Top 10 Musics of 2008

I’m finding it harder and harder to pay attention to new music. That’s just how it goes. But for what it’s worth, here are the 10 records that poked my body with a stick. These are the 10 records that made me remember I’m kinda into music. And why.

Blitzen Trapper – Furr: A pitch-perfect amalgamation of mid-90s indie rock and classic rock. The title track is also my favorite song released this year. If you like both Pavement and Bob Dylan, you should just buy this. Thank me later.
MGMT – Oracular Spectacular: I kept hearing their songs on the radio. And I kept having fun. That never, ever happens. With MGMT, it doesn’t stop. Their major label debut unashamedly aims for entertainment, and yet it’s the most consistent, professional record I heard this year.
Bon Iver – For Emma Forever Ago: Bon Iver’s spare acoustic arrangements are bare whispers, but when his voice opens up, it fills a room. It fills your belly and chest with a warm physical response you’d swear was spiritual. It sounds corny, but these are primal hymns; not written so much as discovered.
Drive-By Truckers – Brighter than Creation’s Dark: It’s been years since I was enthusiastic about the sort of alt. country popularized by Uncle Tupelo and the Jayhawks. And I’ve never liked DBT. Until now. This 19-track opus is a filler-free tour de-force that brings all the genre’s best features into sharp focus. I recommend “The Righteous Path” for downloading.
No Age – Nouns: Is it punk noise? Noise pop? I don’t know. Don’t care. It comes out your speakers like a great rock band getting smothered under a pillow. The sound barely escaping the edges, but still urgent, still powerful, still able to move its legs and kick you in the balls.
The Dodos – Visitor: I’ll repeat what I said earlier… “Remember how everyone got excited over Vampire Weekend and their college rock cross-pollination of genres and rhythms? Their Gap-ready adventurism? Their Saturday Night Live performance? The Dodos are the band all those people should have been excited about.” New rule: every acoustic band should hire a metal drummer.
Jay Reatard – Matador Singles ‘08: When I saw Reatard live, he mostly just shredded my ears with volume and behaved like an ass. So I was hella suprised when I discovered his singles (including Matador’s earlier ‘06-‘07 collection) were tiny, perfectionist blasts of punk-drenched pop. As prolific as Bob Pollard, this dude’s batting average is a lot higher thanks to a welcome song-by-song focus on quality control.
Kurt Vile – Constant Hitmaker: There was a time when any dude with a four-track could rule Pitchfork and the world if he put together a few good songs. Now that everyone’s got ProTools and gobs of digital storage, lo-fi masterworks are harder to come by. But Vile’s “Don’t Get Cute,” with it’s cheap drum machine and reverb-soaked vocals, is my new mix-tape jam. Recommended for fans of East River Pipe.
Papermoons – New Tales: These two guys were Houston’s best band before they left town, and New Tales was Houston’s best local release in 2008. There’s no shortage of wistful, minimalist pop-craft in Houston or anywhere else. So Papermoons have lots of peers, but their songs are peerless wonders.
Ladyhawke – S/T: I think eMusic put it best in their blurb for this album, “Nervy New Zealander offers a dozen-plus rewrites of ‘Bette Davis Eyes.’ And, yes, that’s a good thing.” Hell yes it is. Pip Brown is an 80s auteur, with full mastery of the decade’s best tricks and tropes. Until they make a time machine, this is your best ticket back back to the roller rink. All skate.

Links in this post are to eMusic or Lala.com (my favorite music site of 2008).

Want to know what me and my pals are downloading as it happens? Check out my new blog, The Downloaders. If you’re my pal, you should also be a Downloader.

Thanks for reading. See you in 2009.

mrshl | blog

dude loves all the new verbs (e.g., wii, facebook)