David Emery OnlineAlbums of 2008
15 December 2008
Welcome one and all to my annual Top 20 albums of the year list. Last years can be read here, and featured two of my favourite albums in the last 5 years or so in the form of LCD Soundsystem’s ‘Sound of Silver’ and Radiohead’s ‘In Rainbows’. There’s no doubt that this year we haven’t had anything that quite matches these two, but that it’s not to say it’s been bad – if anything we’ve had more ‘great’ albums this year then last (just not so many perfect ones).
A case in point is how many good albums fall outside of the top 20 – it could have been a top 50 quite easily, but that seems a bit excessive to be honest. Within that group falls great albums from Neon Neon (better then the last SFA album), Nine Inch Nails, Crystal Castles (very good, but needs more songs), These New Puritans (very good, but needs better lyrics), Metallica, No Age, Adele, Monkey: Journey To The West (amazing, but a difficult listen), MGMT (not quite as good as the hype), The Teenagers (riské fun), Fujiya & Miyagi and last but not least the new Kanye West album (which only narrowly missed out on the top 20 – it’s heartbroken brilliance).
So, on to the ones that made it:
#20 Department of Eagles – In Ear Park
We start the countdown with a slice of east coast American alt-rock, which has been something of a theme this year (although you’ll see no sign of Fleet Foxes in this list). It took a long time to come round to the idea of this album – even just to listen to it – because I’m not a fan of Grizzly Bear, and Department of Eagles is a side project for 3 of their members. Of course, as soon as I actually listened to it I loved it, with all its layered instruments and general weirdness gelling very nicely with its more traditional alt-rock/folk (ish) leanings.
#19 Kings of Leon – Only By The Night
Last year I has the last Kings of Leon in almost the same place on the list, and mentioned that I almost feel embarrassed for liking them; this year that’s just compounded by the fact that this album is probably the biggest selling indie/rock album this year.
Yet here it is, a great album packed with great songs – some, like the ever present ‘Sex On Fire’ are sure-fire pop hits, but others have a darkness that lurks beneath the glossy surface that Tesco shoppers bought into.
#18 Santogold – Santogold
The first debut on this list is a cracker that’s not so much crossed over to the mainstream as it feels like it’s always been there. Yes there’s no doubt that stylistically she owes a healthy debt to MIA – having ripped off her look wholesale – but musically it’s much stronger; what it gives up in invention and innovation it makes up for in simply great songs.
It’s also incredibly varied – probably more so then any other album here – with some bits sounding like pure pop songs, through to reggae and even a hint of The Breeders (whose own album just misses this list).
#17 Girl Talk – Feed The Animals
So is sampling making music? That was the question that was seemingly asked a lot when the Girl Talk album was released but it’s a pretty asinine one: of course it is, and in fact – when done well, as in the case of ‘Feed The Animals’ – it can be utterly brilliant.
This album is a non-stop roller-coaster for the ears – everything is sample-based, and as soon as you’ve figured out where one is from you’re on to the next one – over the course of 14 tracks it uses about 322 samples, which is pretty incredible when you think about it.
The other interesting this about this release was that he/they (Girl Talk is actually just one guy) released it using the Radiohead ‘pay what you want’ model, so you can head here and download it for free, legally.
#16 Cajun Dance Party – The Colourful Life
For some reason that I can’t put my finger on I’m slightly disappointed with this album. It’s got plenty of brilliant songs – that’s why it’s placed nice and high on this list – but it feels like there’s a slight lack of polish, or maybe an absence of something (although I haven’t the foggiest what). My hunch is that it might be the production – the tunes just don’t quite get the ‘bombast’ that they deserve.
Nevertheless it’s still fabulous, especially the last track ‘The Hill, The View & The Lights’ which sounds completely different to everything else on there.
#15 Friendly Fires – Friendly Fires
There’s no doubt that this album sounds like quite a few other things – LCD Soundsystem and The Rapture, for a start – but that’s really no bad thing; what it lacks in invention it more then makes up for in fun. An album you can get lost in.
#14 Late of the Pier – Fantasy Black Channel
Prog.
A word often shied away from, but one that has to be said in the case of the Late of the Pier album. It’s prog, but it’s not quite prog as we know it. It certainly has all the right elements – it’s all a bit space-y, there’s a lot of weird freak-outs and they’ve definitely been listening to a lot of Pink Floyd – but it adds to that a distinctly modern perspective, with lots of dance and electro elements.
If the Klaxons were nu-rave then Late of the Pier have to be nu-prog, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that whatsoever.
#13 Foals – Antidotes
There’s a faint whiff of prog around the Foals album as well but you shouldn’t hold that against it, as it’s an exceptional body of work – although they left off my two favourite Foals songs (Hummer and Mathletics) which is always an odd thing to do.
It strikes me that Foals’ third album is going to be staggeringly brilliant, if all goes to plan – this very much sounds like them finding their feet, and I think it’ll take a little longer then another album to get there but when they do it could be magnificent.
