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

i don't think i could come up with 10 albums from this year so far i would throw my weight behind

having said that, the top ones are

for against - shade side sunny side
the lodger - life is sweet
i was a cub scout - i want you to know that there is always hope
headlights - some racing some stopping
ida - lovers prayers

hon mentions but unlikely to make my top 10 by dec:
robert forster, sarandon, the accidental, auburn lull, cut copy, daysleepers, eight legs

lol indie

1. Black Mountain – In The Future
2. Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid
3. Shearwater – Rook
4. The Dodos - Visiter
5. Spiritualized – Songs In A&E
6. Beach House – Devotion
7. Fleet Foxes – s/t
8. MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
9. Portishead – Third
10. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours

Based purely on what I've played/replayed most often this year, here is my top ten list. Alphabetical order; I could rank Portishead first because I've played that one the most by far, and after that it's a crapshoot.

Boris, Smile (Southern Lord)
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Dig Lazarus Dig!!! (Mute)
Earth, The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull (Southern Lord)
Fuck Buttons, Street Horsssing (ATP)
The Gutter Twins, Saturnalia (Sub Pop)
Jamie Lidell, Jim (Warp)
M83, Saturdays = Youth (Mute)
Portishead, Third (Mercury)
The Raveonettes, Lust Lust Lust (Vice)
Spiritualized, Songs in A & E (Sanctuary)

In no particular order:

Kathleen Edwards - Asking for Flowers
Fleet Foxes - s/t
Vampire Weekend - s/t
Laura Marling - Alas I Cannot Swim
Stephen Malkmus - Real Emotional Trash
Girl Talk - Feed the Animals
Teenage Bottlerocket - Warning Device
Coldplay - Viva La Vida
Panic! At the Disco - Pretty. Odd.
Weezer - Red Album

(I think the only definite placements on my year-end list are gonna be Kathleen, Vampire Weekend, and Girl Talk.)

hold steady (best of 2008 so far imo),dodos,mgmt,no age,vampire weekend,the fall,wolf parade,destroyer

xxpost Street Horrrsing, my bad.

i wanna listen to that Shearwater record though

I haven't been a fan of Hold Steady so far... is the new album gonna convert me? (Trying to decide whether it's worth grabbing a copy.)

if you didnt like Boys and Girls - i don't think youll like this one either

If you didn't like Boys and Girls you're forgiven as it's their weakest album. Go for Separation Sunday before you check out the new one.

Hold Steady would of made list but is not out yet so it didn't qualify. great album!

it is out in digital format i think

need to spend more time with them, but, tentatively

1. Air France - No Way Down EP
2. Atlas Sound - Let the Blind...
3. Vampire Weekend - s/t
4. Studio - Yearbook II
5. Hercules & Love Affair - s/t
6. Sebastian Tellier - Sexuality
7. No Age - Nouns
8. Animal Collective - Water Curses
9. Alex Moulton - Exodus
10. Dodos - Visiter

i think i'll add the Shearwater album to my list, i love the Mark Hollis influence.

cheap time
black and whites
...

1. Portishead - Portishead
2. Fuck Buttons - Street Horssing
3. Made Out Of Babies - The Ruiner
4. Torche - Meanderthal
5. Ponytail - Ice Cream Spiritual
6. James Blackshaw - Litany Of Echoes
7. The Roots - Rising Down
8. Midnight Juggernauts - Dystopia
9. Vivian Girls - Vivian Girls
10. Boris - Smile

moto boy, devotchka, auburn lull, ruby suns, july skies, soda fountain rag, loveliescrushing, hari & aino, randomnumber, moscow olympics

If 2008 ended today, alphabetically:

Bruno Pronsato - Why Cant We Be Like Us
Carl Craig - Sessions LP
Esoteric - The Maniacal Vale
Hercules and Love Affair - Self Titled
The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
Nomo - Ghost Rock
Portishead - Third
Quiet Village - Silent Movie
Syclops - I've Got My Eye On You
Tape - Luminarium

yay Tape!

