As the holidays and 2008 come to a close, I thought I'd pull out a few other stand-outs that didn't make my top 20 albums list but were noteworthy nonetheless.
"Dance":
Friendly Fires - s/t
Van She - V
2008 seemed to be a big year for dance albums, from Cut Copy to Hercules & Love Affair, but the two albums above received very little fanfare and, to me, where the best of the bunch. I've been listening to the Van She album nonstop for the last month.
Mainstream:
Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs
Coldplay - Viva La Vida
Both of these albums exceeded my expectations and were actually quite good. I just didn't listen to them very much.
From the U.K.:
Kaiser Chiefs - Off With Their Heads
The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age of the Understatement
Glasvegas - s/t
Noah and the Whale - Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down
The Week That Was - s/t
Kaiser Chiefs rebounded after a lackluster second album. Unfortunately, Bloc Party did not. The others are all solid debut albums and are worth checking out.
Hip Hop:
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
Trendy, sure, but there are some great tracks on here.
"Indie":
Black Mountain - In the Future
Tapes 'N Tapes - Walk It Off
Tokyo Police Club - Elephant Shell
Silver Jews - Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea
Sebastien Grainger & the Mountains - s/t
Grand Archives - s/t
Love as Laughter - Holy
Ryan Adams & the Cardinals - Cardinology
The War on Drugs - Wagonwheel Blues
Secret Machines - s/t
The Gutter Twins - Saturnalia
Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line
Twelve albums that I think fell under the radar for the most part. All had some good to great songs but were ultimately a bit uneven.
Looking forward to 2009:
1.13 - Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
1.20 - John Frusciante - The Empyrean
1.27 - Franz Ferdinand - Tonight: Franz Ferdinand
1.27 - Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band - Working on a Dream
2.10 - Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys) - Keep It Hid
2.17 - Trail of Dead - The Century of Self
3.10 - Handsome Furs - Face Control
3.24 - The Decemberists - Hazards of Love
Many others to look forward to in 2009 that don't yet have release dates including: Doves, Pearl Jam, Wilco, Mastodon, and New Pornographers to name a few.
Happy New Year everyone!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Leftovers and a Look Ahead
Friday, December 19, 2008
Hipster Gold: Dr. Thomas Beckett's Best of 2008
[Photo Credit: Mind Your Do's and Don'ts]
From the bowels of the JFK School of Government, using his own hipster rating scheme.
***ALBUMS***
BLAZERS (21+)
"and put a fucking hooded sweatshirt on underneath!" - TB
21) Cut Copy – In Ghost Colours
BIRKAS (15-20)
"let's give the vets some PTSD!" - Anonymous
20) Vic Chesnutt – Dark Developments
19) Dr. Dog – Fate
18) Devotchka – A Mad and Faithful Telling
17) Shearwater - Rook
16) Jonny Greenwood – There Will Be Blood
FINGERLESS GLOVES (11-15)
"trigger fingers shouldn't be covered by nothing..." - TB
15) Elf Power – In A Cave
14) Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
13) The Dodos – Visiter
12) MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
11) Portishead – Third
STRIPED CARDIGAN SWEATER (6-10)
"and that shit better not fit you" - TB
10) Sun Kil Moon – April
9) Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
8) Mount Eerie – Lost Wisdom
7) TV On The Radio – Dear Science
6) Atmosphere – When Life Gives You Lemons, Paint That Shit Gold
SKINNY JEANS (1-5)
"if I can't see your balls - you're wrong" - TB
5) The Music Tapes – Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes
4) Cloud Cult – Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes)
3) The War on Drugs – Wagonwheel Blues
2) My Morning Jacket – Evil Urges
1) Okkervil River – The Stand Ins
***SHOWS***
5) Aimie Mann Xmas Show – Somerville Theatre, Somerville, MA
4) Cloud Cult – Middle East, Cambridge, MA
3) Radiohead (x3), Verizon Center, Indianapolis, IN
2) My Morning Jacket (x2), Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
1) Elephant Six Holiday Tour (Wasn’t there, but should have been…Jeff Mangum singing Engine live is just as good in my dreams)
Thursday, December 18, 2008
The Wrestler
Great role. Great performance. Great film.
AV Club recently sat down with one of my favorite American directors, Darren Aronofsky:
"Well I’ve been joking that if Madonna taught us anything, you’ve got to reinvent yourself. I think it’s important as a filmmaker, as any person working in the arts, that you’ve got to try new stuff and challenge yourself and take chances. I’ve tried to take a chance with every film I’ve done—I’ve never done it the easy way, and I think that’s because that’s what excites me, is making as big a mountain as I can in front of me, and just trying to mount it."
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Miroir Noir
Arcade Fire's new film/documentary covering the "Neon Bible Archives" here. Download it now, DVD will ship sometime next year.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Neil Young & Wilco @ MSG, 12/15/08
So much for a curfew at MSG. Neil busted right through it and played until 1230 (PJ, please take note). He played for 2:10 before even leaving the stage. It was clear to me last night that the man still has it. The heavy guitar songs killed and the acoustic songs were, of course, amazing - I wish there had been more - including one of my all-time favorite songs ("Old Man"). Of course, you take the good with the bad when seeing the legends. There were some dull moments and certainly some songs that I could have done without. Wilco played for 45 minutes and should have played for 45 more. It was a flawless set.
