Shannon T's Top 10 of 2008

Shannon T's Top 10 of 2008 (in no particular order)
There was so much good music that came out in 2008, I'm having a hard time figuring out the rankings, but at least I came up with a list.

10- Cut/Copy- In Ghost Colours
I am obsessed with 80s music, and its nice that this band managed to capture the signiture 80s sound that I go to Madplanet for on Friday nights.

9- Crystal Castles- s/t Same genre sortof. The entire album made me want to dance. The thing that really got me into this band was a video a friend showed me me from youtube that had the "pink elephant" sequence from Dumbo and the song "Crimewave." Brillant. And you have to give props to a band that uses an Atari to make music.

8- The Raconteurs- Consoler of the Lonely
I actually like this album better than Broken Boy Soldiers. One of my favorite tracks is "You Don't Understand Me." The piano in this song is AMAZING! The album itself has the potential to become a classic from this band.


7- Spiritualized-Songs in A&E
Just beautiful. A wonderful mixture of love songs, religious songs, songs about life and death...the album just flows together perfectly. Not alot of albums have made me cry before, but this one succeeded.

6- Coldplay - Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends. Yep, its on mine too.

5- The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
I like my bar bands. I wasn't too impressed with the Supersuckers new album this year, On this album this band goes past the "bar band" genre. Check out "One for the Cutters," which had a beautfiul harpischord. Although I probably would drink myself silly at one of their shows and scream obnoxiously to the music, and I don't think they would mind.

4- MGMT - Oracular Spectactular-
My friend from work got me into this band, and after downloading the album, I could not deny it...it was amazing. "Electric Feel" reminds me of something that would be played in a 70s porn and it made me laugh. "Kids" is another one of my favorite songs.

3- The Killers- Day & Age
One danceable album! Listen to "Spaceman." Classic effing Killers.

2- Jenny Lewis- Acid Tongue
I LOVE Rilo Kiley, and I enjoyed her work with the Watson Twins, but "Carpetbaggers" with Elivs Costello is probably one song that I can't stop listening to. Some of the album is Rilo Kiley-esque, but there are also songs ("Trying My Best to Love You", "Bad Man's World") on it which bear her soul and the country sound that we all fell in love with on "With Arms Outstreched" off of The Execution of All Things. Brillant. She definatley does country better than any other artist out there who is trying to crossover to country.

1 - Girl Talk- Feed the Animals.
Greg Gillis would have failed with this album if it had come out 15 years ago, and been sued for a ton of copywright infridgement. But its the late 2000s, and we are a in a digital era. Personally, I'm not really into the mash-up style that TOO many DJ's do nowadays, but he has managed to make a danceable, catchy album that I just can't take off my Ipod.

Honorable Mentions:
Of Montreal -Skeletal Lamping
Flight of the Conchords -s/t
The Walkmen- You & Me
The Cool Kids - Bake Sale
My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
Bon Iver- For Emma, Forever Ago
Atmosphere- When Life hands you Lemons, Paint that Shit Gold
Bayside-Shudder
Belle and Sebestian - The BBC Sessions
Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs

Rachael with an a's Top 8 of '08

Somehow Ive never learned how to stay in the lines and thus I decided 8 is gooder than 10 just cuz I was feeling distraught and overwhelmed by amazing music.

SO..........

#8 and a half- Coldplay- Viva la Vida- I’m almost embarassed to have this on my list but a friend gave it to me over summer and I swear this album saved my life!!!It’s crazy poppy but there are a few songs I listened to over and over again while living in some version of hell. I’ve been mad defending this album to Chris Martin-haters for the last six months. And really, my only argument goes, "Seriously, dude, Just because I’m losing, doesn’t mean I’m lost.”

#8- Ryan Adams and the Cardinals- Cardinology- This was a conflicting decision because Ryan Adams is my go-to-man of misery and intensity, but this is such a chill, subtle album. However, I realized that I dig it for what it is, not what I expected it to be. I told my friend Bach its sort of a ‘love yourself’ album, and he replied, “Good, I was really worried about him,” which raises the philosophical question, "Is Ryan Adams a real person?"

