Top 15 Albums Of 2008

Out of the all the albums that came out this year, these here... these are the tops. This list was put together with a little help from last.fm. Also, I don't apply any number ranks to my year end lists. I use the power of the alphabet, but if you really want a #1 album of 2008, let's just say it's... HLLLYH. Ok, let's go...



Top 15 Albums Of 2008:
Alegranza by El Guincho

Comment: A trance enducing world trip
Listen: "Cuando Maavilla Fui" (box.net mp3)
Listen More: "Palmitos Park" (beggars mp3)
Amazon MP3 page is here.
eMusic page is here.

Crystal Castles by Crystal Castles

Comment: The glitch masterpiece of the year
Listen: "Magic Spells" (box.net mp3)
Amazon MP3 page is here.
eMusic page is here.

Curses by Future Of The Left

Comment: Runner up for Album Of The Year... out of all these records, this is the one I listened to the most.
Listen: "Fingers Become Thumbs" (box.net mp3)
Listen More: "Manchasm" (box.net mp3)
Amazon MP3 page is here.
eMusic page is here.

Feed The Animals by Girl Talk

Comment: Mr. Gillis makes me want to wrap my iMac in Saran Wrap. If you haven't yet, take a look at the Wikipedia dissection of Feed The Animals... here. Kind of like The Soup but with music.
Listen: "What It's All About" (box.net mp3)
Pay-What-You-Want is here.
Amazon MP3 page is here.
eMusic page is here.

HEALTH//DISCO by Health

Comment: This will blow your mind. The best remix album of the year (maybe ever?)
Listen: "Heaven (Narctrax Remix)" (box.net mp3)
Listen More: "Lost Time (Pictureplane Remix)" (box.net mp3)
Listen Even More: "Tabloid Sores (Nosaj Thing Remix)" (box.net mp3)
Amazon MP3 page is here.
eMusic page is here.

HLLLYH by The Mae Shi

Comment: Album of the year (for now).
Listen: "PWND"
Listen More: "The Melody" (box.net mp3)
Amazon MP3 page is here.
eMusic page is here.

Liferz by Blood On The Wall

Comment: Like the 90's all rolled up into one album. The Pixies and Sonic Youth influences shine through, but you know what there's nothing wrong with that. This rocks.
Listen: "Rize" (box.net mp3)
Listen More: "Hibernation" (box.net mp3)
eMusic page is here.
Amazon MP3 page is here.

The Master's Bedroom Is Worth Spending A Night In by Thee Oh Sees

Comment: R-O-C-K
Listen: "Ghost In The Trees" (box.net mp3)
Listen More: "The Coconut" (box.net mp3)
eMusic page is here.
Amazon MP3 page is here.

Nouns by No Age

Comment: Amazing.
Listen: "Teen Creeps" (sub pop mp3)
Listen More: "Eraser" (sub pop mp3)
Sub Pop page is here.
Amazon MP3 page is here.

On Two Sides by Blank Dogs

Comment: distorted vocals with instrumentals that sound like The Cure if they had been Birmingham and not West Sussex.
Listen: "Meltdown Cloud" (box.net mp3)
Sacred Bones Records page is here.
(Free) download is here.

Out My Window by Koushik

Comment: downbeat bliss
Listen: "Be With" (box.net mp3)
Listen More: "Nothing's The Same" (box.net mp3)
Amazon MP3 page is here.
eMusic page is here.

Third by Portishead

Comment: a remarkable return (and the only major label artist on the list, sorry Beck)
Listen/Watch: "Machine Gun" (youtube)
Amazon MP3 page is here.

We Breed Champions by Royal Bangs

Comment: These guys crafted one of the best indie rock albums of the year even if my best friend can never remember their name. A good way to remember their name: it's a euphemism for sex with a monarch.
Listen: "Let's Get Even" (box.net mp3)
Audio Eagle page is here.
Amazon MP3 page is here.

