What I Missed in 2008

Gearing up for the year-end lists and decade-end lists, here's a list of the albums that should have been in my "Best of 2008" list but weren't.

First off, these should have at least been considered:

• Eat Skull - Sick to Death (Siltbreeze)
  
• Jay Reatard - Matador Singles (Matador)
  
• Parts & Labor - Receivers (Jagjaguar)

Now here's what's most glaringly missing:

4. No Age - Nouns (SubPop)
I had some misconceptions about No Age that caused my brain to subconsciously dislike whatever I heard by them. Then one day last spring, I was listening to Nouns and suddenly I got it. Noise pop/punk at its absolute best.

3. The Mae Shi - HLLLYH (Moshi Moshi)
This one I just totally missed. It's a ballsy noise rock album about bible stories and religion. I like to holler along.

2. TV on the Radio - Dear Science (Interscope)
I think I made up a rule for myself specifically to disqualify this album because I could not properly wrap my brain around it. Turns out the only problem was I was trying to hear it as a rock album. If you need to contextualize music you listen to, this is a tricky one because you have to think of it simultaneously as an indie rock album and as an R&B/soul album. When you do, it makes perfect sense why this album was #1 for so many people. It's stunning.

1. Fucked Up - The Chemistry of Common Life (Matador)
This one also came in totally under my radar. It takes hardcore punk to an entirely new level. It should have been my #1. (Sorry, Marnie!)

The great thing about blogging is that it's never too late to fix your mistakes! Lots more lists coming up soon!

Guest List: Top 7 Albums of 2008 (Hortense's List)

Another guest list, another turn on the random name generator. Here it is:


1. Youth Novels by Lykke Li - Okay.... Cute voice, talented writer and a damn good dancer! Not to mention she is smoking hot! My favorite album of 2008. Listen to: Little Bit


2. Volume One by She and Him - This album was surprisingly made by Zooey Deschanel (girl from winter passing, elf) and M ward. It has a 60s feel to it and I find it rather relaxing to cook/bake to. Don't make fun of me until you try it.


3. Exit Strategy of the Soul by Ron Sexsmith - This album is timeless, classic and beautifully composed.


4. For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver - This album is slow, yet moving. As a whole, it keeps your attention by building up each song.


5. Fleet Foxes by Fleet Foxes - The name totally fits the band. When I listen to it, I just imagine lots of little cute forest animals gathering and singing like a chorus. Very pretty blended high vocals.


6. Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust by Sigur Rós - Ok, I was a bit confused when I first heard this, because I'm used to just putting on a Sigur Rós album and relaxing. This one has a fewupbeat songs in the beginning of the album, but they put you in such a good mood you have to like them. Towards the end, you can relax again, because the album finishes off with beautifully soft songs.


7. Lesser Matters by the Radio Dept. - This album was close to not making my list because I thought it came out in 2007. However it was released on Jan 1st, 2008, so HA! It just made it! This album has a lot of great songs. My Favorites: Keen On Boys, Why Won't You Talk About It, and Lost and Found.


On a side note..... Lykke Li will be performing at Webster Hall on Feb 2nd.. Definitely worth seeing! Happy New Year Everyone.

Best Albums of 2008 - Part 5 - #5-1

Although this list has shifted a lot, there's never been any doubt that these five albums would top it. They are not only the best of 2008, they are a full head and shoulders above everything else.

PREVIOUS>>
Part 1 - Rules and Runners Up
Part 2 - #20-16
Part 3 - #15-11
Part 4 - #10-6


#5

Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna
The Social Registry

I have searched and searched for some criticism to make of this album, but I haven't come up with much. Gang Gang Dance have always been innovators, but in this release, which fleshes out their club/dance tendencies, the band has at last fully lived up to their immense potential. Saint Dymphna is one of the only true masterpieces of 2008, and if this were not explicitly a rock/pop list, this album might have placed even higher than #5.