#7-Fleet Foxes- Fleet Foxes- weird and beautiful. so frickin beautiful..... and weird.

#6-She & Him- Volume One- - I keep losing this album and finding it and remembering how stylistically versatile and amazing it is!! Zooey’s voice is intense and unique (reminiscent especially in Sentimental Heart, of Joanna Newsom) which combined with M. Ward is all kinds of brilliant.

#5-Cut Copy- Ghost Colour- I demand a Cut Copy Mad Planet Dance Party!!! The songs run into each other seamlessly and its impossible not to groove to this record. I’m a sucker for any band that rocks out like its 1986!!!

#4- Santogold- Santogold- SEXY mc SEXY and SASSY and SMART- This album reminds me of a less dirty version of Peaches. ‘Im a Lady’ is definitely on my personal walking into a bar and feeling feisty soundtrack.














#3- Los Campesinos!- We are Beautiful, We are Doomed- This is my first LC album, but
their lyrical brilliance (You worry a million raindrops'll die with their last memory of you and I in a soft porn version of the end of the world), strange giddiness and clash of lyrics and melody blew me away.















#2- Spiritualized- Songs in A & E- Most Amazing Album to Paint To In the Whole World- these 18 tracks are composed beautifully and dance among each other like a walk between the brinks of existence and danse macabre. I'm also going to give this album 'Album I most want to listen to while making the hot loving!' Project for 2009!?

AND.......








#1- Bon Iver- To Emma, Forever Ago- Upon its inception in my head, this album destroyed me, broke me, and being the masochist that I am…… I couldn’t stop listening!!!! I love this album for its intensity and intimacy. The falsetto in Skinny Love and The Wolves (Act I and II) still haunts me and I drown in it everytime. Apparently every once in awhile, some amazing amount of goodness comes from locking yourself in a Sconny cabin.









Best 'Goodbye My Nomadic Lover' Song- Ingrid Michaelson- The Chain- I wasn't quite ballsy enough to put her on my list but a couple of her songs blow my mind, and this one kills it when it comes to the end of things.

Best Song About the glory of Mathematics- Death Cab for Cutie- Long Division

Best Album for your Mother- ELGAR E. (Violin Concerto in B minor) by Gil Shaham

Jeff B's 2008 Top Tenners

With great music available from more places than ever, it's been a hard year to keep up. So much good music, so little time. Better than lots of time and nothing but a handful of crap to listen to.

In no particular order, the ten 2008 albums that I did find the most time to love:

"Evil Urges" - My Morning Jacket

What a fun record. So much variety. All of it great. Particularly love "Thank You Too!"

"Fleet Foxes" - Fleet Foxes

What a revelation. Beach Boys meet Arcade Fire. Beautiful harmonies, songs, arrangements. The Pabst Theater show was truly amazing. The songs were a sad but comforting and somehow appropriate backdrop while contemplating the premature passing of a friend this year.

"Vampire Weekend" - Vampire Weekend

Was that this year? Seems like longer ago, but it really came out in early 2008. A fun record. Infectious. Their age and backstory make me root for them. A great Turner Hall show, btw.

"The Shaming of The True" - John Sieger

One of two great local artists who put out great new records this year. John's an awesome guitarist, singer and songwriter in the alt-country vein, going back to before there was alt.country. This record has memorable, hooky tunes built on decades of craftsmanship going back to the R&B Cadets and Semi-Twang. Do yourself a favor and buy this on iTunes and / or listen to this and other Sieger tracks at www.myspace.com/johnsieger. And catch him with his tight band, The Subcontinentals, at your local music emporium.

"Bristlehead" - Mike Fredrickson

Mike's the other local songwriting genius with a record in 2008. Mike's a power popper whose irresistible songs that tell stories of the heart - fractured,  burning and more. Some tasty lead guitar courtesy of Robbie Fulks' guitarist Grant Tye and forward propulsion by the lockstep rhythm section of Fulks' drummer, Gerald Dowd, and Fredrickson, a great bassist. Hear tracks at www.myspace.com/mfredrickson and buy the record at CD Baby. Mike's another local legend, with a career spanning the Spanic Boys 20+ (!!!) years ago to The Mosleys to today, playing bass in the bands of Fulks and Paul Cebar and self-releasing gems like "Bristlehead" every year or two.

