Top Ten Albums of 2008

This year I probably listened to a greater volume and a wider variety of music than any other year in my life. This amps up the difficulty factor in determining the best of the best of 2008 (as reflected in my long honorable mention list below). So without further ado, here is my thunder:

10: Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

A very early release (January 2008), this record stuck with me throughout the year, peaking my interest during chill summer evenings. Afro-pop, organs, and simple but pronounced percussion shine through the fusion of styles. The mood is quite laidback…akin to my own personality. Catchy lyrics and singalong choruses make this indie record highly accessible. Standout tracks include “Oxford Comma” and “One (Blake’s Got A New Face)”.

9: Deadmau5 - Random Album Title

I have two iPods: an 80GB Classic that can hold about half of my library, and a 1GB shuffle for working out and taking on my walks to work or other on-the-go activities. This album is constantly playing on the shuffle because of its energy and emotion. Totally rave-tacular. The mouse-mask wearing DJ/Producer hesitates to call this an “album” (note the sarcastic album title). The way he sees it, it’s just a compilation of his own tracks. Whatever floats your boat, Canuck. Standout tracks include “Brazil, “I Remember” (a collaboration with Kaskade), and “Arguru.”

8: Neon Neon - Stainless Style

To kick off the weirdness, Gruff Rhys, lead singer of Super Furry Animals (a Welsh alt-rock band), is behind this project along with hip-hopper Boom Bip. The record plows through 80s Action-Adventure TV series themes (”Neon Theme”), 80s synth-pop (”I Told Her On Alderon”), and crude hip-hop (”Trick For Treat”). Also crude is the album art. I love it. The songs are stylistically all over the place, but solid throughout. The retro feel is intentional, prolonged, and unavoidable. Oh, and crazily catchy. A couple of these will most certainly feature on my New Years playlist.

7: Lindstrom - Where You Go I Go Too

If there’s a single musical style or genre that captured my ear in 2008, it’s cosmic/baleric/italo/new disco. The jury’s out on what to call it, exactly, but I really dig it. The second full length from the Norwegian Lindstrom is comprised of only three tracks spanning about 54 minutes. Lindstrom noted in an interview that he felt artistically liberated by removing the constraints of the standard, five minute track. The result is an album that’s spacey, energetic, melodic, epic, precisely layered and extremely well crafted. Standout tracks include…ummm…shit, all of them.

6: Blitzen Trapper - Furr

As a September release, this one came to the party late, but I’ve been rocking it quite frequently. This is the fourth full length from the Portland sextet, and it catapults itself forward from where Wild Mountain Nation left off. Where as their previous album had some gems intermixed with some flops, you can leave Furr to rock all the way through without tending the “Next” button. Very accessible, cabin-in-the-mountain style rock and roll. A great record to play when entertaining friends who have a more commercial, rock taste. Standout tracks include “Sleepytime In The Western World,” “Furr,” and “God & Suicide.”

5: Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

After a fallout with his former band and a broken relationship, the artist, Justin Vernon, locked himself away over the winter in his father’s cabin in remote northern Wisconsin. The output from his stay is this tender, raw, emotional record that perfectly captures the sentiment and imagery of the winter season. As I spent a number of winter breaks with my family “up north” in Wisconsin, this album is dear to me. Through the music, I can see myself as child, staring out across the frozen field in the back of my great uncles farm. Standout tracks include “Skinny Love,” “Blindsided,” and “Re: Stacks.”

4: Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours

The 2008 release from the Melbourners arrived fairly early in the year (April) and it’s been a stalwart. I’ve enjoyed this album walking the streets of Edinburgh, Scotland in a light snow shower and watching the sun rise over Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Shimmering electro-pop, flexed by an overload of synths, with elements of straightforward rock underpinning it all. If you don’t like this album, you probably don’t like music period. Standout tracks include “Out There On The Ice,” “Lights And Music,” and “Hearts On Fire.”

3: Sigur Ros - MeÃ° suÃ° Ã eyrum viÃ° spilum endalaust

The latest effort from Sigur Ros (pronounced si-ur rose) features their first ever song recorded in English, and you know what, I couldn’t tell you what it is. That’s because their music doesn’t rely on heart-string pulling lyrics to be evocative. This record sees the Icelandic quartet freshen up their moods and melodies while retaining their marquee flair for emotional and dramatic song structures. Standout tracks include “Gobbledigook,” “GÃ³Ã°an daginn,” and “ViÃ° spilum endalaust.”

2: Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid

The gents from Manchester dedicate the memory of their dear, fallen friend Bryan Glancy (nicknamed The Seldom Seen Kid) with the most beautifully composed album of 2008 and the final track “Friend of Ours.” Elbow deservingly won the 2008 Mercury Prize for their effort. To me, this album is where Radiohead might have landed had they not forked off into the electronic realms of OK Computer and onwards. Standout tracks include “Mirrorball,” “Grounds For Divorce,” “Weather To Fly,” and the aforementioned “Friend Of Ours.”

1: TV On The Radio - Dear Science,

I pressed play on this album and all I could say was “WOW.” That’s what makes this record the album of the year. I was only lukewarm on their previous release “Return To Cookie Mountain,” but this one absolutely blows my mind to the point that it’s difficult to accurately capture in words. So I will leave that honor to someone closer to their music. “A lot of bands have something to say,” explained their producer and instrumentalist David Sitek. “We have something to ask.” Standout tracks include “Halfway Home,” “Crying,” “Golden Age,” and “DLZ.”