I think I spent more time in 2008 catching up to music I missed in 2007. I ended up with 11 recordings, but as with last year, cheesed-out and combined 2 of them into number 10.
I was actually surprised by how ambivalent I was toward a lot of the stuff I bought, and I think it has something to do with downloading everything from amazon.com’s MP3 store. I think you take purchases much more seriously when it’s a physical item; you just don’t connect as much to non-physical items. When you have to remove the CD from the case and place it in the CD player, it represents more of a commitment than just adding it to your iTunes library and having it randomly pop up during “shuffle” mode.
Anyway, on to the list. Here are the ground rules: I like three-minute pop songs, so this isn’t exactly comprehensive and varied. I like what I like, that is all. I’ve attached occasional videos and live performances, except for ones from Warner, which pulled all of its videos from YouTube. Fuckers.
10. The Hold Steady, “Stay Positive” and The Walkmen, “You & Me”
These are two bands that I feel like I should dig, but I don’t. While I can’t deny some of the pleasures of both of these records, neither of these releases changes my overall sense that I’m just not getting it. Maybe I just need better hooks to rap my brain around their interesting lyrics? Or I’m just not warming to these sorts of downbeat vocalists? I dunno.
Links: “Stay Positive”, “In the New Year”
9. Spiritualized, Songs in A&E
There’s something weirdly appealing about Jason Pierce’s ability/desire to take his simple little three-minute garage band songs and blow them up into epic tales of love, loss, and salvation. We’re talking full orchestras, gospel background singers, and lots of moaning about drugs and love, and loving drugs. While “Songs in A&E” isn’t quite “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space”—though seriously, what is?—it’s a lot better than their last couple of recordings.
Inspirational Moment: Wins the “Best Use of a Slightly Wheezy Defibrillator as a Rhythmic Device” award for the song “Sweet Talk.” And by “Best Use” I mean “creepiest fucking sound in a song.” It’s not something you want to wake up to, letmetellya…
Links: “Soul on Fire”, “You Lie You Cheat”
8. Crooked Fingers, “Forfeit/Fortune”
I only heard of this because Britt Daniel of Spoon raved about it in an article, and it turns out his praise was pretty spot-on. It’s a fairly conventional, slightly old-fashioned set of tunes, which makes it stand out over a lot of more modern sounds. Weirdly enough, the single (linked below) sucks, tracks like “Modern Dislocation” more than make up for the slack.
Inspirational Moment: If you want to make any song better, turn to the lovely and talented Ms. Neko Case. Her co-vocals on the closer “Your Control” takes it to some otherworldly place.
Links: “Let’s Not Pretend (To Be New Men)”
7. Portishead, “Third”
This sort of just appeared out of nowhere, kind of like “Chinese Democracy” with less Axl Rose. Though I’ve never been a fan of most electronic music, Portishead always did an interesting job straddling electronics and a love of 1960s spy-flick music. And now they’ve upped the dread, with strings and strange rhythms proving a scary backdrop for singer Beth Gibbons to croon over.
Inspirational Moment: “Machine Gun” is unsettling, and my second least favorite song to wake up to in 2008.
Links: “Machine Gun”, “The Rip”, “Magic Doors”
6. Beck, “Modern Guilt”
After spending a couple of records (“Guero” and “The Information”) doing that funky pastiche thing he does so well, “Modern Guilt” finds Beck returning to mellow “Sea Change” and “Mutations” mode. Not that you can ever tell what Beck is actually getting at; this record is lyrically downbeat in his typically elliptical way, but the music is more electronic than acoustic. It’s a good combination, even if the songs are quite as good as they were on Beck’s previous downers.
Inspirational Moment: The swirling psychedelia of “Chemtrails” makes me wish Beck would just do a full record of 60s garage-y psychedelic pop and be done with it.
Links: “Modern Guilt”, “Orphans”
5. R.E.M., “Accelerate”
If it’s not quite the “triumphant return to form” that some claimed, even above-mediocre R.E.M. is pretty damn good. “Accelerate” shares with “Monster” an overly self-conscious desire to be “rocking,” as if R.E.M. was ever that rockin’ a band to begin with. They rocked just enough, though I think that the rock-like forward movement and propulsion that drove most of their early songs can be attributed to Bill Berry’s sadly missing drumming. Since they’ve never really recovered from his leaving the band, an approximation of old R.E.M. like “Accelerate” will have to do. The opener, “Living Well Is the Best Revenge” is a perfect example, it’s all momentum and “rock,” but it lacks a hook. Still, songs like “Hollow Man” and especially “Until the Day Is Done” makes up for a lot.
