Top Albums of 2008

All of you subscribers who are looking for amazing, deep insights about web strategy, entrepreneurship or higher education are just going to have to indulge me one of my semi-weekly music posts, as this one is pretty important. It’s my annual list of the best albums of the year. Omissions include TV On the Radio (my favorite band on the planet…but I liked their last album more.) and Death Cab For Cutie (I liked the album, but it wasn’t anything close to their best stuff.)

The 2008 installment of the Albums of the Year include a variety of random picks, as this year contained a number of pretty strong LPs, but overall it wasn’t exactly an earthshattering year in terms of great releases.

So here we go, in no specific order. (What a cop out, I know!)

Ximena Sariñana ~ Mediocre
Ximena Sarinana debut release Mediocre sounds like a confluence of styles. Something along the lines of Nellie McKay meets countryman Julieta Venegas meets Sia. It’s original, in other words. Very original. The jazz influences are hard to ignore throughout this release. She’s got the chops to hang with the best of them and if you have any real desire to listen to music en espanol, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better singer on the indie scene these days.From my review back in May

Lupe Fiasco ~ The Cool
What’s hilarious is, I really didn’t like this album when it was released. Perhaps that’s the beauty of a late December release, that people have a whole new year to either 1) ignore what you put out there or 2) enjoy it all year as if it was a 2008 release. I took route 2 and it was a good choice. Just a really nuanced and well balanced album all around and most likely the best hip-hop release of the past year hands down.

Sia – Some People Have Real Problems
This album was released in January, but has held up extremely well this year. But this former singer for Zero 7 really did a good job on this solo release, putting out several songs like Academia, The Girl You Lost To Cocaine and Death By Chocolate that were among my favorites this year. She’s got a soulful voice and knows how to use it well. Just good stuff.

M83 – Saturdays=Youth
Someone forgot to tell these guys that the 80s were over a long time ago. But that’s okay. The pop-synth revival show starts and stops here. This is just a solid album full of standout tracks like Kim and Jessie, We Own The Sky and Graveyard Girl. I just enjoyed the heck out of it all year.

Richard Swift – Dressed Up For The Letdown

Sure, this was released in 2007. Who cares. I discovered it in 2008 and I have to say that I’m glad I did. My favorite track on this album was The Songs of National Freedom, but Artist & Repertoire and Ballad of You Know Who weren’t slouches for tracks either. What Richard Swift seems to do well is tell a story and pull off the indie singer-songwriter thing in an earnest manner that doesn’t make him sounds too much like he’s trying to oversell on each track.

Does It Offend You, Yeah? – You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Into
Another album where I didn’t really understand all the hoopla at first and wasn’t particularly a fan of. But it grew on me. The love affair started with “Epic Last Song” and extended to tracks like “With A Heavy Heart…” and “We Are The Rockstars.” These guys don’t stick to one genre, they’re all over the place and it seems to work pretty well for them. All in all, it’s just an old-fashioned good time of strange synth-rock goodness. It’s an act that will probably get old on a second album if they keep it up, but the model worked okay this time.

The Raconteurs – Consolers of the Lonely

I’m not exactly the biggest Jack White fan, but I do really admire his work on White Stripes albums, what he did for Loretta Lynn on “Van Lear Rose” and well…what he does with his side project, The Raconteurs. I really enjoyed this album. It didn’t seek to do too much, it simply worked well with what it had. “You Don’t Understand Me,” is one of the best rock songs of the year. The whole album is just comprised of rock and roll done the right way. I appreciate that.

Erykah Badu ~ New Amerykah Pt. 1
I wasn’t sold initially, but it didn’t take me long to be ensnared into what Ms. Badu was cooking up. From Telephone to Master Teacher, she just takes you on a musical journey that’s unlike anything else released this year. It’s R&B through and through, but it goes beyond that. Finally, an album that’s well anticipated from an artist who actually delivers the goods.

Drive-By Truckers ~ Brighter Than Creation’s Dark
This is seriously southern rock at its best. You won’t hear a better country influenced album than this one. From my review earlier this year: The LP is nineteen tracks of pure alt-country goodness. It’s slow-cooked, it’s marinated right and seriously has just the feel of what happens when a confluence of really good events come together at the right time. Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife is the opening track and a is beautiful way to start things, because it’s nothing overwhelming. Other outstanding tracks include I’m Sorry Huston, Home Field Advantage and the simple, but powerful ode to that scourge of rural America in You and Your Crystal Meth.

Sigur Ros ~ Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust
Ethereal and not in English, this Iceland band has never really been one that I had much use for. But this year’s LP really changed the game for me. I don’t know why. It just grows on you after a while. It’s also not easy to define, is equally great driving on an afternoon as well as it is great for bedtime/wind down music.

The Black Keys ~ Attack and Release
Take the best producer in the business right now (Danger Mouse, half of the duo Gnarls Barkley (the one who doesn’t sing…) and take a grimey indy rock duo who produced their previous albums themselves in the basement and what do you get? Brilliance.

Homemade Jamz Blues Band ~ Pay Me No Mind
A trio of siblings from Mississippi who are bringing blues back by themselves. Their dad sometimes plays harmonica for them on stage. They’re an awesome lil’ group and they do great work. Worth checking out, they’ve got quite the future on them.

Here’s a playlist of my top 40-ish songs of the year.

Review up @ SoMinty

A review I wrote a while ago of the Drive-By Truckers release earlier this year is up at Sominty.com