Top 10 Albums of 2008
Well, it’s that time of year again. I will start off with my ten favorite studio albums released in 2008 (these are in no particular order) and then next week, I will continue with #s 11-20. My first few lists of the new year will consist of my favorite live shows of 2008 followed by my favorite singles or album/EP tracks, focusing on albums that weren’t quite strong enough to make the list. This was a very strong year for new music, though unlike in past years, I have no clear favorite (at least not yet).
Joe Jackson – Rain (Rykodisc)
Joe’s first album since 2003’s return-to-form reunion with the Joe Jackson Band Volume Four finds him again with his longtime bassist GRAHAM MABY and drummer DAVE HOUGHTON, both of whom played on Volume Four as well. Guitarist GARY SANFORD is missing, so the resulting album is more like the piano-driven pop of early ‘80s albums like Night and Day and Body and Soul than his still stunning and thrilling 1st 3 albums. Nevertheless, it’s a more straightforward, stripped-down recording than those early ‘80s albums were and as such, it may be the finest album he’s released since 1986’s Big World. At the time, I thought that about Volume Four, but this one is more consistent as it only has ten songs and all of them are winners. Highlights? How about “Invisible Man,” “Too Tough”, the “Memphis”-like “King Pleasure Time” or “Good Bad Boy”, sort of an update on 1980’s “Pretty Boys”. The only real criticism I have is that Jackson is no longer doing anything new and exploring new genres, styles and sounds, so where does he go from here?
Still, this is just him doing what he does best (piano-driven pop songs) and I’ll take that any day of the week.
Jay Reatard – Matador Singles ‘08 (Matador)
OK technically this isn’t a studio album but since all 6 singles Jay released for his new label Matador were released this year (in succession from June up until September, followed by the album’s release in October) and are compiled here(along with one bonus track), I’m cheating a bit and including this. A great companion piece to In the Red’s similarly great Singles ‘06-’07 collection (one of the year’s finest reissues) and 2006’s stunning Blood Visions, this show’s Jay evolution from highly melodic but still ultra-aggressive and speedy new-wave influenced garage punk to a slightly tamer sound featuring acoustic guitars (!) and songs clearly inspired by ‘80s New Zealand/Flying Nun stalwarts like THE CHILLS and especially THE CLEAN. Old fans shouldn’t fear, though. The maniacal energy and aggression is still very much in tact, as are Jay’s misanthropic and nihilistic lyrics.
King Khan and The Shrines – The Supreme Genius of King Khan and The Shrines (Vice)
Lest you think the title is hyperbole, this is absolutely rip-snortin’ garage rock of the early ‘60s SONICS variety, but with a modern sensibility and an added dose of late ‘60s Nuggets action as well. This isn’t a substitute for Khan’s incredible live show, but is still well worth hearing as well as the best place to hear much of his previously released work as this is the first Khan album to be released in the U.S. So yes, technically this is a compilation as well, but for many listeners, this will be their first time hearing him.
Beach House – Devotion (Carpark)
I will go out on a limb and say that this is the finest dream-pop album that I’ve heard since the genre’s heyday in the early ‘90s. At times, this Baltimore duo sound as if ROBIN GUTHRIE and ELISABETH FRASER (of COCTEAU TWINS) recorded a new album in the style of Heaven or Las Vegas (though with slightly more intelligible lyrics to try to fool the fanbase) and hired them to pose as its creators ala what THE ALARM did a few years ago in a successful attempt to revisit the UK charts.
Of course, such a notion is foolish, as I’ve seen them play live and I can attest to the fact that they are clearly the creators of this amazing record. While live, they can be a bit sleepy, on record they are absolutely transcendent. This is a quantum leap from their 2006 self-titled debut in terms of songwriting, arranging, production and sheer catchiness. It’s like a hazy dream you’ll be replaying in your head for days on end. The highlights include the opener “Wedding Bell”, the DANIEL JOHNSTON cover “Some Things Last a Long Time” and the astounding “Astronaut”.
Magnetic Fields – Distortion (Nonesuch)
Continuing in the same vein as my #4 entry, who would’ve thought that the Magnetic Fields would produce a similarly fine dream-pop album? But that they did, albeit theirs is explicitly inspired by THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN’s classic debut Psychocandy. Underneath the noisy surface, though, this is still a Magnetic Fields through and through, which means half-misanthropic and half-romantic lyrics (sometimes in the same song) and about half of the songs by leader STEPHIN MERRITT and with the other half sung SHIRLEY SIMMS (check out her amazing turn on “California Girls”).
