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Friday, December 19, 2008
God. Fucking. Damn it.
There's nothing I hate more than delayed flights and hectic days at fucking airports -- especially when I wanna be home this badly. Pray for me.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Top Albums of 2008: # 1 Bon Iver -- For Emma, Forever Ago
Bon Iver -- For Emma, Forever Ago
What can I say about this album that hasn't been said already? If you've listened to it, you know -- if you haven't, quit being a moron and click this handy download. For real.
Honorable Mentions:
Johnson&Jonson -- Blu and Mainframe are Johnson&Jonson
Some of the dopest hip-hop out this year. Kinda like a more hood version of Madvillainy. Blu is emerging as LA's best emcee.
Q-Tip -- The Renaissance
The venerable Q-Tip...This is an amazing solo effort (FINALLY!) that didn't disappoint. He's really evolved as a producer, I think...
Well, that was fun. It's always nice showboating your musical taste. Here's the list again, in bullet form! YEAH!
10. Vivian Girls -- Vivian Girls (HM: Ty Segall, TVOTR)
9. The Dodos -- Visiter (HM: The Gaslight Anthem, O'Death)
8. No Age -- Nouns (HM: KiD CuDi, Born Ruffians)
7. Wale -- The Mixtape About Nothing (HM: Little Joy, Why?)
6. The Hold Steady -- Stay Positive (HM: Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Kanye West)
5. Beach House -- Devotion (HM: Gang Gang Dance, Centro-Matic/South San Gabriel)
4. Okkervil River -- The Stand Ins (HM: Times New Viking, Abe Vigoda)
3. Blitzen Trapper -- Furr (HM: The Donkeys, Frightened Rabbit)
2. Fleet Foxes -- Fleet Foxes (HM: Santogold, Beck)
1. Bon Iver -- For Emma, Forever Ago (HM: Johnson&Jonson, Q-Tip)
Awesome. Maybe I'll do a Top 25 Songs list or a Best Video list before I leave for Oregon for two weeks...
Monday, December 15, 2008
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Top Albums of 2008: #2 Fleet Foxes -- Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes -- Fleet Foxes
Truly one of the most hauntingly beautiful albums of the year, the vocal quality of these gentlemen is astounding -- it really goes without saying. I've never heard harmonies this great. It truly is a singular approach in modern music. Songs like "White Winter Hymnal", "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song", and "Blue Ridge Mountains" represent pure craftsmanship and tonal perfection. This is about as beautiful as music gets in the 00's.
Honorable Mentions:
Santogold -- Santogold
Big year for this songstress. Very deserving. Some call her a poor man's M.I.A. -- that might be true, but she's still makes Beyonce look like a talentless pile of mess (but it still has a great ass.)
Beck -- Modern Guilt
I'm never not gonna pay attention to Beck. He's one of my favorite singer-songwriters ever, and this Dangermouse produced album is a solid effort from the man. He's beginning to garner quite the prolific career -- something both well deserved and well received on this end.
Top Albums of 2008: #3 Blitzen Trapper -- Furr
Blitzen Trapper -- Furr
This Portland sextet has released their most cohesive album in Furr, their fourth effort overall. Really, it would have been hard to follow their last record Wild Mountain Nation with anything as dense as that, so they took the much smarter route and, well, didn't. Instead they put out an album full of Dylan-esque twang ("Black River Killer"), bittersweet piano hymns ("Not Your Lover") and straight-up rock gems ("Gold For Bread", "Sleepy Time in the Western World"). Blitzen Trapper have taken their vast sound and toned it down to a more focused, calculated approach -- something that sounds not-so-great on the surface, but it's a tactic that has made this already-amazing band even better.
Honorable Mentions:
Deerhunter -- Mircocastle
I love this record(s) so much it hurts sometime. I kept it off the official list because I felt it lacked some of the pop sensibility of their other stuff, but there's no denying that Deerhunter has soaked up Radiohead's aural tendencies without becoming carbon copies. Good for them.
Lil Wayne -- Tha Carter III
The greatness of this album need not be explained.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Top Albums of 2008: #4 Crystal Stilts -- Alight of Night
Crystal Stilts -- Alight of Night
A sound that evokes My Bloody Valentine and The Shins simultaneously, the Crystal Stilts are a great Brooklyn band that actually released TWO albums this year -- but this one was without a doubt the better effort. Every track is a spacey gem. Really, I didn't hear another album like it this year -- it truly stands alone as one of the great indie-rock releases of the year. Unfortunately, all the downloads have since been broken, so...I guess buy it? Weird, I know. But worth it. I totally would.
Honorable Mentions:
The Donkeys -- Living on the Other Side
Horrible name -- amazing album. The Donkeys sorta sound like American Beauty-era Grateful Dead and the Band. Some great tunes here.
Frightened Rabbit -- The Midnight Organ Fight
Lyrically sound Scottish rock...and by lyrically sound I mean absolutely amazing lyrics. Straightforward but effective. "The Twist" is an absolute gem of a song.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Top Albums of 2008: #5 Okkervil River -- The Stand Ins
Okkervil River -- The Stand Ins
Okkervil River's last record, The Stage Names was their best. Now, it seems, their newest effort The Stand Ins is in fact their best. At this rate, the album they release next year will be their best. And I'm fine with that. With each album, Will Sheff seemingly grows as a songwriter -- although I use the term "grows" sparingly. He and Okkervil River are already matured musicians, and well beyond their years. "Blue Tulip" is one of my favorite songs of the year.
Honorable Mentions:
Times New Viking -- Rip It Off
These guys are straight out of 1993. Snotty vocals, fuzz-box guitars, amplifiers on the verge of combustion, virtually nonexistent drums -- it's altogether unpretentiously perfect. 16 songs in a half hour. Awesome.
Abe Vigoda -- Skeleton
Abe Vigoda have been called punk rock's Best Kept Secret by virtually every blog in existence, but apparently not secret enough for Dean Spunt of No Age not to find them. They released their debut on his label, and have since drawn comparisons to other LA neanderthals X and the Minutemen.
Crazyness.
Fat City Reprise - Long Gone from Cesar Kuriyama on Vimeo
"While all the music video directors out there are trying to make HD happen, Cesar Kuriyama, a New York based animator and lighting technical director, decided to go old school animation like and create a music video out of 45,000 still photos.
The video was brilliantly shot with a Nikon D200 DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) at 4 pictures per second rate. Basically, the director, alongside his photography director Tommy Agriodimas, shot bursts of photos several times of each scene and ended up editing the photos to reach 24 frames per second. And viola – a music video that looks like it was almost shot with a regular video camera - but much more unique."
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Top Albums of 2008: #5 Beach House -- Devotion
Beach House -- Devotion
When people get pop music right, it's a beautiful thing. Especially the dreamy, atmospheric brand that the Baltimore duo Beach House dole out with ease on their second album, Devotion. Each track is cohesive and seamless, each chord wonderfully complimentary to the next. It's crafted amazingly -- something that seems effortless but is anything but. Good shit.
Honorable Mentions:
Gang Gang Dance -- Saint Dymphna:
Don't let the ridiculous cover fool you -- the tracks within are experimental-dandies that have a traditional structure somewhere below the surface. At first brash and confusing, it soaks in over time. Completely enjoyable.
Centro-Matic/South San Gabriel -- Dual Hawks
I'm a big Will Johnson fan. Both of his respective projects have been churning out quality guitar-rock tunes for years, and this double-album is no exception. Fantastic tuneage.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Top Albums of 2008: #6 The Hold Steady -- Stay Positive
The Hold Steady -- Stay Positive
When you talk about the progression of a band, from album to album, one must question whether or not they've actually made a progression. When the Hold Steady released Separation Sunday, they earned the label "Best Bar Band in The Country". After the release of Boys and Girls in America and this year's Stay Positive, they’ve become one of the best bands in the country, period.
Honorable Mentions:
Kanye West -- 808's and Heartbreak
I'm a huge, huge Kanye West fan and I really like the way he stepped out here. This is a dark and ambitious pop album that sees the outspoken emcee truly baring it all. It's been a great accompanying album to the new found falling snow here in Chicago.
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy -- Lie Down In The Light
Always the veritable folksman, Will Oldham has crafted a collection of somber, melodic tunes on par with anything else he's released over the years. It's an album for any mood or any situation -- good shit.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
Top Albums of 2008: #7 Wale -- The Mixtape About Nothing
Wale -- The Mixtape About Nothing
Does anybody else find it weird that the best hip-hop album of the year wasn't even technically an album? Regardless, Wale is one of the best young emcees in hip-hop right now -- lyrics, flow, style: everything about him is different and amazing. He's certainly the freshest breath of air since Kanye West earned Jay-Z five mics. Hopefully he'll put out an album proper next year -- although, any collection of tracks in any format this stellar would be welcome.
Honorable Mentions
Little Joy -- Little Joy
Little Joy are a rock band from LA -- although I think they relocated from Brazil. They have an amazing pop sensibility and their self-titled record is a really great listen. "Shoulder to Shoulder" is definitely one of the best songs I've heard all year.
Why? -- Alopecia
Unconventional and conventional at the same time -- Why? is the brain child of Jonathon "Yoni" Wolf, a sort-of hip-hop artist with a knack for witty lyrics. Definitely not his strongest effort, but it's certainly enjoyable and worthy of a listen...A listen you'll have to seek on your own, as I couldn't find a download. Lame.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Top Albums of 2008: #8 No Age -- Nouns
No Age -- Nouns
I was hesitant to add this album to my list as I was not entirely convinced that it was truly a great record. But I've listened to it on and on for the past few months and I've come around -- blogs be damned, it's a really good record. Loud and noisy and poppy and awesome. I love the song "Things I Did When I Was Dead".
Honorable Mentions:
Kid Cudi -- A Kid Named Cudi
This oft-brilliant mixtape shows some glaring promise. Cudi's approach is different than any of other emcee out now. Plus he's from Cleveland. No one's from Cleveland...The song he does with Wale is amazing.
Born Ruffians -- Red, Yellow and Blue
These guys are like Tokyo Police Club -- but a shit load better. It's a poppy, dancey effort with some generally great rock tunes. If it didn't taper off towards the end it would have placed very highly in my list...but alas, there's some filler. But it's a debut, so they have a long ways to go.
Monday, December 1, 2008
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