I know it's pretty late to post all things related to end year lists, but now that it's 2009, it couldn't feel more fitting to take a look back on the best of 2008 in albums. Bear in mind, that this is purely my opinion; not necessarily albums that were better than others, especially those unmentioned. These are simply albums that I've liked throughout the year.I don't see any reason to take down the post now, because I've removed all the songs, and I mean all of it. So please, please, please don't delete this post again.
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25. Chad VanGaalen - Soft Airplane
There’s a poignant ease to these melodies, a sense of grace that taps straight into the moldy heritage of this thing we call modern indie rock; that, pretty much, legitimizes its startling onus through the strange and welcoming precepts we often catch in its sound. The big bulk of that sound has to date been enormously vital, often moving: so much of Chad’s material comes at you in the moment, because you sort of suspect it just happened to be written that way. VanGaalen is simply operating at a different, intoxicating level. His reach continues to amaze and expand. His creativity, we get, is still beautifully shameless. (cokemachineglow)...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
++ MySpace | Buy
24. Pete & the Pirates - Little Death
Little Death is an album of sharp musicality and everyday emotions, a set to grab the glory back for indie kids. It's upbeat, snappy and sharp as a box of tacks. It has so many quirks that could have been ironed out in the wrong hands, like Sanders' brilliant way of leaning into songs with his vocals, and the bits of cooing that are the soulful antipathy of footballesque chanting in Kaiser Chiefs and The Fratellis. Little Death is indie for the fanzine generation, 12 blazing little fires of warmth that'll connect stylishly with the masses too. It's indie rock music to write poetry too, and it won't be beaten in a while. (musicOMH)...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
++ MySpace | Buy
23. The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead
But, even when expressing such profound dissatisfaction, such sadness, The Helio Sequence make it sound like the sweetest thing in the world, the hazy electronics meshing perfectly with drums and guitar to create dream pop. An album whose deep felt emotion and effortless execution proves that there’s nothing like a little trial and tribulation to get the artistic synapses firing. (Drowned In Sound)...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
++ MySpace | Buy
22. Je Suis Animal- Self -Taught Magic from a Book
The garrisoned drumkit, the breathy, angelic vocals of Elin Grimstad the vast array of bizarre shrills and shrieks which adorn the sidelines. Welcome to the world of shoegaze-pop. These days any amateur can record an album in the studio; so to really impress, you have to take your songs somewhere special: a log cabin, the fortress of solitude, Grimsby, the sixth moon of Titan, or in Je Suis Animal's case: remote community hall deep in the woodlands of Norway. The light, breezy echoes are immediately apparent and shroud the entire album in a tinglingly-warm coat of fuzz and reverb. (Strangeglue)...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
++ MySpace | Buy
21. Deerhoof - Offend Maggie
Offend Maggie is an even more joyous experience than Friend Opportunity. The joy that Deerhoof express is the joy in being free to express yourself in exactly the way you choose, without self-censorship, never worrying about whether you're making sense. This childlike wonder and spontaneity melds with the sophistication of Deerhoof's musicality and creates something unique, as if Juno were remade as a sci-fi movie set in an enchanted forest, or as a parable about magic mushrooms. Offend Maggie is head-spinning bliss from beginning to end, and proves that the quartet are the best prog-rock post-punk Afro-Oriental art-pop folk-jazz band in the world. (Observer Music Monthly)...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
++ MySpace | Buy
20. No Age - Nouns
As the 12 songs pass by in 31 minutes, the overall effect is nothing short of exhilarating. While their musical antecedents are clearly apparent, at no stage does Nouns feel in any way derivative or familiar. Despite the occasional bout of lyrical nihilism, it mostly sounds like two people having about as much fun as is possible with a guitar, drums, and some studio effects. No Age provide a brash, gutsy antidote to much of the wan, colorless conservatism that passes for alternative music these days. It doesn’t happen very often, but this time it would seem that all the hype is entirely justified. (Popmatters)...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
++ MySpace | Buy
19. Foals - Antidotes
That’s precisely what Antidotes is the realisation of – an aim to refine ambition into direct compositions that toy with the idea of being experimental in an industry still dominated by sound-alike guitar rock, but that also throw off the stuffy shackles of technical prowess over pop immediacy to craft songs that bite and kick without bogging themselves down in self-manifested over-musicianship. (Drowned In Sound)...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
++ MySpace | Buy
18. Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line