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Left Coast: Best of 2008
ALBUMS
20. Beck - Modern Guilt [Interscope]
19. Albert Hammond, Jr. - ¿Como te Llama? [RCA/Black Seal]
18. Plants & Animals - Parc Avenue [Secret City]
17. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive [Vagrant]
16. The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely [Warner Bros.]
15. Sun Kil Moon - April [Caldo Verde]
14. Black Mountain - In the Future [Jagjaguwar]
13. Boris - Smile [Southern Lord]
12. The Black Keys - Attack & Release [Nonesuch]
11. Fucked Up - Chemistry of Common Life [Matador]
10. Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer [Sub Pop]
9. Cloud Cult - Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes) [Earthology]
8. Shearwater - Rook [Matador]
7. Sebastien Grainger - Sebastien Grainger & the Mountains [Saddle Creek]
6. Okkervil River - The Stand Ins [Jagjaguwar]
5. Foals - Antidotes [Sub Pop]
4. The Mars Volta - The Bedlam in Goliath [Universal Motown]
3. Portishead - Third [Island]
2. TV on the Radio - Dear Science [4AD]
1. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges [ATO]
TRACKS
50. Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks - "Baltimore"
49. Vampire Weekend - "M79"
48. The Hold Steady - "Sequestered in Memphis"
47. Rihanna - "Disturbia"
46. Shearwater - "Century Eyes"
45. The Black Angels - "Science Killer"
44. Portishead - "Magic Doors"
43. The Killers - "This is Your Life"
42. Glasvegas - "Daddy's Gone"
41. Omar Rodriguez-Lopez - "The Power of Myth"
40. The Hold Steady - "Stay Positive"
39. Plants and Animals - "New Kind of Love"
38. Boris - "Statement"
37. Sun Kil Moon - "Lost Verses"
36. Shearwater - "Lost Boys"
35. British Sea Power - "Lights Out for Darker Skies"
34. Foals - "Red Socks Pugie"
33. My Morning Jacket - "Highly Suspicious"
32. Portishead - "Machine Gun"
31. The Mars Volta - "Tourniquet Man"
30. Fucked Up - "Son of the Father"
29. MGMT - "Time to Pretend"
28. Cloud Cult - "The Will of a Volcano"
27. The Black Keys - "Strange Times"
26. Boris - "Flower, Sun, Rain"
25. Albert Hammond, Jr. - "Victory at Monterey"
24. Sebastien Grainger - "American Names"
23. Nine Inch Nails - "Discipline"
22. Boris - "Messeeji" [Diwphalanx Version]
21. Mudcrutch - "Lover of the Bayou"
20. The Raconteurs - "Consoler of the Lonely"
19. Wolf Parade - "Language City"
18. Shearwater - "On the Death of the Waters"
17. The Mars Volta - "Metatron"
16. My Morning Jacket - "Evil Urges"
15. Portishead - "Small"
14. TV on the Radio - "Golden Age"
13. The Black Keys - "Oceans & Streams"
12. Cloud Cult - "Hurricane and Fire Survival Guide"
11. Black Mountain - "Tyrants"
10. One Day As A Lion - "Wild International"
9. Sebastien Grainger - "Map of the World"
8. Boris - "Floor Shaker"
7. Foals - "Heavy Water"
6. Kings of Leon - "Closer"
5. The Mars Volta - "Ilyena"
4. Okkervil River - "Lost Coastlines"
3. TV on the Radio - "DLZ"
2. Portishead - "The Rip"
1. My Morning Jacket - "Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Part II"
SHOWS
5. Beck, Spoon, MGMT @ Hollywood Bowl
4. Cloud Cult @ Knitting Factory
3. TV on the Radio @ The Wiltern
2. My Morning Jacket @ Greek Theatre [Read]
1. Eddie Vedder @ The Wiltern [Read]
FILMS
Bear with me here. This will develop over the next month. This never feels as easy as the music.
5.
4.
3. The Wrestler, dir. Darren Aronofsky
2. 4 Weeks, 3 Months, 2 Days, dir. Christian Mungui
1. Gomorra, dir. Matteo Garrone
Monday, December 01, 2008
JK's Top Picks for 2008
It's December 1st and that means that there can't possibly be any new music released in the next month that will change my opinion of 2008. I'm also heading out on vacation later this week for 10 days so I'm ready to commit to this now. Overall, I think 2008 brought a lot of good quality albums with only a few stand-outs. For me, the first 3 selections were pretty easy while the rest were more difficult to piece together. Without further adieu:
My favorite albums:
20. Drive-By Truckers - Brighter Than Creations Dark
19. Okkervil River - The Stand-Ins
18. Shearwater - Rook
17. Foals - Antidotes
16. Constantines - Kensington Heights
15. Portishead - Third
14. The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely
13. Cloud Cult - Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes)
12. British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?
11. Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer
10. Fleet Foxes - s/t
09. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Real Emotional Trash
08. Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
07. The Black Keys - Attack & Release
06. Beck - Modern Guilt
05. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
04. Plants and Animals - Parc Avenue
03. Blitzen Trapper - Furr
02. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
01. TV On The Radio - Dear Science,
EPs:
04. Sebastien Grainger - American Names
