So we're halfway through 2008; what are your top 10 albums of this year, so far?

Message Bookmarked
Bookmark Removed
Not all messages are displayed: show all messages (531 of them)

(Which doesn't mean I'm not interested in anything mentioned here, but I'm close enough to it to want to respond.)

_Rockist__Scientist_, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 18:51 (sixteen years ago) link

The range of music being mentioned here isn't really that great.

Seriously. You guys are all listing the same albums and they all suck.

All I really like so far that I can think of at the moment are the Drive By Truckers and Jucifer albums.

Reatards Unite, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 18:51 (sixteen years ago) link

And Pierced Arrows.

Reatards Unite, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 18:59 (sixteen years ago) link

don't know those 3 - wonder if they don't suck...

The range of music being mentioned here isn't really that great.

compared to what? don't understand anyone who thought last 2 years had significantly more better stuff than this year

blueski, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 19:02 (sixteen years ago) link

I've listened to and liked a lot of albums this year, but the only one that I really absolutely love is Kelley Polar's. I don't know if I'm burnt out but even albums by acts I usually love (M83, Mag Fields, Cut Copy etc) aren't holding my attention.

Roz, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 19:03 (sixteen years ago) link

pierced arrows = great.

juicifer and dbt's = zzzz for me.

chicago kevin, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 19:04 (sixteen years ago) link

10. breeders - mountain battles
9. born ruffians - red, yellow and blue
8. hercules & love affair - s/t
7. crystal castles - s/t
6. oxford collapse - bits
5. times new viking - rip it off
4. the spectacles - home
3. nick cave and bad seeds - dig, lazarus, dig
2. fake fictions - krakatoa
1. prairie spies - surplus enjoyment

n/a, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 19:06 (sixteen years ago) link

good call on the shearwater album people. i'm listening to it now and into it

kamerad, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 19:07 (sixteen years ago) link

lol nick.

chicago kevin, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 19:09 (sixteen years ago) link

lolnick.

chicago kevin, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 19:09 (sixteen years ago) link

jeremy lolnick would make a good pseudonym.

chicago kevin, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 19:09 (sixteen years ago) link

compared to what?

I see an awful lot of indie rock on these lists though, which just doesn't do it for me (or when it does, I make sure not to label it indie rock). But then, I also have essentially no interest in hip-hop or "dance music," and I could add a few more major genres to that probably, so maybe I am looking for a narrow range of music? It's just that I know there's a bunch of other music out there (there has to be?) that's doing things this stuff isn't.

I don't think 2007 was so great either. I found a lot of 2006 albums to like though.

_Rockist__Scientist_, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 19:10 (sixteen years ago) link

that's an honest list, i like our album more than everything else i've heard this year, except the prairie spies

n/a, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 19:11 (sixteen years ago) link

good call on the shearwater album people. i'm listening to it now and into it.

I'm sort of listening to it now, too. It's at least a little better than I expected, and worth more effort on my part.

Daniel, Esq., Wednesday, 2 July 2008 19:13 (sixteen years ago) link

I see an awful lot of indie rock on these lists though, which just doesn't do it for me

Same for me, which is why I rarely listen to any music from this decade despite having a burning urge to find new bands to really get into and follow.

I want to find more bands like Pierced Arrows (who are basically just Dead Moon), The Sadies, Drive By Truckers, etc. etc. Basically, ROCK based rock. Not this indie pop/rock bullshit. I personally think the 00s are the worst decade for music by FAR...bar none. Nothing else even comes close.

If anyone has anything to recommend, I'm all for it. I just don't think much of the music I really love gets made anymore, or if it does, it rarely gets out of the garage.

Reatards Unite, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 19:17 (sixteen years ago) link

I can even get into a lot of psychedelic music though, as long as it's based in REAL (again, by my definition) music. Plastic Crimewave Sound and early Comets on Fire would be great examples.

Reatards Unite, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 19:19 (sixteen years ago) link

Will probably make my 2008 top ten (not in this order): Kleerup, Step Up 2 the Streets OST, Mariah, Erykah Badu, Spiritualized, Jerusalem and the Starbaskets, Los Campesinos!

Maybes: Hercules and the Love Affair, Elbow

Still have to listen to: Portishead, The-Dream, Kelley Polar, Lil Mama, Studio, The Raveonettes, the Drive-By Truckers

Still waiting on: Cassie, Ryan Leslie, Cortney Tidwell, Annie, Beyonce, Solange, The Juan Maclean???

Boooooo!!!: Fuck Buttons, Magnetic Fields

Tape Store, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 19:20 (sixteen years ago) link

(and yes, Badu = my favorite)

Tape Store, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 19:24 (sixteen years ago) link

If anyone has anything to recommend, I'm all for it. I just don't think much of the music I really love gets made anymore, or if it does, it rarely gets out of the garage.

this is the thread for you.

chicago kevin, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 19:27 (sixteen years ago) link

yeah are the juan maclean putting out an album?