The sweet, sad quality in the music of the Syracuse band Ra Ra Riot can be attributed to various factors: the earnest ache of the vocal melodies, perhaps, or the presence of cello and violin. Like more than a few other bands to emerge in recent years, this one takes generous cues from the most melodic precincts of indie rock, where melancholy reigns. But the album holds together, not only as a memorial to past tragedy but also as a testament to whatever emotional terrain lies ahead. (New York Times)...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
++ MySpace | Buy
17. The Dodos - Visiter
What The Dodos, duo Meric Long and Logan Kroeber, do on their first official release, Visiter, is nothing strikingly new. But what they have been able to do is combine all of their influences with liveliness and ingenuity that is, frankly, brilliant. Every song on here is filled with its own outstanding moment and every other second is a second filled with staggering, excellent music. The Dodos have shaped and formed a superb blend of intricate drumming, remarkable acoustic guitar and touching vocals—this is truly something exceptional. (Delusions of Adequacy)...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
++ MySpace | Buy
16. Pia Fraus - After Summer
Pia Fraus hails from Estonia, but something tells me their brand of lush, hook-laden dream-pop will find approving ears just about anywhere. Since their inception in 1998, this cast of musicians has put out five records and three EPs, and their ten years of artistic progression is certainly evident on After Summer. On these ten tracks, Pia Fraus exhibit a keen eye for melody and an almost professional ability to knock out solid song after solid song. (Indieville)...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
++ MySpace | Buy
15. The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age of the Understatement
Usually, most side projects are often simplified renditions of the artist's main project. The key word in that sentence is usually. However, every now and then, you come across a new side project that is elegantly more spread out and filled with great ideas. Thus is the case with The Last Shadow Puppets' The Age of the Understatement. Their familiar brand of spunky and frenetic rock has taking a backseat to Puppets' cinematic and orchestral feel and ultimately, it's a winner. (Delusions of Adequacy)...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
++ MySpace | Buy
14. The Botticellis - Old Home Movies
Clocking at just under half an hour, with a variable set of songs that sound like what a lot of other good bands might sound like were they to be put on permanent vacation, Old Home Movies might seem like too easy a pill to swallow. Think of it this way: The Botticellis have done the work already, so you won't have to do a thing. Columnists may have less to blog about, and listeners will have less to think about. So take off for the summer. I hear San Francisco's beautiful this time of year.(Slant Magazine)...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
++ MySpace | Buy
13. Crystal Stilts - Alight of Night
But this debut full-length from Crystal Stilts is anything but generic scenester fodder. It’s not difficult to pick apart each song and trace influences. Stand-up drummer Frankie Rose has probably tired of the Moe Tucker comparisons; singer Brad Hargett doesn’t just sound like Jim Reid, but he even dresses like him and bears a passing physical resemblance. But it’s immediately apparent from the opening chords of “The Dazzled” that Crystal Stilts are a band with a deep passion and understanding of pop structure. (prefix)...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
++ MySpace | Buy
12. Vivian Girls - Vivian Girls
I believe in the Vivian Girls. In every gorgeous harmony that coats bitterness, in every ambition subjugated to truncated song structure and muffled production, in every bouncy beat beneath a baleful drawl somehow made of equally bouncy elements. So what if the experience is a little ambivalent, it’s richer for that. Affectation deconstructed, gestures dually construed, a world of joy in a world of hurt. (cokemachineglow)...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
++ MySpace | Buy
11. Beach House - Devotion
Some beaches are like big, green bathtubs, splashing against shores of white sand dotted with the occasional coconut palm. Other coasts are something much darker and different, littered with stones and bare trees and a cold wind sweeping up from choppy waters. The duo known as Beach House sounds as if it hails from the latter, with dazed melodies that aren’t so much a vacation in St. Barth’s, but rather a macabre October sunset on the Atlantic shoreline. Slide guitars and steel drums seduce the listener into a world of gentle pain, making for a sophomore album that is, like its predecessor, a beautiful collection of songs and images seemingly constructed upon repulsion and ennui. (Filter)...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
++ MySpace | Buy
10. Moscow Olympics - Cut the World
Significantly, Moscow Olympics strike gold in their ability to coagulate their songwriting throughout the album. Coating soft bass runs with the aforementioned harmonic picking, the band proceeds into carving out their accomplished niche of shoe-gaze, droning their instrumental arsenal plethorically to induce a sort of catharsis in the listener. When all is said and done, Moscow Olympics’ entrée unmistakably makes for a great listen with headphones in a secluded place. (Sputnik Music)...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
