So, let me start with a huge huge thank you for reading my little space here on the blogosphere. It has been an abolute pleasure, I've loved the feedback, good or bad and I really appreciate whatever of my opinion you take away from the blog. I'm always welcome to more feedback, recommendations, any of that stuff so please, feel free to fill me in on stuff I may not have heard and I'll happily post it on here. I hope to see some of you at shows I put on and look forward to bringing you some new and exciting music in 2009. It has, of course, been a fantastic year for music. 2008 has many highlights for me including a very sweaty Foals gig way back in March, witnessing Rage headline Reading with a stellar performance, watching Lykke Li in a forest at Lattitude festival, my first Planet Angel experience soon leading to DJ sets there and countless songs and albums and conversations about music that have excited and interested me. I hope you agree with some of the list below and I'd love to know your favourite albums of this year.
Starting with the honourable mentions. These are albums that could all have filled the #10 spot really, Weezer having pinched it for Heart Songs. However, these are albums that I've listened to throughout the year and been truly impressed with. They are albums that if I'd written the list on another day in another mood, they may have charted much higher than they actually did. This however takes nothing away from the albums that did make it, and the problem with a top ten list is there are only ten spots.
Chairlift
Coldplay
Death Cab For Cutie
Does It Offend You, Yeah?
Gotye
James Yuill
Johnny Foreigner
The Music
And now, 2008 in ten debatable spaces, my album list...
10) Weezer – Red Album Another album containing one of my most listened to songs of this year, the insightful Heart Songs. It’s one of those simple pop-rock songs that Weezer write so well and there are plenty of examples of this all over the record. The record is full of twangy guitar riffs, filling harmonies and songs that change direction every minute or so, it’s a well-written record and one that is easy and accessible. It’s a great listen and thoroughly worth listening to, over and over again.
9) Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip – Angles Well. It’s hard to talk about this album as it feels like I’ve had it for ages, this is an album that despite being great, I’ve probably over listened to. And that hasn’t happened to any of the other albums on this list.It’s brilliant in its conception, urban poetry, hip hop and heavy beats all brutally smashed together with some controversial and thought-provoking topics. The duo are a power live as well, tearing apart 229 when I saw them just before Christmas. It was loud, the bass was heavy and they were awe-inspiring. Pretty much all has been said about Le Sac vs. Pip on this blog but if you still haven’t got around to hearing it, treat yourself.
8) Kings of Leon – Only By The Night Again, a surprisingly low charting for a pretty awesome album. Having featured in pretty much every mainstream album chart there’s been these last few weeks, even topping some (unfairly in my opinion), it is impossible to deny Kings of Leon have produced another cracker. It is Kings of Leon at their mainstream, highly tuned, pop finest. Gone are the days of Caleb’s southern, unintepratable mumblings, the twangy high end guitars and rock and roll beats. Nowadays, Kings of Leon are anthemic, they are stadium sell outs and they are hard working and deserving. It is impossible to ignore the power of tracks like Mahattan, Revelry and the awe-inspiring Closer. However, the album for me is a little too pleasing on the senses. The gritty beginnings were what drew everyone to Kings of Leon and though progression is good, it is important not to forget where you came from. It would be easy for me to pick my favourite 11 Kings of Leon tracks and they would come from all four albums but, each album is heavily themed without meaning to just yet.
7) Portishead – Third
This album has made a fair few album lists this year and it is no surprise why. After taking almost as long as GNR to come up with a new album and spending significantly less in the process, it is no surprise that it is an absolute stormer. Portishead are a new addition to my music collection this year, my previous trip-hop experiences being slightly narrow-minded. However, it was impossible to ignore the media storm surrounding the album and it became very clear very quickly why everybody was so excited. Trip Hop excels in wonderfully dark, enigmatic production that gets harder and easier with every listen. Beth Gibbons’ voice is wonderfully mature, beautifully faltering and haunting beyond belief. This is wonderful chill out music, music to reflect to, music to inspire and elevate. A truly remarkable album.
6) Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago Now, we are reaching more familiar territory for those that have read other Album’s of 2008 lists. And it probably would’ve charted much higher if only I’d heard the damn thing earlier. You see, I find it difficult to keep up with all the music I want to consume. I spend hours at work reading about new music, trying to find bands that will do well and then by the time I get home, cook, rest, there is just no time to get the darned albums. So, criminally, I’ve only had this album for a fortnight or so. As every blog will tell you, Bon Iver is the solo project of Justin Vernon and after breaking up with his girlfriend and his band, he retreated to a cabin in the woods in deep Wisconsin with a few bits of recording equipment and emerged with one of the albums of the year. Relying heavily on overdubs, the album is perfectly constructed, the harmonies are expansive without being overbearing, Vernon’s heartbreak is almost touchable and it is short enough that you are not left wondering if the end to this will ever end. It is of course, the anglicisation of Bon Hiver, French for Happy Winter and this is the perfect wintry album. 2008 has seen the rise of many folk artists to the forefront and with the success of festivals such as Latitude, Big Chill and of course Glastonbury, it is a genre that will continue to grow in people’s awareness, regaining a credibi8lity that it probably has never seen. It is easy to say that Bon Iver could easily lead this revolution and if reviews of his new EP are anything to go by, 2009 will be an equally fantastic year. The only problem is following up such heartbroken album when things are looking up!
Read on for the elicit number 1 spot of 2008...
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