An epic electronic album, Saint Dymphna draws on influences from My Bloody Valentine and Brian Eno to "world-beat" (in the rawest, most "tribal" sense) to trip-hop, and uses elements from each style so smoothly, you could swear each one was invented specifically to be a tool in the dub toolbox. Of all the electronic acts who are supposed to be lovable to rock critics (Aphex Twin, DJ Shadow, Mouse on Mars, etc.), this is the first one to really win me over. I'm not sure why, but I think it's because the music has genuine feeling but none of the machismo that usually accompanies it in the genre. In any case, the album shows brilliance in inspiration and meticulous care in execution. It's as close to perfect as 2008 has to offer.

Tinchy Stryder, guest rapper on "Princes," puts it best: "Oh shit! Gang Gang!"

Track picks: "Blue Nile," "Desert Storm"
MySpace


#4

Titus Andronicus - The Airing of Grievances
Troubleman Unlimited

For all of us who thought the twenty-first century and hardcore punk would never really find a meeting point, Titus Andronicus has proven us wrong. The subversive edginess of hardcore is alive and well in Grievances, but the album is as far as you can get from revivalist - the punk of Titus Andronicus is fresh and original, smart, innovative and unrestricted by convention. It takes into account the important musical developments of the last few decades, borrowing guitar techniques from shoegazers, songwriting ideals from British indie popsters and experimentalist cues from post-hardcore burners. Punk, meet 2008. 2008, meet punk.

Track pick: "Titus Andronicus"
MySpace


#3

Wavves - Wavves
Woodsist

I think what's most compelling about Wavves is that its only member, Nathan Williams, delivers his songs with the confident ease of someone who knows his music could kick anyone else's music's ass. It's dope to the point where if you don't like it, everyone will know it's because you're not cool enough, not because there's anything wrong with the music. Yeah, that's not fair to say about any band, but Wavves are the best candidate for getting away with such cooler-than-you trickery since Sonic Youth's heyday.

But it's not really trickery, because the album really is that good. Wavves sounds like it may have been recorded through a jet engine - the guitars are distorted, the drums are distorted, the vocals are distorted, absolutely everything is distorted. But the pseudo-surf, pseudo-punk numbers are short and catchy, if you can make them out through the roar of static. Most importantly, the album is fiercely independent, fearless and self-assured to an degree very few bands have ever achieved.

Track picks: "Teenage Super Party," "Wavves"
MySpace


#2

Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now, Youngster...
Wichita Recordings / Arts & Crafts

I can't possibly tell you how obsessed I am with this album. Los Campesinos!'s second album of the year, We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed placed at #15 on this list, so I've already said a little about the band. While Hold On Now is a less refined effort, it won out for top spot because it's got the best songs and the higher level of originality of the two releases.

Los Campesinos! are a manic Welsh pop band that boasts seven or eight members - who all together generate a hella lot of noise. They play ping-pong with melodies, passing them back and forth, at times by the word, and there's always a half-dozen different parts at once, making this an album worth hearing many times through.

Most importantly, the melodies and hooks are hands-down the best pop music offered up in 2008. Keeping in mind I don't even nod my head at most concerts, you can take as evidence of the album's catchiness the fact that I've been seen jumping up and down like a maniac on subway platforms because this was playing in my headphones. True, the band goes right up to the very brink of overly self-aware, puke-inducing preciousness, but just when you think you're going to start hating them, they pull something else awesome out of their hat and you're back to being madly in love again. In the world of straight-up pop, this album is not only the best of the year, it's one of the best of the decade.

Track picks: "My Year In Lists" (how appropriate!), "Death to Los Campesinos!"
MySpace


#1

Marnie Stern - This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That
Kill Rock Stars

No, this isn't a "worst album title" list, though This Is It would score just as well in that competition. But this is a "Best of 2008" list and this album is the best of the year. To be honest, I ignored Marnie Stern for a long time because I saw the individual name and wrote it off as "boring solo project" without giving it a try. But I heard so much about Stern this fall that I decided to give the album a fair chance - and it was not remotely like anything I might have expected. It's a high-speed riot-grrrl-inspired noise-rock explosion featuring a dozen tracks of non-stop shredding, lightspeed drumming and raging, enveloping melodies. It's like nothing I've ever heard.

I put a lot of consideration into the placement of This Is It at the top of the list, and I feel confident that this is where it belongs. The reason is simple: while most of the standout albums of 2008 will be surpassed and fade into the background of their respective genres with time, I really believe in ten or twenty years, Marnie Stern's record will still sound fresh, and that it will still have the power to move and inspire. Time might prove me wrong, but of anything released this year, it's the most worthy of becoming a classic in the world of rock and roll.

