Best Albums of 2008

[BlueChair]

Alright, I think I'm finally ready to share my Best Albums of 2008 list. Fleet Foxes had to come out on top, considering it was the album this year that I kept coming back to week after week after week. My praise also goes out to Aimee Mann who put out her best album in years this past year, and Jenny Lewis, who managed to blow Rabbit Cur Coat and her work with Rilo Kiley completely away with Acid Tongue. As always, there were plenty of records I didn't get around to this year, but I'm pretty happy with my list.

1. Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes
2. $&#@* Smilers, Aimee Mann
3. Acid Tongue, Jenny Lewis
4. Volume One, She & Him
5. Worrisome Heart, Melody Gardot
6 Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend
7. Volume One: Frozen Ropes & Dying Quails, The Baseball Project
8. Momofuku, Elvis Costello & The Imposters
9. Vagabonds, Gary Louris
10. Jukebox, Cat Power

Honourable mention:

Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8, Bob Dylan

Your turn!

[Who Shot Sam?]

Didn't buy a lot of new stuff this year (well, compared to last)...

1. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
2. Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
3. Pete Molinari - A Virtual Landslide
4. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
5. Ron Sexsmith - Exit Strategy Of The Soul
6. Inara George - An Invitation
7. Okkervil River - The Stand Ins
8. Shelby Lynne - Just A Little Lovin'
9. Randy Newman - Harps And Angels
10. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!

Momofuku, the new Portishead and the Gary Louris album Blue listed get honorable mentions. Was disappointed by the new Martha Wainwright and Beck albums. Tip of the hat to Brandi Carlile's excellent The Story, produced by T-Bone Burnett, which was issued in 2007.

The EP compilation The Supreme Genius of King Khan and the Shrines would be my re-release of the year. Insanely fun party music.

[pophead2k]

No order, just a few of my faves from 08:

Cardinology - Ryan Adams
Exit Strategy for the Soul - Ron Sexsmith
*&^% Smilers - Aimee Mann
Fleet Foxes
Bon Iver
Momofuku - EC
Who was Dead and Who was Changed - John Wesley Harding (released next March but available for online pre-order now)

[Otis Westinghouse]

1. Fleet Foxes - awesome genius. Best debut LP in ages. Great live. Can't wait for more. Can't believe it's not the top of everyone's list. Does it get any better?

2. Elbow - Seldom Seen Kid. Close rival for FFs. Very happy to see it win the Mercury and get them to Wembley Arena (where I'll see them in March on a free ticket - yay!). Can't decide which my favourite Elbow LP is overall. Probably between this and the last, but the standout tracks from the first two are sublime.

3. Ron Sexsmith - Exit Strategy of the Soul. Title of the year. At first this seemed the least thrilling RS release of recent years, but with time, repeated plays and, especially, seeing him live again, it's all grown and grown on me, to the point where it's now an essential part of life.

4. Martha Wainwright - I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too. From its brilliant title on, this is a very satisfying progression on from the debut. It's deeper, fuller, richer. Ignore WSS, one of the year's best for sure.

5. Hot Chip - Made In the Dark. Some truly gorgeous songs on this. One of the best electro LPs since Dare and quite reminiscent of Human League in many ways.

6. EC - Momofuku. Haven't played it much of late. Still a worthy addition to the canon with some standout moments.

7. Ceu - Ceu. Lovely voice and groovy Brazilian vibes. Love her cover of Marley's 'Concrete Jungle'. thanks to British Airways for introducing me to this one.

8. TV on the Radio - Dear Science. Got this as a free download from emusic and have barely played it thus far, but liked what I heard. In the absence of anything else I can remember buying...

That's all I can think of. There are still some 2008 records I really want to hear:

Aimee Mann's
New Byrne and Eno
Bon Iver (I think it will be in my Christmas stocking, love what I've heard thus far)
Joan As Police Woman's second - a Bad Ambassador fave (where's he gone? another absentee). Only hear a couple, sounds good.
New Amadou and Mariam

One to compete with WSS over!:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Debussy-Complet ... 865&sr=1-1

A five star review caught my eye in the Guardian. I've been wanting Debussy's Images on CD for some time (my Benedetti on vinyl sits there unplayed). This has the Etudes too. Rave comments by the one reviewer above are in line with Guardian's views. Must buy it! Debussy is my favourite piano composer apart from Chopin, Bach and, I guess, Beethoven.

[mood swung]

all this love, wasted on Momofuku.

[Otis Westinghouse]

Why?

[oily slick]

too many flaws perhaps. or always elevated expectations.

REM--Accelerate
Donna the Buffalo--Silverlined
James McMurtry--Just Us Kids
Lucinda Williams--Little Honey
pAt mAcdonald--In the Red Room (Reissue)
and of course,
AC/DC--Black Ice

plus the B52's just for issuing Funplex after a 16 year drought and sounding exactly like always.

[johnfoyle]

I've put a cd together for some friends , which will indicate what my '08 faves have been. The Matt Monro and Bobby Charles tracks qualify because they've only recently been widely released.



