As Einstein famously said, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” 2008 was caught somewhere in the spectrum of simplicity. Well, 2008 was just weird. There was an important presidential election. The economy went into hibernation. And we picked our favorite albums, twenty-five of ‘em actually! Without further ado, here are The Best Albums of 2008:
M83 – Saturday = Youth
There is something to be said about the artists who influenced the name of this site, M83. The French group have a fantastic catalogue of music that utilizes the shoegazing sounds of reverb and soft lyricism, with Saturdays=Youth only progressing their sound. Frontman (and only man) Anthony Gonzalez delves deeper into ambient tones that were abundant on M83’s debut and embraces a 1980s sound. The rich textures of M83’s music are still abundantly present but have been refocused on song structure, altering the familiar sound of M83 enough to make Saturdays=Youth a memorable gem. – Nathaniel
[MP3] M83 – We Own The Sky (Maps Remix)
MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound
The Dodos –
Visiter
When
Visiter came strolling into the hype machine earlier this year, I was torn over whether to invite it with open arms or to curse its new found habitation within the alt-mainstream world. After a track like “Fools”, which not-so-inconspicuously mimmicks the frenetic drumming and chanting of our beloved furry friends, I cast them off as a band doing to Animal Collective what Muse had done to Radiohead: decidedly unholy pop-ification. Not too long after I discovered the real charm behind Dodos, a youthful, wind-swept energy emerging ebulliently from songs like “Paint The Rust” and “Winter.” They may not have broken down walls and they won’t get medals for pushing boundaries, but
Visiter is a welcome addition to 2008’s diverse line-up. – Connor
[MP3] The Dodos – Ashley
MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound
Coldplay –
Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends
For those of you reading this, pondering the absurdity of putting a Coldplay album above some of your favorites, please hear me out. This list is more one collecting the albums that left a big impression, either through change or unexpectedness, on me this year. I
never thought I would be impressed by Coldplay, particularly after their drab and downright boring
X&Y, but
Viva La Vida showcased the biggest band in the world actually
trying to be different. With the invaluable help of Brian Eno and Markus Dravs producing, Coldplay may have stepped on the toes of U2 and Arcade Fire, but for a band that could have done anything, literally anything and still sold millions of records, Chris Martin chose a difficult path. And the payoff? A collection of beautiful, accessible, inspiring, political songs that challenge the world’s opinion of one of its most bankable bands. – Connor
[Video] Coldplay – Lost+ (Feat. Jay-Z)
MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound
Beck –
Modern Guilt
Beck reminds me of this landscape architect from my hometown, Edgewood, who virtually outfits nearly all of the city’s respectable houses with arboreal recreations worth appreciating. Instead of using trees and mulch, however,
Beck uses urban beats and electronic infusions in becoming a sonic landscaper. The strengths of
Modern Guilt are best encapsulated within my favorite track, “Gamma Ray”. The guitar hook and older, almost post-grunge feeling to the song fits perfectly into the benefits of modern era production standards. With
Danger Mouse producing and
Autmn de Wilde directing,
Modern Guilt makes for a great experience. – Nathaniel
[Video] Beck – Gamma Ray
MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound
Girl Talk –
Feed The Animals
With 2006’s
Night Ripper, Girl Talk took the idea of the mash-up and brought it to its most fully-realized state, a maniacal 42 minute megamix featuring hundreds and hundreds of samples from all of modern music’s genres and decades– chicken soup for the iPod shuffling generation’s soul. So with a new album in his prospects, it’s time to do it again! Err, at least that’s the hope right? Well not exactly. It might seem like an attainable goal, but considering some of
Night Ripper’s mashes (Biggie & Elton, Ludacris & Boston, Paul Wall & Phantom Planet) there’s just so much that Gillis
couldn’t use. Left with an array of recent hits (“Flashing Lights”, “Lip Gloss”) and some old ones (“Nothing Compares 2 U”, “Bohemian Rhapsody”), GT did his best to recreate
Night Ripper and came damn close in the process. While
Feed The Animals might not hit us as hard, it still has more than its fair share of classic moments. – Connor
[MP3] Girl Talk – Still Here
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Kings of Leon –
Only By The Night
I never followed
Kings Of Leon all that much until they released
Because Of The Times last year and made me reconsider my initial shrug of their sound. There was something that happened to the band when recording that album, they became extremely comfortable in their sound and confident in their abilities. It’s carried over onto
Only By The Night; their southern rock emotion has grown sharper and larger, to the point where they seem primed to become arena rockers. A band consisting of brothers and a cousin makes one wonder when they’re going to be finished growing up – hopefully not too soon, going from a garage to the arenas sounds far too pleasant. – Nathaniel