J0rdan S., Wednesday, 2 July 2008 19:28 (sixteen years ago) link

I love this decade's music (far more than, say, the 90s), but -- to be fair -- I like (lol) indie. I just think this has been a substandard year, so far. But the second half of the year looks v. promising to me.

Daniel, Esq., Wednesday, 2 July 2008 19:30 (sixteen years ago) link

"I have finished a new album that will be coming out sometimes in the Spring/Summer of 2008. It is called . Before that, though, a 12" called Happy House is coming out on March 4, 2008"

xpost

Tape Store, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 19:31 (sixteen years ago) link

most of the stuff i like most is by bands that will never record an album so i think my list is at 3. i would not be able to give you a list of my 10 favorite records of the year. too many.

chicago kevin, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 19:36 (sixteen years ago) link

I want... ROCK based rock. Not this indie pop/rock bullshit

There's some on my list (a lot more rocking than the mostly lethargic DBTs album from this year, too.)

Agree that most of these lists seem pathetically indie (and that the selection could be wider), but that's no surprise. And not all of them are pathetically indie.

xhuxk, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 19:55 (sixteen years ago) link

^^^ this

I was just going to say something about not looking to the most recent DBT album for "rock".

jon /via/ chi 2.0, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 20:51 (sixteen years ago) link

oh whoa! i forgot mahjongg. that's def. top ten

Tape Store, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 21:09 (sixteen years ago) link

black mountain - in the future
records i liked, more than 10:

bun b - II trill

curren$y - higher than 30,000 ft.

the fall - imperial wax solvent

she & him - vol. 1

george cartwright - a tenacious slew (could be 07? doesn't say)

guilty simpson - ode to the ghetto

lil' wayne - the carter III

mission of burma vinyl reissues

mountain goats - heretic pride

portishead - third

raveonettes - lust lust lust

vampire hands - me and you cherry red

wolf parade - at mount zoomer

various - nigeria disco funk special: the sound of the underground lagos dance floor

rank strangers - tucke des objekts, die

M@tt He1ges0n, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 21:19 (sixteen years ago) link

and the intelligence - deuteronomy if that is from this year

M@tt He1ges0n, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 21:20 (sixteen years ago) link

oh and the new erykah badu

M@tt He1ges0n, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 21:21 (sixteen years ago) link

and bonnie prince billy!

M@tt He1ges0n, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 21:22 (sixteen years ago) link

This thread made me go through my 2008 cd's thinking, 'it hasn't been a good year so far, has it?'. RONG perception. It's been great so far! So much good stuff. My picks (not limited to ten) so far, in an order too difficult to explain:

Inca Ore - Birthday Of Bless You
Grouper - Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill
The Caretaker - Persistent Repetition Of Phrases
Cloudland Canyon - Lie in Light
Hans-Joachim Roedelius & Tim Story - Inlandish
Robert Ashley & Ensemble Mae - Tap Dancing In The Sand ( watch )
Morton Feldman - For Philip Guston (by Julia Breuer, Matthias Engler, Elmar Schrammel)
Rudi Arapahoe - Echoes From One To Another
Sigur Ros - Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust
This Will Destroy You - s/t
David Lynch & Marek Zebrowski - Polish Night Music
Dahlia's Tear - Under Seven Skies
Christopher Bissonnette - In Between Words
Peter Broderick - Float
Balmorhea - Rivers Arms
John Maus - Love Is Real
Scarlett Johansson - Anywhere I Lay My Head
Royal Train - An Underwater Call
Portishead - Third

Le Bateau Ivre, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 21:30 (sixteen years ago) link

Only thing I really miss is 2008's definitive black/doom metal release, like Deathspell Omega's last year, Lurker of Chalice (who did re-release their s/t this year, but that doesn't count). Maybe the new North will take care of that?

Le Bateau Ivre, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 21:34 (sixteen years ago) link

David Lynch & Marek Zebrowski - Polish Night Music

OMG NEED!!!

Tape Store, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 21:35 (sixteen years ago) link

YA U NEED! It's four tracks clocking in at 70 minutes, very similar to Lynch's stellar 'The Air Is On Fire' (which was my record of the year 2007).

Le Bateau Ivre, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 21:36 (sixteen years ago) link

(e-mail baudelairex_at_that geemale thingy, I'll hook you up)

Le Bateau Ivre, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 21:39 (sixteen years ago) link

my top ten, in order:

1. Endless Boogie "Focus Level"
2. Endless Boogie "Focus Level"
3. Endless Boogie "Focus Level"
4. Endless Boogie "Focus Level"
5. Endless Boogie "Focus Level"
6. Endless Boogie "Focus Level"
7. Endless Boogie "Focus Level"
8. Endless Boogie "Focus Level"
9. Endless Boogie "Focus Level"
10. Endless Boogie "Focus Level"

Drew Daniel, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 21:42 (sixteen years ago) link

#1 is hercules and love affair.

then in no order

m83
vampire weekend
cut copy
aluminum group
atlas sound
portishead
kelley polar
kaki king
body language 6 (junior boys)

jaymc, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 21:52 (sixteen years ago) link

Yeah, what I've heard from that Hercules & Love Affair disc is very good.

