Albums Of The Year 2008

What follow is mostly true. I've tried to list my favourite albums of the year. This is not an attempt to be definitive because I haven't heard everthing released or I've not listened to some things enough for them to merit inclusion. Here's what I like (in no order):

The Fleet Foxes
About once a month I talk on the phone to an old friend of mine, usually about music we like or new music we'd discovered. He mentioned the Fleet Foxes to me but, as often happens, I forgot about them and wasn't impressed by the name. A couple of weeks later I'd popped home for lunch and put 6Music on. George Lamb is much maligned in some quarters, possibly because he lacks the pompous earnestness of some of his Northern colleagues. He mentioned something about "Fleet Foxes" but I was making my sandwiches and wasn't really paying attention. Then this came on:


I was taken aback. It was so out of place and yet so brilliant. I stood in my kitchen waiting to find out what it was (for some reason there was no accompanying DAB text). As soon as it finished and Lamb said what it was I downloaded the whole album straight away. I thought it was something special and would be worth it. I immediately listened to White Winter Hymnal again and again in quick succession in the ten minutes it used to take me to walk back to work.

I listened to the whole album at different occasions after that. It has more than a shade of My Morning Jacket's earlier work, especially due to the lead vocalist sounding exactly like Jim James but it didn't sound like a rip off. It/they has/have been compared to Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young but I don't like CSNY's cheesy block harmonies. Despite not being remotely modern, there's something timeless about the Fleet Foxes. My only concern is that it's built too much in the "classic" mould and I'll grew tired of it.
Standout track: White Winter Hymnal

Vampire Weekend
The album that I've listened to more than any other this year. I'd heard the name mentioned in the press but thought that they must be some kind of emo band. It wasn't until there was a rave review for one of their live shows in The Observer that I took any real notice and downloaded the album. They were described as incorporating aspects of African music which doesn't appeal to me but at least they weren't emo. I loaded the album on my ipod and went running in a Sunday afternoon. I liked what I heard instantly with it's busy drums and catchy hooks. I find that I get in to a good album through one or two songs first before getting to know the others. It's only then that I can think of an album as good or not.

I'd had the album for while and several listens before I realised I'd downloaded a different tracklisting. I was missing two songs and had an extra one which I considered to be one of my favourites (I thought it was called Boston but is in fact named Ladies Of Cambridge). I can hear the African influences on the album but they're not strong enough for me to hate them or, conversely, listen to more African music. The only song I don't like is the most African: Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa. But it also namechecks Peter Gabriel so I don't think it's necessarily the African influence.
Standout track:



The Black Keys - Attack & Release
Back in 2002 my then housemate bought their debut album. They'd been touted as "the new White Stripes" and upon hearing them I was immediately dismissive. They sounded too devoted to replicating a blues sound whereas there was more originality on White Blood Cells. Attack & Release received a good review in the Observer Music Monthly and it was produced by Danger Mouse who had impressed me and others with The Grey Album in 2004. Danger Mouse then gained more widespread acclaim producing Gorillaz and his own band Gnarls Berkley. Therefore, I was intrigued enough to acquire the album.

It wasn't the earnest blues sound I'd come to expect and dismiss (from hearing a few seconds of their debut). It's much more mellow and the band uses more instrumentation than just guitar, drums and voice. Keyboards are used on occasion. There's nothing complex about the record but it's a collection of good songs, well produced and it doesn't overstay its welcome at 37 minutes length. It's received some criticism from long term fans for not sounding like The Black Keys. I don't think this is a bad thing.
Key track (that's available on youtube):


Conor Oberst
I'm Wide Awake It's Morning has become one of my most listened to albums. There's nothing innovative about it but the combination of the songs and the lyrics have earned repeated listening. The follow up, Cassadaga, had some excellent tracks on it (notably Lime Tree) but on the whole it felt over produced in comparison to its predecessor. Oberst (who is essentially Bright Eyes without Mike Moggis) returned with this largely stripped down effort and is all the better for it. Oberst's frail voice is suited to simple acoustic based songs. That's not to say he can't be raucous on songs like I Don't Want To Die In A Hospital about an old man approaching death who wants to die with dignity outside of a sterile hospital ward. It's actually quite funny.

Favourite track:



Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
At the start of the year I was trawling through pitchfork for potential acquisitions. This was highly acclaimed but had only had a very limited release last year so I had to wait for it to come out properly. I'd read about how he's just one guy (Justin Vernon) who had, heartbroken, retreated to a cabin and returned with this. There's an effecting warmth and tenderness to the record which isn't derived purely from its simplicity.



Panda Bear - Person Pitch
This was another I acquired as a result of pitchfork. If I'd known only that it was a solo album by the drummer for This Animal Collective I wouldn't have gone anywhere near it. Instead, I'd read that it was as if the Beach Boys had gone trip hop. The album is made up of loops, heavy reverb, repeated melodies and harmonies. It shouldn't work but its sounds ethereal. It really has to be listened to in its entirety because a 4 minute song doesn't do it justice.



Honorable mentions that I can't write about at length because I haven't listened to them as much/enough [delete as applicable]:
MGMT; R.E.M.; The Raconteurs; Band Of Horses; Kings Of Leon; The Walkmen; My Morning Jacket; Iron And Wine; I'm Not There OST (certain tracks).

Playlist for the year:

Name	Artist	Album
Stella	Ida Maria	Stella - Single
Things Ain't Like They Used to Be	the Black Keys	Attack & Release
Time to Pretend	MGMT	Oracular Spectacular
Ladies Of Cambridge	Vampire Weekend	Mansard Roof
White Winter Hymnal	Fleet Foxes	Fleet Foxes
Falling Out Of Reach	Guillemots	Red
Always Right Behind You	The Zutons	Always Right Behind You - EP
Supernatural Superserious	R.E.M.	Accelerate
Hold Up	The Raconteurs	Consolers Of The Lonely
the general specific	Band of horses	Cease to begin
Let It Be Me	Ray LaMontagne	Gossip In The Grain
Sex On Fire	Kings Of Leon	Only By The Night
Daddy's Gone	Glasvegas	Glasvegas
In My Arms	Teddy Thompson	A Piece Of What You Need [2008]
In the New Year	The Walkmen	You & Me
5 Years Time	Noah & The Whale	Noah & The Whale
Lenders in the Temple	Conor Oberst	Conor Oberst
Mr. Carte (Produced By Just Blaze)	Lil Wayne	Tha Carter 3 (C3)
Touch ME I'm Going To Scream	My Morning Jacket	Evil Urges
The Rip	Portishead	Third
The Wolves (Act I and II)	Bon Iver	For Emma, Forever Ago
Goin' To Acapulco	Jim James & Calexico	I'm Not There OST
Good Girl	Panda Bear	Person Pitch
Flightless Bird, American Mouth	Iron and Wine	The Shepherd's Dog
Let Us Down Easy	Ryan Adams & The Cardinals	Cardinology