an issue. But this is the Top 10 list, right? I'm supposed to like this. So I'll start in with the good stuff.
In spite of these problems, Visiter is a very good album. If they had shaved about 15 minutes off the second half (take out a couple of the long 6-ish minute tracks like "God?" and "The Season" and save 'em for an EP or some such), it could very easily have been a great one. 'Cause when the album works, it really, really works. The first time I heard the opening four songs, I thought for sure I had stumbled onto some sort of modern masterpiece. The way "Walking" seamlessly transforms itself into "Red and Purple," comes down slightly for "Eyelids," then takes itself right back up again for "Fools" is nothing short of breathtaking. Likewise, at several points ("Joe's Waltz," "Jodi," and so forth), the rock-out factor becomes really impressive: soft, acoustic strumming systematically devolves into exhilarating, hypnotic noisemaking in the best possible way. And most importantly, it's really just an enjoyable album overall. The guys clearly have a good sense of humor, and the whole deal is a lot of fun. Length issues aside, I really have no qualms about it being here. It's kind of awesome.
9. Shearwater, Rook
I know I'm not alone when I ask, why the hell was Jonathan Meiburg not lead singer for Okkervil River? Seriously, the first time I listened to Rook, my thought was, "Oh hello, guy who can sing really goddamn well. Where the hell have you been?" Well, he's been singing backup for Will Sheff (see: Okkervil's "Lost Coastlines," one of the year's best tracks, actually), who's not a bad singer, but is certainly a different and noticeably inferior one. But now Meiburg's out on his own. He got out of the River, dried off, and is working full-time with his own outfit Shearwater. I think, at this point, that's definitely the best thing for him.
Rook was the band's breakthrough from total obscurity into only semi-obscurity (gotta love these escalating circles of indie hell; Dante would be proud), and its sweep is something to behold. So looming and grandiose is its presence (again, Meiburg's operatic, Scott Walker-ish croon does wonders), and so deeply affecting is its beauty (this is some pretty music, right here) that it's easy to forget it's actually a couple minutes shy of the 40-minute mark. It still has me scratching my head, even after 6+ months of listening to it. This thing just appeared one day without any buzz at all, got eaten up by the few who had the pleasure of being exposed to it, and then the band just disappeared off the face of the earth again. Oh well. Que sera, sera. Rook is an epic, but lovely sounding album, with an impressively confident atmosphere and a singer who, once again, I can't praise enough. Maybe more Okkervil and indie fans will discover this in hindsight. Until then, it remains a fine and highly valuable buried treasure.
8. The Gutter Twins, Saturnalia
Far and away the year's bleakest album. Of what I heard, anyway, and I heard a few. But for The Gutter Twins, that pervasive (and sometimes borderline oppressive) darkness is actually what makes the album instead of breaking it. Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan are veterans. They're leftovers from the grunge era who realize grunge is long gone, but still hold fast to their roots (though, to clarify, it's certainly much more "alternative rock" than it is straight-up grunge). As a result, Saturnalia sounds more like a product of 1992 than of 2008, but with more than a fair share of through-a-glass-darkly nostalgia. And much like its post-Katrina album cover (my favorite art of the year) might suggest, it is a big, brooding bastard of an album. Lyrics peppered with references to God, the Rapture, and mass destruction weave in and out of walls of thick, dense, but undeniably alluring atmosphere while Dulli (the mellifluous one) and Lanegan (the drunk, Tom Waits-ish one) alternately flood the microphone with voices that, while unconventional, seem perfectly suited to this sort of music.
In the end, it's the sort of thing you're either going to commit yourself to immediately or not want any of. Whereas I have a proclivity to dark, melodic, forceful music ("God's Children" was narrowly left off my best-songs list), others may be left cold by what is otherwise a harsh and unforgiving album. I've seen it go either way. Me? I think this is some fierce, powerful stuff. While I can't be too sure if these two will ever team up as The Gutter Twins again, I certainly hope so. I'd like to see what they can do.
7. Bound Stems, The Family Afloat
How such a thing could've been completely ignored by the indieverse is beyond me. It's been said several times that no particular new trend emerged in 2008, that bands were left more or less to create variations on pre-existing styles. All the more reason, then, why Bound Stems and their excellent sophomore album should have gotten their due. Their sound hangs somewhere between Modest Mouse and Arcade Fire, two of the best and most respected bands in the biz (not to mention two of my personal favorites), but they never come across as a cheap imitation. They show an intimidating array of musical ideas on The Family Afloat, all of which they easily and assuredly make their own.
Three-part album highlight "Taking Tips from the Gallery Gang," one of the most impressive and attention-getting album openers in some time, is evidence enough. By the time four and a half minutes are over, the band has already taken its listener through more interesting ideas than many full albums contain. The rest of the disc more or less follows suit. But for every ambitious, potentially challenging track like "Palace Flophouse and Grill" or "Sugar City Magic," there's a lovely, straightforward pop song like "Happens to Us All Otherwise" or "Winston" to balance it out. Sure, maybe not everything works, but so many things do work (and so well) that it's hard not to call The Family Afloat a triumph. If this is the sound of a band getting their bearings and working up to a masterpiece (and it really sounds like it), I cannot wait for their third album. Maybe then they'll get some recognition, too.