1. Erykah Badu - New Amerykah: 4th World War
2. Nine Inch Nails - The Slip
3. Evangelista - Hello, Voyager
4. Raheem DeVaughn - Love Behind The Melody
5. Jonathan Richman - Because Her Beauty Is Raw And Wild
6. My Brightest Diamond - A Thousand Shark's Teeth
7. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
8. The Raconteurs - Consolers Of The Lonely
9. Rich Boy - Bigger Than The Mayor
10. Sloan - Parallel Play

Jay Reatard - Singles 06-07
Bison
The Fall - Imperial Wax Solvent
Ladytron -Velocoforo
Cheap Time
Dirtbombs - We Have You Surrounded
Benga - Diary of an Afro Warrior
Thee Oh Sees - The Master's Bedroom Is Worth Spending A Night In
Black Mountain - Into the Future
Victrola Favorites (VA)

badu
cuong vu -- vu-tet
akoya afrobeat -- p.d.p.
maceo parker -- roots and grooves
gipsy.cz -- reprezent
lil mama -- voice of the young people
esperanza spalding -- esperanza
gilberto gil -- banda larga cordel
steven bernstein -- diaspora suite
issa bagayogo -- mali kounde

1. Erykah Badu - New Amerykah
2. Portishead - Third
3. Kelley Polar - I Need You Told Hold on While the World is Falling
4. Vampire Weekend
5. The-Dream - Lovehate
6. Hercules & Love Affair
7. Sebastien Tellier - Sexuality
8. Nejo y Dalmata - Broke & Famous
9. Santogold
10. Lupe Fiasco - The Cool

1. hercules and love affair- s/t
2. los campesinos- hold on now youngster
3. the-dream- love/hate
4. vampire weekend- s/t
5. lil wayne- tha carter III
6. hot chip- made in the dark
7. cut copy- in ghost colours
8. bun b- II trill
9. lil boosie- da beginning
10. studio- yearbook 2

(still trying to figure out how much i like: wolf parade, ponytail, be your own pet, miles benjamin anthony robinson, young dro, rich boy, air france)

I thought maybe all the good stuff from 08 had been hiding from me, but nothing on these lists interests me at all. Maybe it's just a horrible year for music.

also should find some room for gucci mane in there

fwiw i think this has been a great year for albums

1. Why? - Alopecia
2. Je Suis Animal - Self Taught Magic From A Book
3. Autechre - Quaristice
4. Grouper - Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill
5. El Guincho - Alegranza

Tha Carter III, James Blackshaw, No Age, Flying Lotus, Atlas Sound, all honourable mentions.

Bang on a Can--Music for Airports
King Khan--The Supreme Genius
Kelley Stoltz--Circular Sounds
Sigur Ros--Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust
Kurt Vile--Constant Hitmaker
Al Green--Lay It Down
Earth--The Bees Made Honey
Portishead--Third
Plants & Animals--Parc Avenue
Oneida--Preteen Weaponry

Portishead - Third
Sunset - Bright Blue Dream & The Glowing City
Beach House - Devotion
Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust
Magnetic Fields - Distortion

still want to hear Badu, Kurt Weisman, Shearwater

Shearwater - Rook
The Dø - A Mouthful
Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
Portishead - Third
Fleet Foxes - s/t
Vampire Weekend - s/t
Four Tet - Ringer EP
Why? - Alopecia
Youthmovies - Good Nature
Spiritualized - Songs In A&E

That's probably the top ten, the top two of which are most settled / secure in my esteem. Also floating around are Black Mountain, Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan, Gutter Twins, Neil Cowley, The Blessing, Mlle Caro & Franck Garcia, Guillemots, Cadence Weapon, Hercules & Love Affair, Breeders.

A very strong year indeed thus far...

1. Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
2. British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?
3. Barry Adamson - Back To The Cat
4. Hercules & Love Affair - Hercules & Love Affair
5. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
6. Shearwater - Rook
7. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
8. Portishead - Third
9. Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree
10. System 7 - Phoenix
11. Neil Diamond - Home Before Dark
12. Paul Weller - 22 Dreams
13. The Breeders - Mountain Battles
14. The Ting Tings - We Started Nothing
15. Camille - Music Hole

... with many, many others bubbling under.

forgot about ponytail.great record.

barry adamson's got a new one out? must investigate...