1. Wicked Game - Ruby James
2. The Mad Passion of the Stoic - Vic Chesnutt
3. .During One Night - Matt Monro
4. I Don't Like You Anymore - The Last Shadow Puppets
5. I Don't Know - Lisa Hannigan
6. I Must Be In A Good Place Now - Bobby Charles
7. Baby Plays Around - Brad Mehldau Trio
8. Stella Hurt - Elvis Costello and The Imposters
9. Love Vigilantes - Laura Cantrell
10. Wendy Wonders - Eugene McGuinness
11.On My Own - Trijntje Oosterhuis
12.The Next Messiah - Jenny Lewis
13.No Need To Cry - British Sea Power
14. Honey Bee - Lucinda Williams

[Fishfinger king]

Here goes:

1. Elvis Costello & The Imposters, Momofuku. (And why the fuku not?)
2. My Morning Jacket, Evil Urges.
3. Elbow, The Seldom Seen Kid.
4. Jenny Lewis, Acid Tongue.
5. Teddy Thompson, A Piece Of What You Need.
6. She & Him, Volume One.
7. British Sea Power, Do You Like Rock Music? (in spite of naff title)
8. Conor Oberst, Conor Oberst.
9. Glasvegas, Glasvegas.
10. The Gaslight Anthem, The '59 Sound.

I quite like the Fleet Foxes but they'd be down in the 11-20 positions along with the likes of Vampire Weekend (overplayed on every TV show), Ron Sexsmith and Ryan Adams. Sorry but when they're compared with CSNY and the Beach Boys, to me they sound more like Yes and Enya in a church.

[Otis Westinghouse]

Yes and Enya in a church doesn't sound like something that should be in anyone's 11-20 for the year! What a bizarre response. Chacun a son gout and all that.

JF: didn't know Lisa Hannigan was recording and performing solo. checked out some clips. Nice stuff, though in no way comparable to the Damien Rice stuff she's been on.

Laura Cantrell doing New Order's 'Love Vigilantes' was intriguing. I liked the recorded version more than a live performance I found. The lyrics are kinda crass, which Barney can pull off, but they sound odd from her. Lovely song and nicely arranged.

[Fishfinger king]

How dreadfully remiss of me, Otis.
I thought the whole point of this was to give our own opinions about our favourite albums of the year.
I now realise I was wrong and apologise unreservedly.
The Fleet Foxes have indeed produced a masterpiece that transcends the history of popular music and dwarfs all other albums of the year.
Sorry, sorry, sorry.





PS If this doesn't win most sarcastic post of the year in the end of year poll, then I give up.

[Otis Westinghouse]

Why the pointless sarcasm? Why do certain people seem to have an issue with opinions being discussed rather than just existing? And why do certain people react to something they haven't bothered to actually read? To spell it out in a tediously literal way, I couldn't give a toss if you think they're a pile of horseshit, but I can't see why something that sounds to you as horrible as Yes and Enya would be in your 11-20 positions, nor can I see how they sound that way to you, but I leave you to your treasured opinion.

[migdd]

Subjective and transitory, here's my stab at it:

1. B.B. King - One Kind Favor
2. Randy Newman - Harps and Angels
3. John Hiatt - Same Old Man
4. Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue
5. John Mellencamp - Life Death Love and Freedom
6. Hank Williams - Hank Williams Unreleased Recordings
7. Rodney Crowell - Sex and Gasoline
8. Pat Metheny - Day Trip
9. EC and the Imposters - Momofuku
10. The Flying Burrito Brothers - The Flying Burrito Brothers Live at the Avalon Ballroom 1969

[Boy With A Problem]

List of favorite records of 2008 entirely made up of old gits, wankers and knobs

1. Carlene Carter - Stronger
2. Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby - Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby
3. Elvis Costello & The Imposters - Momofuku
4. Lucinda Williams - Little Honey
5. Paul Weller - 22 Dreams
6. The Fall - Imperial Wax Solvent
7. REM - Accelerate

[Otis Westinghouse]

I haven't heard the Fall one yet, but recall reading some good things, 'classic Fall'. etc. How would you compare it to the recent ones?

[so lacklustre]

New
1. Eliza Carthy - Dreams of Breathing Underwater
2. Chris Wood - Trespasser
3. Pete & the Pirates - Little Death
4. Joe Jackson - Rain
5. Billy Bragg - Mr Love & Justice
6. Elvis - Momofuku
7. The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age of Understatement
8. Paul Weller - 22 Dreams
9. Seasick Steve - I Started Out With Nothing
10. Nick Cave - Dig, Lazarus, Dig
Haven't got the Eric & Amy album yet but expecting it tomorrow.

Collections - reissues etc.
1. The Coral - Singles Collection
2. Eels - Meet the Eels/Useless Trinkets
3. Bob Dylan - Tell Tale Signs
4. Van Morrison - Tupelo Honey
5. Nick Lowe - Jesus of Cool

[mood swung]

5. Nick Lowe - Jesus of Cool

now that's a surprise.

[Otis Westinghouse]

Listened to TV On The Radio's Dear Science some more, pretty good. All references seem to use the ghastly term 'art rock', but that does indicate in some way what to expect.