Inspirational Moment: The awesomely stupid, organ-driven, “non-album” song “Redhead Walking,” and Michael Stipe singing “ow that hurt” after a particularly nasty growl.
Links: “Until the Day is Done”
4. Sloan, “Parallel Play”
After releasing a 30-song masterpiece “Never Hear the End of It” last year, it isn’t too surprising that the brief (35-ish minutes) of “Parallel Play” feels somewhat slight. But it really isn’t a lesser effort so much as just a… smaller, more condensed one. It’s still full of big hooks, authorized and sung by all four members of the band, which gives it a feeling of four slightly different bands with one single mission: to burrow hooks in your head. And really, what’s wrong with that?
Inspirational Moment: “I don’t want no police creeping ‘round my front door” from “Emergency 911” is probably the funniest thing from the whitest bunch of Canadians in rock.
Links: “Believe in Me”
3. Supergrass, “Diamond Hoo Ha”
If pressed, I’ll argue that Supergrass’s “In It for the Money” is one of the 10 best pop records of all time. Seriously. While “Diamond Hoo Ha” isn’t close to that level, it’s still a cheerfully glammed up piece of pop. “Bad Blood” and “Rebel in You” are full of swagger and cranked up guitars, “Ghost of a Friend” has a chorus that sounds oddly Dylan-esque in its vocal phrasing, “Whiskey & Green Tea” is a kitchen sink of blasting brass and a killer chorus, “Outside” has its fantastic “doo doo doo doo doo” chorus, and “The Return of…” has a weird soft-jazz vibe. It’s a bit of a mess, but its giddy highs are well worth sorting through the occasional clunkers.
Inspirational Moment: Gaz Coombes’s “bite me!” in the gloriously stupid “Diamond Hoo Ha Man.” It also features some serious fuzz—and some Led Zeppelin, “Moby Dick”-style riffage—that even Jack White might respect.
Links: “Diamond Hoo Ha”, “Bad Blood”
2. The Raconteurs, “Consolers of the Lonely”
Speaking of Jack White, it’s easy to dismiss The Raconteurs as being a dumping ground for the weaker material from Mr. White and Brendan Benson. Like their first record, it took me a while to warm to the songs on “Consolers of the Lonely.” But it’s a grower, not a shower, and the longer I stuck with it, the more I began to dig it. Unlike their self-titled debut, the singles aren’t necessarily the songs that grab you. The messy “Salute Your Solution” is pretty workmanlike, but the record really takes off with the country-ish “Old Enough.” And then it gets much, much weirder with songs like “The Switch and the Spur,” “Carolina Drama,” and a superb cover of “Rich Kid Blues.”
Inspirational Moment: The killer fuzz bass on “Attention.”
Links: None, because Warner Bros. sucks. Boo.
And, without further ado, here’s numero uno:
1. Sons and Daughters, “This Gift”
If the biggest criticism of a record is that it’s a bit one-dimensionally in the red, you’re not doing that bad. I bought this in February or so, but it sort of sat around until Bill Abner told me I should be listening to it. At which point I was like, “yeah, that’s great. Wait, I own this.”
From the killer opener “Gilt Complex” to the equally killer closer “Goodbye Service,” this is one, er, killer record. You’d think the band was all about singer Adele Bethel, since her unapologetically Glasgow-accented vocals dominate, but it’s really a full band effort. The guitars slash and burn, the bass pulses, and the drums pound. It’s totally rockin’ throughout, assuming you have a passion for fuzz and reverb. (And really, who doesn’t?)
“Gilt Complex” is one of the year’s best singles, from its guitar riff to its vocals, but it’s surpassed in quality by the reverb-drenched and dramatic “The Nest,” which sounds positively wicked. Relatively straight-up rockers like “Rebel With The Ghost” and “House in My Head” still sound distinctive, and the twin “ahoos” from guitarist Scott Paterson and Bethel in “This Gift” sound positively X-like. (Though in a nice twist, it’s the woman with the better voice, though they compliment each other perfectly and generate some interesting dynamics. This band does more with simple but distinctive male background “ooh ahhs” and “whoa ohhhs” throughout.) “Darling” sounds like the love child of “Town Called Malice,” while the fuzzed out and trebly “Flags” just rocks.
Since previous Sons and Daughters records were more folk-y and even country-like, it’ll be interesting to see where they go from here. The quiet break in “Goodbye Service” is a good sign, perhaps giving a glimpse at a future where the band lets all of its elements and influences intermingle a bit more.
