Thursday, May 28, 2009

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

records2008

there was a lot of good shit released this year. so in no particular order. a list of some good songs from 2008 from the records that i heard. in no particular order except for the numbered items. right on time. i'll bet at least one person is stoked on this and it's not me.

longwave - life is wrong
from 'secrets are sinister'
well it's about time that longwave released another proper full length. what's it been? like 4 years? this record is their most shoegazer record so far. criminally under the radar.



radar bros - a dog named ohio
from 'auditorium'
anyone know if mt wilson repeater any good? i'm lazy and poor.

foals - balloons
from 'anitdotes'
calling something math rock is still gay.



the secret machines - now you're gone
from 'the secret machines'
this is what happens when you cut the secret machines balls off.

school of seven bells - my cabal
from 'alpinisms'
this is what happens when you cut the secret machines balls off.

my morning jacket - touch me i'm going to scream pt 2
from 'evil urges'
this is the light at the end of a very long and very jive and very boring tunnel. how good can it be? it's rolling stone's best record of the year.

the caesers - up all night
from 'strawberry weed'
the three or four phone lines in europe must've been busy this year. decent but not great. but then again it is a caesers record.

ratatat - shempi
from 'lp3'
nintendo + qualuudes.

clinic - memories
clinic - coda
from 'do it'
a great set of bookends from a less than stellar effort. although i'm kinda glad this isn't awesome. clinic was making it look too easy for too long. turns out they're just above average weirdos.

islands - i feel evil creeping in
from 'arm's way'
another good record from some weird canadians. here's to hoping for a unicorns reunion. canadians dude.



british sea power - all in it
from 'do you like rock music?'
maybe the best way to start a record off circa 2008.

vampire weekend - i stand corrected
vampire weekend - m79
from 'vampire weekend'
at least one of these two songs belongs on the royal tennenbaums soundtrack. too bad about 'blake's got a new face'. ouch.

ra ra riot - ghost under rocks
from 'the rhumb line'
really good for a band that could have just as easily said fuck it.



sigur ros - festival
from 'med sut ieyrum vit spilum endalust'
sigur ros rules.

the walkmen - red moon
from 'you & me'
another contender for #1. though it's no 'bows + arrows'.



tv on the radio - family tree
from 'dear science'
it could have been any song from this. everyone was right--it's most excellent. (even spin!)

the duke spirit - lassoo
from 'neptune'
solid uk rock n roll. and the singer is as sexy as her voice.

tobacco - truck sweat
from 'fucked up friends'
it could have been any song from this boss black moth super rainbow record. it could have been #1 as well.

evangelicals - skeleton man
evangelicals - bellawood
from 'the evening descends'
these two songs could have been any of the songs from this runner up as well.

complexcomplex - protect the chronosphere
from 'timelion'
here. go get their new record 'endtitled'. it's fat tits too.

dungen - maleras finest
from '4'
hopefully dungen doesn't change it up anytime soon. this is psychedelic at its finest from some weird foreigners.

the verve - love is noise
from 'forth'
this record wasn't as good as i had hoped but this song is great. someone get richard ashcroft some rolls and someone else get simon tong on the wire. if clinic is done with the line that is.

oasis - i'm outta time
from 'dig out your soul'
what fucking year is it? oasis and the verve both relevent again? superduper.

tapes n tapes - say back something
from 'walk it off'
remember 'you could have it so much better'? they weren't lying.

the duchess and the duke - reservoir park
from 'she's the duchess, he's the duke'
so are these guys listening to the same records that the brian jonestown masascre listen to or are they just listening to the brian jonestown massacre? (they kinda sound like the rolling stones.)

charlatans uk - oh vanity
charlatans uk - this is the end
from 'you cross my path'
the best bookends of the year for this top tenner. thanks to buddyhead for the heads up.



the last shadow puppets - my mistakes were made for you
from 'the age of the understatement'
this is good. reminds me of the moody blues.



french kicks - this could go wrong
from 'swimming'
when did it become cool to forget about totally competent bands?

albert hammond jr - bargain of a century
from '?como te llama?'
another great way to start something out. like a murder/suicide.

