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Emeritus
Reviews 255
Approval 93%
Soundoffs 107
News Articles 15
Band Edits + Tags 26
Album Edits 124
Album Ratings 2183
Objectivity 82%
Last Active 11-02-22 4:56 am
Joined 12-31-08
Review Comments 12,409
| Top Twenty Albums Of 2008
Pretty self-explanatory, a list of my top twenty albums of the year. | | 1 |  | Conor Oberst
Conor Oberst
Bright Eyes? frontman and songwriter continues to make his case as our generation?s Bob Dylan with his
first ?solo? record, an album written and recorded in a scenic Mexican town and featuring country-rock and
guitar-driven folk similar to Bright Eyes? 2007 release Cassadaga. Lyrically Oberst is in top form as usual,
singing about cancer-stricken children, road trip adventures, and life in the barrios with the ease of a
natural-born poet. Never has Oberst sounded so relaxed and so carefree; while some of the songs are
necessarily serious, Conor Oberst is at its core a fun and relentlessly entertaining album. When you hear
an unidentified female voice suddenly come in early before the chorus on ?Souled Out!!!? and Conor
laughs in response before launching into the chorus himself, you can?t help but to smile. A record that
deserves the ?best of ?08 label.? | | 2 | | Everest
Ghost Notes
Everest?s debut Ghost Notes is as timeless as the influences it clearly draws from, namely ?70s-era Neil
Young, ?60s pop, and contemporary guitar-rock bands like My Morning Jacket. Vocalist/guitarist Russell
Pollard?s yearning vocals are perfectly suited to the band?s music, and their seemingly effortless playing
belies a strict adherence to the tenets of solid melodic songwriting and hooks that latch on and refuse to
let go. It?s usually easy to find fault somewhere on a band?s debut release, but Ghost Notes is a nearly
flawless indie rock/country/pop record, perhaps a result of the members? long time spent in other L.A.-area
bands. Just as amazing live as it is on record, Ghost Notes is appealing, honest, and, above all, refreshing.
Everest has made the debut of the year. | | 3 |  | The Dodos
Visiter
The Dodos do it all on their second album, an hour-long kaleidoscope of psychedelic folk, world music beats,
and an constantly-shifting array of melodic ideas and lyrical thoughts that fairly blow one away on first
listen. Drummer Meric Long?s training in the West African style of Ewe drumming pays off incredible
dividends here, as his hard-driving beats and ridiculous sense of syncopation turns nearly every song into a
clinic of talent. Add to that guitarist/vocalist Logan Kroeber?s mellower Ben Gibbard-ish pipes and talented
strumming and you have a largely acoustic world-folk record that makes for one of the strangest and most
exciting releases of the year. | | 4 | | The Walkmen
You & Me
Few bands can produce a studio record of such vintage sound and with such vivid feeling as the Walkmen.
You & Me is a veritable kaleidoscope of sounds, from the Walkmen?s signature upright piano to swelling
brass to the clattering drum work on any number of songs. It?s an album, above all else, that strives to
create a genuine mood in the listener for each piece. And singer Hamilton Leithauser is one of a kind; his
whiskey-soaked howl is at times affecting and at others grating, but for the most part, it fits in perfectly as
another emotive instrument in painting the band?s canvas. | | 5 |  | She & Him
Volume One
Most actresses who turn toward the music realm in order to diversify their image and develop yet another
revenue stream usually are predestined for failure (see: Johansson, Scarlett), but indie heartthrob Zooey
Deschanel?s first album has gone a long way toward dispelling that notion. She?s not the best singer, and
the lyrics occasionally veer towards the simple and sentimental, but her heartfelt vocal approach and M.
