10. M83 - Saturdays=Youth (Mute)
Here's a secret: I HATE the music of the 80s...well, most of it anyway. I've enjoyed M83's past records, but on Saturdays=Youth they seem to have taken the sheen, the very breathless finish from the best of that decade and stamped it onto their own achingly beautiful pop songs. The best M83 record yet.
9. Atlas Sound - Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel (Kranky)
This is the record that will probably sneak up this list as time goes on. As much as I enjoy Deerhunter, this alone-in-a-bedroom headtrip is just as good as the records by Brandon Cox's full band. Cox is criticized for trying too hard, but Let the Blind... shows that his effort lies less in tinkering with his material and more with pushing his gargantuan sounds on the listener a little too eagerly. His music doesn't develop; instead it hits the listener like a ton of bricks. Very loud, fuzzy bricks.
8. TV on the Radio - Dear Science (Interscope)
Ba ba baaa baaa baaaaaaa ba ba ba baaaaa better than Return to Cookie Mountain.
7. Deerhunter - Microcastle/Weird Era Cont. (Kranky)
Like many, I was confused when Pitchfork drooled over Cryptograms, a record that seemed to glue a psych noise record and a psych pop record together and place it on the platter. A much nicer balance is achieved with each of these records, especially on Weird Era Cont., as the noise jams stretch out while the pop tunes keep the disc buoyant. "Operation" might be my favorite non-single tune from 2008.
6. Hercules and Love Affair - Hercules and Love Affair (Mute)
Indeed, HaLA is quite a motley crew, but their focused efforts hit the mark on each and every track on the self-titled debut. After a while, you realize how much this cruises as a dance record, when less intelligent acts might resort to an abundance of techno freakouts.
5. The Walkmen - You & Me (Gigantic)
WOW. I sort of gave up on The Walkmen after Bows and Arrows, a record that defined the bands sound and showed it to have extreme limits. You & Me eclipses the past discs effortlessly, especially in terms of songwriting. Never strained but always reaching.
4. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes (Sub Pop)
Immediately likeable, I can imagine how pretentious Fleet Foxes could be. Yet when you see them play (as much of America did a few weeks back on SNL), I can't help be convinced that these guys just crawled out of the woods or something. It's like a deep woods version of CSNY.
3. Portishead - Third (Mercury)
THEY'RE BACK THEY'RE BACK THEY'RE BACK!!!
Why doesn't this record sound like trip-hop?
Nevermind - this creepy psych-rock thing is just as good. Makes me look right past some of the 8th-grade-notebook lyrics.
2. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours (Modular Interscope)
I smiled more while listening to In Ghost Colours than at any other time during 2008.
1. Beach House - Devotion (Carpark)
2008 was not one of my better years. Anyone who has spent at least an entire year in a transitional state could tell you just how unnerving it could be, or how much of a constant downer it is. Yet with all of the beautiful records on this list (and those that just missed it), only Devotion felt immediately sincere, incredibly arresting, and ultimately nurturing.
AND WITH THAT, it's 2009. So excited about the new releases already out this month...can't wait to drop some knowledge on Jamebo and Nickster.
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