Hot Damn

So, we are now a third of the way through 2009; and what do I plan on posting today other than my favorite albums of 2008. This is the latest I have had the balls to post a previous year's list, but I spent a lot of time on this before 2008 ended. I just kept forgetting to post it here. So, here it is....


These are my favorite albums of 2008 and little notes I jotted down while I was listening to them. Sometimes the notes are one line and sometimes they’re a small paragraph, it all depended on how much I felt like writing at the time. It also may seem from my comments that one selection should be above another, but this is the correct order.


1.) Beach House – Devotion – I am in love with this album, It contains three of the better songs of the year….”Gila”, Holy Dances”, and “All the Years”. I don’t think I listened to any other album more times this year than I did this one.


2.) Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Dig! Lazarus Dig! – Phenomenal album, I Love this. Nick Cave has done it again!


3.) Portishead – Third – A great return to form. A few years ago I would have told you that I preferred Massive Attack over Portishead. Now I’m not so sure.


4.) Black Mountain – In the Future – There are so many great songs on this album; I will be listening to this one well into 2009.


5.) The Drift - Memory Drawings - Essentially an instrumental jazz album. This is so good.


6.) Flight of the Conchords – Flight of the Conchords - Try not to smile while listening to this, I dare you. They genre jump, yet doing it so well and with humor that how can I not recommend this?


7.) Grouper – Dragging a Dead Deer up a Hill – So simple and beautiful, I loved it.


8.) Younger Brother – The Last Days of Gravity – I listened to this album after Four Tet and this is the best electronic album of 2008.


9.) Nine Inch Nails – The Slip - It goes from really good faster jams to solid slower beat-fests.


10.) The Mars Volta – Bedlam in Goliath – This is a bunch of guys who are each great at their instrument getting stoned out of their skulls and ripping shit up. They fuse so many styles together it’s impossible to slap a genre label on them. I must say though, the Latin influence makes me think this is what would happen if you took my father’s music collection and mixed it with mine.


11.) Flying Lotus - Los Angeles - This album is awesome; the instrumental hip hop contained on this disc is killer.


12.) Four Tet – Ringer - Even though it clocks in at a little over 30 minutes, a short album especially by electronic standards; it’s probably one of, if not the best electronic album of 2008.


13.) Department of Eagles - In Ear Park - Great songs, Great melodies; what more do you expect from members of Grizzly Bear?


14.) Broken Social Scene presents Brendan Canning - Something For All of Us - This group of Canadian musicians always releases top-notch albums.


15.) Dead Meadow - Old Growth - Dead meadow is exactly the shot of fuzzed-out fell out of a time machine rock n’ roll that I need from time to time.


16.) The War on Drugs - Wagonwheel Blues - I really like this. It’s a solid rock album with a vocalist who dare I say reminds me of Bob Dylan at times. I think I remember reading they were supposed to tour with The Hold Steady, if they play live as well as their album is, than they would have blown The Hold Steady off the stage.


17.) Lykke Li - Youth Novels - Great pop album, like Lily Allen with a softer voice and a little more heart on her sleeve.


18.) Kanye West – 808’s and Heartbreak – I consider this to be a triumph. Different enough from his other releases to be considered a risk. Song for song this could be his best effort yet.


19.) Wild Beasts - Limbo, Panto - The singer sounds like an even gayer Morrissey. For that exact fact, I’m very surprised this album hasn’t received much more praise from critics. I initially wanted to stop listening to this after the fourth song and just listen to the whole thing again at another time, but it drew me back in. I’ll honestly probably listen to this many more times.


20.) Coldplay - Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends - This album is very good, and differs enough from previous Coldplay albums enough to stand out, it’s also great to sing along to.


21.) Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul - There might have been one song toward the middle that I didn’t really like, but that was it. This is the best Oasis has done in a long time.


22.) Kings of Leon - Only by the Night - I can see why people would say this is Kings of Leon’s best album or a candidate for best of the year. Two of the better rock songs of the year are back-to-back in the beginning of the album.


23.) M83 - Saturdays=Youth - A really dreamy album perfect for lazy afternoons where you want nothing more than, well nothing


24.) Brightblack Morning Light - Motion to Rejoin - It might not be as great as their last album, but it’s still better than most.


25.) The Black Angels – Directions to See a Ghost – Very solid album.


26.) Marnie Stern – This Is It & I Am It & You Are It & So Is That & He Is It & She Is It & It Is It & That Is That– This album is very different, and it slays. Check it out for yourself, your mind will be blown.


27.) Girl Talk – Feed the Animals – I really like this as a party mix or something to drive to.


28.) Mogwai - Hawk is Howling - My girlfriend called this lullaby music, just because it’s instrumental doesn’t make it lullaby music. This is the best instrumental rock album of the year.


29.) The Dodos – Visiter - Very good folk-y album. “Red and purple” is a great song.


30.) The Kills - Midnight Boom - This is the best Eagles of Death Metal sounding album released this year. Too bad Eagles of Death Metal didn’t release it.


31.) Atlas Sound – Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See but Cannot Feel - It sounds like surreal dream, in a good way.


32.) She and Him - Volume 1 - Zoey Deschanel has a very pretty voice. With the instrumentation and vocals working so well I hope her and M.Ward keep making albums together.


33.) Deerhunter - Microcastle/Weird Era cont. - This deserves the hype it has gotten a lot more than most other releases.


34.) Britney Spears – Circus - I didn’t expect to like this, nor did I really want to; but hey, if it’s good, it’s good.


35.) Vivian Girls – Vivian Girls - Better than most albums I’ve heard recently.


36.) Crystal Stilts – Alright of Night – I like this album very much. It’s kind of creepy, but it really resonated with me in a good way.


37.) Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer - I wasn’t a huge fan of Apologies to the Queen Mary and in comparison to that, this was a lot better than I thought it’d be.


38.) Does it Offend You, Yeah? - You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Yourself Into - Solid dance album, I would definitely recommend this above Hercules and Love Affair, way above.


39.) The Ruby Suns – Sea Lion - I think I had a Ruby Suns album from 2004 or something, and I hated it. This is so much better than that.


40.) Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend - It’s easy to want to hate these four preps from an Ivy League school who borrow heavily from world music rhythms, but they released an undeniably solid album in 2008.

My relationship with music

Since I'm going to be writing about music here I think you have the right to know my history with it.

I have loved music since I was a small child; sitting in my brother’s, who is 14 years older than me, room as a baby rocking to the beats of whatever he was listening to, which at the time was most likely the beginnings of hip hop.
As I grew I was exposed to two main genres of music, soul and salsa, because it was what my parents listened to. I got my first tape of my own at around 5, Michael Jackson’s ”Bad”.
I was largely a hip hop fan until eleventh grade when I started to branch out and enjoy rock music. I started out by getting into punk rock and then progressed to indie rock music after graduation. The year after I gradated I joined a band as the bass player, which I was in for about three years.
All of the time since then my music taste has morphed and I’ve learned to appreciate music more than I have previously. I look forward to challenging myself and writing about how music moves me now and in the future.

New co-admin, new beginning

My name is Jamie, or Jay and I'm going to be taking over co-admin duties with Mr. Everest on all of his blogs. Hopefully this means we'll have fresh posts more often and will be able to attract some new writers who want to contribute to each blog, this is going to be cross-posted to each blog I will be administrating. If you think you have a good voice about the subject in question shoot either of us an e-mail at drkstrspce@gmail.com or jamesmeverest@gmail.com.