Jason's Albums Of '08

Well, another year has passed, and although it was slow to get going music-wise, 2008 turned out to be a pretty good year, providing you dug deep enough to find the hidden gems. This is by no means definitive (even as I type this I'm listening to The Walkmen's You & Me for the first time, and will be moving onto Whys Alopecia later), but, for the time being at least, here are my top 20 albums of '08.

20. Volcano!: Paperwork

19. F*cked Up: The Chemistry Of Common Life

18. Cut Copy: In Ghost Colours

17. Deerhoof: Offend Maggie

16. Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend

15. Ponytail: Ice Cream Spiritual

14. Dodos: Visiter

13. The Whiskers: The Distorted Historian

12. Plants & Animals: Parc Avenue

11. Department Of Eagles: In Ear Park

10. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: Dig Lazarus Dig!!!

Continuing a creative hot streak which began with 2004’s Abattoir Blues/Lyre Of Orpheus, the 50-plus Nick Cave continued to defy all expectations (nay, rules) with a rip-roaring collection of songs, which successfully directed the new-found energy from the Grinderman project into Cave’s usual musings on religion, life and death. The Bad Seeds themselves were on superb form, with Warren Ellis especially coming to the fore, and never has it sounded like the band have had so much fun. Nowhere was that more evident than on the title-track, relocating the biblical character’s revival to modern-day New York, whilst We Call Upon The Author (“Prolix, prolix, nothing a pair of scissors can’t fix) sits right amongst the very best of the Bad Seeds illustrious canon.

9. Thee Silver Mt. Zion Orchestra & Tra La La Band: 13 Blues For 13 Moons

Over the years, A Silver Mt Zion have developed (both in name and in sound) from a modest but serene three-piece, to a muscular and aggressive septet, increasingly disparate of the post-rock tag which they are so often dubbed with. 13 Blues For 13 MoonsBlack Waters Blowed/Broken Engine Blues and the genuinely uplifting refrain of “some hearts are true” for the closing BlindBlindBlind. The questionable singing abilities of Efrim Menuck, here more prominent than ever, remained key to this band’s enjoyment, but in many ways they embodied this album: ragged, earnest, impassioned.

8. Of Montreal: Skeletal Lamping

Kevin Barnes and his alter-ego Georgie Fruit jumped aboard his/their Blueberry Boat for this wildly schizophrenic offering. Sounding simultaneously like everything and nothing Of Montreal have ever done, with song titles that were merely suggestive segmentation, and featuring a narrative that, aside from hilarious snippets about Crystal Meth-loving rivals and being “queered out forever”, was largely indecipherable, Skeletal Lamping was predictably divisive for old and new fans alike. Take one step back though and, providing this doesn’t become the template for all subsequent Of Montreal releases, it really was quite a marvellous individual achievement.

7. {{{SUNSET}}}: Bright Blue Dream

Forming from the ashes of The Sound Team, this Austin, Texas-based outfit received little to no fanfare, but in Bright Blue Dream provided an impressive breadth of styles, and subsequently one of the year’s most complex and intriguing albums. Opener Dear Broken Friend sounded like We Will Rock You whilst played on downers, whilst highlights/lowpoints entitled Diamond Studded Caskets and Man’s Heart Complaint suggested a band with a less than happy mindset. However, on I Love My Job, the band suggested that their outlook is more sardonic than glum, and the subsequent release of The Glowing City, a decidedly less difficult and more upbeat record, reaffirmed this.

6. No Age: Nouns

Matching youthful, but bratty energy with a suitably lo-fi sound, Nouns could merely have been an enjoyable but otherwise disposable collection of songs. Why it is, in fact, one of the year’s most enduring records owes to the band’s surprising versatility: the bolts of electricity such as Miner, Sleeper Hold and Brain Burner are awash in MBV-style guitar soundscapes, and unexpected moments of finesse such as Things I Did When I Was Dead. With the single Eraser, No Age offered the complete package, its patient and graceful build-up and its subsequent pay-off all somehow occurring within little more than two-and-a-half minutes.

5. The Ruby Suns: Sealion

New Zealand-based the Ruby Suns made one of the year’s most summery-sounding albums, all the more accomplished for being released back in February. The tribal drum patterns, hard acoustic strumming and all-round jubilance (Exhibit A: Tane Mahuta) was all very reminiscent of Animal Collective circa-Sung Tongs, as well as fellow Australasians Architecture In Helsinki, but other influences shone through too, from the Flaming Lips-esque digitised feel to Kenya Dig It (unofficial winner of the Best Song With An Awful Title award), to the transformation of the closing Morning Sun into a synthpop belter the Magnetic Fields would have been proud to have wrote.