Ward?s (the Him) excellent backing arrangements and occasional vocal work create a timeless album of
?60s Brill Building pop and twangy folk that bodes well for future releases. | | 6 |  | The Roots
Rising Down
The Roots retain the throne of alternative hip-hop with their eighth studio album, a record that continues
this collective?s remarkable run of intelligent and socially conscious rap. ?uestlove?s beats and production as
polished and stimulating as ever, but Rising Down modifies their traditional jazzy sound with murkier
synths and more digital techniques that embrace a fairly dark mood. It?s appropriate for the often-political
and critical lyrics of MC Black Thought, and the album as a whole comes off as a logical evolution in the
sound of a band that is constantly growing. | | 7 |  | The Raconteurs
Consolers of the Lonely
Consolers of the Lonely takes the Raconteurs? power-pop promise shown on their sub par debut and blows
it up in every direction imaginable. The title track is a bluesy, pulsating piece of blazing guitar work, while
single ?Salute Your Solution? is an up tempo rocker with an unrelenting bass line and a solo that would put
White?s work with the Stripes to shame. From Americana to rustic country-rock to theatrical Southern-
rock operas to good old-fashioned blues, Consolers has something for everyone. | | 8 |  | Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes
Seattle fivesome take rock back to its roots; and by roots I mean down in the country, woods, and
backroads of Americana folk. After My Morning Jacket?s Evil meltdown, it?s reassuring to see a fresh band
take up the mantle of good ole-fashioned country rock. Taking more of a pastoral angle than MMJ?s blazing
guitar solos, Fleet Foxes is an album that calls to mind more the Appalachian Trail than the Pacific
Northwest, complete with church-gathering harmonizing, various wind instruments, and frontman Robin
Pecknold?s unearthly howl. Yet another of 2008?s great rookie records. | | 9 |  | Okkervil River
The Stand Ins
The Stand Ins, folk-rockers Okkervil River?s second half of a project that delves deep into the psyche of a
performer, is a bipolar tableau of musicians killing themselves slowly on the road for the joy of their fans,
celebrating the road and damning it at the same time. You have to give props to lyricist Will Sheff, who
includes references from the Kinks to the Angkor Wat in Cambodia to French playwright Antonin Artaud in
a single song (and makes it sound entirely normal to boot). Oh, and the music, a potent synthesis of pop-
rock and country-influenced, rootsier sounds, is just as good as you would expect from the band. | | 10 |  | Death Cab for Cutie
Narrow Stairs
When I first reviewed this album, I thought it was disjointed, uneven, and lacking the sort of overall
melodic pop sensibilities and good songwriting that Death Cab had been founded on. Undoubtedly,
however, Narrow Stairs is a grower for the ages, and one that has only continued to improve with every
listen. A record that is certainly challenging for those expecting a retread of Plans, but one that rewards its
fans with a collection of Death Cab?s most thoughtful and innovative songs yet. | | 11 |  | M83
Saturdays=Youth
Anthony Gonzalez, the brainchild behind electronica group M83, has always had a fetish for taking
discarded, old sounds and turning them into something new. The group?s shoegaze approach to
electronica, soothing sounds built atop waves and waves of sound and layers of production, are twisted into
M83?s most accessible outing on Saturdays=Youth, a record that hearkens back to that cultural
touchstone everyone wants to forget: the ?80s! Lyrically focused on teen love and emo angst, the music is
a blend of synthtastic new-wave pop and frothy, bubbling techno all buoying Gonzalez?s wispy voice. It
would?ve made a hell of a soundtrack to the Breakfast Club. | | 12 |  | Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend
I always try really hard to ignore blogosphere hype that seems way too blown out of proportion, and after
hearing the somewhat underwhelming opener ?Mansard Roof? I thought I could safely file Vampire
Weekend under ?over-hyped Internet sensations.? But this is a record that grows on you, and while
initially I found it amateur-ish, I can safely say that this is one of the great debuts of the year. Ivy League
pedigree be damned; Vampire Weekend is a record that can be enjoyed by anyone with an appreciation for
simple, catchy chamber-pop tunes. | | 13 |  | British Sea Power
Do You Like Rock Music?
A simple question that British Sea Power answer in a suitably grand twelve tracks and fifty-five minutes.
Intensely atmospheric art-rock that sounds more like the work of an orchestra than a band, Do You Like
Rock Music? travels from guitar heroics to Britpop to U2-esque anthems to punk rave-ups to oddball
instrumental works. The synchrony between the album?s beginning and ending tracks, meanwhile, is
simply beautiful. | | 14 | | Thrice
The Alchemy Index, Vols. 3 & 4: Air and Earth
Former hardcore punks Thrice have come a long way from their screamo days, and the promise shown in
their early albums comes to full fruition on the second half of their Alchemy Index project, a two-disc
magnum opus that takes Thrice out of post-hardcore territory and firmly establishes them as art-rock
auteurs. Air is some of Thrice?s most uplifting, musically accomplished work, and vocalist Dustin Kensrue?s
voice has never sounded finer. Earth, meanwhile, is an out-of-left-field experiment into acoustic folk that
sounds almost like an entirely different band. Both, however, show the best of a band that is progressing
well beyond the abilities of many of their peers. | | 15 |  | T.I.