[MP3] Kings of Leon – I Want You
MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound
The Walkmen –
You & Me
There is something that has always sounded big about
The Walkmen. Perhaps it was their organic sound, untamed instruments, or sprawling vocals by frontman Hamilton Leithauser (who is big himself – 6′5!). Their 2008 release stands as one of, if not the, favorite Walkmen album I’ve ever gotten to spin. These D.C. rockers take a raw, emotional sound and nurture it a little longer – adding thoughtful touches that makes the album come together. Before
You & Me, I had listened to The Walkmen for their great tracks and now it’s for their albums. – Nathaniel
[MP3] The Walkmen – In The New Year
MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound
The Ruby Suns –
Sea Lion
I first fell in love with Ruby Suns after their 2005 self-titled debut, an album littered with Brian Wilson references and perfectly crafted summery melodies.
Sea Lion was a big change for the band, having moved their style to match indigenous tribal music from across the world — from Kenya to Northland to Aotearoa’s Maori tribe. What was at first intended to be a world music album later blossomed with elements of psychedelia (“There Are Birds”) and Beach Boys anthemics (“Kenya Dig It?”). In Animal Collective’s absence, a band whose music keeps us in touch with the absurd, the Ruby Suns gave us a much-needed break from the realities of the economy, terror attacks, gas prices, and the other horrors of modern living. For 42 minutes, we can lose ourselves in bliss– and if that’s not enough, we can reach back and hit play one more time. – Connor
[MP3] The Ruby Suns – Tane Mahuta
MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound
Sigur Rós –
Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust
Music is one of those fine artforms that can typically transcend language barriers – superb creativity isn’t easily lost in translation. Such is the case with Iceland’s
Sigur Rós, even though their latest album may actually become lost in translation (translates to
With Buzzing in Our Ears We Play Endlessly in English). And play endlessly they do, departing from their trademark minimalist sound and embracing traditional melodies marinated in folk. Even though they may embrace a lighter side with their release, Sigur Rós still have the power to transform a song that is tiptoeing along into one that is stampeding only seconds later. – Nathaniel
[MP3] Sigur Rós – Gobbledigook
MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound
Deerhunter –
Microcastle
From the moment
Microcastle leaked to the world a full five months before its release date, it has seemed destined to be the “Biggest Album of the Year.” With Bradford’s
publicized tantrums, and the collective blog world crapping themselves on a Radioheadesque scale, to his near confession that he basically
leaked it himself– this was 2008’s
SMiLE. Every great album has an equally sensational story to go along with it, but in Deerhunter’s case the story may have actually been greater than the 12 songs as a whole.
Microcastle gave us two of the most mindblowing, genre-pushing songs of the year (“Little Kids” and “Nothing Ever Happens”), and with two tracks of that level of perfection the others are destined to pale in comparison. Still, while
Microcastle wasn’t my favorite of the year, it is certainly the most memorable. – Connor
[MP3] Deerhunter – Nothing Ever Happened
MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound
Forest Fire –
Survival
Forest Fire came onto our radar this year with the release of
Survival, an entirely free download courtesy of
Catbird Records. New distribution methods and cheaper production costs have led, some would argue, to the further democratization of the music industry. Yet at the same time they have also led to a huge influx of new bands increasing competitiveness towards the ultimate goal, which for most musicians is and always has been to reach your ears. Forest Fire spent over eight months recording these ten tracks, and you can download them, criticize them, and accept or discard them in less than one hour. These are what the band calls “homeland hymns,” modest yet heartfelt, pastoral charm-rockers that blend day and night with a smooth southern edge. Perfect for hot summer days, long lonely nights, and everything in between. – Connor
[MP3] Forest Fire – Through My Gloves
MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Amie Street for just $2.26
Vampire Weekend –
Vampire Weekend
If you were watching a channel like Food Network, except instead of making pies and pastries you were learning how to construct a successful band, they’d start you off the simplest recipe: one part originality, two parts perfection. This may very well have been a recipe
Vampire Weekend followed in creating their smash debut album. It’s an album that sounds like the silver linings of independent rock, cloud not included. Once the appealing guitar of “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” and vocal inflection of “Oxford Comma” sink their hooks in you’re on a path to be charmed. An original, Afro-funk approach to delicious pop melodies that are executed so perfectly that it’s hard to not get caught up in the catchiness. – Nathaniel
[MP3] Vampire Weekend – M79 (Daytrotter Session)
MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound
El Guincho –
Alegranza!
