Well, although I keep scrambling to hear more of 2008's best records, it's about time that I weigh in. Not that I know anything - hell, I spend most of my time practicing music that no one has ever heard of on an instrument that no one has ever heard of - but I'm starting to feel that maybe I represent a greater number of music lovers than I thought - not in regards to readers of my blogs, but in terms of the kind of listener I am. I am VERY passionate about music, but for whatever limited resources - money, time, the ability to snuff out each and every relevant record in any given year - I can't be as involved in it as I would like. It comes from my general complex in being a music performance major working on my Masters - if you can't be the best at it, it's not worth doing. That being said, if a record did not cross my ears last year, I try to have a little faith in why it didn't get there. Still, I have only made one resolution for 2009, and that is to listen to more pop/rock/indie music as it becomes relevant, because it makes me happy and my life in general seems to benefit from it.
So without any further ado, the first installment of my 25 favorites from 2008:
25. Lykke Li - Youth Novels (Atlantic)
How could I have underestimated Lykke Li? Her debut has few details worth scoffing at, and yet this record sort of sat on the back-burner of my listening for quite a while. While she's not the only Scandinavian with a cute voice (I'm still a bigger Annie fan), the tunes are full of a pep that caters to Lykke Li's innocence, an innocence that sometimes finds itself contradicted in contrast with the lyrics in some tunes.
24. Grouper - Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill (Type)
Some indie projects that are headed by just one individual don't always deserve to name their work as if they are a band-like entity. Some qualify because the project becomes a collective type of affair (Bright Eyes, for example). And then there's Grouper, which qualifies mainly because Liz Harris's skewed sense of singer-songwriter causes her music to feel like it is echoing from somewhere inside of you. Some say a it's a voice deep from the bottom of the ocean, but I find it more to be zig-zaging between the chambers of your heart or a cavity between your ears.
23. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles (Last Gang)
The first part of my year-end wrap up of sorts talked about the odd appeal I found in many of 2008's danceable records - some of which will show up near the top of this list. Crystal Castles fit halfway into that grouping, at least in their most easily enjoyable material. Right from the opening "Untrust Us", the duo let their blippy grooves skate on ice, constantly writhing with energy. The most powerful tracks are, to be blunt, aggravating, but in a way that creates an irresistible intensity that adds depth to what many might see as old video game noise.
22. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive (Vagrant)
I'm a fan of The Hold Steady, even as they refuse to change with the times. I can still appreciate how they are half throwback and half here-and-now. If you gaze at this list when it is out there in full, you'll see just how much different THS is from any of the primarily electronic-genre records that made a big splash in 2008. Yet in almost every account, Stay Positive is a focused account of clarity, where the listener has a role beyond the innocent bystander. Where other artists are beginning to affect audiences by working in huddled masses, The Hold Steady continue to make rock music for the people.
21. Women - Women (Jagjaguwar)
Long live noise rock - that's what I say. I've grown a little tired of lo-fi, finding that the noise rock bands are finding a way to bring the bristling appeal of lo-fi to their records by just how complex their sound can be. With Women, it's a matter of letting the noise feed the intensity and general confusion involved with their music (the dash of prog rock is a beautiful touch, as well). This is a very impressive debut for a band whose next direction is one that I cannot determine, but I will be eager to follow in the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment