2008 Best Albums

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Here's my list. I think it accurately shows just how hip and musically attuned I am.

  1. Kings of Leon – Only By The Night
  2. The Presets – Apocalypso
  3. MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
  4. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend
  5. Birds of Tokyo – Universes
  6. Cut Copy – In Ghost Colours
  7. Bloc Party – Intimacy
  8. The Grates – Teeth Lost, Hearts Won
  9. Empire of the Sun – Walking On A Dream
  10. Josh Pyke – Chimney’s Afire
 
Suspense said:
Here's my list. I think it accurately shows just how hip and musically attuned I am.

  1. Kings of Leon – Only By The Night
  2. The Presets – Apocalypso
  3. MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
  4. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend
  5. Birds of Tokyo – Universes
  6. Cut Copy – In Ghost Colours
  7. Bloc Party – Intimacy
  8. The Grates – Teeth Lost, Hearts Won
  9. Empire of the Sun – Walking On A Dream
  10. Josh Pyke – Chimney’s Afire
Click to expand...

Fantastic list, I would like to change my list to this exact list because I also believe that it will show how hip and musically attuned I am.
 
All the albums I have listened to this year

Ben Folds - Way To Normal
Little Red - Listen to Little Red
Girl Talk - Feed The Animals
The Roots - Rising Down
The Black Keys - Attack & Release
The Presets - Apocalypto
The Firekites - The Bowery
Josh Pyke - Chimney's Afire
Xavier Rudd - Dark Shades of Blue
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig Lazarus, Dig
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Muse - HAARP Live From Wembley Stadium
Gotan Project - Live
Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
MGMT - Orange Spectacular
Kings of Leon - Only By The Night
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Empire Of The Sun - Walking On A Dream
The Ting Ting's - We Started Nothing
The Living End - White Noise
The Clash - Live At Shea Stadium
Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupungi - Gurrumul
The Drones - Havilah

My Top 10:
1 - Xavier Rudd - Dark Shades of Blue
Xavier's finest moment. Keeps instrumentation the same, yet produces a much darker sound. Still shows off his diversity with a bit of reggae too.

2 - The Ting Ting's - We Started Nothing
Infectious pop music made for summer. Known for the extremely catchy 'That's Not My Name' but has few weak moments, with the piano driven 'We Walk' the highlight.

3 - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig Lazarus, Dig
Cave ditches the mellow piano ballads and creates an awesome true rock album. Starting off with 'Dig Lazarus, Dig', a song which brings a biblical tale to the streets of a modern America, to the tune of a ripper riff. Ends with the epic 'More News From Nowhere' and there are few weak moments in between.

4 - Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Beautiful vocal melodies, simple - yet never boring instrumentation and a solid album from start to finish. Best Alt Folk album of the year.

5 - The Black Keys - Attack & Release
Very sceptical about this album, which paired the blues duo with famous producer Dangermouse. Defied my expectations. Dangermouse does not over impose himself on the project and you can still feel the raw energy of Pat and Dan, whilst what Dangermouse adds is superb and produces another dimension to their sound. Best TBK's album for a while.

6 - Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
Opening single 'Gobbledigook' was different to anything they'd done before. Pounding percussion with amazing vocal melodies which created a fantastic pop song. The rest of the album is much more Sigur Ros like but the more different they are from their previous works, the better it is. More pop for the next album, hopefully.

7 - MGMT - Orange Spectacular
Say what you like about them, they write some great pop songs. 'Time to Pretend', 'Kids' and 'Pieces of What' were my favourites.

8 - Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Fun modern afro pop, even if the lyrics are shit. M79 is probably one of the best songs of the year.

9 - Little Red - Listen to Little Red
At 16 songs and only 38 minutes, it's hardly epic. But it's nice, rock 'n' roll/50's pop that is easy to digest. Great vocal melodies and sounds real, not overproduced.

10 - Girl Talk - Feed The Animals
Red Hot Chilli Peppers mixed with Soulja Boy. Queen mixed with a teenaged Michael Jackson. How can you go wrong?

May as well rank the live albums

1 - The Clash - Live At Shea Stadium
2 - Gotan Project - Live
3 - Muse - HAARP Live From Wembley Stadium
All three are very good though.