It seems inevitable to think of Panda Bear’s
Person Pitch when listening to
Alegranza, but directly comparing the two releases produces fruitless commentary in which one (most likely
Alegranza) is left in the dust. While they both offer wild sample-heavy songs with some perverse notion that maybe they could be club songs, El Guincho’s debut brings in elements of Tropicalia, with afro-beat percussion and underwater dub sounds that sound more at home in a Caribbean Getaway video brochure than they do on Pitchfork’s homepage. Much like
Person Pitch, however, songs like “Antillas” and “Costa Paraiso” serve up unending loops that bend and twist in and out of your ears, pleasantly irritating your cochleas until the repetition nearly becomes part of your minute-to-minute existence. I welcome any music that makes me forget about listening mechanisms and spacial contexts, something El Guincho is very,
very good at doing. – Connor
[MP3] El Guincho – Palmitos Park
MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound
Lykke Li –
Youth Novels
Every year has its own surprises, and one of the biggest has to be Lykke Li and her debut
Youth Novels, an album that’s conventional enough to attract mainstream attention but weird enough to tickle the rest of us looking for something more. With the help of Björn Yttling (from Peter Bjorn & John) producing, Lykke crafted a pop album of near inexplicable appeal spanning numerous genres (blues ballad “Time Flies”, jazz jingle “I’m Good I’m Gone”, and verifiable summer pop hit “Little Bit”). Sweden seems to have a knack for producing overnight successes every single year, and none in recent memory seem be more deserving than Lykke Li. – Connor
[MP3] Lykke Li – Little Bit
MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound
Santogold –
Santogold
The first time I heard of the new artist Santogold, I thought King Midas had shaken hands with Santa Claus and BAM – new music! While musical artist Santogold (real name: Santi White) comes from more humble, rather, realistic origins (Philadelphia to be exact), this female sensation has taken the finer elements of appealing pop music and blended it with jagged electric rock. This perfect blend spawned her self-titled debut album, which is not only ear-refreshing but also genre shifting. The female formula of pleasant sounding pop initiated by Madonna, and subsequently reenforced by a catalogue of generational pop princesses, has finally been redefined. Santogold’s sound has been heavily influenced by bands like The Pixies and Blondie; much like her new wave predecessors, she’s becoming harder to keep off the charts and almost impossible to ignore. – Nathaniel
[MP3] Santogold – L.E.S. Artistes (XXXchange Mix feat. Movado)
MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound
Beach House –
Devotion
A lot of words come to mind when trying to sum up
Devotion– dreamy, crawling, ghostly, enchanting, euphoric. As you can see, it’s difficult to avoid to avoid the sort of clichéd, essentially meaningless commentary when dealing with an album as isolated and stylistically singular as this. Rather, I like to think of
Devotion as the soundtrack to the most beautiful film never made, filled with the most stunning cinematography never shot and the most authentic soul-reaching acting never performed. A dust-covered gem invoking as much piercing sentimentality and elegant agony as any piece of music in recent memory, songs that act as a comforting hand to guide us to the sensitive places within our selves we often long to reach. – Connor
[MP3] Beach House – Gila
MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound
Okkervil River –
The Stand-Ins
It’s hard to imagine how
The Stand Ins, or the music on it, would’ve been received if it had been released as the originally planned double disc to last year’s
The Stage Names. The two albums are similar in theme and content, lead singer Will Sheff constructing vivid sceneries with smooth lyrics and a strong voice to boot. I have always thought that this band would only go as far as Sheff would carry them, yet since they’ve been consistently touring the past few years their sound has continued to grow tighter and breathe additional charm into Sheff’s tunes. – Nathaniel
[MP3] Okkervil River – Lost Coastlines
MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound
Ratatat –
LP3
Perhaps the biggest burden for Ratatat to overcome is the simplicity of their music as a whole. The progression from their debut to