6. Luomo, Convivial
Sorry to keep crashing the party with references to this website, but I love Pitchfork. I didn't even know Luomo had a new album coming out, but they did. They gave it one of their highest ratings of the year (which it deserved), then proceeded to snub it completely on their end-of-year lists (which it didn't deserve). Either way, this reassures me of two things: (1) Pitchfork are assholes; (2) they're great for directing me to music I wouldn't have even known about. For anyone who has heard Luomo's overwhelmingly unwieldy 2000 album Vocalcity, this may come as a bit of a surprise, but Convivial is a pop album. Straight-up, no holds barred. It's also the best thing he's ever done. True to its title, Luomo assembles a small army of guest vocalists and proceeds to lead his listeners through a festive 65-minute labyrinth of house-inspired dance ditties that, while consistently clocking in at around 7 minutes, never seem to outstay their welcome. Of course, the distinction must be made: when I call this a "pop album," I'm using the term in the broadest sense. Luomo is definitively a producer of electronica, so that's where the focus is. That these grooves are also insanely catchy and accessible is a fringe benefit. My personal favorite is the dark and new romantic-esque "Love You All," but I'm sure you'll find your own favorite. Because, truly, there's quite a bit here to love. If only more people knew about it. (Gee, does that sound familiar?)
5. Foals, Antidotes
Rumor has it that the original mix of Foals' debut album was completed by TV on the Radio producer Dave Sitek, but the band -- upon hearing it -- found it too "avant-garde" and murky and decided to scrap it. It makes me wonder what that might've sounded like, because it really feels like the boys are going for the exact opposite in the album's "true" version: this is crisp, clean, crunchy sounding stuff. And I know it hasn't gotten the best reception from the indie community at large, but I really love it. It's got that same hyperrhythmic quality that made the Battles album so fascinating, but with a very strong ear for approachability. Basically, it all comes down to whether or not you dig the style. If you do, you're set. Antidotes is awesome. If you don't, you're going to have nothing but variations on said style crammed down your throat for 50 minutes. I can see how that might easily qualify as "not fun." It's not an album that's ever likely to receive accolades for its diversity, but that's all right. It doesn't have to. If you manage to work up a good sound, you should stick with it. From beginning to end, Antidotes is a fun foray into toe-tappin' math-rock. That's pretty much all there is to it. Except for the cover, of course, which might merit inclusion in some kind of Worst Album Art Ever contest. But that's something else entirely.
4. TV on the Radio, Dear Science
It took Dear Science and a bunch of hindsight to show me what has more or less been apparent for some time now: TV on the Radio is simply one of the finest bands of any sort making music today. I don't know why I failed to grasp this. I mean, I've liked them for a good couple years now, but somehow the pieces never added up. Check this out: they made "Wolf Like Me" (the very best song of 2006, and one of the best singles ever, in my opinion), Return to Cookie Mountain still stands as one of the strongest and most unique releases in years, Young Liars is one of the greatest EPs of the decade, and Desperate Youth is a startlingly confident first album. They've been asserting their awesomess for some time now. But it was Dear Science that really hit this band home for me. I'm not sure exactly why, but it probably has something to do with the fact that this album catches them in the act of doing what they do best: just being TV on the Radio.
While all said and done I still prefer the atmosphere-soaked Cookie Mountain, it's impossible to argue that this isn't a much freer, more accessible release. Throwing caution to the wind, the boys tackle funk, soul, gospel, electronica, and straight-up rawk in equal measure. In theory, this should be a total trainwreck, but that's just a testament to how damn good the band is: all of it works absurdly well, and all of it -- despite being miles apart stylistically -- sounds inherently like TV on the Radio (again, it's the type of album so diverse that no consensus can ever be made for best track; "Family Tree" gets my vote, but that's just personal taste). Indeed, they have successfully reached that much-sought but sparsely populated plateau of not only sounding different, but having a sound that is distinct and entirely attributable to them. That takes skill. And if that isn't reason enough to seek out Dear Science, here's another: it's one hell of an entertaining album.
3. The Rosebuds, Life Like
Every time I hear the Rosebuds I think of Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction (my mind is an interesting place -- hear me out). Namely, the part where he's arguing with John Travolta and says, "What happened here was a miracle, and I want you to fucking acknowledge it!" Aside from the, like, three people I know who are into this band, I want the world to fucking acknowledge that The Rosebuds are one of the best damn indie pop bands on the planet and give them the dues they deserve. Last year's Night of the Furies was a masterpiece and a nearly impossible album to follow, but Life Like shows that husband-and-wife team Ivan Howard and Kelly Crisp definitely have the chops to take on the challenge. It's not a better album, but it's certainly a different one.