I thought maybe all the good stuff from 08 had been hiding from me, but nothing on these lists interests me at all. Maybe it's just a horrible year for music.

if you ain't interested in hearing ANY of the stuff mentioned on this thread you should perhaps question your interest in music, really. this year has been amazing.

1. erykah badu, new amerykah part one (4th world war)
2. mariah carey, e=mc2
3. dj apostle, the elements of bassline
4. lil' wayne, tha carter iii
5. ellen allien, boogybytes vol 4
6. ashlee simpson, bittersweet world
7. wiley, grime wave
8. akiko kiyama, 7 years
9. robert hood, fabric 39
10. trus'me, working nights

hon mentions to: bun b, estelle, the bug, roland appel, portishead, alex moulton, mlle caro & franck garcia, appleblim, the-dream, booka shade, kuniyuki takahashi, the mole, danity kane, santogold, diskjokke, lindstrøm, lil' mama, bruno pronsato

jordan sargent likes los campesinos????!!!!!!!

yes! a lot

me and passantino, wrists out the windows, ridin round london blastin los campesinos

ew

i think one of them may have been a successor of mine as editor of my uni's student mag? i worry that i may have inadvertently nurtured this shit

oh i do want to hear the gucci mane though so u get points back for that

hmmm.

thinking about it, I can't really think of anything apart perhaps from 'Mega Breakfast' by The Chap that I'd deem worthy of inclusion in a top ten list. And the Beach House record actually.

weird. last year was fucking ace as well.

I miss Be Your Own Pet from J0rdan's list.

old stuff reissued has been order of the day @ ireallylovemusic hq for most of the year.

cannonball adderley - soul zodiac (reissue)
david axelrod/electric prunes - the warner sessions
the godfathers - hit by hit (reissue)

new albums :

pama intl - love filled dub
midnight juggerbauts - dystopia
the black ghosts - mixtape
cut copy - in ghost colours
idc - overthrow the boss class
the heliocentrics - out there

want to hear : portishead/goldfrapp

ha

im all over the place on that record. part of it is that i had pretty unreasonable expectations for it since their s/t is one of my favorite of the decade. im slowly coming around to it but the lyrics esp seem kinda lazily written to me. it's missing a song like "adventure" or "thresher's flail" i think. i dont like using the "its not you its me defense" but i would recommend the record and the band to anyone and everyone (and do irl) but its just been overshadowed by other things this year. still holding out on it all the way clicking though.

xp

lex:

gucci is a must. #1 good mood rap music of the year right now, esp. the bleepy keyboard tracks ("i know why", "i might be", "ballers") on back to the traphouse. he's also got a bunch of good guest spots on that rich boy mixtape and a few joints off soulja boy's teen of the south.

also "freaky gurl" remix but you might've heard that since it's got a reeeeeally nasty kim verse

i don't think anyone in rap right now has more fun rapping than gucci

yup i love the 'freaky gurl' rmx, that was the first i heard of gucci. kim's absolutely kills, solid solid gold and so nasty

i got the grouper album based on this thread, again not quite what i was expecting but pretty nice in parts - very similar to movietone/empress kind of thing with flashes of damon & naomi..

Is there anything else like this out there, rootsy zingy Canadian throwback country?

― Peter "One Dart" Manley (The stickman from the hilarious 'xkcd' comics), Friday, 28 November 2008 19:19 (3 days ago) Permalink

Tough question since most of Corb's competition are either dusty'n'dull alt-country or roughed-up Eagles clones. Neither of which are zingy, which I think is the key thing here. That said, there are a few you could try - Carolyn Mark, Luther Wright (both of whom have recorded with various bands, as well as solo and together. More than them, I'd recommend Ray Condo and the Ricochets. He died a couple of years ago unfortunately but his albums are still around. There are a few great clips of Ray Condo on Youtube. Like this one:

I just asked my friend who's way more of an expert on rootsy, zingy Canadian country and she gave me the following:

- Ridley Bent (his 1st album Blam!, esp.)
- The Sadies
- Elliott Brood
- D. Rangers
- Old Reliable
- Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir
- Cuff the Duke

On the classical/jazz side what has anyone out there been hearing? I've got about five cds on each side that I wanna be checking out.

count me in on the school of 7 bells love that has blossomed from this thread.

am i the only person that played the morgan geist album every day since it cam out? it beats the whiny kelley polar album into a cocked hat

Is Growing good? They're playing down the street from where I live this weekend.

