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

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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

btw, people who were asking, The Juan Maclean's album is called The Future Will Come and hypothetically comes out august/september

The Reverend, Thursday, 3 July 2008 05:37 (sixteen years ago) link

1. Toumani Diabate - The Mande Variations

wilter, Thursday, 3 July 2008 08:20 (sixteen years ago) link

HMHB

Shiiit, that's another one I forgot! OK that probably makes my ten

Torche - Meanderthal

This is a maybe - it's really good but not sure if I'll be listening to it come December

DJ Mencap, Thursday, 3 July 2008 08:52 (sixteen years ago) link

I like the Torche a lot too, but am also unsure whether it'll make the cut at the end of the year.

The Gnaw Their Tongues album you mentioned up there, is it Reeking, Pained and Shuddering? Great album.

Other things nobody has mentioned that could make my top ten by the end of the year:

Pyramids s/t
The Victim's Shudder - Terror Romance

aldo, Thursday, 3 July 2008 09:04 (sixteen years ago) link

So far, 289 albums have been listed.
204 of them have only been listed once.

Here are the 31 with 4 or more mentions...

1. Portishead – Third (24)
2. Hercules & Love Affair - s/t (13)
3. Vampire Weekend - s/t (12)
4. Erykah Badu - New Amerykah: 4th World War (11)
5. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III (8)
6. Spiritualized – Songs In A&E (7)
7= Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid (6)
7= The Fall - Imperial Wax Solvent (6)
9= Atlas Sound - Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Not Heal (5)
9= Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward (5)
9= Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours (5)
9= Fleet Foxes – s/t (5)
9= Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree (5)
9= Grouper - Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill (5)
9= Kelley Polar - I Need You Told Hold on While the World is Falling (5)
9= Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Dig Lazarus Dig!!! (5)
9= No Age - Nouns (5)
9= Shearwater – Rook (5)
9= The Hold Steady - Stay Positive (5)

And with 4 mentions each:

Black Mountain – In The Future
El Guincho - Alegranza
Goslings - Occasion
Ladytron -Velocoforo
Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now Youngster
MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
Santogold
Studio - Yearbook II
The Dodos - Visiter
The-Dream - Lovehate
Times New Viking - Rip It Off

mike t-diva, Thursday, 3 July 2008 09:58 (sixteen years ago) link

The Gnaw Their Tongues album you mentioned up there, is it Reeking, Pained and Shuddering? Great album.

Nope, it's 'An Epiphanic Vomiting Of Blood' (dude has a tremendous way with words given that it's not his first language) which Crucial Blast put out a couple of months back. I have five or six things of his now but not the one you mentioned, should chase that up

DJ Mencap, Thursday, 3 July 2008 10:17 (sixteen years ago) link

Will check that one out.

aldo, Thursday, 3 July 2008 10:22 (sixteen years ago) link

Good grief @ Mike.

Scik Mouthy, Thursday, 3 July 2008 10:39 (sixteen years ago) link

Oh, I'm a VERY quick worker...

mike t-diva, Thursday, 3 July 2008 10:50 (sixteen years ago) link

(...and also a bit under-worked this week)

mike t-diva, Thursday, 3 July 2008 10:51 (sixteen years ago) link

01 - Air France - No Way Down EP
02 - Paavoharju - Laulu Laakson Kukista
03 - John Maus - Love Is Real
04 - Sparks - Exotic Creatures Of The Deep
05 - Moto Boy - ST
06 - Crystal Castles - s/t
07 - Neon Neon - Stainless Style
08 - El Perro Del Mar - From The Valley To The Stars
09 - Sebastian Tellier - Sexuality
10 - The Raveonettes- Lust Lust Lust

Snowballing, Thursday, 3 July 2008 10:51 (sixteen years ago) link

That Paavoharju album's a good 'un.

Dingbod Kesterson, Thursday, 3 July 2008 10:52 (sixteen years ago) link

"bravo!" @ 'i've got way too much time on hy hands' mike.

fascinated as to the placing of "Songs in A&E" given the negativity that the album received here and there, but other than that, a good list for reference for the rest of my year ..

mark e, Thursday, 3 July 2008 10:52 (sixteen years ago) link

xpost. doh.

mark e, Thursday, 3 July 2008 10:53 (sixteen years ago) link

I am interested in Cut Copy, No Age and The Dodos, possibly. Anything else I should investigate?

Scik Mouthy, Thursday, 3 July 2008 10:54 (sixteen years ago) link

The Raveonetts disc is great. Needs more love on this thread.

Daniel, Esq., Thursday, 3 July 2008 10:57 (sixteen years ago) link

I really need to hear that new Fall album. Or do I?

Dingbod Kesterson, Thursday, 3 July 2008 11:05 (sixteen years ago) link

Not really. Mark E Smith karaoke over some hacks.

Raw Patrick, Thursday, 3 July 2008 11:21 (sixteen years ago) link


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