gnarls barkley - who is going to save my soul?
from 'the odd couple'
obviously this was gonna be good but are we ever gonna see another pelican city??

calexico - inspiracion
from 'carried to dust'
these guys are like nick cave. everything they do is awesome. but i'd bet that they haven't wrassled up as much tang as the creepy nickster has though. all 8 of 'em combined.

theivery corporation - la femme parallel
from 'radio retaliation'
whoever brought the blunts to the summerfest show these guys played last year. thanks. that ruled. some people are always thinking ahead.

grand archives - sleepdriving
from 'grand archives'
here.

magnetic fields - california girls
from 'distortion'
stephen merrit is boss. and gay.

deerhunter - nothing ever happened
from 'microcastle'
a large step away from 'cryptograms' but still pretty awesome. actual songs!

howlin' rain - el rey
howlin' rain - nomads
from 'magnificent fiend'
if you know anything about comets on fire then you already know that this is good. duder here wore his boogie gospel shoes for this outing. i'll bet this is what that my morning jacket record was shooting for. curtis mayfield '08!

the gaslight anthem - the '59 sound
from 'the '59 sound'
the boss + the replacements. although i don't think they're nearly as drunk as the replacements. i also heard this on the radio. not the best band name around.

the black angels - deer-ree-shee
the black angels - vikings
from 'directions to see a ghost'
the angels borrowed rhishi dhir from the high dials for this tribute(?) to rhishi dhir. another runner-up for favorite record of the year.

nick cave & the bad seeds - hold on to yourself
#10 nick cave & the bad seeds - jesus of the moon
from 'dig, lazarus dig!!!'
fuckin' a nick cave (still) rules. now let's hope that grinderman follow up isn't just a rumor.

#9 juniper tar - the mouth of fields
juniper tar - she's inside glass
from 'for the trees'
so another local act. everytime i see these guys it rules. everyone at the show is trashed but not as trashed as these guys. the drive-by truckers ain't got shit on juniper tar. check out the off key whilst you wait a coupla months for the next juniper tar record, buddy.

#8 brian jonestown massacre - we are the niggers of the world
from 'my bloody underground'
unbelievable. on all aspects.

the airborne toxic event - happiness is overrated
#7 the airborne toxic event - sometime around midnight
from 'the airborne toxic event'
this is one of the few songs on here that i actually heard on the radio. even the shitty corporate generic rock stations! not the best band name ever though.

#6 beach house - gila
from 'devotion'
you probably shouldn't drive to this but you should steer psychedelics directly into your brain to this.

#5 spiritualized - sitting on fire
from 'songs in a&e'
this was my favorite song of the year back in aught six or five when spaceman played it at some daniel johnston tribute show in london and it was called 'old flame'.

#4 dead confederate - the rat
from 'wrecking ball'
great southern rock n roll. good to see someone keeping it real somewhere. stupid human shit for brains.



#3 the big sleep - pinkies
the big sleep - little sister
from 'sleep forever'
even those these brooklyn hipsters blew me off for an interview this is the first runner-up for my favorite record of the year. take a chronic dose and tell me that 'pinkies' doesn't let you know that everything will be alright.

#2 black mountain - angels
from 'in the future'
a violin solo and a mellotron! and it's not the beatles! sweet!

#1 canyonsofstatic - shelter
canyonsofstatic - slowly to sea
canyonsofstatic - the disappearance
from 'the disappearance'
this is also my number one record of the year. they're the missing link between my education and explosions in the sky. there is no reason these guys shouldn't blow up. i saw them open for the big sleep and they blew them off the stage. wicked good. buy their cd so they can put this shit out on vinyl. click here. 'shelter' is numer one because of its unbelievable epicness live. no fade outs there guy!! and bring joints when you see them.


woulda shoulda coulda
bon iver and mgmt's records came out in 2007 which is why they're not on here. great records but wrong year nonetheless. unless you're totally into semantics and you're like 'well the vinyl came out in 2008 blah blah blee bloi blah'.

you can download the entire list here. plus some other songs i was too lazy to delete.
part1 part2 part3

go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

the black angels


 

free counter