Best of 2008
In no particular order, and though some of them are not from this year, that's when I discovered them... hence their inclusion.
1. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago: Record of the year, by a fellow shed endorsee... Hate to follow the crowd, but they have a point. Gobsmackingly lovely.
2. The Week That Was - The Week That Was: Who'd have thought that Phil Collin's gated-tom sound could ever be cool again ? Complex chamber prog-pop from the chaps behind Field Music. Twitching time signatures and Geordie accents together on record for the first time ?
3. Ascend - Ample Fire Within: Crushing low end a la Sunn O))) meets Ry Cooder on the Paris, Texas soundtrack. There's even some singing too, and it doesn't all sound like Cookie Monster...
4. Canon Blue - Halcyon Blue EP: Go and download it free from the Rumraket website now... Blissful pop perfection, signed by the always lovely Efterklang. Which leads me to...
5. Efterklang - Parades: Stunning.
6. Joan as Policewoman - Real Life: Late convert to her earthy charms. Funny and sexy, and she always has great hair.
7. Sam Amidon - All is Well: Blues / folk standards reinterpreted with irreverence and inventiveness, with help from Bonnie Prince B's string arranger and engineer. The title track will make you cry.
8. Down I Go - Tyrant: UK metal (should be) giants anthologise the world's tyrants in a flurry of tempo changes and turn-on-a-dime musical acrobatics. Harrowing, hilarious and often quite moving.
9. The Forms - Fans of Pinback could do worse than investigate their jazzy repetitions.
10. Physics of Meaning - Physics of Meaning: Sort of how I always wished the Lips / Grandaddy / Mercury Rev would sound, but they never did.
11. Ungdomskulen - Cry Baby: Norwegian jazzcore pop punk mathrock trio break hearts and drumskins.
12. Fucked Up - The Chemistry of Modern Life: From Black Flag to Spiritualised... sometimes in the space of one song.
13. Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass: The only good hip-hop I could find this year, from the ever inventive Mr Bavitz. Fearlessly surreal and scatological, as always.
14. Foals - Antidotes: 'Cause I'm down with the kids...
15. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver: Don't know how I missed this one...
16. The Sontaran Experiment - The Sontaran Experiment: Crawling doom, superfast grindcore bits (sounds a bit like a powertool ? Sometimes they do), electronic noise, piano interludes and 3 songs in an hour. Lovely.
17. Karen Dalton - Green Rocky Road
18. Robert Wyatt - Comicopera
19. Portishead - Third
20. Fiery Furnaces - Widow City
Happy 2009 to everyone, with many thanks for your support and messages.
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