Worst efforts of the year include
Ben Folds - Way To Normal
Josh Pyke - Chimney's Afire
The Living End - White Noise
Kings of Leon - Only By The Night
 

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essendon2008 said:
Mate you dont have to like it but appreciate other people's tastes. Im guessing you like heavy music which i dont really enjoy, yet i respect other people's music tastes and do not come up with comments such as this.
Click to expand...

i respect all genre's of music, but of course in each genre there are good artists and shit artists. pez writes piece of shit music, therefore i say he sucks.

and no, i dont just like 'heavy' music.
 
My favourites for 2008 in no particular order.

Children Collide - The Long Now
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Dig Lazarus Dig
Black Diamond Heavies - A Touch of Someone Else's Class
Sand Pebbles - Ceduna
Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Primary Colours
AC/DC - Black Ice
The Datsuns - Head Stunts
 
1) Sigur Ros - Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust
2) Cog - Sharing Space
3) The Butterfly Effect - Final Conversation of Kings
4) Birds Of Tokyo - Universes
5) The Music - Strength in Numbers
6) Metallica - Death Magnetic
7) Muse - HAARP live at Wembley Stadium
8) NIN - The Slip
9) TV On The Radio - Dear Science.
10) UNKLE - End Titles...Stories For Film

Honorable mentions must go to the following EPs

Dead Letter Circus - Next in Line
Rook - Add Colour
 
Still catching up on stuff, but at the moment (in no particular order):

opeth - watershed
squarepusher - just a souvenir
the cancer conspiracy - omega
tv on the radio - dear science
school of language - sea from shore
harvey milk - life.. the best game in town
dungen - 4
barry adamson - back to the cat
the roots - rising down
protest the hero - fortress

Also enjoyed albums from: cynic, kaki king, deerhoof, land of talk, and martin sexton.
 
P.A.F.C said:
Worst efforts of the year include
Josh Pyke - Chimney's Afire
The Living End - White Noise
Kings of Leon - Only By The Night
Click to expand...

Those three would easily make my top 10.

Josh Pyke's is not quite Memories and Dust standard but is still a nice album and besides maybe the F-bomb drop.

The Living End, well I still can't understand why its has been so heavily bagged. But, each to their own.

The Kings of Leon, this debate will continue to rage, but I don't believe they have tried to go commerical, cause they couldn't crack the Ameircan market and have been commeically played in the UK since their debut. But, they definitely changed their sound, and I really enjoyed it.
 
My top 10

10. Cog - Sharing Space
9. Shihad - Beautiful Machine
8. My Hero Is Me - The Crywolf Broadcast
7. The Living End - White Noise
6. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
5. Cancer Bats - Hail Destroyer
4. Gyroscope - Breed Obsession
3. Kings of Leon - Only By the Night
2. Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs
1. The Subways - All or Nothing
 
One of the guys from my cricket club also presents a show at the community radio station i'm at. Last night he delivered his Top 10 albums for 2008 so I asked him to send over the blurb. Here it is as he submitted it for a magazine he writes for (by the way, he's Canadian) :

Humbly submitted for your perusal are my Top Ten Albums of 2008:

10. Sigur Rós - með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust

The rough translation of the title (with a buzz in our ears we play endlessly) runs counter to previous efforts by the band, including an album without a title. This change in mentality extends to the music too, as the band explore joy and light instead of the normal shadows and sadness that has laced their other records. This is really an extension of 2005’s Takk…, an album that sonically explored hope. The stripped down sound on Med Sud… is an interesting and rewarding evolution for one of the finest acts in music.

9. Beach House – Devotion

It speaks to the ingenuity of the band to be able to craft such small gems from only a guitar and an old keyboard/drum machine. I guess it helps that singer/keyboardist Victoria Legrand’s uncle is a famous French composer but, lineage aside, the ease and grace of the group’s songs is unique and refreshing, stoic and beautiful. “Gila” stands out as one of the year’s most breezy songs and Legrand’s vocals are delight throughout the album. While reserved, this album is a fine example of how good song writing trumps gimmicky arrangements every time. The best thing out of Baltimore since The Wire.

8. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend

So, we agree! Though the hipsters turned on this band about halfway through the year (apparently it became uncool to like them… perhaps there was a memo sent around) I am standing strong. Angular indie rock as interpreted through the filter of Paul Simon’s Graceland period – derivative but delightful. The album is also a rare case of the music being roughly equal to the hype that came before. These Ivy Leaguers spin tweedy tales of university life in New York’s Morningside Heights. The album is always catchy and certainly smart, but not too smart. Because really, who gives a **** about an Oxford comma?

