'Tis the season to blog about the best albums of 2008. This is a little difficult for me because it doesn't seem like a got that many albums this year. Thinking back, only a handful of albums stand out. Judging by my iTunes, it seems like 2008 was a pretty uneventful year as far as releases go. There were only two albums from 2008 that made it onto my "most played" list. Off the top of my head there are only two albums which I listen to semi-regularly which were released this year. After putting a bit more thought into it, I've come up with a couple lists to sum up the year's releases. I'm calling it 'The Good, the Bad and the Liam' meaning there were obviously good and bad albums which came out as well as a group of releases that were somewhere in between. These were the albums which should have been good, or albums that I really wanted to like but something was missing...
The Good
6. Lykke Li - Youth Novels : I first heard of Lykke Li in the fall/winter of 2007. At that time she only had an EP out with a couple songs. The best track on this release was Little Bit [1], a light and poppy song with a pretty sweet video. Lykke Li's style is artsy and less mainstream pop. Her music is fun to listen too, though some folks can't get over her voice, which is a little high pitched and almost squeaky at times. My favorite track on this album has shifted a few times. Early on I really enjoyed Dance. Dance. Dance. and I'm Good. I'm Gone, but now my favorite track would have to be Breaking It Up. There aren't any tracks I dislike on this album, it's all around good times.
5. Stars - Sad Robots : I discovered Stars this year, I'm not sure how or why I'd never heard of them before... I do enjoy most all of their albums, in particular I've really enjoyed Sad Robots, their latest release. Stars have a catchy sound that I like having on in the background while at work, I've listened through their entire catalogue a number of times over the past few months and this album stands out as my favorite. The best track on Sad Robots is Going, Going, Gone. This track is a synth infused solo break up song. It's got a great beat and almost creepy vocals.
4. Republic Tigers - Keep Color : The Republic Tigers, from Kansas City, are a band that I was pleasantly surprised with. The Republic Tigers are an indie/rock/pop band who's album, Keep Color, is full of catchy songs that are fun to listen to. I don't have a whole lot to say about these guys other than, I enjoyed their album. I've listen to it many many times since I first picked it up this summer. My favorite track has to be Contortionists. I liked Buildings & Mountains for the longest time, but I've gotten burnt out on that song now that it's been played on the radio so much. This is still an excellent album.
3. French Kicks - Swimming : This album was released at the end of March but I got a late start with it. I've only recently gotten a copy of this album and I haven't been able to stop listening to it since then. The French Kicks' sound is comparable in a few ways to The Republic Tigers, it's a little indie, a little pop and occasionally it rocks. Swimming is a great album with a couple of really catchy songs that I got hooked on after the first listen. The rest of the album has really grown on me and I can't say a bad word about any of the tracks. My favorite track right now is Said So What, the chorus of this song reminds me of a 50's malt shop song, it's great. With the Fishes and, of course, Abandon are really great tracks as well.
2. Ólafur Arnalds - Variations of Static : This album was released on January 1st 2008, so it barely makes the cut. I really, really enjoyed this album. Olafur Arnalds' style is described best as 'neoclassical' ... and by that I mean it's mostly pianos, strings and a modern drum set. It is classical without being old and tired. Variations of Static has more producing on it than Arnalds' previous album, Eulogy for Evolution. I still think Eulogy for Evolution is a slightly better album, but that doesn't slight Variations of Static at all. This album only has five tracks, and it's runtime is right around twenty minutes... but hey, sometimes less really is more...
1. Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust : I think I've already said everything I have to say [2] about this album. I mean, it's a great album; one of my all time favorites. It's difficult to say whether or not this is my favorite Sigur Rós album just because the others have been so great as well... but in the grand scheme of things it ranks very very high. Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust has everything I loved from Takk and added a few more upbeat, faster paced songs that (cliché warning) "take things to a new level" at least as far as Sigur Rós albums go. Clearly the best album of 2008 in my opinion.
The Bad
Architecture in Helsinki - Like it or not : My vote is for "not" ... I didn't care for this album, actually it's only an EP but whatever. I had high expectations of this release because I really liked Heart it Races [3]. In fact, the album version of Heart it Races wasn't all that great... not as good as the live La Blogotheque version at least. The last album put out by these folks, Places Like These, was pretty good. It's borderline noisecore though, which was a shame, I was really hoping they would have grown out of that... oh well, better luck next time.Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy : I don't want to take a massive dump all over this album, I just want to say that I didn't care for it. Axl and the boys pretty much condemned this album to mediocrity when they decided to sit on it's release for the better part of a decade and a half... This is basically the same thing that happened to Portishead's Third [4] album. The main difference is that the members of Portishead aren't egotistical douchebags that everyone wants to see fail. With that being said, Chinese Democracy just wasn't all that great in my opinion. These songs sound a lot like what I remember 1995 sounding like... except now it's 2008 and I don't want to listen to Guns N' Roses any more. Thanks but no thanks guys...
The Liam
These are the albums that I'd really like to put on a best of list but for the following reasons I just can't bring myself to do it. Think of it as an honorable mention, but only slightly more passive aggressive.Colin Meloy Sings Live! and The Decemberists - Always The Bridesmaid: A Singles Series : Colin Meloy Sings Live! is a solo release by the lead singer of the I can't in good conscience put this in a "best of '08" list because it's a live album with mostly Decemberists songs. I really like the Decemberists... and I like Colin Meloy singing solo.. This is good but not quite 'Best of' material.
Metallica - Death Magnetic : This is far from my favorite Metallica album, and it didn't make the cut as far as one of the best albums of the year, but it deserves a spot on the honorable mentions list. I can't help but think that Death Magnetic benefit more from low expectations than it did from it's actual merits... By that I mean, Metallica really set the bar low (REALLY LOW) with Saint Anger and it wouldn't have been a surprise if James and the boys crapped out another gold record featuring Lars' trash-can drumset and penty of "OOH YEAHAH!" vocals. But that's not what happened. Don't get me wrong, this isn't the second coming of the black album or anything... but isn't bad. It's actually kinda good, even if the songs are all a little too long. I like Metallica as much as the next guy but who really wants to listen to ten eight minute long Metallica songs that aren't extended cuts of Fade to Black, Wherever I May Roam, or [insert your favorite Metallica song here]? "Love is a four letter word" so I better play it safe and leave it at this; I like this album... just not that way. All in all, this is the best Metallica album in recent memory, probably since Load, and for that alone I think Death Magnetic deserves recognition.
Murder By Death - Red of Tooth and Claw : I like Murder By Death, a lot. I've seen them at least ten times live over the past six years. It pains me to say that their latest release, Red of Tooth and Claw, was a bit of a disappointment, but that's the truth. I still enjoy the album, it's a good record, but not as good as I was expecting. My favorite Murder By Death album has always been Who Will Survive and What Will be Left of Them. I've enjoyed each subsequent release but I've been hoping that they'd return to the sound that they had on their first album. Instead, Red of Tooth and Claw has more pseudo-Cash vocals which isn't really my thing. With all that being said, this is still a good album, better than In Bocca al Lupo.