"Cardinology" - Ryan Adams

Something about almost any Ryan Adams album gratifies me with great singing and melodies, and saddens me with piercing words and melodies. And of course, he also rocks a bunch. This CD's no exception. Standout tracks include "Fix It" (look for his Letterman version on the web), "Natural Ghost" and "Crossed Out Names."

"For Emma, Forever Ago" - Bon Iver

A beautiful, unique record from a beautiful, unique artist. As we all know, the guy's from Eau Claire, recorded the record in an "up north" hunting cabin. But Justin Vernon appears to be the real deal. I'd be shocked if we aren't hearing great stuff from him for some time. His Pabst Theater show was spellbinding.

"Another Country" - Tift Merritt

I've got a weakness for alt-country female singers with rocking, guitar-driven bands. Exhibit One today is Tift, a songbird whose three records are all special. This latest has some classic originals, like "Morning Is My Destination" and "Another Country." [Boy, I sure with some talented music booker with, say three venues under his control, could find a spot for her to open for Emmylou or just about anyone...  ;)  ]

"Asking For Flowers" - Kathleen Edwards

Exhibit Two of my weakness, which by the way is partly based by desire as a guitarist to play in a band behind a singer like Ms. Merritt or Edwards in my next life (or my spare time). Kathleen's very different from Tift but as good. Tougher stories, more humor and rockier songs. Great video for "I Make The Dough, You Get The Glory," especially if you're a hockey fan. Fun wordlplay in "The Cheapest Key." [Boy, she'd also be a great opener for an historic music venue in Milwaukee to consider booking... ]

"Everything That Happens Will Happen Today" - Brian Eno & David Byrne

Some great songs, excellent recording of guitars and voices. David's singing is as strong as ever. The Pabst show was probably my #1 of 2008, and that says a lot given the fantastic live performances I was lucky enough to enjoy.

Also a favorite...

"Some People Have Real Problems" - Sia

One of my guilty pleasures of 2008. Some might think this is light stuff, with strings and a pop veneer. But she's a great writer with touching songs. Her performance at Turner Hall was fantastic -- forced me to go back to the CD and begin to dig it.

A final note: Many thanks to Gary, Matty, Marc, Ryan and the rest of the Pabst team for finding and bringing us lucky Milwaukeeans the very best in music at their fantastic three venues. We may not see it, but were are living in a golden age for music fans in Milwaukee. Special thanks to Matty for his best-of organizing, which gives us all a chance to find out what we missed this year and to dig deeper into 2008 -- even as we prepare for even more great tunes in 2009.

Dave Kriebel's Top Ten

Will immediately follow this post.

1) Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend


2) Hot Chip - Made in the Dark


3) Deerhunter - Microcastle


4) The Black Keys - Attack and Release


5) TV on the Radio - Dear Science...


6) Girl Talk - Feed the Animals


7) Atlas Sound - Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel


8) Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours


9) She & Him - Volume One


10) The Dodos - Vister

aaron's 10

so i probably could rant about how much a letdown the year was compared to last year's straight-up indie lovefest bandwagon that i jumped on whole-heartedly (in case you were born this year, last year brought some righteous spins from: the arcade fire, the national, lcd soundsystem, mgmt, iron and wine, spoon, the white stripes, etc.) In fact if I put a list together of the past two years' ten albums i think there would be 7 from last year and my top 3 from this year.

my list is based almost exclusively by the albums played on my itunes except for Circus by Britney Spears which would top the list as it was the only thing that played in my car when the girlfriend was in the car with me

anyways...the list:

10. Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping

This album got a lot of play. I'm okay with these guys coming out with an album every year. They're pretty good. Kevin Barnes is crazy. I wish they would have brought the horse to Milwaukee. You know they'd be a perfect band to book on halloween or your birthday...they're just that kind of band.