Track picks: "Transformer," "Steely"
MySpace


That's it! Comments welcome!

Best Albums of 2008 - Part 4 - #10-6

We're getting to the good stuff now...

PREVIOUS>>
Part 1 - Rules and Runners Up
Part 2 - #20-16
Part 3 - #15-11


#10

The Crystal Stilts - The Crystal Stilts [EP]
Woodsist

The Crystal Stilts have made some big waves this year with their simple, measured pop songs, which sizzle with distortion, ring with indie dramatics and have so much reverb, they may have been recorded in a cave. Yes, I know they put out a real album in 2008. And that album, Alight of Night is more polished and more cohesive than the self-titled EP. However, this collection of songs was the more exciting of the two. While on the album proper, the Stilts could consistently be mistaken for the Jesus & Mary Chain, the EP shows a broader range of influences and a lot greater diversity between songs. Alight of Night shows what the Crystal Stilts are, but The Crystal Stilts shows what they could be.

Track pick: "Converging in the Quiet"
MySpace


#9

Deerhoof - Offend Maggie
Kill Rock Stars

Just because Deerhoof have put out better albums in the past doesn't mean their 2008 release isn't better than the vast majority of albums this year. Offend Maggie is a less focused and slightly more conventional effort than their masterpiece Reville, but it still features their signature angular guitars and oddball childlike melodies. And the album includes some of the band's best experiments in dissonance and contrast. Moreover, the band's extraordinary originality hasn't faded, and Offend Maggie makes it clear why Deerhoof have become one of the most venerated experimental acts of the decade.

Track pick: "Offend Maggie"
MySpace


#8

Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Subpop Records

If you haven't heard of the Fleet Foxes by now, just pick a random blog post from 2008 from any music blog and you'll probably get something about this band. I thought I would dislike them, but after I gave them a fair listen, I have to say, their album has certainly earned much (if not quite all) of its praise. A down-home folk album with definite roots in spirituals and hymns, Fleet Foxes is far more tame than most of what gets my attention. What's edgy and interesting is that no one else is making quite this kind of music these days, at least no one with a recording contract, a tour manager and some indie rock cred. The record is a confident and cohesive collection of songs, and though the band's vision may not do much to push the envelope, they execute it with such a polished ease that it's no wonder this has been one of the stand-out records of the year.

MySpace


#7

Foals - Antidotes
Transgressive Records

I'm jumping on the bandwagon again on this one, but I'm feeling increasingly confident in my decision to like this band - already Antidotes is in regular rotation on my iPod, not in consideration for this review but because I really want to hear it. The album is most notable for the constant, complex interplay between guitars, bass and drums, each of which play "lead" parts that could alone propel the songs. Together, the parts lock into tight tracks that never grow boring. And over it all soar pop-friendly but original melodies that make it hard to tear yourself away.

Track pick: "Red Socks Pugie"
MySpace


#6

MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
Red Ink/Columbia

MGMT exploded into the mainstream in early 2008 for very good reason. Their super-catchy, radio-ready electronica has more rock sensibility than any club music since the early 90's Madchester scene. Catchy beats, irresistible melodies and masterful keyboards drive the whole richly-varied album forward. With obvious roots in psychedelic and Britpop music, MGMT has created an album lovable by everyone from club-rats to Flaming Lips junkies to anglophile rock snobs.

Track pick: "Kids"
MySpace


NEXT>> Part 5: #5-1

Best Albums of 2008 - Part 3 - #15-11

Here's the third installment...

PREVIOUS>>
Part 1 - Rules and Runners Up
Part 2 - #20-16


#15

Los Campesinos! - We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
Wichita Recordings / Arts & Crafts

This band surprised everyone by releasing two full albums in 2008, both of them gold. We Are Beautiful, the second of the two, curbs some of the manic pop expressions of the first and shows the band's more mature and steady side. In slowing things down, they bump up against a few more indie rock cliches, but the album is still beautifully crafted. Their richly-orchestrated pop and youthful, emotional vocals combine to make this one of the best albums of the year.