I didn't enjoy their live set at ATP New York, and I like their albums mostly.

A GIANT YAY TO THE SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS LOVE!!!

Yes, I completely get the ASDIG comparisons - discovered them about the same time, too.

Maybe they need their own thread, as I couldn't get no conversations started on the Secret Machines threads.

electro-inflected nu-gaze with identical twin sister vocalists singing in unison: there can't be many of these about.

Take out the identical, but this was actually my very first band, back in the dawn of time...

k8 is so far removed from the ilm hivemind that she CREATES A NEW ONE!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/rockindie/release/images/rap_headless_silence_140.jpg
Don't know if anyone else is into 'em, but I'm lovin the hell out of the Headless Heroes album, The Silence of Love. Alela Diane is the best new-to-me voice of the year, alongside Rachel Unthank. It's a covers album, doing mostly 'lost' indie tracks. Including early '70s folk song, The North Wind Blew South:

A droney/shoegazey cover of I Am Kloot's To You:

And a stripped-down, countryfied version of JAMC's Just Like Honey:

On the classical/jazz side what has anyone out there been hearing?

friend who hosts a jazz radio show offers the following (i have heard none of these, fwiw):

BILL FRISELL- HISTORY/ MYSTERY
MIRIAM ALTER- WHERE IS THERE
FRANK KIMBROUGH- AIR
JOE LOVANO- SYMPHONIA
DONALD BROWN- FROM PAST TO FUTURE
MICHALE MOORE/FRED HERSCH- THIS WE KNOW
VASSILIS TSABROPOULOUS/ANJA LECHNER/ U.T. GANDHI- MELOS
HERBIE HANCOCK: THE JONI LETTERS (2007)
PAUL BLEY- SOLO IN MONDSEE
The New Carla Bley- name escapes me
TED NASH- MANCINI PROJECT
WYCLIFFE GORDON AND ERIC REED- WE 2
ANAT COHEN- POETICA
ENRICO RAVA/ STEFANO BOLLANI: THE THIRD MAN

I haven't heard a lot of new stuff this year but I think this might be it:

j.s. bach / sofia gubaidulina - violin concertos / in tempus praesens (anne-sophie mutter, et al.)
matthias pintscher - en sourdine / tenebrae / reflections on narcissus
tangele - the pulse of yiddish tango
helena tulve - lijnen
portishead - third
per nørgård - string quartets nos. 7-10 (kroger quartet)
fennesz - black sea
ricardo villalobos - vasco ep
arve henriksen - cartography
helmut lachenmann - grido / reigen seliger geister / gran torso (arditti quartet)

or something.

Vassilis Tsabropoulos/Anja Lechner/U.T. Ghandi

Thanks for the heads up on this, tipsy mothra. “Chants, Hymns and Dances” was awesome.

Is Growing good? They're playing down the street from where I live this weekend.
— billstevejim, Tuesday, 2 December 2008 21:41 (Yesterday) Permalink

I didn't enjoy their live set at ATP New York, and I like their albums mostly.
— ilxor, Wednesday, 3 December 2008 04:46 (13 hours ago) Permalink

seconding this, their recent albums are good guitar drone/electronic zone-out music but their live show bored the piss outta me

I'm digging that new pretenders, chrissie hynde doing stripped down rockabilly + c&w is always alright

tru, it's not in my top 10 but it is good.

i think the only new jazz album i've heard this year is Brian Blade but it's great.

That Michael Moore & Fred Hersch thing sounds intriguing.

ANAT COHEN- POETICA

This is wrong. Poetica came out with Noir (the better album, btw) last year. Her 2008 album was Notes From the Village. Which was pretty good, actually.