Inspirational Moment: The “Gilt Complex” video (linked below), where I fell madly in love with Adele Bethel the moment she started singing (with those eyes looking up)… and then she killed me again at the “avarice is all that he’s made of” part of the chorus when she smiles and sort of crinkles her nose. Is it just me, or does she look like a glammed up Lucy Lawless in the video?
Links: “Gilt Complex”, “This Gift”, “Darling”, “The Nest” (live)
December 30th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Finally! A substantive update full of the usual neat music.
Yes, she does look like Lucy Lawless.
December 31st, 2008 at 3:13 pm
“The opener, ‘Living Well Is the Best Revenge’ is a perfect example, it’s all momentum and ‘rock,’ but it lacks a hook.”
The chorus has been running through my head since I first heard it, so I obviously find it pretty catchy. And Stipe hasn’t sounded so defiant in ages (”The gospel according to WHO?”). If this had been one of the “Accelerate” tracks released for Guitar Hero, I might have been forced to reconsider my Rock Band snobbery.
I was initially disappointed with the album because of the preliminary buzz and my raised expectations. Once I judged it on its own merits, I found it to be an above average effort from the post-Berry line up (especially given their last release, the underwhelming “Around the Sun”).
Standouts: “Until the Day Is Done” and the strangely annoying-yet-addictive pair of “Horse to Water” and “I’m Gonna DJ.”
I always enjoy these posts, Steve, because I don’t keep up on music as much as wife does, so I get to surprise her when I recommend a track or a band. Looks like it’s going to be “This Gift” this time.
December 31st, 2008 at 3:25 pm
I just think the chorus lacks the pop hook that REM usually infuses in its best songs. It’s OK, just not as good as some of the rockier tunes on, say, New Adventures in Hi-Fi (which I find to be one of their best records, and it’s generally considered a “meh” one).
And dude, what’s the deal with the fact that I get tons of hits looking for “Justin Fletcher” and “Justin Fletcher’s wife?” It’s weird, man.
December 31st, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Yep. I am that good. Need to get that Crooked Fingers record though.
December 31st, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Completely agree on New Adventures in Hi-Fi. I know everyone loves Automatic for the People, but Hi-Fi has always edged it out in my book for best post-IRS, pre-trio album.
As for searching for my wife, lord knows it took *me* long enough to find her, so I don’t begrudge others. At least we’ve moved on from last year’s hits for “Justin Fletcher gay.”
December 31st, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Now don’t go nuts and imply it’s better than Automatic for the People, because that’s just crazy talk. I’m one of those people that thinks Automatic is probably their best thing evar… hell, the last two songs alone are their prettiest music and melodies.
December 31st, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Et tu, Steve? And here I thought I was no longer alone in this cold, hard world.
Automatic clearly has some of their best songs. The list is topped by “Nightswimming” and “Find the River,” with “Sweetness Follows” and “Try Not to Breathe” making strong showings. Even “Everybody Hurts” has survived nearly terminal overexposure thanks to its gentle melody and swelling strings.
But the rest of the album has never done anything for me, thanks to toothless tunes and cloying lyrics. Exhibit A: “Man on the Moon”. “Ignoreland” sounds like a watered down Document track, while “The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite” is Automatic’s “Shiny Happy People” minus the irony. The sparse music of “Drive” almost clicks, but, man, the words and delivery? Excruciating.
I have a fondness for “Monty Got a Raw Deal” and “Star Me Kitten,” but neither are top tier stuff. Maybe if half the album wasn’t so brilliant, I’d have less of a problem with the rest being so-so.
For me, there’s so much more going on with Hi-Fi. There’s a greater variety of music, sure, but it’s more than just that. Every song feels like a fusion of the energy of the “youthful” R.E.M. with the strength and maturity of the “adult” R.E.M.. Nothing quite rivals the best of Automatic (though “Electrolite” comes close) but the overall package is stronger.
January 1st, 2009 at 2:09 am
I don’t disagree with any of that, it’s just that the highs of the tunes you mention elevate it above even the best songs on other, more even CDs.
But I wouldn’t argue that too strongly, mind you. Some days, I might make a case that Life’s Rich Pageant works best for me.
January 1st, 2009 at 10:48 am
See? We (almost) agree again, because I think LRP is their best album, period.
“EB-o-NEE and I-vo-REE…”
February 3rd, 2009 at 6:21 pm
This is the first time I’ve ever seen anyone give “Find The River” the credit it deserves. Best R.E.M. song, easily, for me.
Also, the lack of Deerhunter on this list is…sad.