Track pick: "We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed"
MySpace


#14

The Kills - Midnight Boom
Domino Records

"Sexy" is the adjective of choice in describing this album, and it's entirely deserved. Midnight Boom is an indie rock album, but it has the meticulous production of electronica/dance and the catchy beats to match. Delivered with confidence, the songs are hip and fun, but not without their tender moments. It's album of contradictions - down-to-earth but smart, gritty but polished, sophisticated but accessible - and it doesn't sound like anything else in 2008.

Track pick: "U.R.A. Fever"
MySpace


#13

Wye Oak - If Children
Merge Records

This duo won me over when I saw them live a few weeks ago. While they intially come off as gentle and folky, Wye Oak can crank it up too. The result, so far, is this gorgeous debut (originally released before 2008 but re-released on Merge Records to a much wider audience this year). Its noise-folk ranges from homey, comforting acoustic numbers to towering cliffs of sound. Each composition is well-conceived and over it all, both members deliver some of the year's best lyrics. (If you can listen to "If Children Were Wishes" without crying, you probably have no soul.)

Track pick: "Family Glue"
MySpace


#12

Tears Run Rings - Always, Sometimes, Seldom, Never
Clairecords

I said this album might not be in the top "dozen or so" albums of the year, but that was before I'd listened to all the competition. On this dazzling debut, TRR have matched and even surpassed the quality of most their early 90's shoegaze influences. Always, Sometimes is nothing revolutionary, but anything that can stand on a level with best of Pale Saints or Slowdive is worth serious attention. For those not familiar with these bands, imagine a series of shimmering soundscapes and entrancing melodies so rich that they seem to build another world around you, a dense forest of sound blanketed in somber beauty. This is nothing but pure shoegaze heaven.

Track pick: "Fall Into Light"
MySpace


#11

The Manhattan Love Suicides - Burnt Out Landscapes
Squirrel Records/Magic Marker Records

This collection of EPs, singles, radio sessions and other rarities is so packed with music that it clocks in only seconds short of the 80-minute mark. And astoundingly, almost all of the album's 27 songs are pop gems in their own right. Massive feedback and distortion drench the entire record, but the songs themselves are tightly-constructed two-minute catchy pop numbers reminscent of classics like the Beach Boys. The MLS are far from the first band to use this template, but they are one of the best in recent years, never wavering as they churn out one bright melody after another.

Track pick: "Johnny Boy," "Keep It Coming" or really any of them. They're all good.
MySpace


NEXT>> Part 4: #10-6
Part 5: #5-1

Best Albums of 2008 - Part 2 - #20-16

Hey! This is part #2!

PREVIOUS>> Part 1 - Rules and Runners Up


#20

Frightened Rabbit - Midnight Organ Fight
FatCat Records

This rather conventional pop record just managed to squeeze on the list on the merits of both songwriting and sound. I was a bit surprised, since Glasgow breeds almost exclusively boring and overrated bands, but this one actually knows how to rock! Particularly notable, the guitar arrangements are driving and innovative. Yeah, the words are a bit whiny, but most bands' lyrics are, and at least these are from the heart. It's all-around solid pop album with a rough-shod Scottish attitude, perfect for crying in your beer to, but also suitable for rocking out.

Track pick: "Good Arms vs. Bad Arms"
MySpace


#19

Why? - Alopecia
Anticon Records

I thought about not considering Why? for the list because as I explained, I've left out rap albums. However, a full listen revealed as much indie rock as rap here. Either way, it's a great album of well-performed music, with interesting hip-hop rhythms, beyond-solid drum and guitar work and bold originality. For Ohio-born former high school band dweebs, these guys are pretty ill.

Track Picks: "The Hollows," 'The Fall of Mr. Fifths"
MySpace


#18

M83 - Saturdays = Youth
Mute Records

If this album's finest moments were more indicative of its overall quality, it would have fallen much higher on the list. M83's electronic shoegaze creates some of the most stunning walls-of-sound of the year, and some of the most interesting hooks too. The album includes too many skippable tracks to win out against the other albums on the list, but if you're thinking of picking up a copy, do it! It may not be solid throughout, but the good stuff is some of the best music out there these days.

