Revisiting My 2008 Top 10

Well friends, we're within 2 months of Top 10 season, and I decided there was no time like the present to revisit what I submitted for 2008 and see how everything holds up. Was I astute? Pretentious? Drunk? Let's find out...

10. The Tallest Man on Earth- Shallow Grave
I discovered this days before making my list (props to Quinapalus) and impulsively put it on my list based on lust alone. Well, I still like it, but the lust has worn off. Great guitar/banjo playing and the best pseudo-Bob Dylan persona Sweden could ever hope to produce, but ultimately most of the songs sound the same. Verdict: CUT

9. The Week That Was- The Week That Was
Another record I learned about via a fellow kittybrain. This time it was Tex Plush. This album has aged strangely for me. It has my single favorite song of 2008, "Scratch the Surface," but this album is no longer my 9th favorite of last year. Verdict: CUT

8. Vampire Weekend- Vampire Weekend
I still don't understand what business I have liking this band, given their hype and cutesy songs about summering in the Vineyard. They also rip off Paul Simon. But they do all this stuff so well! Still, 10+ months later, they don't hold up as #8. Verdict: CUT

7. Wye Oak- If Children
Loved this record, which I discovered randomly on eMusic. (Anyone still a member?) They quickly released a follow-up, and that one is in contention for this year's list. It sounds a lot like this one, but that's a good thing. Verdict: KEEP

6. Sun Kil Moon- April
This one holds up well. I haven't listened to it as much as I'd like to, but when I put it on, the songs nonetheless sound immediate and familiar. And I'm certain I haven't even played it 10 times. Not the zenith of Kozelek's career, but very good and was still among the best I actually heard last year. That said, I've since heard more stuff from last year... Verdict: CUT

5. Bon Iver- For Emma, Forever Ago
This record is still really good, although I think half of its merit lies in its last song alone. To clarify, however, that last song is amazing. Verdict: KEEP, but drop further down the list.

4. REM- Accelerate
Not top-tier REM, but easily in their second tier along with Life's Rich Pageant and Out of Time. And as their "hard rock" albums go, it's superior to Monster, (which itself is underrated.) Verdict: KEEP but drop further down.

3. Bob Dylan- Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8
Someday Baby, Dreamin' of You, God Knows, Series of Dreams and the live version of Ring Them Bells have haunted me all year. It compensates for his merely pretty good new album plus the bizarro Christmas disc he just put out. This record has really held up. Verdict: KEEP and move up.

2. School of Language- Sea From Shore
Still the discovery of last year for me. Again, thank you eMusic. A totally random find and a great one! Verdict: KEEP

1. Guns N' Roses- Chinese Democracy
At the risk of pulling a Jay Bennett, I'm going to quote myself here: "Out of 14 songs, it had zero duds, 2 tracks that didn't hold up (Scraped and Sorry), 2 tracks that were interesting but overwrought (Madagascar and This I Love) and 10 fucking amazing songs that are going to join Axl Rose's canon. Yes, he is a ridiculous individual who screwed himself over by refusing to publicly promote the album, but he's a very gifted musician. Time will be kind to this record."

I stand by that review. Verdict: KEEP

So what got left off? I had given honorable mentions to Deerhunter, Deerhoof, American Music Club, the Hold Steady, Shearwater, Drive-By Truckers, Andrew Bird (Soldier On EP), Gutter Twins, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks. I also never heard Sea and Cake, Pavement (Brighten the Corners reissue), Calexico, Ryan Adams, TV on the Radio, the Roots and Dr. Dog.

Since 4 slots opened up on my list, I get to pick replacements from this list (because I said so) and the first 3 are Sea and Cake, Dr. Dog, and TV on the Radio. I hadn't heard any of these when I made my list last year, and I feel the desire to edit to reflect their greatness.

The last record I'll add is Bonnie "Prince" Billy's Lie Down in the Light, which didn't affect me the way it did Tex and others, but it has held up well during 2009. And Beware, which really feels like a companion piece, is definitely in contention for this year's list.

So, with that said, here is my revised list:

10. Dr. Dog- Fate
9. Wye Oak- If Children
8. Bon Iver- For Emma, Forever Ago
7. Sea and Cake- Car Alarm
6. Bonnie "Prince" Billy- Lie Down in the Light
5. REM- Accelerate
4. TV on the Radio- Dear Science
3. School of Language- Sea From Shore
2. Bob Dylan- Tell Tale Signs
1. Guns N' Roses- Chinese Democracy

Top honorable mentions to Sun Kil Moon and Stephen Malkmus (whose album has also held up well over the past year).