++ MySpace | Buy
9. M83 - Saturdays = Youth
Of course it’s cheeseball, as we all were at that age. But that’s ultimately what makes this accessible, highly-listenable album a reinvigoration of both catalogue and genre. Shoegaze is still hiding behind its noncommittal subjugation to noise and the irrefutable bible of Loveless‘s supposed perfection. Saturdays = Youth isn’t exactly stupid, but it’s the wonderful paradox of a knowing naiveté that then allows Gonzales to be so unapologetically himself. (cokemachineglow)...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
++ MySpace | Buy
8. Lykke Li - Youth Novels
On her anticipated debut, 22-year-old Swede Lykke Li proves herself a dab hand in the ear-bending stakes thanks largely to a minimal approach that’d make Steve Reich blush and goes down like a palate-cleansing glass of water after the rancid vintage of so much modern-day pop plonk. Which is giving it both barrels on the pretentious reference front, frankly, but sod it: this record’s worth every last overwrought drop. (Drowned In Sound)...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
++ MySpace | Buy
7. Born Ruffians - Red Yellow & Blue
But even if Red Yellow Blue overstays its welcome for one song, it still counts as one of this new year's most engaging and endearing indie-rock debuts. Which may echo the sentiments attributed to another debut album on this site recently, but then Born Ruffians are the Vampire Weekend you don't have to fret over-- all the witty wordplay and jingle-jangle joy, none of the nagging questions about Afro-pop appropriation and Ivy League privilege. (Pitchfork)...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
++ MySpace | Buy
6. Little Joy - Little Joy
You want to wake up with Fabrizio Moretti. Gently coaxing open your eyes to the sun peeking around the curtains, The Strokes’ drummer’s side project Little Joy is considerately hushed. Here, Fab and singer Amarante affect the heavy hearts of coastal lounge singers yet retain the resilience of city kids who can’t be beat. Although backup singer Shaprio is too feathery to really make an impact, the sum of Little Joy’s sincere regret and wide-eyed optimism lend a bedroom intimacy to the group’s debut. (TinyMixTapes)...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
++ MySpace | Buy
5. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Vampire is Anglo-Afro fusion on par with Graceland. It sounds like David Byrne fronting Orchestra Baobab. It sounds like The Strokes with a sense of humor. It sounds like indie rock simultaneously gentrifying and miscegenating—despite rumors to the contrary, the neighborhood’s getting better, more interesting and more colorful. Indeed, this cosmopolitan quartet has streamlined ska, post-punk, chamber music and Afropop into a glorious ultramodern groove. (Paste)...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
++ MySpace | Buy
4. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
If all of this sounds a little po faced, it shouldn't. This is a celebration of how music can fill hearts with joy. If at times the themes are a little on the heavy side, Fleet Foxes still manage to make them sound like soothing lullabies. This could be the closest this generation gets to its own Pet Sounds. A stunning debut then, and one that will make Fleet Foxes one of the most sought after bands of the year. (musicOMH)...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
++ MySpace | Buy
3. The Ruby Suns - Sea Lion
The cover art for the Ruby Suns' sophomore disc, Sea Lion, is a fitting allegory for head Sun Ryan McPhun: A boy on an island takes pains to try to costume himself, tangling himself in lights and string, and wearing a feather in his hair and a crown on his head. McPhun's work as the Ruby Suns functions in much the same way: Stationed on New Zealand's North Island, the California native dresses his work in global music, nibbling at the edges of unfamiliar sounds but, ultimately, skillfully creating sunny psych-pop. (Pitchfork)...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
++ MySpace | Buy
2. Grouper - Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill
Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill is ethereal and hazy, but never overly so. Two songs reference sleep in their titles, three water. Some strong-ass melodies and actual songs always lurked deep inside-- or perhaps underneath-- Grouper's music, but you had to work to hear them underneath layers of sonic muck. Here, those elements are more prominent, and there's something simple and beautiful but also a little bit obscure going on. Dead Deer is druggy and sexy and arty and pretty, but never pretentious. (Pitchfork)...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
++ MySpace | Buy
1. The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust
Laced with languid two-part harmonies, fuzz-addled feedback, and bittersweet Spector melodics, Lust Lust Lust is a gauze-wrapped cocoon of an album: too opaque to break through to a wide audience, but all the more precious for its enigmatic, slow-to-surface charms. (Entertainment Weekly)...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
++ MySpace | Buy