Track pick: "Kim & Jessie"
MySpace


#17

Ponytail - Ice Cream Spiritual
We Are Free Records

Ponytail has beat out Women for the "Best Blatantly Experimental Indie Rock Band That Put Out An Amateur But Promising Release In 2008" award, because while I can compare Women to other post-rock bands, Ponytail goes in a more original direction. I'm not sure how to describe it without making it sound dreadful, and indeed, if you can't handle edgy, you may want to steer clear. High-speed noise rock from guitars and drums plus random whooping and wailing doesn't sound like a good idea, but Ponytail makes it work and makes it awesome. And their entirely fearless approach to musical innovation makes me suspect this may be only a first hint of something truly great.

MySpace


#16

The Dodos - Visiter
Frenchkiss Records

I tossed this album on the "annoying" pile when I first heard it, but something (I don't remember what) made me go back and give it another try. And yeah, it has its annoying moments, but they don't do anything to counteract the much more important moments of simple, pure beauty. In 14 tracks of percussion-driven indie folk, the Dodos spin quiet tales of love, heartache and regret, without being remotely cliched or whiny. The careful arrangements are so subtle that they might be overlooked if it weren't for the album's consistently killer songwriting. A quirky charmer indeed!

Track picks: "Walking," "Jodi"
MySpace


NEXT>> Part 3: #15-11
Part 4: #10-6
Part 5: #5-1

Best Albums of 2008 - Part 1 - Rules and Runners Up

Here it is, the long awaited list! Well, it begins after few little notes, anyway.

Little note #1: You may have noticed that I just started the review in late October. Prior to that time, I wasn't paying much attention to new releases, so I've had a lot of catching up to do to get this list together. During that process, my brain ended up very cluttered, so I had to just eliminate some contenders for the sake of sanity. I just didn't have time to listen to it all this year. So here are the rules I made:

 a. It has to be at least partly rock/pop, which in this case includes some electro and folk, but excludes most rap, blues, country, "world," etc.

 b. No albums by "established" bands, which I defined as anyone who's been in the top hundred or so on the Billboard charts prior to 2008. That ruled out a lot of folks who would might have made it otherwise (Nick Cave, Portishead, Metallica, the Verve, etc.)

Yes, this is all very arbitrary and it's not ideal. But I started off too far behind, and I only have two ears and twenty-four hours every day to listen to all of this.

Little note #2: In general, this is a "Best of" list but it's got elements of a "favorites" list, in that some albums that were probably really great were too low key for me and my short attention-span (I'm thinking of Beach House, Grouper, etc.), so those didn't make the cut.

I tried to look for the most original, exciting albums more than for the most solid, most pretty or most polished - but obviously, these are all factors.

Little note #3: I always love comments! What did I miss? What's overrated? Share with the class!

OK, let's get started! First up, here are the albums that didn't make the top 20 (mostly on counts of originality) but deserve an honorable mention anyway:

Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward
The Big Sleep - Sleep Forever
The Black Angels - Directions to See a Ghost
The Crystal Stilts - Alight of Night
Deerhunter - Microcastle
The Raveonettes - Lust, Lust, Lust
The Ruling Class - Tour De Force [EP]
Werewoves - ES [EP]
Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer
Women - Women

NEXT >> Part 2: #20-16
Part 3: #15-11
Part 4: #10-6
Part 5: #5-1

Guest List: Top 5 Albums of 2008 (Pancho's List)

OK, here's another guest list for you, this one from my friend "Pancho" (thanks again, automatic name generator). Pancho plays bass guitar and sometimes writes reviews for legitimate music sites. (I can't tell you what, but you've probably heard of them.)

Pancho says:

I don't listen to a ton of new albums. I am an itunes picker and chooser and playlist maker, and I mostly listen to older stuff, but here you go:

1. TV on the Radio - Dear Science . . . Are they more like Earth Wind and Fire or Radiohead? They are most like TV on the Radio and way better than Talking Heads. This group is completely in control of their sound at this point, original and wholly relevant. Incredible concert in Brooklyn this year.

2. Nick Cave and the Badseeds - Dig Lazarus Dig . . . This one really rocks; the Grinderman project wore off on Nick and the result is a really funny, vivid rock and roll album with the literary effect still intact.