4. Portishead: Third

A staggering return from a band that nobody expected to hear from again, Third was also a major deviation from the band’s perceived dinner-table music of old (though I would love to see somebody trying to serve drinks with Machine Gun as accompaniment). Embracing Kraftwerk-like electronics, industrial music and krautrock made for countless memorable moments; the tense opening sequence to Silence; the introduction of the synth arpeggio to The Rip; the Joy Division-aping riff of We Carry On to name but a few. Thanks to the fragile vocals of Beth Gibbons, however, there was never really any doubt as to who it was playing on Third. Let’s just hope the next album won’t take nearly so long (Guns ’N’ Roses, on the other hand, can take all the time they want).

3. Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes

Unquestionably the year’s most discussed new act, Fleet Foxes made good on their hype with a hauntingly beautiful debut that sounded loosely like early My Morning Jacket relocating from their barn to an enchanted forest. The beautifully layered vocal harmonies (which helped make White Winter Hymnal one of the songs of 2008 with the minimal use of wordage), combined with the perfect balance of Robin Pecknold’s acoustic work and Skye Skjelset’s sinewy electric guitar helped make it the one album this year that could transcend all tastes. But even when Robin Pecknold goes it alone (as on Oliver James and Tiger Mountain Peasant Song), he is able to conjure up something every bit as special.

2. Deerhunter: Microcastle/Weird Era Cont.

The second half of last year’s Cryptograms, along with the Flourescent Grey EP hinted at Deerhunter’s love for shoegazer-indie, but nobody could’ve anticipated at Microcastle’s blissed out dream-pop. In a busy year for Bradford Cox, the two halves of the title-track served as the perfect separating line between Deerhunter and Cox’s other project Atlas Sound. It would become even busier when Microcastle leaked almost half a year early: the band subsequently added Weird Era Cont. to the official release, a second disc of material which, with its darker edge, greater range of sounds, and looser feel, was arguably even better than Microcastle.

1. TV On The Radio: Dear Science

TV On The Radio have perhaps been a band that’s easier to admire than love in the past, but Dear Science set the record straight by being by far their most accessible effort to date, without trading in too much on the experimentation. Lyrically, the band were certainly more transparent than ever more in depicting a dysfunctional America, whilst getting down with tha funk made for some genuinely danceable songs (Red Dress, Golden Age and the Prince-like Crying). David Sitek ensures that the multitude of sounds (including horns, hand claps, flutes and much more) never becomes bogged down under its own weight, and helped ensure an album that cements TVOTR as one of the decade’s essential acts.

Something Old, Something New, Something To Look Forward To (May)

The second of my regular installments to this blog: in turn, a golden oldie, a recent release and a forthcoming work worth getting your teeth into.

Something Old: Wire-Pink Flag

Released in 1977, and like last month’s recommendation, Guided By Voices’ Alien Lanes, Wire’s debut is an example of how the saying “less is more” doesn’t always ring true, at least in terms of the number of songs: Pink Flag packs 21 into 36 minutes. Unlike the gleeful mess of Alien Lanes however, Pink Flag is a lesson in economy: songs are short, sharp and very much to the point, never stretching an idea beyond its worth, and every bit as minimalist as its cover art might suggest. A post-punk monument (and the first of a stunning trio of albums which would include Chairs Missing and 154 within just two years), this was/is a massive influence to so many artists, with Elastica being the most famously indebted band to Wire’s work (listen to Connection next to Pink Flag’s Three Girl Rhumba. Hmmmm, similar, non?).

If you like this try: Mission Of Burma: Signals, Calls, and Marches EP (1981), Elastica: Elastica (1995)

Something New: {{{ SUNSET }}}-Bright Blue Dream

I’m not quite sure where this band has arisen from, and bar their myspace, there seems to be precious little information available on them. What I do know is that with Bright Blue Dream, they’ve put together what will remain one of the most beautiful, albeit unsettling, albums of the year. The collection of sounds is wide-ranging, from the funereal drones of Moebius, the melancholy piano of Golden Reverie, the krautrock influences of Diamond Studded Caskets, to the oddly affecting country of Old Sandy Bull Lee: every track throws up something different, and yet the album works best as a near-seamless whole. The centrepiece is the stately 14-minute title track, which evokes the comparison of Pink Floyd at their most human. Perhaps not to be listened to if you’re down in the dumps, but listen to this sombre masterpiece late at night (or at sunset perhaps?) with headphones, and it will really get underneath your skin.

