the year in music: 2008

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I need to rate and sort and organize and, apparently, report back. I can’t help it. after the jump, I’ve listed my favorite albums of 2008 along with some other musical tidbits:

favorite albums of 2008
top five albums of 2008

favorite songs of 2008

favorite live shows of 2008

favorite 2008 discoveries of old music

runners up…

30… Neon Neon Stainless Style
29… The Week That Was The Week That Was
28… Lindstrom Where you Go I Go Too
27… Jenny Lewis Acid Tongue
26… The Raveonettes Lust Lust Lust
25… Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend
24… The Walkmen You & Me
23… TV on the Radio Dear Science,
22… Santogold Santogold
21…
M83 Saturdays=Youth

top twenty…

20… 200px-skeletallampingcover2 Of Montreal Skeletal Lamping
I don’t care what you say.

19… abevcover_thumb1 Abe Vigoda Skeleton
jungle punk

18… 200px-portishead-third Portishead Third
like a fine port . . .

17… 200px-british_sea_power_rock_music British Sea Power Do You Like Rock Music?
yes, indeed, I do!

16… 200px-nouns No Age Nouns
Video for Eraser
is all I have to say.

15… department_of_eagles___in_ear_parklowres Department of Eagles In Ear Park
New pop for the old planet.

14… 200px-rabbit_habits Man Man Rabbit Habits
Old music for the new planet.

13… 200px-destroyer_-_trouble_in_dreams Destroyer Trouble In Dreams
Oh Dan. You!

12… 200px-wolfparadeatmountzoomer Wolf Parade At Mount Zoomer
I even liked the cover art.

11… 200px-herculesandloveaffairalbumcover Hercules & Love Affair Hercules & Love Affair
decadently beautiful.

10… 200px-deerhunter-microcastle Deerhunter Microcastle
for most acheivement in an album to listen to while in an airport or on an airplane and reading Cormac McCarthy’s The Road.

09… 200px-this_is_it_and_i_am_it_album_cover Marnie Stern This Is It And I Am It . . .
whoa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!……********///////

08… 200px-inghostcolours Cut Copy In Ghost Colors
you will dance to this, even if you’re sitting down.

07… 200px-oracular_spectacular_2008 MGMT Oracular Spectacular
delicious savoy truffle proggy cosmic fun.

06… 200px-fleet_foxes Fleet Foxes Fleet Foxes
about as close to beauty as one gets.

final five…

05… ole-822-matador-singles-08 Jay Reatard Matador Singles ’08
I’d listened to this album many times. but the first time I heard it was with headphones, riding my bike past historic farmhouses just before sunset. a very fun ride. this album is a fruitbasket full of the mostest funnest punk.

04… 200px-beachhousedevotion Beach House Devotion
I swoon over this album. I’m over the moon with this album. ghost songs sung from the nose of a speeding freight train. subersive late night easy listening.

03… 200px-loveisall1 Love Is All A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night
saxophone + glockenspiel. boy + girl. cruise + taxi. cyndi + roxy. surf + fusion. fuzzball + broken glass. I can’t get enough of any of it.

02… 200px-evangelicals_eveningdescends Evangelicals The Evening Descends
I love this band and I adore this album. serene horror. blissful paranoia. this is the sound of a drunken, half-asleep nightmare in a down comforter.

01… 200px-visiter The Dodos Visiter
this album still thrills me. perfect music made simple. or simple music made perfect. they channel the sound of music in pure energy form. spectacular live.

favorite songs…

20… Black Mountain Wucan a long, dark, mystical journey

19… Kanye West Heartless
sadly gorgeous pop art

18… Of Montreal An Eluardian Distance
this song alone makes the album more than worth it

17… Santogold L.E.S. Artistes
what can I say? just an awesome song

16… Vampire Weekend Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
mmm mmm good

15… The Walkmen In The New Year
a fine example of their incredible music

14… TV on the Radio Golden Age
Peter Gabriel in George Clinton’s spaceship

13… Killers Joy Ride
do you think they like Duran Duran? I do (think that; and like Duran Duran.)

12… Destroyer My Favorite Year
Dan Bejar doesn’t get much more Dan Bejar-ish than this song

11… The Black Kids I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You
definitely the most played song–Elliot LOVED it

10… Department of Eagles No One Does It Like You
original, beautiful and poppy . . . what’s not to like?

09… M83 Graveyard Girl
if Donnie Darko and Pretty In Pink had a baby, this song would be on the soundtrack

08… Fleet Foxes White Winter Hymnal
I chalk my love for this song up to my Mom playing Crosby, Stills & Nash for me as a kid

07… Cut Copy Out There On The Ice
I just wanna dance!

06… Hercules & Love Affair Blind
a Roxy Music for the new millenium

05… Beach House Gila
geee-lah-ah-ah-ah-ahhhhh . . . heaven . . .

04… Evangelicals Stoned Again
the sound of snowflakes falling over skateboarders on Halloween

03… The Dodos Jodi
I want to shout my love for this song from the rooftops

02… Love Is All Seasick
everything I love about this band is contained in this one song

01… MGMT Time To Pretend
from the first listen to the delirious synth noodlings of this song, I knew this would be my favorite song of 2008

favorite live shows…

05… My Bloody Valentine SF Design Concourse, 09.30.08
not necessarily the most enjoyable, but definitely the most exciting–once-in-a-lifetime experience

04… Black Francis live score to Der Golem
SF Castro Theater, 04.25.08
so much fun–he’s a true artist.

03… Cut Copy
SF Mezzanine, 05.10.08
non-stop dance party . . . “lights and music are on my mind . . . ”

02… Evangelicals
SF Hemlock Tavern, 03.21.08
there we were, in the very front of a tiny room, surrounded by smoke, neon, the band and blissful music. and then, Josh Jones ate our Thai food leftovers . . .

01… The Dodos
SF Independent, 06.19.08
seeing them live will convert anyone who was on the fence. for someone who already loved them, it just plunged my heart deeper into it.

favorite 2008 (re)discoveries of old music…

Dexy’s Midnight Runners
Nancy & Lee
Genesis / Phil Collins
Felt
Dennis Wilson
Hawkwind
Talk Talk
Lords of the New Church
Simple Minds

One Response to “the year in music: 2008”

  1. […] adore this San Francisco band, The Dodos, with all our hearts.  One of the best live shows we’ve ever seen and this is, without a doubt, a superb example of their intense presence.  […]