3. Karniege and NASA - From the Left . . . Progressive, psychedelic hip-hop in authentic and meaningful form. Like lunchroom boom-bap on acid. Really smart and thought out and tough as hell.

4. Earth - The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull . . . This might be one of the most boring instrumental albums ever made but I still really dig it. I think it's the piano flourishes that do it for me - they add this tiny little metallic sheen. If you have the time to listen to it, go ahead. Did this album even come out this year? Or was it 2007?

5. Kanye West - 808s and Heartbreak . . . . Kanye West fools a lot of people again by hiding a ton of musicianship, thought, and gigantic pop appeal in another somehow fascinatingly self-indulgent album. In case you can't hear the groove, listen to "Heartless" in your car. (If you don't have a car, buy one.) In case you don't catch the pop appeal, listen to the most seemingly retarded song such as "Robocop" twice and then catch yourself singing it on the subway and dying to listen to it again.

Honorable mention to Metallica for Death Magnetic, which you need to listen to more than once to understand what they pulled off. Seriously, it's a miracle that they made not only a decent album but a really good one that basically, jammed alll the way throughout. Kirk Hammet, as someone put it on a youtube comment, "still has the moves," definitely the star of the album and the least irritating member of Metallica.

Shout out to Isaac Hayes who died this year and dwarfs everyone on this list with a shadow the size of Jupiter. "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic" and "Do Your Thing" are a good starting points if you've never indulged in this phenomenal music. The latter finds him as easy to agree with as James Brown (that's right, Ike) and possibly even more so, which is no easy feat.

***

The first guest list is here.

Guest List: Top 10 Albums of 2008 (Salvador's List)

My list is almost ready for you all, but in the meantime, I've asked a couple of my more musically-inclined friends to contribute lists of their own.

So here's guest list #1. I won't tell you the author's name (let's call him "Salvador" - thanks random name generator, he'll hate that!), but I will tell you he's a guitar player and songwriter. I've also put in his notes.

Here it is!

10. Voyager One - "Afterhours In The Afterlife" (i just discovered them a few months ago)

9. Portishead - "Third" (they did it again)

8. The Charlatans - "You Cross My Path" (i think it's their best record since the 90's)

7. The Music - "Strength In Numbers" (i always LOVED this band)

6. Glasvegas - "Glasvegas" (i didn't like them before, but recently i started to adore this band)

5. James - "Hey Ma" (one of the greatest comebacks ever)

4. The Raveonettes - "Lust, Lust, Lust" (great, solid album)

3. Radiohead - "In Rainbows" (it's just so beautiful)

2. The Ruling Class - "Tour de Force" EP (they are gonna be HUGE soon)

1. The Verve - "Forth" (no question)


Stay tuned, I've got another one or two guest lists coming up.

RFR

Five Unjustly Overlooked Albums of 2008 - Part 2

I didn't forget about this list! If you missed Part 1, check it out. Now here's the other half:



She Keeps Bees
Nests
Self-released, 2008

Nests isn't an album that hides behind effects pedals or clever song titles - it's just a series of songs sung over frill-less guitar and drums. And that's what makes its quality so impressive. The album hinges entirely on the singing and songwriting of founder Jess Larrabee, and she delivers. I've seen a lot of reviewers try to classify She Keeps Bees as an indie rock album, comparing the music to the White Stripes (which is not inaccurate, I guess), but what it really is is back-to-the-basics alternative blues. There's an indie rock sensibility to it, but the songs themselves are skeletal blues numbers.

Larrabee's voice alone could carry the album; she's a singer of rare talent. However, the guitars and drums, though clearly there to support her singing, are also brilliantly gritty. A self-assured, solid, no-nonsense album, Nests deserves a listen.

MySpace



The Secret Life of Sofia
Seven Summits
Self-Released, 2008

OK, I'm kind of copying Pop Tarts Suck Toasted here, but I was into this band way before I started reading PTST. The Secret Life of Sofia is a folksy band from Brooklyn, but "folk" may be misleading, because unlike most folk music, TSLOS's music is thickly layered, complex and brooding. I don't think a comparison to Radiohead would be out of line.