If you like this try: Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here (1975), Deerhunter: Cryptograms (2007)

Something To Look Forward To: My Morning Jacket-Evil Urges

The Arcade Fire’s Funeral aside, Z, My Morning Jacket’s masterpiece-to-date was my favourite album of 2005 (Funeral really came out in 2004 in any case). Z expanded their reverb-drenched (the stock phrase for describing MMJ) alt-country rock and folk and took it successfully in a wide range of directions. Evil Urges, scheduled for release in early June, should see the band expand their sound further, with several new tracks played at their recent SXSW performance taking a more R’n’B and soul slant, allowing Jim James’ already wonderful voice to hit new heights. The band are playing a number of UK dates in the summer, including a performance at Glasto: I hope to catch them in July at the London Forum. You’d be mad to miss them: one check of their performances from their Okonokos set should confirm MMJ as one of the finest live acts around, and up to now they’ve certainly delivered on CD too.

If you like their earlier work, try: Fleet Foxes: Sun Giant EP (2008)

Something Old, Something New, Something To Look Forward To: April

I’ll try and update this at least monthly, but here’s the format: I’ll post three alternative/leftfield album recommendations, one past classic, one new release, and one forthcoming release to anticipate. Also included are further recommendations by different artists, should you like these choices, or need some kind of reference point.

Something Old: Guided By Voices: Alien Lanes

It’s hard to believe that something this lo-fi sounding could’ve been recorded in 1995, especially when it is so steeped in 60’s brit psych-pop and 70’s metal and FM rock influences. But Guided By Voices were famed for this sort of thing, and while the shabby home production lends this a certain charm, these songs could’ve been recorded in any form and would still sound great. At 28 songs and 41 minutes (many songs don’t even hit the minute mark) it’s not an album that allows you to get comfortable, but more songs just means more great pop hooks, and when they’re as strong as the ones on Game Of Pricks, Motor Away, My Son Cool, My Valuable Hunting Knife etc. etc. that can only be a good thing. Alien Lanes is an album that seems to hit upon a brilliant tune almost by accident, only to discard it and immediately find another equally brilliant one to replace it. If you dig this, be sure to check out its even more stunning predecessor, Bee Thousand.
If you like this try: Times New Viking: Rip It Off (2008), Pavement: Slanted & Enchanted (1992)

Something New: Thee Silver Mount Zion Memorial Orchestra and Tra-La-La Band: 13 Blues For 13 Moons
Starting off as just the trio A Silver Mt Zion almost a decade ago, as the band has swelled in members and sound, its name has followed suit. Lead-member Efrim Menuck was the guitarist for the Canadian post-rock titans Godspeed You(!) Black Emperor(!), and his strained, off-key shrieks might make you wish he’d stuck to the instrumental rock of his old band. If you can overcome this barrier though, you’ll find that Efrim’s unabated vocal stylings are well suited to the apocalyptic drama offered here. 13 Blues is the band’s heaviest, most ferocious album to date, four quarter-hour songs that pound and grind away with visceral guitars and equally visceral cellos for the album’s first half, before moving into shuddering noise (Black Waters Blowed/Engine Broke Blues), and an unexpectedly uplifting finale with BlindBlindBlind. The songs have been honed over recent live performances, and as a result, the album is best enjoyed as a whole. The band are playing two consecutive nights in early April at the London Scala: I’ve got my ticket and if you like this album, I strongly advise you get one too.
If you like this try: Godspeed You Black Emperor!: F♯A♯∞ (1997), Arcade Fire: Funeral (2005)

Something To Look Forward To: The Microphones: The Glow Part 2 Reissue
Okay, so this isn’t exactly a new release: The Glow Part 2 was originally released in 2001, but is being re-released in April with a bonus cd of extra material. This is something I would normally be cynical of, but The Glow Part 2 is one album deserved of more recognition. In short, a cult classic: a startling mixture of achingly pretty indie-folk, crushing distortion (just listen to Samurai Sword), a wide range of other instrumentation, and Phil Elverum’s plaintive vocals which at certain points can make the hairs on your neck stand on end. Sonically, there are very few albums that can match this, its incredibly bare production make it one of the most stunning headphone albums ever conceived, and the opening salvo of I Want The Wind To Blow, the title track and The Moon are nothing short of mind-blowing. If you’re unfamiliar with the Microphones, this is a great place to start, and probably their definitive release, and if you like this, the album’s narrative continues into the band’s final release Mount Eerie (also the name of Elverum’s subsequent project).
If you like this try: Neutral Milk Hotel: In The Aeroplane Over The Sea (1998)