#12 Pete and the Pirates – Little Death
The Pete and the Pirates album for me occupies the same place musically this year as the Maccabees album did last year – while not being anything new it’s wonderfully fun, and you do get the feeling sometimes that some people forget about that sometimes.
#11 The Cool Kids – The Bake Sale EP
And now for something completely different.
The Cool Kids – for those that haven’t heard of them – are a hip hop duo from the US, and they’re great. If you like the Beastie Boys, you’ll probably like them – it’s hip hop without all of the stupidity that so commonly affects the genre. Also, while it’s called an EP it’s actually got 10 tracks which if you ask me is pretty much the perfect amount of tracks for an album.
#10 Blood Red Shoes – Box of Secrets
I’m a big fan of girl-fronted indie rock bands – there’s another one in the top 10 – and Blood Red Shoes do what they do so very, very well. It’s obviously quite influence-led – those influences being people like Sonic Youth, Sleater Kinney, Nirvana and P J Harvey – but they bring a slightly more traditional indie-pop edge to it which works exceptionally well. More please.
#9 Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend
I’m at a loss at to what to say about Vampire Weekend that hasn’t been said already; in fact they’re so pervasive at this point that you’ve almost certainly checked them out and made your own mind up already.
If not, what are you waiting for? It really is quite brilliant, and so refreshing to hear something genuinely different.
#8 Mystery Jets – Twenty One
I’ll completely honest – I hated the last Mystery Jets album. All that slightly twee folky indie? No thanks. I disliked it so much that when I got a sampler for this album I skipped through the tracks every time they came on. It wasn’t until I saw the brilliant video for Young Love that I woke up to the fact that not only was the album worth listening to, it was brilliant.
It’s a completely different direction for them from the last one – much more pop, much more eighties and much more fun and all the better for it. It also has not one but two contenders for song of the year in the form of the aforementioned Young Love and Two Doors Down.
#7 One Day As A Lion – One Day As A Lion
Yes, unlike the Cool Kids this really is an EP but I just don’t care – length is hardly a good measure of quality and its five tracks easily best the 13 tracks of most albums. For those that aren’t in the know, One Day As A Lion is the latest project from Zach de la Rocha (of Rage Against The Machine fame) and Jon Theodore (the drummer from Mars Volta) and I have no hesitation in saying that it bests anything else either have done before.
It feels like the very essence of what the two of them have been trying to produce over the years distilled down into the bare basics – it’s just vocals, drums and distorted keyboards, and in this case less really is more.
If they bring out a full length that’s this good next year expect to see it right at the top of my best in 2009 list…
#6 The Kills – Midnight Boom
This is what rock and roll is all about. It’s raw, messy and dirty and sounds exactly like the kind of music we should be listening to in 2008. So different as well – it really feels like something a step apart from everything else out there.
Electrifying.
#5 British Sea Power – Do You Like Rock Music?
Like Mystery Jets I was previously not a fan of BSP – not that I had ever listened to them, of course – but this record could have not changed that any more emphatically. This is such a huge album, with sweeping soundscapes, rousing choruses and proper guitar solos. It feels like the album that Arcade Fire have always been trying to make, but have never quite got there.
#4 Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
Another album that has had a large volume of prose written about it already, for good reason – it’s staggeringly good. I think some of the other albums on this list are slightly more driven by personal taste but I can’t imagine anyone not falling in love with this album if they give it half a chance.
#3 TV On The Radio – Dear Science
Their last album – ‘Return To Cookie Mountain’ – came in the same position in my 2006 list and that seems about right – while quite different the two albums are both brilliantly good.
Dear Science takes them in a much more pop-y – for TVotR at least – direction and you can definitely hear a wider range of influences (including at least a hint of Prince) but it all works magnificently, and is certainly due all the plaudits it seems to be getting.
#2 Deerhunter – Microcastle
I dithered over the exact order over the top two records in this countdown for weeks – only a back to back play today made up my mind. Needless to say, there’s practically nothing to separate them – they’re both incredibly good.
Deerhunter are a band it wouldn’t surprise me if you’ve never heard of; they’ve sold only a handful of records over here and have only played one London show but they are truly something incredibly special. The obvious comparison – which has been made many times – is with Sonic Youth but they are quite different, melding surprisingly melodic riffs with more abstract dark undercurrents and insightful lyrics.
You should go and buy this album right now: iTunes or Amazon
#1 Portishead – Third
I have somehow managed to have Portishead pass me by up until this point; sure, we’ve all heard Portishead – it would be practically impossible to have not – but I’d certainly never listen to them, or buy an album. I wouldn’t have bothered about this one either if it hadn’t been for Machine Gun, the first single off Third, with it’s amazing retro 80s synths and pervading darkness.
Pervading darkness is as close to a theme as this album is going to get, as it’s incredibly varied and inventive – there are no two tracks that sound similar, let alone the same. I friend of mine describes it as ‘music to scare little girls with’ and I’m not going to deny it – it’s an album that gets beneath your skin. If anything it reminds me of Kid A – it’s got that same sense of innovation coupled with a complete lack of anything ‘comfortable’. An astounding piece of work.