LP3 might be hard for the casual observer to place, with the general style, melodies, rhythms, and vibe (for lack of a better word) staying essentially the same. But for the more careful listener,
LP3 delivers a collection of songs whose parts, rather than the collective whole, shine brighter and dig deeper than anything in the duo’s previous arsenal. Within the sunny hooks, amalgamous intros and outros, and rabid beats are the kinds of unexpected, unusual noises that are normally reserved for
anything but pop music. The bong-rip-meets-crashing-wave intro of “Imperials”, the earthy thunderclaps on “Bruleé”, and the gaseous, neon flutters of “Flynn”– this is Ratatat fundamentally rediscovering their elemental whole. And you can bet they’ll do it again soon. – Connor
[MP3] Ratatat – Mirando
MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound
Arizona –
The Glowing Bird
There are some who might equate an album’s greatest strength with the title track; it should be a point of emphasis when the song and album title are synonymous. The sophomore effort never comes as natural as the debut for any band, but the essence of Arizona’s
The Glowing Bird can be best viewed through the gateway of the song itself. The track starts out as something eerie and enchanting, almost like a different sound from a faraway European country. The classic evolution of the song and, also, the album revolve around the very type of strong vocal harmonies and escalating instrumentation that make their second release a dynamic record. – Nathaniel
[MP3] Arizona – The Glowing Bird
MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound
Golden Animals –
Free Your Mind And Win A Pony
When we first caught up with the sparkling rock duo Golden Animals, they had just released their debut self-titled EP
for free via Happy Parts Recordings. After building a fan base intrigued by the band’s penchant for desolate rock grooves and free-love vibes, Golden Animals took an unusual but fitting route in recording their debut–driving out to the middle of the desert amidst 120+ degree solar flares, blood-red sunsets, lactating cacti, and endless freedom unadulterated by the deafening noise of society and discomfort of forced social interaction. With the influences of what the duo calls “all that naturally transpires when nature thinks no one is looking,” a scorching debut was born.
Free Your Mind and Ride a Pony is an equally comforting and strident affair that’s as much a product of Hunter S. Thompson’s desolate America as it is Tom Wolfe’s. If you like your rock dusty and your song-length escapes surreal, give Golden Animals a chance or two. – Connor
[MP3] Golden Animals – My My My
MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound
Arms –
Kids Aflame
What can I say about Arms that I haven’t said (in a washbucket of hyperbolic drool) before? In 2006, Arms wowed me with the song “Tiger Tamer” — the most authentic indie rock jam emerging from the post-CYHSY parade of like-sounding bands looking to capitalize on the indie masses’ rediscovered appreciation for damaged art rock. Two years and a record deal later, the man behind the moniker (Todd Goldstein) gave us
Kids Aflame, 2008’s most superbly messy, joyously discordant capital-I-R-Indie-Rock record. Making use of rock’s essential elements–guitar, bass, drums, the occasional synth patch–
Kids Aflame’s 13 songs plug Goldstein’s spirited vibrato into muddy power chords, spastic snare hits, and a clatter of fuzz and ruckus that’s as compelling as any heavily produced, meticulously plotted Sub Pop record. If you give this underappreciated album a chance, you might just find yourself enveloped with that inexplicable feeling of discovering something new, something hidden in the fields of home-recorded, lo-fi bedroom rock, something grand. – Connor
[MP3] Arms – The Frozen Lake
MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound
Department of Eagles –
In Ear Park
For all the reviews of Department of Eagles’ elegiac
In Ear Park, there isn’t one that shies away from mentioning Dan Rossen’s primary project
Grizzly Bear (oops, including this one). Trust, though, that while some inevitable similarities occur,
In Ear Park is a giant side-step from anything coming from the Grizz. While GB’s
Yellow House is a gorgeously precise record,
In Ear Park’s musical elements are as meticulously placed as the scattered glistens of light from a diamond in the sun. The beautiful disarray of sound embodied in songs like “Phantom Other” and “Teenagers” segue buoyantly across messy soundscapes that recall the visceral delight of Animal Collective’s
Sung Tongs or Ruby Suns’
Sea Lion.