Springhouse – From Now to OK (Independent Projects)
My colleague STEVE HOLTJE called this album “the indie rock Chinese Democracy”, but in this case boy was it worth the wait! Their first album since 1993’s Postcards from the Arctic finds singer-songwriter MITCH FRIEDLAND showing a more explicit folk-rock influence than on previous efforts. In particular, the influence of artists like JOHN MARTYN and NICK DRAKE is heard on some of the tracks, but this is still fundamentally a Springhouse record as Friedland’s vocals and melodic sense (along with the band’s ‘80s post-punk and dream-pop influences) are completely unmistakable. The highlights are many here, but check out “Moving Van, “Mercedes Marxist” and “No More Yesterdays” for starters. Our own JACK RABID’s vocals on “Time Runs Out” are well worth hearing as well. However, my favorite here may be the absolutely riveting “10 Count”, the album’s penultimate track. The album sounds as if the group went through a lot in the process of making it, but music as passionate and thoughtful as this has to come from experience.
Julie Ocean- Long Gone and Nearly There (Transit of Venus)
It’s a shame that this great but short-lived DC band will only make one album as singer/guitarist JIM SPELLMAN (formerly of the great VELOCITY GIRL) is now living in Denver and working for CNN (!) there on assignment. Nevertheless, Spellman and longtime Big Takeover contributor TERRY BANKS (the group’s other singer/songwriter/guitarist) are responsible for the year’s finest and biggest (in some cases, absolutely gigantic) hooks. Covering 10 songs in about 25 minutes, this is the kind of album that warrants many repeated plays and while instantly memorable, will only get better as its stacks of hooks are revealed more and more on subsequent plays. “Here Comes Danny”, the album’s finest track, is absolute power-pop heaven, but ”#1 Song” and “My Revenge” come awfully close as well.
Vivian Girls – Vivian Girls (In the Red)
Another case where the hype is justified (also see entries 2-4 on this list as well as #9), this Brooklyn trio’s debut is just chock full of indie-pop goodness and songs you won’t be able to get out of your head. For starters, try “Wild Eyes”. When I first heard it, I immediately thought of Sacramento’s early ‘90s twee-core band TIGER TRAP, but it’s not only faster, harder and more punk-influenced, but catchier as well! Thus, I couldn’t stop playing it. Another highlight is “Where Do You Run To”, written by drummer FRANKIE ROSE (who is no longer with the group). “Tell the World” (like “Wild Eyes”, the A-side of a recently released 7”) is a great approximation of the surf-riffing goodness of early B-52’s hits like “Rock Lobster” or “52 Girls”. Most of the other songs aren’t quite as accomplished, but like the Julie Ocean record, this is another album that is so short, fun, catchy and accomplished, you won’t really care.
No Age – Nouns (Sub Pop)
Although I liked 2007’s singles collection Weirdo Rippers, that record didn’t contain anything as fierce (or as catchy) as “Sleeper Hold” or “Brain Burner”. How these songs weren’t released as singles (instead they chose “Eraser” and “Teen Creeps”, both fine tracks but nowhere near as devastating) is something that I just won’t ever understand. Regardless, the entire album is worth your while as well. It exists in an early ‘90s plane where the lines between punk and indie-rock were often quite blurry (see SUPERCHUNK, although No Age don’t sound anything like them, or for the West Coast equivalent, any 7” single on Seattle’s Empty Records). However, there’s very little precedent for what No Age are doing because they also combine shoegaze/dream-pop with hardcore punk in a way that hasn’t really been heard before. On their full-length debut, however, the shoegaze influence is less pronounced (though still there on a few tracks) and the focus is on fast, short, speedy bursts.
Billy Bragg – Mr. Love and Justice (Anti)
I’ve only heard this recently, but boy do I love it. In fact, I’ve played it enough in the past week for it to be included here as a late entry! This is unquestionably Bragg’s finest album since 1991’s Don’t Try This at Home or perhaps even 1988’s Worker’s Playtime, the record this reminds me of the most. There’s not a bad track here, but the higlights include “I Almost Killed You,” ” Something Happened” and the politically-themed “O’Freedom”, a lament about the misguided nature of the so-called “war on terror”. “The Johnny Carcinogenic Show” is also a memorable attack on the tobacco industry that at times feels like the soundtrack to the great satire film Thank You for Smoking.
Make sure to spring for the 2-disc version because while the first disc contains the album, the second disc contains solo versions of every song on the album. At times, much like his live performances, the solo versions are even better!