The Myriam Alter was good, too.

Hi there ywbs! Yeah I really like Helena Tulve, she has a fairly singular sound...

What I'd like to check on the classical side but have yet to:

- Chris Newman - Piano Sonatas (remember being really intrigued by a piece of his I heard in a concert a couple of years ago - its like a collage of cut ups that managed to sound frighteningly cohesive, so its almost as if he was thinking in a cut up language in the first place)
- Klaus Lang - Flow.state on ed.rz - his string quartet ('Sei Jaku') is probably a mid-way between Lachenmann concrete instrumental with a shiny Cage-ian surface.
- Ferneyhough music for voices on METIER.
- Mark Cauvin double CD of works for solo double bass - esp looking to hear the perfs of works by Fernando Grillo (primarily an instrumentalist writing for his own instrument played by someone else is something you don't hear everyday), but you get Scelsi/Berio/Xenakis, plus a couple of others I don't know...I'm not too sure what can go wrong.

Thanks for that list tipsy I will try and have a look. On the jazz side only been reading about releases for the last couple of months or so, but some of what I'd be keen on:

- Joe Maneri 'Peace Concert' - A first time issue from '64
- Ornette Coleman - Croydon concert - a first time issue from '65, its the trio with Izenson/Moffett as heard on the 'Golden Circle' discs
- Patricia Barber released a new album this year right?
- Braxton - Moscow '08, in a quartet/quintet can't remember, post Arista his 'development' is probably best looked at in these small ensembles

hey julio. re: helena tulve, I fell in love with her music upon hearing "sula," which is a collection of chamber works featuring the eponymous piece, an awe-inspiring rendition of a melting iceberg for large orchestra and didgeridoo (!). so my expectations were unreasonably high when "lijnen" came out and I couldn't help but be a little disappointed at first. but yeah, it's tremendously solid and deepens with every spin, if only because her architectural know-how is flawless and her emphasis on winds is quite unique. also, check out that pintscher disc if you're interested. on the surface, he doesn't seem to be adding much to the tone & timbre fuckery of the european post-serial tradition, but there's a real sense of uncompromising mystery and, dare I say, poetry to his vision that draws me back. and I think this year's kairos release makes the strongest case for him as a significant contemporary composer.

there's also a kurtag 80th birthday celebration 2-disc set on some hungarian label that I haven't had the chance to hear. it features some of his latest material, reportedly less miniaturistic and purely gestural than usual. I'm a big fan, so I ought to get around to it asap...

I haven't checked out either the newman, lang, ferneyhough or cauvin, but thanks for the suggestions. I'll be on the lookout.

also, this is belated, but thanks for drawing my attention to richard barrett. something finally clicked a while ago and I've been counting him among my faves ever since.

oh and there are two other recordings I regret not having heard:

jonathan harvey's "body mandala / timepieces / tranquil abiding / white as jasmine / toward a pure land" and a recording of george benjamin's first mini-opera, "into the little hill."

Never been too interested in the Pintscher pieces I've come across -- but I'll give it a go and report back.

Haven't heard much Kurtag in ages so that's another one, if I can track.

I'm also interested in Dieter Schnebel's 'Music for Mobile Musicians'. His writing for voices is pretty unique so I'll be looking at the instrumental side of things soon I hope.

Melchior Productions - No Disco Future

^^^this one is kinda cool from the couple songs i checked on earbuds blog -- anyone else into this album?

in the equivalent 2007 thread i'm sure

o didnt realize it was that old -- someone listed it in this thread which was why i mentioned it

well, it did come out late in 2007 (november?), but it made a fair few lists regardless

pains of being pure at heart album leaked, though i suppose it is officially 2009, never really appreciated them but this is quite good.

I listened to a lot less music this year; still heard upwards of two hundred albums and way too many singles, but I guess I feel less connected. It felt like a really weak year...? But I guess that has more to do with me than with the music.
Plus, since everything was on muxtape or youtube or emailed or on tv or whatever, I don't have hard copies of much of this stuff so it feels that much more ephemeral.