Omnibus Post

Several things I've been meaning to post about:

1) I was going to post this blog post/story in the comments to the Animal Collective post, but figured I'd highlight it more because I love it. It combines so many things I love discussing: indie rock, internet memes, today's young music fans' obnoxious sense of entitlement, the complete forehead slapping studipity of record labels and pranks!

To read all about it, follow the link (and note the brilliance of "Animal CoLOLctive"):

(In short: girl uploads 11 tracks of Rickroll and says it's the Animal Collective leak, catches fire on google, humorless kids wish death upon her, clueless record labels demand removal of links (the web sheriff gets involved too!), and hilarity ensues!)

http://roxymuzak.blogspot.com/2009/01/animal-cololctive-what-happened.html


2) Another blog post that I found amusing: Do you know there is an entire subculture of teenage emo-girls that sit in front of their web cams and play songs from Neutral Milk Hotel's IN THE AEROPLANE OVER THE SEA accompanied by acoustic guitar and then post the videos on youtube? Well, it's true! This blog post alone gathers more than a dozen. Go figure:

http://popkulcher.blogspot.com/2008/10/still-neutral-after-all-these-years.html

3) Best of 2008 Follow Up:
-I finally did listen more seriously to the TV on the Radio, which despite being number 1 in several publications did not make a single kittybrain's list! In the end, I do agree with Tex-- this is definitely my favorite of their records. Much tighter and more focused songwriting (aided in no small part by the Antibalas horns). Given my lack of enthusiasm for the records I did list, I would have included this for sure, as I actually really like it a lot.

-The new Portishead, which was also on lots of lists: It's unrelentingly dark and cold, but on the other hand, has that kind of warm analogue synth feel of Kid A. In fact, that's actually a decent reference point for this record. I didn't know Portishead's old stuff at all, nor do I listen to any trip hop, but this is definitely not trip hop. It's kind of all over the place stylistically, with lots of interesting rhythmic and textural elements (though always quite bleak). I'll put up my favorite song, which reminds me of Radiohead. It's a really beautiful song:
(Because record labels are really smart, I can't embed the official one, so you can enjoy this one, which sets the delicately picked acoustic guitar moving into menacing analogue synth sounds to some Hugh Jackman movie):



And lo and behold, Thom and Johnny apparently agree with me because they covered it. Compare and contrast!


In another nice bit of downright bizarre synchronicity, the Portishead album has a brief interlude in the middle-- a ukulele based song that has the exact same chords and structure (but different melody) as....."Tonight You Belong to Me" from THE JERK!
I'll include the link rather than the embed so the post isn't too cluttered:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao-gEqlxWP0

TV on the Radio: Discuss

So it seems that Dear Science is the sort of mass popular #1 choice for album of the year. I only recently discovered the existence of these guys, and have listened to this album a few times (including right now). Overall it's... good? I love the first song, some of the others are pretty good, but I don't know. Something about it doesn't catch my attention fully. I don't know what I don't get behind as I like the complexity, I like the mish-mash of styles, and yet...

I think in some ways the whole thing ends up being kind of dour and oppressive and, despite their hype, not a lot of fun. Now that's not to say every album has to be a non-stop party - far from it. But I think albums that keep this kind of mid-tempo mood end up being a little too drab to listen to multiple times. I discovered this same feeling while relistening to Yoshimi recently. (Quick aside - once this end of year time is over, I'm listening to, and talking about, nothing but old Flaming Lips. Be prepared)

Interestingly, Eric posted a pretty similar question back when the album first came out. But now that's it's getting SO hyped, and there's been some time for it to sink in, I wonder if I'm being a cranky old man who doesn't get it.

New TV on the Radio?

So every time TV on the Radio release a new album, it gets ecstatically good reviews-- in every publication from Pitchfork to Time Magazine-- and all kinds of hype. I usually resist the hype for a while (as I do with basically every new album everyone gets excited about that I don't really care about because I'm too busy listening to Prince bootlegs or whatever) and then finally bite the bullet and get it. I usually find it sonically interesting (though often harsh to my ears) with a few solid songs, but mostly not that great and I usually only listen to it a few times. My favorite song of theirs is still the hidden-track doo-wop cover of the Pixies' Mr. Grieves.

So, my question to you all: Have you checked out the new one? It's getting the same boatloads of hype and near-unanimous great reviews, but will I like it any more than the last one?