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December 18, 2008
Top Eight Albums of 2008
Unfortunately, I couldn't think of ten albums that I would put on this year's list of top albums, so I pared it down to eight instead. The strange thing is that there were plenty of releases I was looking forward to, but few matched my expectations. For example, bands like My Brightest Diamond, Death Cab for Cutie, The Hold Steady, and We Are Scientists have all been featured on my lists in previous years but none of their latest efforts matched up to my expectations. And it is on that purposely disappointing note that I hereby declare the following releases worthy of the title of Top Albums of 2008.
STUART DAVIS - Something Simple
Thanks to my college buddy Josh, Stuart Davis will probably always be one of my favorite solo artists. Although some of the tracks on this 2008 release have been reworked from Stu's previous independently released albums, it's still a great pleasure to listen to. Why some of these tracks are not radio singles is a "Twisted Mystery" to me.
NADA SURF - Lucky
Another solid effort from Nada Surf should, at this point, come as no surprise. I used to think Weezer were the catchy rock song geniuses but Nada Surf eclipsed them this year when the Weez put out the horrendous Red Album.
REM - Accelerate
Solid from start to finish, this album is filled with tons of catchy rock songs. This is REM's best effort since Monster and it's more accessible, too. When you're looking for a decent straightforward rock song with a decent hook, this is the go-to album.
GOLDFRAPP - Seventh Tree
Goldfrapp went a little softer on this release, compared to the previous effort (which also made one of my year end lists) but that didn't seem to matter as this album is just as great as the beat heavy electronica on the last record. "A&E" is my favorite song of the entire year and just might rank up there among my favorite songs of all time.
CSS - Donkey
CSS's 2008 album seems more musically refined than their self-titled release of two years ago without a loss of snarkiness in the lyrics. I never quite know what they're trying to say but the songs are so great that it doesn't really matter.
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
After hearing "Kids" from this album on the radio numerous times, I finally figured out who it was by and checked out MGMT. Few tracks on the album match up to that song, but that's more a testament to my high regard for the song and not the mark of poor album quality.
FLEET FOXES - Fleet Foxes
I felt stupid for getting into Fleet Foxes months after everyone else started raving about them, but better late than never, right? This album has been the soundtrack to many of my cold and snowy walks to work over the past month and it fits the bill perfectly. I owe thanks to many people for recommending this album to me and I'm glad I finally listened.
SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS - Alpinisms
This one was a late contender because I hadn't even heard of School of Seven Bells until about one month ago. Since then, few days have gone by where I haven't listened to at least one track off Alpinisms, the band's debut. Hints of electronica and lovely female voices are always a big hit with me (see Garbage, Republica, Venus Hum, etc). None of those bands are very similar to School of Seven Bells, which should tell you that this is album is a fresh and original piece of work.
To sample a track from each album, press play on the widget below:
And there you have it, the Top Eight Albums of 2008. As always, comments are welcomed.
Posted on December 18, 2008 at 12:10 AM
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Comments
Thanks Mikey. Who knew Stu had a new album? You, that's who. Not me.
Posted by: cappszilla at December 22, 2008 5:22 PM