Must get Acid Tongue, which several here cite. I heard Rabbit Fur Coatfor the first time the other day and love it. Immediately appealing, some great songs, great voice. 'You Are What You Love' grabbed me straight off, powerful words.

Christmas was good to me in that I got three CDs to be excited about:

1. Debussy Images and Etudes (see link above). Great recording. this is vol 4 of Bavouzet's Complete Works for Piano of the wonderful Debussy, and I think I'll need to check out 1-3 too.

2. Bon Iver - believe the hype! This is a fascinating record. I wasn't really doing it justice playing it whilst working on the Christmas lunch, but it does have an amazingly haunting quality about it, and sustains the same mood throughout without seeming repetitive, dull or derivative.

3. Lambchop - OH (Ohio). Wow! No refs above, and not a board fave for anyone that I can recall, which is kinda surprising given their more or less alt-country vibe, but this is a seriously good recording. I did see good reviews, but have never really heard them, apart from bits of Aw C'mon, No You C'mon, and maybe seen them on Later. Several LPs to their name. This just grabbed me straight off. Lovely music and arrangements, restrained by very well executed, reminded me a bit of Wilco's Sky Blue Sky from that point of view. Great voice, reminded me often of an American Cat Stevens. I'm sure I'll play this to death. If you're looking for something new for a bit of variety, I'd highly recommend it.

[invisible Pole]

Random order :

Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
The Waterboys - Kiss The Wind
Lambchop - OH
Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst
James - Hey Ma
David Byrne & Brian Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
Paul Heaton - The Cross Eyed Rambler
Glasvegas - Glasvegas
Elvis - Momofuku
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
She & Him - Volume One

[Otis Westinghouse]

I wasn't even aware of a new Waterboys CD. How did that happen?

Another fan of Lambchop. Fantastic, isn't it?

[invisible Pole]

Lambchop's latest is indeed great.
I loved the 2006 album, Damage, but OH could be their best yet.

The Waterboys is in fact a "never-previously-released rarities" album, available only online.
Most of them excellent songs. How they never made it onto "proper" albums is beyond me.

[Who Shot Sam?]

Ordered the Jenny Lewis and Lambchop albums based on the recommendations here. That's my $25 Amazon gift certificate tapped out.

[Otis Westinghouse]

I see what people meant on the appropriate thread when they complained about the shoddy packaging of Acid Tongue. It's like a newspaper freebie. I'm for environmental packaging, but fer crying out loud!

You're sure to like the Lambchop. His voice reminds me of Cat Stevens often, just a Nashville version of it and more low key. the playing is perfect, really beautiful. Money well spent.

[Bad Ambassador]

Joan As Police Woman's second - a Bad Ambassador fave (where's he gone? another absentee). Only hear a couple, sounds good.

Evening! Hope all's well with you.
Have been busy, but just finished my end of year list, so I thought I'd add it on this thread. Still not entirely sure about the order of this, but it seems wrong to spend any longer on it.

1. Elbow - 'The Seldom Seen Kid'
2. Laura Marling - 'Alas I Cannot Swim'
3. Tindersticks - 'The Hungry Saw'
4. Joan As Police Woman - 'To Survive'
5. Pete Molinari - 'A Virtual Landslide'
6. Bon Iver - 'For Emma, Forever Ago'
7. Portishead - 'Third'
8. Malcolm Middleton - 'Sleight Of Heart'
9. She & Him - 'Volume 1'
10. Paul Weller - '22 Dreams'
11. Our Broken Garden - 'When Your Blackening Shows'
12. Helios - 'Caesura'
13. James Yorkston - 'When The Haar Rolls In'
14. The Last Shadow Puppets - 'The Age Of Understatement'
15. Jamie Lidell - 'Jim'
16. Fleet Foxes - 'Fleet Foxes'
17. Elvis Costello & The Imposters - 'Momofuku'
18. Calexico - 'Carried To Dust'
19. Glow - 'I, Yeah!'
20. Ladyhawke - 'Ladyhawke'

Honourable mentions to: Beck, Nick Cave, Jenny Lewis, The Dears, R.E.M., Max Richter, Ray LaMontagne

[Otis Westinghouse]

Ah there you are! A typically arresting list with several I've never heard of at all or only vaguely: 8, 11, 12, 15, 19, and several I know the names but not the music. More fun with you tube and my space ahead.

I have the feeling you too would love the Lambchop CD if you heard it. Maybe you have. If not, worth the risk.

Enjoyed your account of Elbow at Leeds, and totally with you re the talking fucknuts. I've now seen the enormously astonishing 'Great Expectations' live twice and the first time was from the balcony of the Brixton Academy with ridiculous levels of chit chat going on around me, and a large group of Chinese folk walking out in the middle of it, as if they'd come to the wrong gig and decided once and for all during this slow one that this was all a big mistake. At least I could hold my breath and let my jaw hang at the Cambridge Corn Ex last time and delight completely in a song of Desert Island Discs proportions being delivered live to perfection.

I like your blog (despite the X Factor!), but keep posting, Bad Ambass!