9. The Welcome Wagon - Welcome to the Welcome Wagon

So this one fills the "sufjan void" for my year. And growing up an evangelical christian kid, it takes me back to when i was in church as a child...you know offbalanced harmonies...vocals, pianos, and organs, overpowering the drums...and that older guy who taught himself to play the guitar with a fuzzy blown amp playing his interpretation of the stuff he listened to in college. If you haven'd jumped on the welcome wagon yet...then do it! (sorry, that was bad)

8. Atmosphere - When life gives you lemons, you paint that sh*t gold

Props for not rocking every song through the autopitch or the vocoder or whatever it is. I really dig Slug and how he's all about saying whatever it is he wants, even if it makes him seem like a pathetic kid from the burbs. I listened to this one about 5 times and then went back and listened to all of the old atmosphere stuff. It ranks right up there and even has some radio-friendly sounding stuff.

7. Fleet Foxes

I overlistened to this band in the summer, but really it's more of a winter cd. The harmonies are pretty slick, and the instrumentation has a lot of variation. This is one of those bands that could probably go in any one of many directions with their future albums and i can't wait.

6. Margot and the Nuclear So and So's - Animal/Not Animal

The dust of retreat cd was real good. Between these two cds there are enough good songs to say that this one is comparable. I honestly didn't look forward to a new cd because i thought it would be a lackluster effort after the past efforts (read: Death Cab, Raconteurs, etc.) However, this one came out at the perfect time, as the leaves were changing colors and i was doing a lot of driving.

5. Ryan Adams - Cardinology

I'm going to go ahead and defend this one. He's no more pathetic than he is on love is hell and he doesn't have a ton of filler like his three 2006 albums which i usually listen to as one album seeing that they came out at roughly the same time. Further...as far as i can tell he does not yell "guitar solo" at any point in the album, nor is there a "halloween head" or something that ridiculous. Therefore, i have nothing to do but listen to the album straight through and conclude that it's pretty great. The songs are good and fit well together. One thing i do know, is his albums are now becoming more like his live shows: will we get the "3 hour 'rock your face off' ryan adams" or will we get the "tired and ornary ryan adams who loses it and walks off after an hour because some dude requested something off heartbreaker"

4. Drive by Truckers - Brighter than Creations Dark

So did they lose something when Jason Isbell left the band? Heck yeah they did. They lost the ability to have 5 minute inpromptu guitar solos durning every song. Therefore, their focus has to be more on the songwriting. The new album's songs remind me of the songs on old DBT albums like Southern Rock Opera. Sure there are a couple songs that are mediocre but that's okay since there's 17 songs or so on the album. Patterson brings his quality stuff like normal, but the difference between this and previous albums is that Cooley brings some awesome jams. He's not that bad at playing guitar either. It may have been the 2 times i saw them this year, but they bring the rock without all the scenester/hipster elitist bullcrap that hinders so many bands around these days. Why isn't PBR sponsoring their whole tours?

3. Girl Talk - Feed the Animals

This one definitely is the only dance band on my list this year. I listened to it quite a bit. It probably gets this high on my list for 2 reasons: 1) It's the only electronic/mixup cd that i really liked and i really did give some good efforts. Crystal Castles were hard to listen to, i didn't really get into the new stuff by The Faint, and Ratatat really fell short on their disc this year. 2) I like that as easy as the stuff has to be to do, as accessible the programs and songs to put together have got to be, and as sucessful as Greg Gillis is doing the mash up thing, that not everyone is doing it yet.

I went to a girl talk show and it was a kickin' show, but i go to a ton of shows. the real tell of the live show is that there were more kids at that sold out show trying to buy tickets from us as we walked up than at the equally hyped vampire weekend show from earlier in the year.

2. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive

I really love the hold steady. In my mind there was no way they were going to put out another boys and girls in america, and they did. This disc was my summer jam. Like for the whole summer. It was disc 1 in my six disc changer and i listened to it on the way to and from work, on the way out and back on weekends, on drives with the girlfriend, and when i was working in the kitchen at camp. When i cranked it up it became a completely different album, and i stopped mid conversation almost by reflex, to turn up the volume, when the solo on lord i'm discouraged came on.

1. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

So in my life there are rare times when i'm on the "cutting edge" of anything. I have pals that turn me onto new music and so-on but i first heard of Bon Iver last december when friends drug me to the show at Mad Planet. We got in since the show only sold tickets at the door. It was awesome. It was like seeing Joanna Newsom where it's so awesome you don't want the music to ever stop.

