Midyear 2008: The Best 20 Albums
Jul 02 '08
The Bottom Line 20 excellent albums from 2008. We're only halfway there, though, so we'll see where they end up.
Just so you are aware, dear reader, I’m going to hold off using this space to write a comprehensive look at music in 2008 so far. In the same vein, anyone looking for comprehensive little assessments of each album on this list will have to wait until I write up an end of the year best of list. See, I made the mistake of going all out with my midyear list last year and by the time the end of the year rolled around I had very little new to say about all the albums that retained spots six months later. So, for the sake and integrity of a high quality year-end best of list, I present to you a watered-down, diminished-quality, hypen-overusing, midyear top 20! Try to contain your excitement and enjoy looking at the best twenty albums released so far in 2008! (For the epinion-oriented every album on this list would theoretically be given, or at least be very close to getting, four stars.)
20. Coldplay – Viva La Vida
I certainly did not expect to be including a Coldplay album on any portion of my best of lists this year, or any year for that matter. The perpetual wimps have done a remarkable job here, though, and with a little help from Brian Eno, Chris Martin and company have put together the strong, ambitious record that should gain them back their respect as musicians. And no, I swear this inclusion is not just my token “big-name-band.”
19. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
For an album that was recorded in a log cabin in Wisconsin this album sure sounds… well, actually it sounds exactly like you would expect it to. Sparse, atmospheric production gives way to moving folk melodies and Justin Vernon’s remarkable falsetto. When I say remarkable, too, I mean absolutely, mind-numbingly REMARKABLE. Find a way to listen to Skinny Love if you don’t believe me.
18. Jamie Lidell – Jim
It’s pretty damn hard not to fall in love with an artist as dedicated to his craft as Jamie Lidell. Although Lidell built a fan-base on exciting electronic loops and tricks, he decided to make Jim an authentic throwback soul record. Even more impressive, is the fact that he succeeded in making it authentic. Seriously, you could throw this one on in a room full of baby boomers and they’d love it entirely because they’ll think it’s from their generation. For the rest of us, the songs are more than catchy enough to warrant multiple listens.
17. My Morning Jacket – Evil Urges
When I first heard Evil Urges I absolutely hated it so I wouldn’t be surprised if many others react the same way. I wouldn’t blame anyone for hating this album either. I’m too perplexed by its genre shifting right now to even say anything definitively myself. What I do know is that I can’t stop going back to Evil Urges for repeat listens, whether it be to the wonderfully awful Highly Suspicious or the pastoral southern ballads on the album’s mid-section.
16. Hercules and Love Affair – S/T
I started listening to this album at work the other day and before I knew it I was in the embarrassing position of apologizing to the person whose coffee I had spilled all over the table. You see, a good portion of this record gets me to dancin’ and when I get to dancin’ there’s a very good chance I will bump into things – like coffee – that then cause me to blush. So thanks a lot for that Hercules and Love Affair. If you weren’t so damn impressive with your clever mixture of infectious beats and powerful crooning vocals, I might just be angry with you.
15. Lil Wayne – Tha Carter III
Although this album is far from the masterpiece many wanted, there isn’t much to complain about outside of Wayne’s infuriating refusal to assemble any sort cohesion. The production on Tha Carter III is damn near impossible to top and Wayne’s free-form association is often times hilarious, insightful, and spine-tingling all at the same time. He’s on top of his game and I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say James Joyce would’ve enjoyed sharing a blunt with Weezy. Ok, maybe it is.
14. Portishead – Third
Portishead returning to the scene with an album this innovative would be like My Bloody Valentine making their triumphant return with an album that wasn’t a shoegaze record yet still felt like My Bloody Valentine. Is that even possible? The answer certainly should be no but Portishead have managed to do it with Third by evolving beyond trip-hop and creating an album that has nowhere to go on my list but up.
13. Evangelicals – The Evening Descends
This album could make the list based solely on the fact that there are more “how-the-fuck-did-he-hit-that” moments than any other album released this year. I haven’t researched Evangelicals enough to come up with their lead singer’s name, but the guy easily has eight of the ten most incredible, mind-blowing vocal surges found this year. Combine them with a dense, swirling collage of psychedelic arena rock and you have yourself a very fine record.
12. The Kills – Midnight Boom
If pure rock and roll swagger was currency, this guy/girl duo would have enough to purchase their own personal island. And the island would be America, after the Kills paid to have Mexico and Canada removed. (not that there’s anything wrong with Mexico or Canada. It just works for the analogy.) Imagine the Yeah Yeah Yeahs without the sucking and you’ve got this album.
11. Lupe Fiasco – The Cool
Yes I know The Cool was actually released in 2007, but it was also released in December which means that I had nowhere near enough time to make a proper assessment of the album before my year end of list. So 2008 it is for my favorite Chi-town rapper currently on the mainstream market – sorry Kanye. I love Lupe’s ambition here even though this “concept album’ is just as half-assed as most.
10. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
I’m falling in love with this album more and more every day. Lyrically Nick Cave is one of, if not the best writers masquerading as a lead singer. David Berman, Craig Finn, and maybe Will Sheff are the only names that immediately come to mind as rivals. As for the music, this has to be some of the catchier stuff the Bad Seeds have recorded although it ain’t always super easy on the ears.
9. Cut Copy – In Ghost Colours
If you’re looking for the single greatest rush in music this year, look no further than the opening vocal melody on Feel the Love. From there the album never lets up with wildly entertaining electro-pop.
8. Stephen Malkmus – Real Emotional Trash
Malkmus’ guitar playing virtuosity should never be overlooked, but just in case you never really paid attention to the indie legend’s chops before, Malkmus puts them on full display here.
7. Wolf Parade – At Mount Zoomer
I fell so hard for Wolf Parade’s debut, Apologies to the Queen Mary, that it only made sense I would end up disappointed with it’s follow up. At Mount Zoomer is actually a very high quality sophomore album, though, one I look forward to rocking out more to in 2008’s second half.
6. The Dodos – Visiter
Any band that can make the noise and evoke the emotions that the Dodos do with acoustic guitar and brilliant drum patterns are a winner in my book. Really, listen to Red and Purple and try and tell me there isn’t at least one moment where you are considering changing your favorite band to the Dodos.
5. Islands –Arm’s Way
Is the sophomore album from Islands bloated beyond belief? Yes, absolutely it is, and I love it all the more for it. Ambition like this is hard to come by and I love how vast and enormous Arm’s Way feels. The fact that Nick Thorburn writes some of the best, most memorable melodies this side of the Beatles only helps.
4. Man Man – Rabbit Habits
Calling their act a circus at this point is cliché, but this album is one of the best junkyard, care-free romps of all time. Captain Beefheart and Tom Waits must be proud.
3. Neon Neon – Stainless Style
80’s new wave, modern hip-hop, Super Furry Animals, and John De Lorean. That’s all you need to know for now.
2. The Magnetic Fields – Distortion
One of the laziest album titles of the year but it is undeniably accurate. Stephen Merritt hides his bitter lost-loves behind a thorny wall of noise indebted heavily to the Jesus and Mary Chain’s Psychocandy. And somehow it works!
1. Why? – Alopecia
Not sure why I love this album quite so much but it’s my favorite album at the midway point in 2008. Last year my midyear number one fell to number two, but this year I’ve just got a hunch that Why? might sink even further. Can I get an amazing second half of the year?!
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