16 Great Albums of 2008 (and more)

Alphabetical Order

atlas sound / let the blind lead those who can see but cannot feel

Bradford Cox took a break from Deerhunter to record a really interesting album.

beck / modern guilt

Soul of a Man became one of my top 25 most played this year. And when I saw him live in St. Paul in late September, his rendition of Chemtrails was superb.

coldplay / viva la vida

Brian Eno produced a great great piece. It’s a story – something totally new for Coldplay. Great on vinyl, too.

david byrne and brian eno / everything that happens will happen today

Geniuses collide again!!

deerhoof / offend maggie

Continuing off from Friend Opportunity, they’re just as weird and experimental. It’s always great – and instrumentals of their songs are available towards the end…so as rare as it would be to have Deerhoof karaoke…it’s now possible without expensive software to take out the vocals.

deerhunter / microcastle

I love this band. Never Stops and Agoraphobia – 2 big steps forward for them. It’s pop-ier, but true to their intended messiness.

girl talk / feed the animals

Another law suit, another good album.

hot chip / made in the dark

Ready for the Floor didn’t do it for me, but One Pure Thought is great.

m83 / saturdays =youth

One of the few bands that really gets away with emo lyrics.

portishead / third

Machine Gun is epic.

ratatat / lp3

You don’t even have to play this one on vinyl – it’s already there.

the raveonettes / lust lust lust

A lot noisier than Pretty In Black, but layered as all hell.

sigur ros / med sud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust

You find a real structure in his ballads – inciting incident, rising action, climax, and resolution.

stereolab / chemical chords

Another notch on their belt – I wish I were there with them in the studio…

thievery corporation / radio retaliation

So explorative and ridiculous – I felt like I traveled the world in an hour.

tv on the radio / dear science

This album really brought TV to a whole new level. Some of the the songs sound like early Bloc Party (Halfway Home,) which is nice – but the majority of the songs carry really poignant melodies—Kip’s voice is like one of those hypnosis tools.

(one of the) Most Anticipated Album of January:

animal collective / merriweather post pavillion

check out "brothersport"

Panda Bear says this will be their best album yet - beach boys rave...