Top Albums of 2008 #s 21-30
Happy New Year everyone! A few weeks ago, I listed my top 10 albums of 2008. Last week, I listed #s 11-20. This week I’m listing #s 21-30. Next week, I will list my 10 favorite live shows of 2008. There was an amazing amount of great music this year, thus necessitating that I go up to 30 this year. Again, these are in no specific order.
Bob Mould – District Line (Anti)
I loved 2005’s Body of Song, and this one got a fair amount of play when I first heard it as well. It’s very much in the same mold as Body of Song. Although most fans will think of it as more rock-oriented than his 2002 album Modulate, in actuality he nicely incorporates elements of electronica into his patented delivery here, as he has since Modulate. The highlights here are opener “Stupid Now,” “Again and Again,” and the fantastic “The Silence Between Us.” This would’ve ranked higher, but ultimately it became like MORRISSEY’s last album Ringleader of the Tormentors, a worthwhile effort that ultimately (in my mind, at least) made less of an impression than its predecessor (in Morrissey’s case, 2004’s great comeback album You Are the Quarry).
Dengue Fever – Venus on Earth (M80)
Regrettably, I missed Dengue Fever when they came through here (there was a Philly show as well as one in nearby Delaware) this past year. However, I did enjoy this album quite a bit. There isn’t another band on the planet like them, with Cambodian-born singer CHHOM NIMOL fronting an L.A.-based band who play a style of music heavily indebted to the Cambodian pop music of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s as well as the Ethiopiques series, an influence more pronounced on Venus on Earth than on their previous albums.
Fucked Up – The Chemistry of Common Life (Matador)
While I wasn’t taken by this one as much as their 2006 double LP Hidden World or their earlier (and seemingly endless) 7”s, this is still a strong release. A self-described “prog-punk” band, the Toronto-based band with the unprintable (at least in The New York Times, which recently listed this record in an article) name push the boundaries of early ‘80s influenced hardcore punk in ways that none of their contemporaries do.
The Hold Steady – Stay Positive (Vagrant)
Though not quite up to the standard of 2006’s excellent Boys and Girls in America, The Hold Steady still put out a great record this year. The title track references YOUTH OF TODAY and 7 SECONDS and just for that alone, it’s on this list. Other than that, “Constructive Summer” and “Sequestered in Memphis” are the most memorable tracks here and others such as the ballad “Lord, I’m Discouraged” take them further into BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN territory circa Born to Run. In any case, they may be getting a little repetitive here, but you’ll be pumping your fists to these songs regardless.
R.E.M. – Accelerate (Warner Brothers)
R.E.M.’s strongest album since 1992’s Automatic for the People and its most rockin’ since at least 1994’s Monster, this blazing, 34-minute blast comes as a pleasant shock! PETER BUCK’s guitar is back in action and the anger shown on other, more recent numbers such as “Bad Day” and “Leaving New York” really comes to the surface here in MICHAEL STIPE’s lyrics. While the title track and the single “Supernatural Superserious” are amongst the many upbeat highlights here, the most affecting track here is the uncharacteristically (for this album) slow and somber “Houston,” which references the JIMMY WEBB penned GLEN CAMPBELL hit “Galveston” in addressing the Hurricane Katrina tragedy as well as the Galveston, Texas hurricane of 1900.
Otherwise, this is as energetic as R.E.M. gets, with many moments reminding me of a lost album somewhere between Life’s Rich Pageant and Document. Wow!
American Music Club – The Golden Age (Merge)
Much more understated than 2004’s Love Songs for Patriots, this is a mellow, contemplative affair that may not grab you at first but that gets more rewarding with subsequent spins. “All the Lost Souls Welcome You to San Francisco” is perhaps more upbeat than the rest of this album, but it’s more represented by the haunting, affecting “Windows of the World”.
Elvis Costello and the Imposters- Momofuku (Lost Highway)
Costello’s strongest album since 2002’s excellent When I Was Cruel, I’m not really sure why I didn’t play this one more this past year. Perhaps it’s the off-the-cuff nature of this album, recorded quickly and released (and then promptly forgotten) even quicker. In other words, this barely got promoted (despite high-profile guests such as JENNY LEWIS), but that’s a shame, because the music on this is quite good and in the vein of some of Costello’s more upbeat stuff in the past decade such as the aforementioned When I Was Cruel and 2004’s The Delivery Man, both also recorded with The Imposters (though only The Delivery Man was credited to them).
Nevertheless, “Flutter and Wow” is my favorite track here, a beautiful, affecting ballad that ranks up there with “All the Rage” (from 1994’s Brutal Youth), but others such as the more upbeat “American Gangster Time” (featuring great organ playing from STEVE NIEVE) also make an impression.
Hot Chip – Made in the Dark (EMI)
Although in my view any of their recordings pale in comparison to their absolutely incredible live show, I still enjoy this album (and 2006’s The Warning) quite a bit. Stylistically, almost nothing has changed from The Warning, so this isn’t the quantum leap in songwriting, production, and arranging that characterized that record as opposed to their so-so debut, Coming on Strong.
Regardless, party-starting anthems such as “Ready for the Floor,” “Shake a Fist,” and “Bendable Posable” are irresistible. However, my favorite track may be “Wrestlers,” which nicely juxtaposes wrestling moves with the conflicts within a romantic relationship and even includes a nice reference to WILLIE NELSON.
The Long Blondes – “Couples” (Rough Trade)
Yes, this album is nowhere near as potent as their excellent debut, Someone to Drive You Home, or their early singles (collected on the aptly titled Singles, also released last year). And yes, you may have heard that they are no more as guitarist and songwriter DORIAN COX was sidelined by a stroke back in June.
With all that said, this is still a pretty solid album that runs circles around the sophomore efforts of most other British post-punk bands of the past few years (think BLOC PARTY, KAISER CHIEFS, FUTUREHEADS, others). An electronica/club influence is more pronounced here, with singer KATE JACKSON even quoting a PET SHOP BOYS line at the beginning of “Guilt.” Other highlights include “Here Comes the Serious Bit” and “I’m Going to Hell,” more upbeat selections that have more in common with their earlier stuff. Still, the sound isn’t completely unrecognizable. It’s just that the songs weren’t quite up to snuff. Nevertheless, I still enjoy this album quite a bit.
David Byrne and Brian Eno – Everything That Happens Will Happen Today (self-released)
This isn’t the successor to their excellent 1981 collaboration My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, but much more song-oriented. The highlight here is “Strange Overtones,” with Byrne cleverly commenting on Eno’s music in his lyrics. All of it is enjoyable, though, as it was when Byrne performed most of these songs back in November at the Tower Theater to a packed house.