Paper Trail
Everyone knew house arrest couldn?t stop T.I. Going back to old-fashioned pen and paper to write down
lyrics and finishing with around 50 songs for the album, Paper Trail?s 16 final cuts are some of mainstream
rap?s best of the year. Hard-hitting beats combine with T.I.?s inimitable vocal dexterity and lyrics that fairly
drip with venom to make an album of surefire commercial hits as well as a few that stand up to any
cerebral rapper?s catalogue. And, of course, that Numa Numa sampling on ?Live Your Life? was true
producing genius. | | 16 |  | Bon Iver
For Emma, Forever Ago
If there was such a thing, singer-songwriter Justin Vernon alias Bon Iver?s debut record would surely win
Most Depressing Record of the Year. Almost entirely recorded in an isolated cabin in rural Wisconsin, For
Emma, Forever Ago is a cathartic expression of break-up and recovery in the bleakest terms. The
minimalist instrumentation, lo-fi recording, and Vernon?s haunting vocals all paint a picture of forlorn grief
and regret in the frozen north. Forget rainy-day music; this is music to listen to while snowed in by the
biggest blizzard of the year. | | 17 |  | Taylor Swift
Fearless
My guilty pleasure of 2008, country-pop prodigy Taylor Swift?s sophomore effort is a well-written group of
songs that deal with what Swift knows best: teenage heartache and high school life. Nostalgic, romantic,
and endlessly catchy, Swift never indulges into (too much) power balladry and the earnest songwriting
goes well with the assured, always-in-the-right-place production. Mainstream and commercialized to the
extreme, but give her a chance; Swift is a talent that can?t be ignored. | | 18 |  | Mountain Goats
Heretic Pride
Your ReasonIndie troubadour John Darnielle?s continues an amazing streak of folk-rock successes with this,
his 16th record. Heretic Pride is a delicately produced work of gentle orchestration, acoustic finger picking,
and Darnielle?s consistently insightful and evocative lyrics. His vocals have always taken a bit to get used
to, and when he?s feeling particularly distressed they tend to grate, but Heretic Pride is another masterfully
arranged work, and Darnielle?s expressive tales continue to elevate him to a level beyond most of his peers. | | 19 |  | Coldplay
Viva La Vida
Chris Martin and company were in danger of treading into soft-rock and piano drudgery on 2005?s X&Y, but
Viva La Vida proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Coldplay weren?t content to sit on their laurels for
their fourth record. Incorporating world music styles, multi-movement epics, and some of Martin?s best
lyrics yet, Viva might be Coldplay?s best album yet, and is certainly their most original and experimental. | | 20 |  | The Hold Steady
Stay Positive
Hold Steady vocalist Craig Finn says the band?s fourth is about ?aging gracefully,? but the righteous racket
and vibrant storytelling these bar band rockers serve up seem as suggest that growing up is overrated.
Slicker and better produced than their previous albums, it nevertheless retains the Springsteenian classic
rock feel of their earlier work and Finn?s lyrics are as sharp and relatable as ever. | |
luci
01.02.09 | this is so last year, get with the times!
but good list | Asiatic667
01.02.09 | WE CAN POP BOTTLES ALL NIGHT AND BABY, YOU CAN HAVE WHATEVER YOU LIKE!!! | McP3000
01.02.09 | that TI song is so good
and raconteurs suck | MiK
01.02.09 | Coldplay surprised me | TheyTookOurJobs
01.05.09 | great list | zrosschristian
06.11.09 | Coldplay FTW. | Avirov
06.11.09 | Needs more variety. And Thrice was never screamo, bro. | myhigherpie
06.11.09 | needs moar opeth. | silentpotatofan
08.06.12 | good ranking |
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