7. Girl Talk – Feed The Animals

Within a minute of the first track my jaw had hit the floor. Laughing in disbelief I was in total shock at what I was hearing: mash-up after mash-up of hip hop and pop to incredible effect. This is the type of visceral impact so few albums have. Add to the mix that this album may be illegal and you have a perfect storm in a CD case. Over 300 samples are used and while some fit better than others the album is certainly different to anything you’ll have heard all year. This is an incredible juxtaposition of styles; the only thing I’ve ever heard that comes remotely close was a DJ set by Kid Koala. Trying to catch all the references is half the fun and dancing away is the other. Not bad for a former biomedical engineer.

6. The Hold Steady – Stay Positive

The first time I listened to this album I thought it was rubbish. True story. And yet here it sits at number six. This record is the definition of a grower – each time I listened I started to find more and more things to like. The album-long stories all intelligently linked and they include: clever jabs at the current indie rock scenesters, religious imagery all mixed up with the filth of real life, sorority girls and their knife wielding townie boyfriends – and this is all in the lyrics! The music is straight ahead rock. No pretence, no dress up, just rock. And maybe it is the direct nature of the music that lets Craig Finn get away with the complicated, thematic lyrics. If they were paired with crazy prog rock it would all be too much… but it’s not and so it fits. Give it a fair go (4-5 listens) and I predict that you too will be sucked in.

5. TV On The Radio – Dear Science

It’s not like the boys from this band didn’t have other things to do. Tunde Adebimpe was acting in the critically acclaimed film Rachel Getting Married, Dave Sitek was producing Scarlett Johansson (okay, so maybe he wants that one back) and co-producing The Foals. Nice to see they took the time out to rejoin the band and record another stunning album. Containing protest songs, pretty songs, raw songs, and danceable songs there is something here for everyone. In addition, the production work is superb; every blip, beat, loop and sample is perfectly places without sounding sterile. This is a band that has an amazing attention to detail. “Family Tree” is a haunting but gorgeous tune about the by-products of prejudice, and “Love Dog” contains my favourite lyric of the year: Curse me out in free verse / Wrap me up and reverse this / Patience is a virtue / Until its silence burns you. While I am of the opinion that Return To Cookie Mountain is a superior album, Dear Science is certainly a worthy successor and places TV On The Radio in the upper echelon of bands operating today.

4. Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles

The most apt description I’ve heard of Crystal Castles (and I’m cribbing this, it’s certainly not my insight) is that they sound like a Game Boy being tossed down a flight of stairs. Their live performances focus on the post-punk scream fests that appear sparingly on their debut CD but to me the real gems are the other tracks. While the due may play up those previously mentioned tunes in their (admittedly frantic) live performance I say to you now that Crystal Castles have pulled off some of the year’s best house music. “Vanished”, “Air War”, “Courtship Dating”, and “Crimewave” (a collaboration with HEALTH) represent just some of the textured and (yes) blippy songs that are as at home thumping in a club as they are in your headphones. Then there is the closer “Tell Me What To Swallow”, a reverb drenched song based around an acoustic guitar that is as beautiful as any ballad. This range is a tribute to their talent and the quality of this album. All their music has the ability to fire you up, to get you moving, and to make you excited. What more can you ask for on debut?

3. M83 – Saturdays = Youth

Beginning with an attractive piano refrain and then adding the layers (swelling synthesizers, ethereal female vocals, male vocal responses) it becomes clear very early on that Saturdays = Youth was something different, something special. This is a reverent love letter to the better parts of the 80s – done without one iota of irony. Perhaps that is what sets this album apart from a lot of other 80s inspired music lately (and what it has in common with my #1 album) – the lack of the obnoxious hipster winking and nudging that is all about taking the piss out of the music while listening/dancing/drinking to it. M83 eschews all of that and, instead, earnestly proclaims love to the sounds, the movie dialogue (going so far as to hire Morgan Kibby – a voiceover specialist for movie trailers – to perform spoken word and vocals on the album), and the feel of a decade both loved and maligned. While the idea may seem derivative this album never really plays like a greatest hits collection. There’s more soul than that, with characters and stories poured out with heartfelt passion. Maybe that kind of raw expression is a turn off for some; it is certainly not for me. A bit of heartfelt emotion is refreshing once in a while.

2. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago

From the bitter Winter of Wisconsin comes something very special – a singer-songwriter album that feels fresh. Unlike every other guy/girl with an acoustic guitar this record is set apart by its sparing detail, empty arrangements, and truly unique vocal deliveries. You wouldn’t think that falsetto over 75% of a record (that is fundamentally folk) would work for anyone not named Michael or Prince but it does, and very impressively. Justin Vernon’s vocals are haunting as they alternate between pain and anger over a love lost. Heartbreak has been the inspiration for a legion of fantastic songs and tracks like “Skinny Love”, “Blindsided”, and “The Wolves (Act I and II)” are some of the year’s best. Unexpected and still rewarding, this one narrowly missed the top spot.


1. Cut Copy – In Ghost Colours

I am privileged to be able to listen to a fair amount of music. Between my work for Pages, my show on 2NSB, and a general passion for music I am able to consume a lot of songs/albums throughout the course of a year (with so much more I wish I had heard). So when I am in a store and hear a song that catches my attention, that’s a fun experience. But when I am in a store and hear something that makes me rush over to the customer service area and find out exactly who I just heard… that is plain rare. It may have happened twice in the last five years. Maybe. Cut Copy provoked that response earlier this year. The song was “Visions”, one of the many short tracks on the album that create a seamless flow from each ‘traditional’ song to the next. Certainly not a song you’d expect to grab you and yet it did. There was something in that minute of music that got my attention and, once I had a copy of the album, the remainder of the disc held it for the remainder of 2008. Let’s get this straight: In Ghost Colours doesn’t contain a new revolutionary sound or beat. There are obvious 80s influences at work here but, as covered above, they are done without irony. But let us also acknowledge something else as well: In Ghost Colours contains the best songwriting of the year. In 2008 no one has had a better grasp of melody, harmony, hooks, sustains and releases, or breakdowns. The album is a beautiful mosaic of sounds and genres with the short interludes acting as the decorative adhesive that keeps the tiles together. For fifteen tracks the album doesn’t stop or take a breath. Some songs are frantic, others more relaxed but none are out of place. “Out There On The Ice” shows the emotive power of an elegant chord progression in a breakdown. When topped with Dan Whitford’s yearning vocals the song becomes a masterpiece. “So Haunted” is fine example of how guitars and driving music can effortlessly shift into a dance groove within the same song and do it without a hitch. It is compelling stuff and Cut Copy has managed to integrate melody, harmony, rock influence, and dance music better than anyone this year. In fact, I will go so far as to say they’ve done it better than anyone – including LCD Soundsystem. For combining so much of the music I love into a perfect package this is my album of the year.





Honourable Mentions:


Hercules & Love Affair – Hercules & Love Affair


High Places – High Places

The Notwist – The Devil, You + Me

Sun Kil Moon - April

Disco revival!

If I had been able to spend more time with this one it could have come in anywhere in the list above
Click to expand...
 
i like the crystal castles album but i think it is a definite offender of putting too many songs on the album...a track like "Black Panther" is a filler in every sense of the word.

it would've been a killer album if they cut it to about 10 songs. crimewave remix is awesome. health are awesome.
 

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anti. said:
yeah i love cut copy and still wouldnt say that.
Click to expand...
It's a good album, but that statement is nonsense.

The list, whilst decent, is very pitchfork oriented. Both the M83 and Beach House albums are pretty good, but I don't know how they can supposedly represent the best Dream Pop albums of the year, when any Dream Pop/Shoegaze fan worth a damn knows the best and most original of this genre is these days coming mostly out of Japan and other Asian nations such as Indonesia, Singapore, The Philippines etc...

Also, broken record here, but Bon Iver is 2007. Seriously, I know it these lists are only based on arbitrary time periods, but if re-released records are to be counted, for whatever reason, then my #1 is Loveless.
 
I hate triple J for the whole stigma it creates.

"IF ITS NOT ON TRIPLE J ITS NOT COOL, IF IT IS ON TRIPLE J IT IS COOL. THE END. YOUR MUSIC SUCKS"

at least in my town.

:eek:

Pisses me off something awful.
 
i couldn't possibly put my favourites in order, cos it changes daily... but the best albums of the year:

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Dig! Lazarus Dig!

i said on another forum, my opinion on this album changes frequently... i'm not sure if this is the friggen killer album that i thought it was the first time i listened to it, or whether i was just so thrilled that after so long, these guys still don't suck. i continue to expect every nick cave album to be the one that ruins a legacy. i do love it though

Laura Marling - Alas I Cannot Swim

I only stumbled upon this one in the last month or so. Hard to categorise, Laura Marling is probably best described as 'indie folk'. the themes that she's dealing with in a beautiful way show maturity in mind and in music.