In Ear Park furthers the experimental spirit introduced by Gizzly Bear with a varied, intimidating collection of songs that has very rarely come from what some might unwittingly deem just a “side project”. Hardly. – Connor
[MP3] Department of Eagles – No One Does It Like You
MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound
Bon Iver –
For Emma, Forever Ago
Some of the finest albums of recent memory all contain their own mood and emotion that accompanies their music.
Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago is a debut album that is so haunting that it’s discernible discovering this album was recorded while spending three months inside a remote cabin in Wisconsin. Their debut reveals a sound with dark shadows, a chilling undertone that resonates in their careful vocals and instrumentation. Songs like
“Skinny Love” and “Blindsided” capture that very sound, one that makes you feel like your floating underwater in the vast blue depths of an ocean. This all fits the bill of the unique musicians Jagjaguwar consistently release, yet Bon Iver have a thoughtful and powerful presentation about them that makes their uniqueness all the more appealing. – Nathaniel
[MP3] Bon Iver – Blindsided
MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound
TV On The Radio –
Dear Science
When Connor and I were discussing TVOTR’s latest album, we found ourselves consistently comparing it to
Return To Cookie Mountain which was
our favorite album of 2006. I had initially wondered if
Dear Science was going to become what
Neon Bible was to
Funeral; a ridiculously fantastic record that would almost always be compared to its brilliant predecessor. Although they don’t tickle the “out of left field” and “new” sensations, being able to (eagerly) listen to the direction of where the band is venturing is really rewarding.
Dear Science is full of the things that make TVOTR the new wave, art-rockers we’ve come to enjoy but has plenty of twists (listen:
“Family Tree”) to keep your ears akin to everything they record. – Nathaniel
[VIDEO] TV On The Radio – Dancing Choose
MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound
Fleet Foxes –
Fleet Foxes
If there was one album in 2008 that I am confident would vie for the top slot no matter where it was released this decade,
Fleet Foxes self-titled debut would be it. Where did it come from? The influences are so combined; from the hushed vocals and harmonies of the 60s to their own powerful twist on modest instrumentation found throughout folk rock. It’s a record with instant appeal that is long lasting and infatuating every subsequent spin you give the record. Sub Pop showcases its penchant for combing the musical hotbed of Seattle in acquiring a band that’s released a record
almost everyone has loved. There hasn’t been a record so creative and dually appealing released in quite awhile, perhaps they’ll become like Sub Pop’s
Nirvana and move onto world domination. Fleet Foxes have already conquered my ears and they’re coming for anyone with unfamiliar eardrums, cover your hair and eyes
! – Nathaniel
[MP3] Fleet Foxes – White Winter Hymnal
MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound
HONORABLE MENTION:
The Black Keys – Attack & Release
Sunset – The Glowing City
Chad Van Gaalen – Soft Airplane
The Shaky Hands – Lunglight
Quiet Village – Silent Movie
Conor Oberst – Conor Oberst
Pacific – Reveries
Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground – S/T
My Morning Jacket – Evil Urges
Human Highway – Moody Motorcycle
High Places – S/T
Get Well Soon – Rest Now, Weary Head! You Will Get Well Soon
Future Islands – Wave Like Home
Apollo Sunshine – Shall Noise Upon
Esau Mwamwaya & Radioclit – The Very Best
The Chairs – Polly
Xavier Rudd – Edge Of The Moon
Project Jenny, Project Jan – Train Track
Conor Oberst – I Don’t Want to Die (In the Hospital)
The Black Keys – Oceans & Streams
Bon Iver – Skinny Love
Daniel Martin Moore – It’s You
Fleet Foxes – He Doesn’t Know Why
TV on the Radio – Family Tree
Passion Pit – Sleepyhead
Of all the ten or so gifts I got for Christmas this year, no gift was as pleasantly unexpected as Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavillion which leaked sometime on Christmas day. Apologies to Stephen Colbert, whose holiday DVD (featuring the likes of Elvis Costello, Feist, and Willie Nelson) may have once been “the greatest gift of all”, for we all know nothing is sweeter than AC’s 11-song sonic orgasm.