Seven Summits is a concept album that tells a series of stories about mountain-climbing. Yeah, it's as odd as it sounds, but in the end, the stories meld into a much larger commentary about human vulnerability, survival in a world one can't control, the drive for exploration and the need to aspire to goals we may not even understand. There are things I don't care for in the album, but in concept, the album embodies a bold vision, and in execution, it delivers beautiful and profound music that will seep deep into your soul.

MySpace

Five Most Overrated Bands of 2008

5. Chairlift - OK, I don't dislike this band, they are OK. So I feel a little bad putting them on this list. But I do think they are overrated. I was disappointed to no other songs in their repertoire to live up to the beautiful simplicity of "Bruises", the iPod commercial song that pushed them into the spotlight. They have potential, but the hype is just too much. Their compositions are incoherent and their melodies are mostly bland. For the record, "Bruises" is undeniably lovely, another great pick by Apple's marketing people.

4. Cut Copy - These guys were overrated before 2008 too. They are creative, sure, but does that make up for being dreadfully irritating? I believe pretty strongly that all music, even the fun stuff, should have an element of beauty - or at the very least, sincerity. I haven't found that here.

3. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago is an album made by its backstory. It's not a soul-baring masterpiece, it's a series of whiny cliches (starting with the album title), all lumped together into poorly-constructed melodies and mediocre-at-best guitar work. The lyrics are especially dreadful. And the backstory isn't even that great. Isolated in the woods of northern Wisconsin? Uh, this isn't Nunavut or something, the most isolated it gets in Wisconsin is like twenty minutes outside of town. Living his parents' cabin? Seriously? That's barely a step up from living in their basement, and if it were me, I wouldn't brag about it in an international press release.

2. Vampire Weekend - This reminds me of pseudo-ska music. Enough to make this the most obnoxious band of 2008. Please make it stop.

1. Vivian Girls - I get that they are supposed to be cute girls who are not very good at their instruments, like an indie pop / punkgaze version of the Shaggs. Which definitely sounds cool. But so far, I just don't like them. In records and in performance, they're tediously boring. I hate to rag on my fellow female musicians, but I really don't get it.

Five Unjustly Overlooked Albums of 2008 - Part 1

OK, I'm still trying to get my best of 2008 lists together, but here's a little something to tide you over. Five albums that didn't get the buzz they clearly deserve, in no particular order...


Tears Run Rings
Always, Sometimes, Seldom, Never
Clairecords, 2008

OK, I'm not ranking the albums on this list, but if I were, this would be #1. It's beyond disappointing that even though everyone and their grandmother is in a self-proclaimed "shoegaze" band these days, one of the very best actual shoegaze bands of the year has gone virtually unnoticed. Sure, they got some blog mentions around the time of the album's release this spring, but I haven't seen it on any year-end lists, even for top debut albums. Granted, it may not be in the top dozen or so records of the year, but on longer lists, the omission of TRR is glaring.

In terms of the actual music, the record is spine-tinglingly gorgeous shoegaze that follows more in the path of Pale Saints, Slowdive and Opal than that of My Bloody Valentine or the Jesus & Mary Chain. It's a long album and it may not hold your attention all the way through, but the best moments (and there are many) are some of the most profoundly beautiful in shoegaze music's past ten or fifteen years.

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Team Genius
Team Genius
Self-Released, 2008

I gave this record a pretty warm review not too long ago and since writing that, it's only continued to grow on me. Basically, Team Genius is like your mom's macaroni and cheese - maybe not your all time favorite food [album], but when you need comfort, it's the perfect thing to warm you up inside and make everything seem OK. NYC reviewers should have made more noise about this release instead of freaking out about the Vivian Girls all fall (barf), but at least you and I know better!

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Elika
Trying Got Us Nowhere
Fiercely Independent, 2008

Another album I wrote up recently, I can't believe I haven't heard more about Elika's debut LP, especially in the NYC-based blogs. Their shoegaze-inspired electronica is simply miles better in its execution than the overwhelming majority of the band's peers. I've said it before: this is, hands down, one of the best debut albums of the year. Wake up, people!

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Stay tuned for Part 2...

UPDATE: Here's part 2!