I bought the cd at exclusive company in Appleton the day after Christmas last year. It was my cd of last winter and there's already been indication that it's going to be the cd of this winter as well (i fear i've possibly already overlistened to the Blood Bank album which is playing as i type this).

All 9 of the songs are in my itunes top 5o songs. Sometimes i don't know what Justin Vernon is even singing about, but regardless the music is perfect. I've listened to this cd driving between Appleton and Green Bay in the harsh winter cold, i've listened to it as i fell asleep as the chill sets into my underheated apartment, and I can even crank it up and play "steering wheel drums" though there often aren't drums on the album.

Andrew G's Top Albums of 2008

Andrew G's Top Albums of 2008

1. Portishead, Third
With the last bass synth blasts of “Threads” chiming like some sort of S.O.S. beacon of desolation, I knew Portishead’s Third was the album to beat this year. Third is full of moments like the end of “Threads” where the music turns itself inside out, like a sea cucumber or one of those weird organisms on the bottom of the ocean, and then sucks the listener into the song in a way that is almost physically intimidating or even harming to the listener. I almost expect some portal or wrinkle in time to occur. Other moments would be the stark beat of “Machine Gun”, the dizzying drum wobble of “Plastic”, the free jazz freak out of the otherwise catchy “Magic Doors” and the hypnotic rush of “The Rip”. All of these moments are strung together by Beth Gibbons achingly haunted vocals which reveals the vulnerability of Third. The closest album to Third would be Scott Walker’s The Drift (2006) where both albums’ intense abstract notion of rock turns the concept of popular music on its head. The key to Portishead’s success with Third after 11 years of silence is that rather than sampling a weird 1970’s German krautrock band or 1960’s French orchestra like they did in the 1990’s, they decided to become that band instead. That is why songs like “Silence” or “Hunter” feel like they are lost in a time warp. When a lot of bands are becoming indistinguishable flash in the pans, Third blasts a gapping hole through the monotony and takes rock to another level. It is an album brimming with empathy beneath its harsh exterior that demands to be reckoned with.


2. TV on the Radio, Dear Science

Dear Science is pretty much the only objectively, consensus building, undisputed classic album of 2008. It is interesting, but predictable, seeing how every year end write up of the band says that they have their fingers on the pulse of the times and links this album with its sense of renewal and optimism to Obama’s election victory. In the latest Spin, singer and guitarist Kyp Malone expresses some cynicism over the nonstop positive reviews TVOR receives. He feels that it is due to lazy journalism where people are just rewriting what someone else wrote. This seems to outline a possible “Pitchfork” effect where Pitchfork gives an album “9.0” and soon enough Ladies Home Journal is doing a feature on Fleet Foxes or Vampire Weekend. While this effect should be of concern for some bands, it should not be directed at Dear Science. This album is truly undeniable in its vitality and uninhibited sensual celebration of humanity with its soul moving and body moving hot funk on songs like “Crying”, “Golden Age”, “Owl and Stork,” and “Lover’s Day.” The band even turns up some tender songs like “Love Dog” and the gorgeous “Family Tree” (also seek out on the web the otherwise itunes exclusive bonus track “Dogs of Light”). Dear Science is an uplifting reminder that “the glass is half full” which is in contrast to the paranoid destructive decay of Return to Cookie Mountain. Guess there are some parallels to the recent political climate...?