My _very_ provisional list of top 11 albums and singles with possible alternates:

Singles -
Florida and T-Pain - Low
Cherryholmes - Don't Believe
Lil' Wayne - Lollipop
Hot Chip - Ready for the Floor
T Pain - Chopped and Screwed
David Banner w/Chris Brown and Yung Joc - Get Like Me
Outkast w/Raekwon - Royal Flush
Estelle - Wait A Minute
Eluveitie - Inis Mona
T Pain, Chris Brown, Lil Mama - Shawty Get Loose
Bun B, David Banner, MJG - You're Everything

also:
Lykke Li - Let It Fall
TI - Ready For Whatever
TI - Let My Beat Pound
Cherryholmes - Goodbye
Anthony David - Stop Playin'
Santogold - Shove It
Beyonce - Single Ladies
Lil' Wayne - A Milli
Lil' Wayne - Mrs. Officer
Ludacris - One More Drink
Erykah Badu - Honey
Santogold - Light's Out
Santogold - You'll Find a Way
Devin the Dude - Can't Make It Home
Sheek Louch - Good Love
Snoop Dogg - Sensual Seduction
Mariah Carey w/ T Pain - Migrate
The Menahan Street Band - Make the Road by Walking
RZA - You Can't Stop Me Now
Raphael Saadiq - 100 Yard Dash
Brandy - Right Here
John Legend w/Andre 3K - Green Light
Mariah Carey - Touch My Body
Webbie - Independent

Albums -
Lykke Li - Youth Novels
Cherryholmes - Cherryholmes III: Don't Believe
Anthony David - Acey Duecy
Al Green - Lay It Down
RZA - Digi Snacks
Dengue Fever - Venus on Earth
Ratat - LP3
Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple
Janelle Monae - Metropolis
Braid Soundtrack
Polk Miller and The Old South Quartette - S/t

also:
Curren$y - Higher Than 30K Feet
Hercules and Love Affair - s/t
Hot Chip - Made in the Dark
Nomo - Ghost Rock
Dizzee Rascal - Maths and English
Santogold - Santogold
T Pain - Thre33 Ringz
Otis Taylor - Recapturing the Banjo
Estelle - Shine
Asher Roth - The Greenhouse effect
Devin the Dude - Landing Gear
Eluvietie - Slania
Lil Wayne - The Carter III
Mariah Carey - E=MC2
Britney - Circus

i made a mix of my fave songs of the year:

http://fortune5thousand.blogspot.com/

"low," seriously??

what a generic x boring song -- i dont think even tape store reps for that

'low' is a pretty monster pop hit. i would go for 'in the ayer', personally, but i really enjoyed 'low's ubiquity

just fyi "ubiquity" does not have positive connotations

SHAWTY GOT LOW LOW LOW LOW LOW LOW LOW LOWWWWW

what about it did you enjoy lex pretend

I listened to Low pretty obsessively for December and January and have avoided it ever since, but I'm not going to pretend like those months never happened.

just fyi "ubiquity" does not have positive connotations

just fyi i know this

what about it did you enjoy lex pretend

i enjoyed hearing it every week at street dance class

best ILM post ever

I listened to Low pretty obsessively for December and January and have avoided it ever since, but I'm not going to pretend like those months never happened.

― forksclovetofu, Wednesday, December 10, 2008 12:39 PM (55 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this^^ also that means that track is from last year dogg

just fyi, I do not attend street dance class

grady, p+j asks that track have impact in the calendar year you nominate; low was a top 40 monster in January as i recall... maybe into feb?

ok i see

Hm, looks like Low hit its stride in February and March... was the Billboard Top 40 #1 for six weeks, second only to that fuckin' Leona Lewis thing.

Digi Snacks was terrible imo

1. Black Pus - Black Pus 4: All Aboard the Magic Pus
2. Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing
3. Rings - Black Habit
4. Mutators - Secret Life
5. Atlas Sound - Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See but Cannot Feel
6. Spiritualized - Songs in A&E
7. GOA - 3
8. Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna
9. Sun Araw - The Phynx
10. Stereolab - Chemical Chords

I really really liked Digi Snacks and I don't know anyone else who did.
Go figure.