Posting a 2008 “Best of” music list in February 2009 is some kind of life metaphor.
Nevertheless here is the rationale: I wanted to register a domain and put it there. Then I decided that was well beyond my capacity and that I would simply put it at WordPress. However all of the good Usernames were taken (“Deliquesce”? Are you kidding me? On what planet does anyone use that word much less employ it as a Username?) That lead to a brief metaphysical reevaluation of whether I wanted to commit my limited free time to writing.
Enough preamble, though. Salt Lake City is in desperate need of a good music blog, in the absence of which this will have to suffice. I hope this won’t be a one-off post without another missive until the fall or something similarly shameful. However it certainly will not be about DISCOVERING new music to anything but the casual consumer—I just don’t know very much frankly. So I’ll keep it to short posts with highlights of new music and the occasional live show. Not a real pioneering outlook but if I wait much longer it will be 2010.
This is a fairly dramatic revision of a list I made in December in an unsuccessful attempt to win $25 from a local record store.
Favorite albums more or less in order of preference
1. Hayden – In Field & Town
Like most of my other choices, In Field & Town offers a cohesive album experience which I greatly prefer to singles. Each song is smoky, subdued, and tender-hearted. “Damn This Feeling” boasted the best lyrics I heard all year.
2. Atmosphere – When Life Gives You Lemons
Don’t know precisely why Slug’s song-pictures spoke so directly to a middle-class white guy but this was a huge grower for me. Maybe Obama is making me soft, but this really moved me as hip-hop social commentary.
3. Lackthereof – Your Anchor
One of a couple of 2008 releases that didn’t seem to get much traction, I loved every track from Danny Seim (Menomena) with the distinct exception of his ill-advised Nationals cover.
4. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
No shame of the blog buzz here. Loved each inflection of CSNY, Paul Simon, and every other 60’s folk singer this apes. By the way, I didn’t really feel the Sun Giant EP; It was the full-length that got me.
5. Pete and the Pirates – Little Death
It is a mystery of the music industry (to me) how an album so clearly radio-ready like Little Death could fail to get an American release. The power pop import is dirt cheap so Google and buy.
6. Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid
Don’t know how you top Leaders of the Free World, and I don’t know that this does. However I will say Seldom Seen Kid really came alive after seeing Elbow perform live, a highlight of the year.
7. Son Lux – At War with Walls & Mazes
Honestly, Ryan Lott was THIS CLOSE to producing a game-changer with Walls & Mazes but for a paucity of musical ideas. A few redundant arrangements left me slightly disappointed, but check out Son Lux—another release I thought missed out on due acclaim.
8. Crystal Stilts – Alight of Night
Confession: Sometimes I’m not sure if I like an album because I truly enjoy it or because I know I am SUPPOSED to enjoy it. I am fairly sure—but not 100% certain— that Alight of Night is the former.
9. Boris – Smile
Although I was somewhat bitter to find the single, “Messeeji,” was homogenized from its Japanese version in the Southern Lord pressing, I still loved Smile. At times, it felt closer to Yo La Tengo than hard core/experimental.
10. British Sea Power – Do You Like Rock Music?
Five years after The Decline of British Sea Power, I now feel compelled to defend BSP. The arena choruses of Rock Music stuck with me all year long.
Almost as good as the Top 10 I mean
Seriously this is pretty arbitrary
Deerhunter – Microcastle
Dr. Dog – Fate
Neil Halstead – Oh Mighty Engine!
Sloan – Parallel Play
Jason Collett – Here’s to Being Here
Robert Forster – The Evangelist
Ida Maria – Fortress Around my Heart
The Rosebuds – Life Like
Kelley Stoltz – Circular Sounds
The Tallest Man on Earth – Shallow Graves
Biggest disappointment
The Dears – Missiles. I may or may not have a mancrush on Murray Lightburn, but holy criminy this seemed really flat to me.
Some cool songs that I liked
Los Campesinos! – “Death to Los Campesinos!” LC ends almost every song with an exclamation point! Also with a punk-populist shouted chorus, which is why I can’t entirely get into them!
Jack Penate – “Spit at Stars” The most insanely catchy song I have heard in many years.
Chatham County Line – “Chip of a Star” The second most insanely catchy song I have heard in many years.
Cut Copy – “Lights and Music”
De Novo Dahl – “Shout”
Air France – “No Excuses”
Ron Sexsmith – “One Last Round” Ron is also responsible for the regrettably cloying Feist single “Brandy Alexander.”
Thao Nguyen – “Bag of Hammers”
Neil Halstead – “Queen Bee”
Best EP
The Muslims – The Muslims EP
Best Live Show
Elbow – May 3 at The Depot. Not just my favorite performance of the year, but one of the best shows I have seen in many years.
April 15, 2009 at 9:48 pm
[...] home tonight I finished another listen of When Life Gives you Lemons, which I considered one of the top albums of 2008. Even now, the album strikes deeply. Maybe I would have enjoyed the show in a more [...]
April 3, 2010 at 12:29 pm
[...] I wrote of 2008’s Son Lux disc that ”Ryan Lott was THIS CLOSE to producing a game-changer with Walls & Mazes but for a paucity of musical ideas.” This seemed to have been a consistent criticism with At War With Walls and Mazes, that Lott had created a vulnerable little symphonic album with the emphasis on “little.” Too few melodies compiled into several arrangements that were a tad redundant. [...]
September 19, 2010 at 12:10 pm
[...] been more than two years since Little Death, one of 2008′s best records. Until the band finishes its new CD, treat yourself to Pete and the Pirates’ free [...]