The Grates - Teeth lost, hearts won

typically the grates aren't an act that i'd like. but after seeing them f*cking tear it up live this year, i had to go buy the album. and from start to finish, it's an absolute ball tearer. usually at 36 minutes you feel a bit ripped off - but this is quick and punchy, and the perfect length.

The Drones - Havilah

they're another band that i wasn't too high on until i saw them live. its not that they played that great of a set - but it was just enough to make me realise how damn good these guys are. yet another great aussie band.

Bliss n Eso - Flying Colours

I would really implore those hating on Aussie hip hop to give this album a go. yes, there is a LOT of crap out there in aussie hip hop, but like the hilltop hoods before them, Bliss n Eso have put out a great sounding and THOUGHTFUL album that, like so many great albums nowadays, also tells a story from start to finish. to quote the great man, do yourself a favour, becuase this will change your view on aussie hip hop.



i'm going to end on a couple of negatives here...

of course everyone is entitled to their opinion, but there are two albums from 2008 that i found stunningly bad given who the artists were.

i cannot fathom that others believe kanye wests album is good. it is a terrible album, completely narcicistic and bordering on disrespectful to those that made him what he is.

i am a little more accepting of peoples love for kings of leon... but i still can't agree with it. i accept it because if you hadn't really hard of kings of leon before then i guess it's ok. if you are a kings of leon fan then this album is a shocking abhoration. i don't agree with the notion of selling out in music. a career muso has to sell. but this is such a horrific departure from what made these guys awesome. to those who were kings of leon fans who think this album is anything other than terrible - give yourself a facepalm
 
1. Death Magnetic - Metallica
2. Off With Their Heads - Kaiser Chiefs
3. Red - Weezer
4. Vampire Weekend
5. Day and Age - The Killers
6. Dig out Your Soul - Oasis
7. Accelarate - REM
8. Viva La Vida - Coldplay
9. We Started Nothing - The Tings Tings
10. Long Now - Children Collide
11. Tone - Jeff Ament
12. Sleep Through the Static - Jack Johnson
13. Age of the Understatement - Last Shadow Puppets

Im not counting H.A.A.R.P despite its awesomeness. A couple of albums I haven't bought yet, but want to are Travis and Eagles of Death Metal

Though they still made my list I was a little dissapointed with Oasis' and Jack Johnson's albums this year. And the Killers a bit as well.

Metallica surprised me cos I thought they were done, and I didn't know REM still had a great album in them. They did :)
 
From another forum;

UpForGrabs' top 40 albums for 2008.

40. Cheap Time - Cheap Time
39. Those Dancing Days - In Our Space Hero Suits
38. Pugwash - Eleven Modern Antiquities
37. No Age - Nouns
36. Portishead - Third
35. Times New Viking - Rip it Off
34. British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?
33. Flight of the Conchords - Flight of the Conchords
32. Trappers Cabin - Trappers Mind
31. The Week That Was - The Week That Was

30. Black Mountain - In the Future
29. Robert Pollard - Robert Pollard is Off to Business
28. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
27. Ruby Suns - Sea Lions
26. The Explorers Club - Freedom Wind
25. Butch Walker - Sycamore Meadows
24. Empire of the Sun - Walking on a Dream
23. Beck - Modern Guilt
22. The Baseball Project - Volume One: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails
21. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours

20. Eddy Current Supression Ring - Primary Colours
19. Parts & Labor - Receivers
18. Jamie Lidell - Jim
17. M83 - Saturdays=Youth
16. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
15. Frightened Rabbit - Midnight Organ Flight
14. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Real Emotional Trash
13. Supergrass - Diamond Hoo Ha
12. Al Green - Lay it Down
11. Sebastien Grainger - Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains

10. Lindsey Buckingham - Gift of Screws
09. Sun Kil Moon - April
08. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
07. She & Him - Volume I
06. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Dig! Lazarus, Dig!
05. Drive-By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark
04. Raphael Saadiq - The Way I See It
03. David Byrne & Brian Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
02. Grand Archives - Grand Archives
01. Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue
 
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely
Los Campesinos - Hold On Now, Youngster.. (underated album of the year)
Empire of The Sun - Walking On A Dream
Children Collide - The Long Now
The Matches - A Band In Hope
Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Primary Colours
The Fratellis - Here We Stand
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
TV On The Radio - Dear Science
Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
Kings of Leon - Only By The Night
 

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