Daniel, Esq., Wednesday, 2 July 2008 22:27 (sixteen years ago) link

I just got that Endless Boogie lp, it's aawesomee

wilter, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 22:30 (sixteen years ago) link

Endless Boogie - Focus Level
The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
Grouper - Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill

Brooker Buckingham, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 22:35 (sixteen years ago) link

Hold Steady, HMHB, Los Campesinos!, eMC, fuck all else

The stickman from the hilarious "xkcd" comics, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 22:47 (sixteen years ago) link

Oh wait, that The Do album is pretty heat, but I reserve the right to start hating it when it becomes this year's Feist.

The stickman from the hilarious "xkcd" comics, Wednesday, 2 July 2008 22:47 (sixteen years ago) link

166 new answers? Gee this thread really took off overnight, huh? Thanks guys, I'll be reading everything shortly.

stephen, Thursday, 3 July 2008 00:00 (sixteen years ago) link

Just to add a little more metal to the mix (in no particular order):

Opeth - Watershed
Death Angel - Killing Season
Testament - Formation of Damnation
Torche - Meanderthal
Nachtmystium - Assassins: Black Meddle Pt. 1
Midnight Juggernauts - Dystopia
Blackstrap - Steal My Horses and Run
Moonspell - Night Eternal
Eluveitie - Slania
Saviours - Into Abaddon

Jeff Treppel, Thursday, 3 July 2008 00:11 (sixteen years ago) link

oh yeah i like the scarlet johnannnnnsssonnonon album too.

akm, Thursday, 3 July 2008 00:50 (sixteen years ago) link

I want to find more bands like Pierced Arrows (who are basically just Dead Moon), The Sadies, Drive By Truckers, etc. etc. Basically, ROCK based rock. Not this indie pop/rock bullshit. I personally think the 00s are the worst decade for music by FAR...bar none. Nothing else even comes close.

I think if you're talking strictly about ROCK music (esp. ROCK rock and/or garage rock), then the '00s are clearly the worst decade for that. In a lot of other genres, though -- dance, hip-hop, electronic, psych, noise, experimental -- then it's been a pretty good decade. For me at least.

I can even get into a lot of psychedelic music though, as long as it's based in REAL (again, by my definition) music. Plastic Crimewave Sound and early Comets on Fire would be great examples.

Have you heard the Boris album? The new one, Smile, is very very good, and from the above, it sounds like it'd be your sorta thing -- in a nutshell, it's a psych/rock/metal album. And it rules.

If you like Comets... do you like Six Organs? And have you heard the James Blackshaw album? Also very good, if you're into Ben Chasny's work outside of Comets.

stephen, Thursday, 3 July 2008 01:02 (sixteen years ago) link

portishead - third
jamie lidell - jim
devotchka - a mad and faithful telling
nick cave and the bad seeds - dig, lazarus, dig!!!
firewater - the golden hour
hercules and love affair - s/t
why - alopecia
four tet - ribbons EP
nine inch nails - the slip

i honestly haven't really heard all that much new stuff this year. it's all been in the past like six weeks. i've been in vinyl/old stuff mode for months now. did man man come out this year? i like that one too. apparently i should listen to air france as well. what's the deal with fleet foxes.

oh yeah! and alejandro escovedo. there's some rock-based rock. i saw him on the today show the other day. weird.

Emily Bjurnhjam, Thursday, 3 July 2008 01:18 (sixteen years ago) link

I really wanna hear from Dan, Ned and Spencer in this thread. C'mon guys.

stephen, Thursday, 3 July 2008 01:19 (sixteen years ago) link

not a good year for records I like, so far at least.

this year I am digging:

The Fall - Imperial Wax Solvent
Times New Viking on Matador
Wooden Shjips LP
Brothers Unconnected CD
V/A - Victrola Favorites
Sun City Girls - Live At Sit & Spin
United Bible Studies new 3" CD
El Guincho - Alegranza

nothing else that I can think of. Portishead is only OK.

if I heard them, I'm sure I would like the Grouper album and the Pierced Arrows album.

sleeve, Thursday, 3 July 2008 01:48 (sixteen years ago) link

I see an awful lot of indie rock on these lists though, which just doesn't do it for me

Same for me, which is why I rarely listen to any music from this decade despite having a burning urge to find new bands to really get into and follow.

Right, because there's been no music made this decade except for indie rock.

The Reverend, Thursday, 3 July 2008 05:30 (sixteen years ago) link


You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.