3. Neon Neon, Stainless Style

Just like how TV on the Radio intentionally or unintentionally had its pulse on the times with Dear Science, Neon Neon’s Gruff Rhys (of Super Furry Animals) and Boom Bip foreshadowed the smug CEO doom and gloom surrounding financial and auto collapse along with its subsequent decadent “no strings attached” multibillion dollar bailout. Stainless Style is a cautionary concept album on the American Dream/Nightmare of the CEO behind the DeLorean sports car featured in “Back to the Future” who had wealth and Hollywood mistresses but resorted to smuggling cocaine to save his company and lifestyle of excess in the 80’s until he was busted by the feds. But this doesn’t stop Neon Neon from shaking like an AIG bailout party with songs recounting everything from golden parachutes to golden showers. Neon Neon appropriately take on a 80’s motif for this album with its shimmering melodic electro dance pop with 2008’s best singles “I Told Her On Alderaan”, “Dream Cars”, “Steel Your Girl”, “Raquel”, and “I Lust U”. Neon Neon even have a song on material excess called “Michael Douglas” (chorus: “I need more stuff”) in reference to 80’s movie “Wall Street.” 2008 has really been the year of the retro fitted electro pop with Neon Neon, MGMT, Cut Copy, and M83 all exploring the same nostalgic John Hughes movie sound that seems just as fitting today. While the whole first side of Stainless Style is some of Gruff Rhys best work, the second half drops off somewhat when it gets into spikey rap that is nothing new but is still in line with the album’s concept. Overall, Stainless Style plays out like an 80’s movie showing the promise of deregulated success but ends with hangover of living out of your sports car.


4. MGMT, Oracular Spectacular

I remember reading in an interview with MGMT that they basically formed because they wanted to make music to annoy their college roommates. It’s this approach that makes Oracular Spectacular an exercise in glam/psych ridiculousness with all of its posturing (“He’s a rat…rat..”) and charitable concern over youngsters (apparent on the irresistible freewheeling “Kids” and indeed “The Youth” is starting to change). This results in a quasi comedy album of musical genre hopping similar to the Flight of the Conchords. It’s not surprising that Tim and Eric directed one of their videos. While the spacey funky singles “Time to Pretend” and “Electric Feel” attracted the most attention, it is the rest of Oracular Spectacular that makes the album so great. MGMT is ace with the infectious shaggy prog glam of “Weekend Warrior” and “The Youth” and the mind melt psychedelica of “Future Reflections” and “Of Moons, Birds & Monsters”. Oracular Spectacular is also a contender for album cover of the year.


5. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!

The shtick behind Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!’s title track is that the biblical figure Lazarus is resurrected in the seedy underbelly of New York. This scenario gives Nick Cave a reason to take up a sleazy lounge persona and vent with dark humor on the various temptations of sin that Lazarus would run into. But it is Nick Cave’s honesty of how his own hands are dirty from indulging and relishing in these temptations that enhances his badass coolness. It’s as if Mad Men took place in a 1970’s boozy lounge today. Nick Cave’s well-read dirty libido directness delivers sharp wit and makes for 2008’s best lyrics and vocal performance. This can be heard in the teeth grinding anxiousness of “Lie Down Here (& Be My Girl)”, the ranting “We Call Upon The Author”, the weary “Hold On To Yourself”, the rousing “Midnight Man”, and the nocturnal exploratory “More News from Nowhere.” This is may be what Interpol would sound like if they had a sense of humor and read a book. For 2008, Nick Cave takes away the prize for best dressed male desperation from the National who won it in 2007.


6. Department of Eagles, In Ear Park

Department of Eagles is basically 75% of Grizzly Bear showcasing Daniel Rossen’s songwriting. In Ear Park takes its musical cues from “a northwestern log cabin in Brooklyn” version of Randy Newman and the Beach Boys. This creates an old timey sound that is surprisingly intimate as well as rich in vocal harmonies and orchestration. Songs such as “Balmy Night” and “Herring Bone” echo and take up residence in your head. Meanwhile, “No One Does It Like You” and “Teenagers” sound like lost classics while “Floating on the Lehigh” has a bittersweet funny sad vibe that sounds like a slowed down version of the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme. All in all, Department of Eagles provides a grower of an album that is one of the most durable and rewarding albums of the year.


7. Cut Copy, In Ghost Colours

At first, I did not think In Ghost Colours was anything special. I thought they are just doing what Hot Chip already does better. But the album had enough moments that stayed with you and hooked into your consciousness until the album owned you. For me, these moments were the 80’s rush of “Unforgettable Season”, the half awake/half dreaming “Midnight Runner”, the last minute and a half of “Out There On The Ice”, and the guitar power chord break in the middle of “Lights and Music.” All of these moments increasingly kept my interest in the album and paved the way for the awesomeness of “Hearts On Fire”. By the end of the year, it became obvious that In the Ghost Colours offers the coolness and promise of a lit up swimming pool on an endless summer night.


8. Brightblack Morning Light, Motion to Rejoin

Everything slows down to a syrupy molasses pace when Motion to Rejoin is playing. Brightblack Morning Light plays southern style swampy slow funk that is aided along by some hazy horns and woozy woodwinds. The band takes its time finding the grooves but once it finds it, the band reclines back in it and drifts. This creates an almost hypnotic effect that has the listener slumping to the groove. On Motion to Rejoin, Brightblack Morning Light recalls Air’s full sound and Spiritualized’s drone dedication. It feels like Motion to Rejoin should be treated as some sort of controlled narcotic.


9. Wild Beasts, Limbo, Panto

Part of what makes rock music so powerful is its ability to express the most frazzled messy impulses of the human psyche and make it look cool while doing so. Wild Beasts perfectly execute this on Limbo, Panto with the disparate and dynamic vocals of its two singers. One singer sounds like a more frantic extroverted Antony Hegarty while the other one has a cool demeanor baritone that wouldn’t be out of place on a Doves record. Overall, the contrast of these two singers enhances cathartic punch of these songs. As for the music, Wild Beasts sound somewhat like Orange Juice, Talking Heads, British Sea Power, and an artier abstract Franz Ferdinand. Yet those bands do not prepare you for the awkward soul music that Wild Beasts pull off on tracks like “Vigil for Fuddy Duddy”, “His Grinning Skull” and the wistful “The Devil’s Crayon.” These songs are also wrapped in quaint proper Englishness that attempts to bring some composure to the frenzied tension underneath it which can be heard on “Please Sir” and “The Old Dog”. Elsewhere, “Brave Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants” updates the Talking Heads’ “Road to Nowhere” with more knuckle biting. In addition to this great weird pop, Wild Beasts may have the best album closer title in recent memory with “Cheerio Chaps Cheerio Goodbye”.


10. Coldplay, Viva La Vida (or Death And All of His Friends)

Viva La Vida is the album in my top ten that I have getting the most flack over. While there are some clunkers on the album (“Cemeteries of London” and the last third of “42”), the majority of the songs were either some of the best singles of 2008 (“Viva La Vida”, “Lost!”, and “Violet Hill”) and some of the best songs recorded this year (awesome album closer “Death and All of His Friends/The Escapist” and “Strawberry Swing”). This success is due to producer extraordinaire Brian Eno who guided Coldplay to a successful formula where Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette meets Depeche Mode. There is something to be said about a band with this much heart that appeals to everyone from your Britpop obsessive to your dad to your kid sister. Overall, I have to respect Coldplay's overall ambition to push things forward for themselves instead of easily phoning in another indistinguishable $noozefest (X&Y) of Coldplay lite. Furthermore, Coldplay’s ambition and innovation demonstrated why they are not Keane or The Fray and made mainstream radio more bearable while doing so.



The Best of the Rest...

11. Flying Lotus, Los Angeles
12. Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend
13. Atlas Sound, Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But ...
14. Beck, Modern Guilt
15. Hercules & Love Affair, Hercules & Love Affair
16. Magnetic Fields, Distortion
17. Spiritualized, Songs in A&E
18. Fucked Up, The Chemistry of Common Life
19. No Age, Nouns
20. Santogold, Santogold
21. My Morning Jacket, Evil Urges
22. Blitzen Trapper, Furr
23. She & Him, Volume 1
24. Deerhunter, Microcastle
25. Little Joy, Little Joy
26. Stereolab, Chemical Chords
27. Titus Andronicus, The Airing of Grievances
28. Marnie Stern, This Is It…
29. The Verve, Forth
30. Hot Chip, Made in the Dark
31. Kanye West, 808’s and Heartbreaks
32. The Kills, Midnight Bloom
33. Wolf Parade, At Mount Zoomer
34. M83, Saturdays = Youth
35. The Walkmen, You & Me
36. Hold Steady, Stay Positive
37. Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, Real Emotional Trash
38. Bloc Party, Intimacy
39. Gang Gang Dance, Saint Dymphna
40. Silver Jews, Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea