Top 20 Albums Of 2008 (Part II)

These all seemed like such no-brainers to me that this list basically wrote itself. My album of the year was pretty much decided by May, everything else was bound to be consolation after the fact. It was that simple for me these last twelve months- when you hear your album, it's over; the list starts from the top and fills itself in on down.

So without further ado, the final ten albums of The Musicologist's Top 20 of 2008:

10. Boris - Smile (March 7th; Southern Lord Records)

Remember that fuzz pedal you were looking for a few years ago that the maker discontinued? Boris has it, in fact- they have all of them. Boris is a rock band, that's indisputable, so all the genres they seem to be grouped into can be thrown out; they just fucking rock. They sound here like an updated version of the Smashing Pumpkins' magnum opus Siamese Dream but with much sharper fangs. There's maximum riffage and searing solos over pounding drums without being in danger of making themselves cliche. Southern Lord Records co-founder Stephen O'Malley, who is also half of the drone-metal duo Sunn 0))) makes an appearance over the song's untitled finale, helping to drone-out towards a bombastic finale. If it's any consolation, this is the Japanese language album of the year. Key Tracks: My Neighbor Satan, Statement, Buzz-In, Laser Beam

9. Beach House - Devotion (February 26th; Carpark Records)

Musical gems are sometimes like diamonds in the rough, so don't be put off by Baltimore duo Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand's shoegazer-esque textures; this is as fine an album as any other "pop" record this year. It's been filtered down to a swampy ambience, giving it an overall dream-like feel, but one I don't want to be waken from any time soon. This album made it easy to wind down the day putting me in the frame of mind to just relax. Key Tracks: Gila, Wedding Bell, D.A.R.L.I.N.G., Heart Of Chambers

8. Why? - Alopecia (March 11th; anticon. Records)

Oakland's Yoni Wolf made a bonafide hip-pop masterpiece this year with the genre-bending Alopecia (a rare disease that causes the afflicted to lose all their hair- eyebrows, and, uh yeah- down there too...) It's basically a therapist's nightmare set to music- some lyrics are downright cringe-worthy: "sucking dick for drink tickets at the free bar at my cousin's bat mitzvah / cutting the punch line and it ain't no joke / devoid of all hope circus mirrors and pot smoke / picking fights on dyke night with shirlies and lokes and snatching purses..." (from Good Friday); existential crises a-plenty: "my dad wore this face in old photographs..." (from A Sky For Shoeing Horses Under) and just plain creepy: "stalker's my whole style and if i get caught i'll deny deny deny..." (from Simeon's Dilemma). As Wolf exorcises his demons for the whole world to witness, the resulting bedlam makes for sensational art. Key Tracks: A Sky For Shoeing Horses Under, Fatalist Palmistry, These Few Presidents, Good Friday

7. Abe Vigoda - Skeleton (July 8th; Post Present Medium Records)

Pleasant surprise of the year- I've never heard of this band but I know they're a huge part of the LA-based collective The Smell, that's probably how they got my attention. But they've managed to hold on to it, however; with a fascinating record that delves into the psyche of what it's like to grow up a disaffected teen in the cultural wasteland that is Southern California. I had to check out a lyric sheet to figure out what it is that's being sung; the vocals are so low in the mix they're basically another instrument. Common images throughout the album show up as themes that I'd certainly associate with SoCal: dead cities, burning, familial obligations, hope, blood/bleeding, the record has a basic feeling of general decay. The churning and seamless anthems sound like a rollicking rock carnival with some of the finest drumming laid to 2-inch tape (or ProTools) of the whole year; explosive and expressive with a mild hint of sloppiness. Key Tracks: Dead City/Waste Wilderness, Skeleton, Cranes, Hyacinth Grrls

6. Deerhunter - Microcastle / Weird Era Cont. (October 28th; Kranky Records)

Microcastle would be the obvious direction that Deerhunter's sound was headed after the Fluorescent Grey EP; I can hear how those four songs act as a natural bridge over the gap from Cryptograms to here. And Weird Era Cont. sort of works as a stop-gap between the afforementioned EP and Microscastle, even though it's been packaged as a complimentary piece (I like how it works as a pre-cursor to the album instead of an after-thought or "extra" release). Either way, two albums put out simultaneously was a risky move- but it ends up paying huge dividends as the Atlanta quintet's conceptual continuity remains undisturbed. All the hub-bub surrounding the release of these records (accidentally leaked by lead singer Bradford Cox, through his blogspot, much like this one!) completely makes up for any "bad vibes" Cox said he felt he was putting out by telling people not to steal his music, lambasting his fans but later retracting his outburst, offering an apology and putting out thirteen extra tracks and calling it Weird Era Cont. for no additional cost. What a rad guy. Anyway, back to the actual music- Deerhunter's sonic architecture is par excellence, earning them much-deserved comparisons to such a vast array of their influences like Velvet Underground, My Bloody Valentine, The Beach Boys, Electrelane- hell, throws those bands in a blender and set to puree and pour out today's pre-eminent autuers in the self-created genre of ambient garage, Deerhunter. Key Tracks: (from Microcastle) Nothing Ever Happened, Saved By Old Times, Agoraphobia, Never Stops, Little Kids. (from Weird Era Cont.) Vox Humana, Operation, Vox Celeste, Focus Group, Backspace Century

5. Crystal Antlers - EP (September 2nd; Touch & Go Records)

The first time I heard this album I gave it a resounding "fuck yeah" after it was over, then I lamented the fact that it's only 24 minutes long. Of what you might be asking? Pure soulful-punk energy. This is the album you want to have on your iPod when you're dropping in at the skatepark, into raw and gnarly, shitty concrete. But Crystal Antlers' EP is like the momentum that carries you over that rough terrain and blasts you out of the quarter past all the rad-dads with their gay grommet kids pushing mongo and kick-turning on the banks. This is the finest EP I've heard all year, too bad it's so short. Or too good it's so short; I'm patiently waiting for the full-length record in early '09. Key Tracks: A Thousand Eyes, Owl, Vexation, fuck- it's a six song EP, everything's fucking good.

4. Girl Talk - Feed The Animals (June 19th; Illegal Art Records)

As if anything can be said about Gregg Gillis' mash-ups that he can't say himself with his sequencers and laptops? Really now, every album this guy puts out is a fucking masterpiece- an ADHD symphony running me back to my youth and into the present, then back, then forward, then... you get the picture. If you've ever wanted to hear Queen over the Beastie Boys with a Phil Collins' drum break into a Busta Rhymes verse over The Police into a... yeah. Artists that don't fit into any "true" genre create their own, and if "mash-up" is too restrictive (which I believe it is), I'd offer this: cut-and-paste experimental glitch-core. Key Tracks: I'd suggest getting it in both formats, the one cut into tracks and the one that's just a 53-minute un-interupted single track, either way, just put it on and hit "play", fool.

3. Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Lie Down In The Light (May 20th; Drag City Records)

Will Oldham. Seriously, I was just going to print those two words for the review because it's that simple: Will Oldham, man. There's really nothing left for him to do, he's pretty much the greatest and if he retired tomorrow his legacy would be beyond untouchable. He's god. He could piss into my ears and I'd say it was the best concert ever. This was the best "Americana" record this year, whatever that means. He likens his approach to "Appalachian post-punk solipsism". Key Tracks: it's a Bonnie "Prince" Billy album- you start at track one and you play it all the way through. Or put it on shuffle. But "You Want That Picture" is quite beautiful though, isn't it?

2. TV On The Radio - Dear Science (September 23rd; Interscope Records)

Dear Science is the only album making the list that's been released on a major label- on Jimmy Iovine's Interscope. I gotta hand it to the man, even though I don't like him because he's part of the corporate music structure, he knows talent when he hears it. As if this band can get any better- I named Return To Cookie Mountain #3 back in my '06 year-end list, (they did) but regretfully I can't give them the top spot this year (and you'll see why in a minute). This is as strong an outing for any band that keeps getting more and more attention from mainstream America, and with all its anger, imagery, sexiness, sparkling production values and critical acclaim, I hope TV On The Radio becomes huge because it's time people started listening to good music. I was watching VH1's Best Videos of 2008 countdown this morning and I swear to god, everything sounds the same- it's a cluster-fuck of watered-down, Starbucks adult contemporary bullshit- everyone wants to sound like those wankers Coldplay. I hope people hear Dear Science and it makes them want to start a band, an original one that doesn't sound like anyone else. Like this band has managed to do over the course of their career. Thank you, TV On The Radio! Key Tracks: Crying, DLZ, Dancing Choose, Halfway Home, Golden Age

The Musicologist's 2008 Album Of The Year...

No Age - Nouns (May 6th, SubPop Records)

How do you explain to someone that you just felt the ground beneath you move- I'm not talking about an earthquake here, I'm talking about an honest, soul-shaking experience; musically speaking of course. No Age's Nouns begs to be listened to through headphones- it asks the listener "Ready?" and hurls you into a wall at the speed of light, at which point you've completely de-materialized into nothing and pass through said wall as sub-atomic particles, free to move about the universe as you please. A sonic exploration is an under-statement; this album is so densely layered and meant to be played at near "just blew out my sub-woofer" levels that you may just blow them speakers, or the record just may cause you to kick them in. In terms of number of listens, it wasn't even close- I probably listened to this about three times as much as all other albums combined this year, and own it in every format AND got the 7" for Teen Creeps (The Musicologist's 2008 Song Of The Year). My favorite band of the last seven months- I am so fucking jazzed on these guys right now it's not even funny. The Little Band That Could Do No Wrong In '08. Key Tracks: the entire album. Period.

Later for now...

Top 20 Albums Of 2008 (Part I)

Let's talk about album reviews for a minute- what exactly is a review? I've come to find that it's less about the actual music than it is a confessional of sorts about the writer themselves. It's an inkblot, a human Rorschach test- I think what you're getting when you read an album review is a look into the psyche of the author; what you like about an album are the things you'll likely relate to and the things you hate are more or less the things you find icky about yourself.

So, the things that make me slightly uncomfortable are the sort of thing I've been attracted to lately- gravitating towards the "weird" side of music in hopes of uncovering some truths about myself as a person. Ever meet me? Yeah, I'm a fucking weirdo. If there's a general "theme" of this year in my world of music, it's that I got into some strange.

There's a whole slew of bands I've really been getting into lately, Dirty Projectors are one, Liars are another, and there's about ten bands of the twenty on the following list(s). The bands that kind of make you squirm a bit, bands that test your conventional wisdom around things like rhythm, texture, atmosphere, lyrical symbolism, etc. Maybe music has the ability to make you question yourself and doubt the world around you, challenging you to wonder: "Huh, can they do that? Can I do that?"

Music should operate outside of "normal" anyway. I'm pretty sure that's the whole point of rock and roll.

The Musicologist's Top 20 Albums of 2008 (Part I; albums #20 - #11)

20. Blacklisted - Heavier Than Heaven Lonelier Than God (April 1st; Deathwish Inc. Records)
Music as violence? The heaviest album I've heard all year, actually- the heaviest I've heard since Pantera's Vulgar Display Of Power. This band makes Mastodon look like little pussies, and makes Metallica look like complete homos. This record makes me want to go out and break shit, start fires, pillage, plunder and cause general disorder. Then I remember that I'm a pre-school teacher (and a complete pussy) and I'd never even so much as hit another human being. But I can throw this album on and let it punch me in the jugular; 11 songs clocking in at nineteen-and-a-half minutes. The lyrical content is both honest and emotional, wearing your heart on your sleeve doesn't always mean acoustic balladry- hardcore music is definitely alive and well. Plus, these guys are from Philly (which I've been reading has overtaken NYC as America's HC capital these days...) Key Tracks: Memory Layne, Stations, Always

19. Man Man - Rabbit Habits (April 8th; Anti Records)

Yes, I am unfairly biased towards bands from Philly. Having written for a local music mag some years ago whilst that was still my hometown I was given the opportunity to discover a lot of really good bands. Man Man is one of these bands- a gypsy-cabaret-indie rock act unlike no other band in music today. At times this album is obtuse and creepy; at others heartfelt and sincere. Hilarious poetic couplets like: "You think you’re so slick / I seen her lipstick across your dillznick" (from The Ballad Of Butter Beans) and scathing send-ups on religion: "There ain’t no god here as far as I can see / your god of hope and light never did nothing straight by me" (from Poor Jackie). There's some real fine instrumentation over the wild, jazzy drumming and eastern European-inflected waltzes. Think Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart meet Tom Waits in a psychedelic brothel in a post-war Bulgaria. Key Tracks: Top Drawer, Mister Jung Stuffed, Doo Right

18. Atlas Sound - Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel (February 19th; Kranky Records)

Atlas Sound has the whole psych-shoegaze-dream-chamber pop thing down- a seamless collection of stark songs heavy on the bass with arpeggiated guitar lines, all over top of subtle and distorted washes of multi-tracked guitars with organs floating about somewhere in the mix. Lead singer Bradford Cox's vocals get a delay treatment, as they appear within the register at different intervals; it's as if Lee Perry's Black Ark dub sessions were being called upon in a seance. Notes on the stellar production vaules: heavy on the reverb, transparent, layered, atmospheric- making it both creepy and solemn but so beautiful. Here's the full review from last February. Key Tracks: Cold As Ice, Quarantined, River Card, Recent Bedroom

17. Mount Eerie with Julie Doiron and Fred Squire - Lost Wisdom (October 7th; P.W. Elverum & Sun Records)

Phil Elverum has evolved from a lo-fi genius (as The Microphones) into his current musical vision, Mount Eerie (a slightly better-fi version of his ideas). Nothing's really changed- gone is the fuzzy quality of his former "band", here he's bought better microphones (no pun intended) to record this album, but it still has that bedroom-folky feel to it. I can imagine all three musicians literally sitting around the mic pouring their respective souls into this recording, you can hear his knee knock into the back of his acoustic guitar; anyone who's ever passed a guitar around a room will know that sound- you can also hear them taking their seats before numbers; it's really that homey. Key Tracks: Voice In Headphones, With My Hands Out, Who?

16. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend (January 29th; XL Recordings)

This album went gold- mainstream America sat up and took notice thanks to the unstoppable MTV-hype machine. I was calling it the first great album of the year but I think my love and support waned over the course of '08; that, and a ton of greater stuff's come out since. Here's what I said back in February: There are an infinite number of bands that sound like other bands yet still have enough originality to distance themselves from their heroes; that's the mark of a good band. Reinterpreting the past without straight-up ripping it off, Vampire Weekend's self-titled full-length debut sounds as if it's been culled from a myriad of influences. Extracting their musical direction from Peter Gabriel's early solo catalog, King Sunny Ade's Nigerian juju polyrhythms, Paul Simon's Graceland, not to mention English post-punk (I hear some of The Police and The Cure in here as well as the decidedly un-English post-punk Talking Heads), this foursome from New York City couldn't have made a finer album, it's actually the first great record of 2008. Click here for the full review. Key Tracks: Oxford Comma, Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, I Stand Corrected, The Kids Don't Stand A Chance

15. Hot Chip - Made In The Dark (February 5th; Astralwerks Records)

Expanding their style further in both directions that they've been known for (dance-punk and lover's rock balladeering); interchanging the two as they please. Stylistically, Hot Chip are masters of getting the most layers of sound out of the least amount of instrumentation by recording live, rather than multi-tracking and over-dubbing the shit out of their music; they go on the fly and work it out later on the mix board. I'd love to see more bands producing their own records, who better knows your sound than you? Hot Chip's core of Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard have been able to mature their sound without cheesing it up, as many artists tend to do as they rise. But critical acclaim doesn't always mean "cool", as part of the Chip's allure is their geeky love for ancient Moog synths, laptop-based looping software and old-school video game sounds. Playing Taylor's tender croon against Goddard's droll delivery marks Hot Chip's mastery of soulful electronica, and they can pretty much stand alone at the top of that genre. Full review can be found here. Key Tracks: Wrestlers, Shake A Fist, Ready For The Floor, One Pure Thought

14. Xiu Xiu - Women As Lovers (January 29th; Kill Rock Stars Records)

Oakland (via San Jose) gets some love here with the experimental/art-rock band Xiu Xiu's strange and lovely album Women As Lovers- it's one of those albums I was referring to in the intro paragraph; an album that made me embrace my un-comfortable side and let go of some baggage I've been carrying around with me for just about ever. I listened to this album a lot right after its release, it got me through some fucked-up shit I was going through. Then I realized- guess what? We all go through some fucked-up shit, and there's people out there making music with that same fucked-up baggage dragging them down. And we all can have a listen and decide what good it's doing for us, carrying that junk around. Or we can choose to let it go. This album represents a catharsis; it's a bit more accessible (lyrically it's less obtuse, more human) than their prior releases. Key Tracks: F.T.W., Under Pressure (ft. Michael Gira), I Do What I Want When I Want, You Are Pregnant You Are Dead

13. High Places - 03/07 - 09/07 (July 22nd; Thrill Jockey Records)

Mary Pearson's soothing voice and Rob Barber's pared-down production techniques garner High Places' earlier stuff (this is basically a compilation album of songs recorded between March of 2007 and Sept. '07, as the title suggests) pretty high marks from this avid listener; I favored this album in the first few hours of the day, usually biking to/taking the train to work. It's an awakening of sorts, the record has a definite sunrise-y feel to it as it gently prods me into the day, coming on gradually like a cup of tea rather than a jolt received from coffee. It's that nice; if you don't enjoy it upon your first listen try it again- the album gets better as it goes on, it's more-or-less "bottom loaded", or if you're a vinyl collector, side 2 is where it's really at. Key Tracks: Jump In (For Gilkey Elementary School), Shared Islands, Freaked Flight, Canary

12. Fucked Up - The Chemistry Of Common Life (October 7th; Matador Records)
Is Matador the biggest independent label in the world? They should be, but I think it's SubPop. Maybe it's Merge? Does it matter, Matador signed Fucked Up to a deal and put out this album- it's an experimental hardcore album. What does that mean, exactly? Well, it's hard, fast, loud and heavy. And it has synths, flutes, bongos and pianos on it. Confused? I was- until I heard their debut full-length Hidden World. So not only are they the best experimental hardcore band in the world, they're the only one. The Chemistry Of Common Life is a lesson in restrained violence- just when you think it's going for the coup de grace, they pull back and hit you with a Skynyd-esque classic rock solo or a synth breakdown. They're called Fucked Up for a reason, they fuck you right up. I hope this band gets insanely huge so radio stations and TV outlets take notice and have to say their name on air, that'd be awesome. Sebastien Grainger of now-defunct Death From Above 1979 and Vivian Girls provide guest vocal work on a few songs. Key Tracks: Son The Father, No Epiphany, Twice Born, Looking For God

11. The Dodos - Visiter (March 18th; Frenchkiss Records)

I got to this album late- when I found out they were from the Bay Area (San Francisco), I became more intrigued and gave it a listen. It's become the other "early-morning" album in my repetoire over the last two months, and I was kicking myself because it had been out about six months by then. Stubborn me. It's got everything a guitar playing geek like me loves about the instrument: alternate tunings, challenging picking patterns, it's like an acoustic nerd's wet dream. The accompanying instrumentation gives it a sparse, barely-there feel and the percussion seems sometimes as if it's being made with whatever's lying around the studio. Singer Meric Long's voice sounds vaguely like Zach Condon of Beirut, while Logan Kroeber's amazing polyrhythmic drumming gives this album such a dynamic feel- I swear after this many listens it still sounds different every time. Key Tracks: Park Song, Red And Purple, Walking, Eyelids

There's tonight's installment- hopefully I can get the Top 10 out to you this same time tomorrow, but I need a break from writing. You can probably guess what they are already. It'd be interesting to see if you could, but I won't hold my breath...

The 2008 Honorable Mentions...

To the following bands: oooh, so close, you guys just missed it!

As I've been narrowing down my final Top 20 list of '08, any of these records really could've been the 20th, and I'll give some insight as to why they just barely missed the mark. I mean, last year I did a Top 50, and looking back, that's both pretentious as hell and just plain retarded. Is there really any difference between #29 and #30? Probably not. What about #51? And as I mentioned in a previous blog, where would those un-reviewed and un-listened to albums fall in the list? I can say that Les Savy Fav's Let's Stay Friends would've been in my Top 10, that album fucking rules. But I probably didn't listen to it until the end of January, so boo hoo to any 2007 list.

What I'm saying is, any list done by one person is going to be flawed to the point where I'd be outraging other music geeks in the process. Where was ______? What about ______? Look, I can't listen to everything, although I'm going to try.

And for the record, I'm not counting Bon Iver as an '08 release. I got that album in '07, he self-released it without a label, so it's an '07 release. Don't bitch at me because it's not here, go back through the archives and find it on the 2007 list. Remember, I will probably find out about most music before you do...

So anyway, here's the list (un-numbered, of course) of 2008's Honorable Mentions:

Immortal Technique - The 3rd World (June 24th; Viper Records)
Mainstream hip-hop is dead to me. I tried to like the Lil' Wayne album, but there were just too many filler songs on there wedged between three real stand-outs. But Immortal Technique threw down a killer album, all full of vitriol and steam (would you expect anything less from an avowed Socialist?). It's everything I used to love about hip-hop; angry and political rhymes spit with furious vengeance over original beats. It's just now you have to go deep underground, beneath the radar to find the "real" shit. Key Tracks: Mistakes and Reverse Pimpology

She & Him - Volume 1 (March 18th; Merge Records)
Zooey Deschanel, the crazy girlfriend from Weeds (and I guess now she's a millionaire thanks to Jim Carrey) and M Ward (no introduction necessary, and no period after the M) put together one of the best pure pop albums of '08- covering the likes of Smokey Robinson (You Really Got A Hold On Me), The Beatles (I Should Have Known Better) and the traditional "Swing Low Sweet Chariot". This is the one album on my list that your mom probably would like... Key Tracks: Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? and Sentimental Heart

Vivian Girls - Vivian Girls (October; In The Red Records)
Murky reverberations, under-produced, echoed vocals; it's a shoegazey brand of punk-rock from an all-female power trio. The bass lines are sublime as they are simplistic, sometimes all you need is a driving bottom end and you've made a good album.
Key Tracks: I Believe In Nothing, Tell The World, Where Do You Run To

Bloc Party - Intimacy (October 25th; Vice Records)
I've gone so back and forth on this band- Silent Alarm was an immediate success, the first time I listened to that album I had to listen to it again and again, I can swear I didn't listen to anything else for about a month. Their second album, A Weekend In The City, was a total "creeper" album- I dismissed it at first then later retracted my statement upon further listens. Intimacy, their third offering, is somewhere in between- it almost seems as if they went backwards and recaptured some magic from Silent Alarm, mixed it with equal parts A Weekend In The City and this was the resulting bastard child record. It begs repeated listens, it's so dense and layered I swear I keep hearing new stuff jumping out at me even now. Key Tracks: Flux, Mercury, Talons, Biko, and One Month Off

High Places - High Places (September 23rd; Thrill Jockey Records)
I can tell you now without reservation (spoiler alert!) that the "other" High Places album (3/07-9/07) is definitely on the Top 20 list. This self-titled album was really good also, but lacked the immediacy and urgency the prior release had; this was well-planned, well-constructed, and thought out- a "proper" album. And sometimes we don't want that, we want rushed, hurried, half-assed bedroom stuff. Key Tracks: The Tree With The Lights In It and From Stardust To Sentience

Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now, Youngster... (April 1st; Arts & Crafts Records)
Billing themselves as "Britain's Second-most Punk Rock Band" (behind who I can't begin to imagine, so yes; I get the "joke"...) the leaders of the international twee-core movement came through with a stellar debut after releasing a six song EP in '07 (which was even better). Probably the funnest thing to come out of Wales since Tom Jones, with all their damn exclamation points and over-long song titles. I mean really long, like Sufjan Stevens long. Key Tracks: You! Me! Dancing! and Death To Los Campesinos! (those are actually pretty short...)

The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust (February 19th; Vice Records)
I offered a half-assed review of this record back in March, click here to read it. I could've just cut and pasted it in, but self-referential hot-linking is kind of rad.






The Hold Steady - Stay Positive (July 15th; Vagrant Records)
I am a fervent supporter of America's only "classic" rock band thirty years after they would've been undoubtedly the world's biggest arena act. Coming to 2008 with a more grown-up approach, bringing back all the characters from previous albums as they too have grown up. The skate-rats, the girl who OD'd at that concert, all the mythical faceless teens and twenty-somethings who were all over 2006's Boys And Girls In America. Key Tracks: Sequestered In Memphis, Constructive Summer and Lord, I'm Discouraged.

Ratatat - LP3 (July 8th; XL Recordings)
Another "creeper" album; I kind of panned it when I first heard it but it's come on strong as of late, probably because I read to instrumental music so it was the background noise to many lunch breaks spent turning pages over Denis Johnson, Kurt Vonnegut and Haruki Murakami's works. Video game soundtrack-influenced electro-trip-pop is the new trip-hop, a genre I've been lamenting the demise of since Portishead decided they didn't want to do that anymore. Key Tracks: Brulee and Mirando

The Sword - Gods Of The Earth (April 1st; Kemado Records)
Progressive Metal thunder from Austin, Texas' The Sword was the soundtrack to many a skate sesh this past year, an album that would've made the Top 20 if not for a late-comer that replaced it (stay tuned for tomorrow's blog where you'll find that out...). Again, here is the link to the review of Gods Of The Earth. Hot-links a' plenty, yo!

So that'll about do it for the "good" records of 2008, as if the twenty next albums can be considered "better" or dare I say "great"? It's all relative (to what I don't know, I really should do best-of lists in like March of the following year because I know I'm going to find some shit in the next three months that'll blow me away and I'll be kicking myself for now knowing about it three months ago...)

So check back tomorrow around this same time and I'll have albums 11 through 20 for you, as if you really care...

Top 20 Songs Of 2008...

Albums would be nothing without the songs that make them up. Call me Doctor Obvious after a statement like that. But seriously, songs are the vertebrae that make up the spine of... ah, no... I got nothing, really. I was going for witty and incisive but it's coming up whack. Too much talk and I'll ruin the moment. I've already said too much, let's just go...

20. You Want That Picture – Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy

This album didn’t have all that many stand-out tracks, it worked (as does all of Will Oldham’s mastery) as a cohesive album. Still I found myself coming back to this song or playing the album on shuffle a lot and starting with this song. It's a lovely duet, a conversation between two lovers.

19. A Sky For Shoeing Horses Under – Why?

Xylophone keyboard line. Stompin’ drum beat. Lyrically superb. Oakland’s Why? Made some of the most introspective songs this year, and some of the most interesting music to boot. “I’ve only played chess once in my life. And I lost…” Deep.

18. Brulee – Ratatat

It’s like video game music crossed with elevator jazz-funk done for the teeny-boppin’ soda-shop set of the early 60’s. Ratatat's instrumentals are the soundtrack for the 8-bit set.

17. I’ve Got A Little Room (Cannonball) – Hezekiah Jones

As long as Hezekiah is putting out music, it will undoubtedly appear on any year-end list here at The Musicologist. Is that like a form of nepotism? This track appeared on a split 7” with Chris Bathgate called The Asheville Squints.

16. L.E.S. Artistes – Santogold

She’s from Philly, so hometown points for that. And critically acclaimed by garbage-peddling mass media outlets (Rolling Stone named this song #2 on its year-end list, good for you Jan Wenner!). The song is a hard dis on all the Lower East Side phony-hipster artists (I’m sure it works in Williamsburg, Northern Liberties, hey- you can do that across the bay over in the Mission, too!) whose only goal (or “art”) is to be seen where you’re supposed to be seen. We need another Vietnam to thin their ranks out a bit, don’t we? Bring back the draft, Emperor Obama!

15. Autoclave – The Mountain Goats

Lo-fi afficianados have been slamming John Darnielle for his last few albums because he actually uses a studio to record now, but as a music geek I’d have to say I love the qualities just as much as All Hail West Texas or any of that older boombox recorded stuff. Never mind all that; Darnielle is one of the best living American song writers. Really.

14. Cheap and Cheerful – The Kills

VV singing about her addiction to chaotic men? I heard she used to be a total nerd, like used to carry around a notebook always journaling, sat alone in corners at parties, doesn’t drink or use, blah blah, blah- so to hear this coming out of her mouth you’d think a lot more things have been in that mouth. But co-Kill Hotel produced a bomber of a track here.

13. Eraser – No Age

This is the first banger from this album- the single that got my attention and made this album (Nouns) absolutely unstoppable in 2008.

12. Oxford Comma – Vampire Weekend

This song came out so early in the year that I played I out by June, literally not listening to it again until about a month ago. Still a great song from a great album, I don’t understand why A-Punk got all the attention this year, thought that song was just okay- it wasn’t even the second best song on the record, but whatev…

11. Electric Feel – MGMT

See, I’m apt to call this an ’07 release because technically this record came out last year, digitally that is. But the “hard” copy didn’t hit until this year, so there we go. Anyway, probably one of the stickiest songs- like something Michael Jackson wished he did for the Bad album. I've seen some of the other reviews and they have this band ranked way high and their two other tracks rated higher than this. I've made my choice.

10. Connjur – School Of Seven Bells

Found these girls/guy by accident on eMusic’s website. Basically I was browsing through to see what they had since they have the best membership deal (like .22 to .25 a song, really). Anyway, I listened to this track and was like, yeah, okay, I get this now. Then I still illegally downloaded the album. And listened to this track over and over. Shame it wasn’t released earlier in the year, it may have made a better showing on this list.

9. Smell Yo Dick – Riskay

If you haven’t seen this video yet, get your ass over to YouTube to check it out. Tragically ludicrous. I don’t know anymore if I truly hate it or love it in an ironic way so damn much, either way it doesn’t matter- I’ve watched this video way more than any other this year… (LINK)

8. Jump In (For Gilkey Elementary School) – High Places

It’s all bells and poppy jangle, an uplifting inspirational message for the next generation. It doesn't matter that singer Mary Pearson's voice has little to no range, it's what she says. The minimal and kinda bleary under-production makes it what it is, and it's a hell of a song.

7. What It’s All About – Girl Talk

ADHD much? Look at the list of samples on this track: (LINK)

6. Wrestlers – Hot Chip

Best piano break during the middle eight, one of those “Sssshhh- I have to hear this…” moments, like when Elaine was dating that guy who’s song was The Eagles’ Desperado. I told you I was a music geek. Also, name-checking Willie Nelson and backward-masking shit, big ups, Hot Chip.

5. Crying – TV On The Radio

This is at once soulful and melodic and nervous; with that patented tension Tunde Adebimpe’s croon brings to the mix, it was hard to pick a standout track from such a stellar album. And that amazing synth-sound from the keyboard (reminiscent of Toto’s Africa) on the outro of the track, this was a banger of a tune. If the sign of the times is bleak and crazy, the sound of the times is TV On The Radio.

4. Gila – Beach House

Shoegazey dream-popsters from Baltimore make the “prettiest” song of the year, beautiful in both its musicality and lyricism. Mildly ambient and translucent production values offer this track an atmosphere like no other.

3. A Thousand Eyes – Crystal Antlers

The best verse-to-chorus change in any song I’ve heard this year, here’s some adjectives I’ve been throwing at this song: bombastic, anthemic and soul-shattering.

2. Live Your Life – T.I. (ft. Rihanna)

I made the mistake of listening to the radio one day on my way to the skate park in Alameda- this song came on right before I got to the park and stuck in my head throughout my whole sesh (I was without an iPod that week, BestBuy was attempting to repair it…) and when I got back in the car to go home, guess what was on? I promptly bought the track from iTunes when I got home and can’t stop listening to it. I will always have a special place in my heart for cheesy, radio-friendly R&B (rap & bullshit).

...and The Musicologist's 2008 Song Of The Year:

1. Teen Creeps – No Age

There wasn’t another track from ’08 that was more auto-biographical; it seemed to sum up my entire existence of the last four years.

Wash away what we create / My sins like funny calls you make
Teen creeps I've seen you on my street / Teen creeps get what they want and me
I won't end up like them at all / This town will take you kissing trees
Before you see the forest bleed / Teen creeps I've tried to hold it back
So let me leave your welcome mat / I won't end up like them at all
Wash away what we create / I hate you more I hate this place
I know why I feel this way / Teen creeps please don't leave me dead, dead this way…

There were a ton of really great tracks this year- it's pretty hard to narrow the list down to just 20 songs, and some that just barely missed were Lil' Wayne with a pair of bangers (Lollipop and Got Money), The Decemberists' Record Year For Rainfall, Department Of Eagles' Teenagers, Fleet Foxes' White Winter Hymnal, Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? by She & Him, Sigur Ros' Gobbledigook, The Raveonettes' With My Eyes Closed, Immortal Technique's Mistakes, another High Places' song (The Tree With The Lights In It) and Xiu Xiu's F.T.W. all could've been included. So I guess that's my top 31 songs of '08.

Next up: FINALLY! The Top 20 Albums of 2008