Best Albums of 2008
Written on December 18, 2008
Another year, another list of the tunes I obsessed over. Some of these are likely to be popular picks all over the internet, but I also want to mention a bunch of albums that haven’t gotten the props they deserve. My favorite albums of 2008:
30. Cool Kids, The Bake Sale
Sparse electronic samples drip and drop around molasses-slow flows from the Chicago Southsiders’ EP concerning BMX bikes, 16-bit gaming, biting haters, and sneakers. Not in that order.
29. Portishead, Third
Suffocating minor chords shimmer over Beth Gibbons’ helium voice, creating an album-length tension that eradicates the dusty-beat jazz of previous recordings.
28. Times New Viking, Rip It Off
Buried far (far) below the feedback are some beautifully hooky pop tunes. This is the sound of exuberance and immediacy taking precedence over studio polish.
27. Raveonettes, Lust Lust Lust
Ears everywhere are ringing after repeated listens to the Raveonettes. Their Jesus & Mary Chain-inspired sound is tuneful with a distortion-laced blowout.
26. Frightened Rabbit, Midnight Organ Fight
Drunken Scottish yarns so whiskey-drenched you should avoid driving while listening. Album highlight “Head Rolls Off” is a live-for-the-moment anthem to believe in.
25. Mountain Goats, Heretic Pride
A nasally Dylan-esque delivery adds to vivid and visual storyteller lyrics. The title track, “Autoclave,” and “Lovecraft In Brooklyn” are especially strong.
24. Murder By Death, Red Of Tooth And Claw
Booming baritone and ominous chord progressions foretell fire-and-ash apocalypse and tales of evil women in the vein of Johnny Cash.
23. Fucked Up, The Chemistry of Common Life
Loud fast crazy hardcore band fronted by a guy who looks like Zangief from Street Fighter and screams like he’s having something extracted from his lower regions by force. Bits of flute, ambient intros and other fluff shouldn’t distract from the fact that FU shred out great tunes from start to finish.
22. Los Campesinos!, Hold On Now, Youngster… and We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
Guy/girl harmonies, uptempo rock, interesting rhythms and great song titles filled with superfluous exclamation points. Plus, Los Campesinos released two stellar albums’ worth in one year.
21. Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes provided the most unique style of 2008. It’s like they stepped out of a time machine from a century ago, and still manage to jam. PS, Arcade Fire noticed them noticing, and put them on notice.
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20. Wolf Parade, At Mount Zoomer
Lack of sugar-sweet hooks made the Wolfer’s sophomore effort a disappointment to ADD-riddled youth, but repeated spins reward listeners with very solid songs.
19. Airbourne, Runnin’ Wild
How the hell do AC/DC worshipers make this list the same year AC/DC actually drops an album? By taking all the fun parts of Back In Black and filtering them down to the dirtiest, fastest riffs. Too bad AC/DC couldn’t do the same with their overly-long Black Ice.
18. The Roots, Rising Down
Hopefully not the last good album we hear from Jimmy Fallon’s new house band. Black Thought takes over and spits his best rhymes to date.
17. Proton, Red & Purple Vol. 1 Mixtape
Proton mimic the sound of Andre3000 if he stayed somewhere near our solar system for an entire album. The duo intermix laptop sounds with classic party jams for a long but enjoyable mixtape. You know Camp Stankonia will up their game in response.
16. El Guincho, Alegranza
It takes a while to realize this isn’t a Latino five-piece but rather one guy with a psychedelic bent for samples and a stylistic oneness with Animal Collective.
15. Santogold, Santogold
MIA comparisons were inevitable but I still couldn’t help loving this album from end to end. I question some of her marketing tie-ins since this album’s release, but the work stands for itself.
14. Clark, Turning Dragon
Sample-based electro psychotically overdriven into the red, then shredded beyond recognition and meaning. One of the wildest electronic albums of the year, and it was released in January.
13. Crystal Castles, Crystal Castles
If Super Mario really ate the mushrooms his games might sound like Crystal Castles. Mindless, spastic, punky and supergeek fun.
12. Jay Reatard, Singles 08
The bar is set so low by his stage name that it’s shocking how good a songwriter Jay is. Sloppy lo-fi garage rock with great texture and flourishes on every track.
11. Metallica, Death Magnetic
I don’t really give a shit if I lose hipster cred for including this disc. “Broken Beat and Scarred” and “Cyanide” took me straight back to junior high. Apparently, James, Kirk and Lars can still be convinced to keep their d-bag attitudes in check long enough to create great music. I have an embarrassingly high play count for Death Magnetic.
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10. Cut Copy, In Ghost Colours
2008’s indie hipster darlings cannot be denied their due praise. In Ghost Colours was in rotation seemingly everywhere I went but always fit the mood perfectly.
09. Girl Talk, Feed The Animals
Great-to-good hip-hop mashed up with the most unlikely possible rock tracks. Even if you don’t like a song, wait 30 seconds and it will change to something funner.
08. Glasvegas, Glasvegas
Anthemic U2 rock reigns supreme. There was a lot of great Scottish music this year and Glasvegas showed up in a big way with songs custom-built for sing-along.
07. Bloc Party, Intimacy
Love/hate reactions were the order of the day when Bloc Party surprised the world with this set of back-to-basics-except-for-the-electronics break-up songs.
06. British Sea Power, Do You Like Rock Music?
Wee whispery Scottish lads crank the speakers up and add a metric ton of reverb to their atmospheric tales of cars, booze and patriotism.
05. Deerhunter, Microcastle
I was not amused by Deerhunter’s previous work. But Microcastle has just the right mix of melody, experimental sound, and tempo so that I fell instantly in love. I’ll talk up this album to anyone who’ll listen. (Note the awesome album art as well.)
04. Torche, Meanderthal
My favorite metal album of the year, hands down. Stoner rock caught somewhere between classic Queens of the Stone Age and Mastodon, minus the epic song lengths.
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03. Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend
What can I say that the internets haven’t covered already. White boy world music is officially a genre and I kinda like it.
02. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
Nick Cave will personally fight, drink under the table, or dirty-kiss anyone who dares dislike this album. Bald men have been known to re-grow their hair after a few listens.
01. TV On The Radio, Dear Science
There was no other album in 2008 that better balanced worldwide pre-election jitters with hope for better times. “A lot of bands have something to say,” explained TVOTR producer/multi-instrumentalist David Sitek. “We have something to ask.” Possibly the year’s best opening track (“Halfway Home”) and hooks mixed into their well-known sound experimentation (“Golden Age,” “DLZ,” “Family Tree,” “Dancing Choose”) seal the deal for a hands-down career-defining effort.