Welcome by James Pants

Comment: The space funk album of the year
Listen: "Finger On The Knife" (box.net mp3)
Listen More: "We're Through" (stones throw mp3)
Amazon MP3 page is here.
eMusic page is here.

WOMEN by Women

Comment: Canadian indie rock drenched in droney lofi goodness. SEE THEM LIVE. That is all.
Listen: "Lawncare" (box.net mp3)
Listen More: "Group Transport Hall" (jagjaguwar mp3)
Jagjaguwar page is here.
eMusic page is here

Consider CLICKing
- Panther covering The Silos... here. Listen: "justthismorning" (krs mp3)

- Best Of 2008: Captain's Dead's Top Ten Records... here.

- Best Of 2008: The Tape's 25 favorite songs... here.

- Best Of 2008: The Daily Growl's Top 20 albums... here.

- Best Of 2008: So Much Silence's Favorite albums... here.

- Vice Gives You The Gift Of Good Music... here.

Nothing's The Same By Koushik

This is my song of the day.

Listen: "Nothing's The Same" (box.net mp3) by Koushik

"Everything is gonna be alright, as I look around"

Myspace page is here.
Stones Throw is here.
eMusic page is here.

Consider CLICKing
- Aesop Rock's Daytrotter session is... here. Bask in it's awesomeness.

- Clues is indiepop with connections to Islands and The Unicorns and Arcade Fire but they sound like neither. YANP and S'gum have posts... here and here (respectively).

- Check out some previously L-O-S-T tracks of minimalistpunk by 100 Flowers'... here.

The window at my local South African restaurant

Superstition Hurts By Paul Fuster

AND NOW more Paul Fuster. When last we visited the former Proton Proton member he going to "GO to WHERE its Clear" (box.net mp3). Hearing the two mp3s below will get you excited for his (hopefully) forthcoming LP/EP/something besides myspace downloads.

Downloadables:
"Superstition Hurts" (box.net mp3)
"Castaway" (box.net mp3)

Consider CLICKing
- For your listening pleasure: "Dying Is Fine" (barsuk mp3) by Ra Ra Riot... it's so much more polished than the daytrotter version.

- Chunklet is all excited about the Volcano Suns reissues that will be coming out next year on Merge (me too!). Posted is a 1984 WERS boot of The Suns with NO SONG TITLES. Grrrr. C'mon peoples help a brother out and send the setlist to Mr. Chunklet (or me). Oh, uh, the post I'm talking about is... here.

- Also for your listening pleasure Stones Throw downbeat artist Koushik has a new mp3 on the promo scene... "Bright And Shining" (terrorbird mp3)

- Comfort Radio is talking about Apparat again... here.

- Aquarium Drunkard considers the 90's Boston shoegaze band, Swirlies... here.

Nova By NOMO

Lazy. Hot. Summer Saturday.

What to listen to? How's about some postafrobeat?

Yeah. Gonna listen to NOMO.

Downloadables:
"Nova" (box.net mp3)
"Three Shades" (box.net mp3) (Did you get this track already?)

Myspace page is here.
Ubiquity Records page is here.
eMusic page is here.

Consider CLICKing
- How's about some "hazy, hip-hop-based downbeat shit"? Stones Throw artist Koushik has a couple of free mp3s available in advance of Out My Window. One is a song... "Lying In The Sun" (stones throw mp3) and the other is a mixtape... "Koushik - Mixoremixes" (stones throw mp3) (tracklisting)

- Instrumental Analysis talks up B'more music fest, WHARTSCAPE 2008 (featuring Celebration, The Mae Shi, Double Dagger, Parts & Labor, and much much more) and a number of other Mid-Atlanic happenings this weekend... here.

- Speaking of Baltimore... check out this more-than-a-year-old compilation of local Baltimore music at The City Paper. Download The End, Part Two: The Beginning (The Wham City Compilation)... here.

- Do I even need to mention this?