Album's of 2008 #1 - #5

My favourite albums of 2008 was...

5) Explosions In The Sky – Friday Night Lights Soundtrack
Ok, another 2004 release and also not an album I first heard in 2008. The TX band has long been a pleasure of mine and I find it unfathomable that they don’t have a song you’d like. This album has been particularly important thanks to my discovery and consequent adoration of the TV show under the same name. This album is actually the soundtrack to the 2004 film of the same name but luckily, the producers chose to keep the soundtrack and expand it for the TV show. Consequently, images of sparse Texan desert and 70,000 seater high school football stadiums are accompanied with EITS wonderful soundscapes and the marriage is simply perfect. A breathtaking instrumental album with short, digestible chunks and when witnessed with the TV show, demonstrate the power of one of the best instrumental bands around.


4) Bloc Party – Intimacy
This is a difficult one for me. It is a brilliant album; there are no doubts about that. It was a wonderful new direction for a band which finally acknowledged guitar sounds that launched them so rapidly way back when in 2005 whilst incorporating a new electronic sounds, saw them play with new instruments and new ideas. Signs and Your Visits Are Getting Shorter especially are standout tracks not just on the album but in the Bloc Party Collection. Ares sounds fantastic with its wonderfully deep resonating bass, Mercury is so awkward and difficult that it works perfectly, Talons with its incredible music video, something that Bloc have been lacking for me for a while. It is a great package. But in what may come as a shock to you all, there were better this year. Though I understand the reasons, for some reason the staggered release annoyed me. The price was more than reasonable for the digital and physical release and I commend Bloc Party heavily for that as it is rare that I pay for CD’s these days. It is hard to quantify why but I just was not a fan, it ruined the anticipation, ruined the excitement period that accompanied AWITC so well. But still, that’s not the only reason. There were songs on the album that I could go without hearing again, a key change that still I find awkward to listen to and lyrics that were simplistic at times and others, too obscure to garner interest. This is by no means me rubbishing a fantastic album, more justifying why a band that most would’ve thought were dead certs to be number one, just aren’t this time around.


3) Simian Mobile Disco – Attack Decay Sustain Release
Breathtaking. Simply breathtaking. Admittedly, this is a 2007 release so please; don’t shout at me saying this shouldn’t be on the list. It should, it will likely be on every album list I ever write. Electronic music is an interesting conundrum. On the one hand there is no voice, no lyrics to identify with, and no identifiable performance to hone in on and appreciate. But this is where, for me, Simian Mobile Disco break all the rules. In every song, there are parts that I love, that make the song what it is and would ruin it where they not there. The album is perfectly designed to touch on everything you want from a dance album. There are fast, grimy tracks, echoey spacey tracks and sing along tunes. It is perfectly paced, perfectly mixed and perfectly titled. What a fantastic album title and equally brilliant for the disappointing remix album – Sample and Hold. A performance at Reading that will stay in my mind forever, a brilliant live album and the promise of a new album very very soon, despite all of Ford’s side projects. An exciting, innovative and brilliant outfit.


2) Lykke Li – Youth Novels.
No surprises here I imagine. Fantastically produced, wonderful lyrics, superb voice, the perfect pop package. And of course, my song of the year – Little Bit. When this track first appeared god knows when, blogs as they do by nature, went mental. Thankfully, the interest was upheld until an album appeared and what an album. From the wonderfully dark Complaint Department, the anthemic Dance, Dance, Dance and of course, Little Bit. A beautifully crafted song with the perfect ingredients – catchy hook, heartbreaking lyrics, a voice so sweet it’s practically syrup and a shy, faltering admittance of love. Bloody marvelous.


1) Foals – Antidotes.
A love affair that started way back in August 2007, this album has been consistently listened to over the year and despite only seeing release back in March, it has been a tireless and energetic year for the Oxford 5 piece. After rejecting mixes of an album produced by one of the hottest producers around and choosing to go it alone, they created a wonderful, atmospheric but insistent spiky indie rock record. Red Sox Pugie could also be my single of the year, it is certainly my most played song on iTunes, but that spot is saved for a song that is a little more special to me.