In a strange sense, it feels almost like a step backwards: if 2005's Birds Make Good Neighbors was a traditional guitar-based album and Furies was all about dark, bubbly synth-pop, it stands to reason that Life Like -- with its combination of guitars and moody electronic elements -- should've been the bridge between those two albums rather than the follow-up. This is just an observation, mind you, and is not to the detriment of the music itself, which is -- for the most part -- excellent. Few bands out there have a better grasp on how to write dark, sumptuous pop songs, and Life Like is a veritable feast. "Bow to the Middle" is the obvious stand-out and a worthy successor to last year's equally poppy "Get Up Get Out," but most of the other tracks can certainly hold a candle to it as well. To The Rosebuds' credit, it's a very even album. It works well as a piece. And even if, as the liner notes explain, they never really meant to make the album (they had intended a hiatus, which -- sadly -- we'll probably get now), I'm so thankful that they did. I love these guys.
2. Wolf Parade, At Mount Zoomer
I know it's an overused expression, but it's well suited here: Wolf Parade's much-anticipated sophomore album is a grower. I'll be the first to admit that the first couple listens didn't do much for me. I was underwhelmed. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure what I was expecting. Apologies to the Queen Mary (which I put at #1 back in 2005, for what it's worth) singlehandedly established this group of ambitious Canucks as one of the most able-bodied new outfits on the scene. Since then, Handsome Furs and Sunset Rubdown have shown a darker, more progressive side to the band's two principal songwriters. So it's fitting that At Mount Zoomer would sound like a great amalgamation. By taking the experimental tendencies of those two side projects and filtering them through Queen Mary's pop song sensibility, the band has created one of the most enigmatic and challenging albums of the year. But I am full proof that, in addition to this, it also hugely rewards patience. If it leaves you cold, stick with it. Things will click little by little.
For instance, how could I not have heard how awesome the build-up is between the woozy first half and the piano-stompin' second half of "An Animal in Your Care"? Or how, in the midst of all this dense progressivism, Dan Boeckner actually manages to throw in an unpretentious pop song ("The Grey Estates") without making it seem like the odd man out? The more listens you devote to this, the more you start to realize that literally just about everything seems to be in the right place. Much like their debut, Boeckner continues to be the Straightforward Rock Guy and Krug continues to be the I Do What I Want But That's Okay Because I'm Fucking Brilliant guy. They've just taken matters in a much darker, more ambitious direction. And while none of it sounds much like "I'll Believe in Anything" (still, like, the best song ever, by the way), that's perfectly all right by me. You had me at "FIRE IN THE HOLE!!"
1. Cut Copy, In Ghost Colours
Certainties. There are some things you just know. I first heard In Ghost Colours in late March, a long time before I heard any other album on this list. Yet somehow, even after that first listen, I knew it was going to be Album of the Year. It wasn't that I was so pessimistic for the outcome of the last three quarters; on the contrary, I'm always eminently hopeful that something's going to come along and knock my socks off. It's just that Cut Copy's marvelous sophomore album takes a style I have an inflexible attachment to (80s synth-pop) and does it so much justice that I simply found it near-impossible to believe another album could come along and speak to me as profoundly. What this trio of Aussies has accomplished with In Ghost Colours is so admirable it actually becomes difficult to describe. Rare is the album where I like every song; even rarer is the album where, if I didn't check myself, every song could potentially be a year-best candidate. This is such an album. The growth in songwriting chops Dan Whitford has shown since the band's good-not-great debut Bright Like Neon Love is almost inhuman. Sure, "Lights and Music" was the lucky track that made my list, but I honestly love "Hearts on Fire," "Feel the Love," "So Haunted," and "Strangers in the Wind" almost as much.
And not only does it act as a tremendous collection of songs, but the band sequences in short ambient linking tracks that also boost its effectiveness as a cohesive piece (many have criticized these as filler, but I disagree: listen to the cool, restrained way "Voices in Quartz" builds into "Hearts on Fire" and tell me the overall effect of that track wouldn't suffer without it). But, when you get right down to it, there's nothing about this album that I don't find dumbfoundingly brilliant. The production takes a style firmly rooted in the New Order/Cure 80s, updates it to sound thoroughly modern, and consequently creates something appealingly timeless. I fully predict this is will sound just as fresh in 2028 as it does in 2008. At least, I certainly hope so. In Ghost Colours is an astonishing pop record. By never making a false move and thrilling constantly, it's both the best of 2008 and one of the best electronic albums of the decade. Hell, I'd even say "ever." To both.
Last Year's List:
At a glance, I'm not really sure I'd change much of anything here. Maybe some minor re-ordering, but for the most part my opinion now is pretty consistent with what it was a year ago. I can't think of anything I left off or would want to add. It was just a great, great year for music.
10. Blonde Redhead, 23
9. Panda Bear, Person Pitch
8. The Shins, Wincing the Night Away
7. Radiohead, In Rainbows
6. Of Montreal, Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
5. Blaqk Audio, CexCells
4. Arcade Fire, Neon Bible
3. Mew, Frengers
2. The Rosebuds, Night of the Furies
1. Sunset Rubdown, Random Spirit Lover
Looking Ahead: 2009 promises new albums from The Decemberists, Sunset Rubdown, Arcade Fire, Brand New, Silversun Pickups, Apoptygma Berzerk, Franz Ferdinand, and plenty of others. If any of these even approach their respective bands' best work, it's going to be a tremendous year indeed. I can't wait.
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