Best albums of 2008

[Cabman]

i really enjoyed Stay positive by the Hold Steady, it would have to be my favorite of this year

 

[Glalie]

Hey let's keep telling people how stupid they are for liking something I don't!!

Belle and Sebastian - BBC Sessions
Kaiser Chiefs - Off With Their Heads

Whoever mentioned Lil'Wayne too, forgot that was this year, great album.

 

[Bam]

Sleep Through the Static - Jack Johnson
Indestructible - Disturbed

Honestly those are the only full CDs I've bought this year that came out in '08, but I've downloaded a lot of individual songs released this year. Sleep Through the Static is one of my top favorite albums, and Indestructible was a pretty decent CD, although I only found four tracks that I really liked..the others were just decent or meh.

 

[Age of Kings]

As my avatar kind of suggests, 15 Years of Thunderdome was a simply awesome collection.

h.IV, Havoc Unit's debut, was also excellent.

 

[DeLorean]

Santogold's album was actually pretty good, think M.I.A, except not terrible.

I brought Day & Age the other day as well; pretty solid stuff.

My favorite album for this year would have to be Made in the Dark, by hot chip. That was a highlight.

I agree with hip, though. Not many great albums out this year.

 

[Gorgoroth]

Blooddrunk and Incurable Tragedy are pretty terrible vocally and songwriting-wise. Not heard any of the others, though I doubt I would like Malmsteen or Eluveitie.

Which is why I put (Meh) next to Blooddrunk because it really isn't a good album I just haven't found much else this year. I guess it didn't deserve to be in best of 08 lol.

As for Incurable Tradegy besides the forced attempt of the concept and seemingly random song structures I thought it had some good hits like Diagnosis Terminal, Tides of Blood, and Black Light ending.

Eluveitie is folk metal and how have you not heard of Yngwie Malmsteen? Anything In Flames puts out now should be ignored.

 

[Truthi]

For me the new The Sea and the Cake album delivered.
The Sea and the Cake - Car Alarms

Sounded like standard fare for them but it had some tracks I really liked. Aerial was a very solid opener, A Fuller Moon was a typical song by them, for CMS I liked the electronic bit.

Car Alarm is a fast pace enjoyable song, but one of there bigger hits, Weekend, is very good. Opens with acoustic and a bass deal in the backround, drums come rolling in, then an electric crazy beat, vocals, then the electronics go nuts. It's very solid.

But my new favorite song from this album is Window Sills, it's got its catchy parts, and I don't know how to describe them either....

That's the main release I was excited for I guess, although The Gutter Twins is worth a mention, as a combination of Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan is always awesome.

 

[matty]

Girl Talk - Feed the Animals
Easily my most played album of the year, mind blowing mash-up and I got to see him live which was the cherry on the top

The Hood Internet - The Mixtape Volumes 2 and 3
Whoa, another amazing great addition to the mashup world. These guys rip it up

Wale - Mixtape About Nothin'
DC rapper who produces an entire mixtape based on Seinfield (what...?) It's pretty cool and has its moments.

Coldplay - Viva La Vida or Death
Solid record, still prefer Parachutes

Block Party - Intimacy
Another solid record, but I still prefer Silent Alarm

Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs
Many people only recognize the singles, but honestly the entire album was well produced and probably wasn't given the credit it deserves

Weezer - Red Album
Yee Weezer (except for the fact that you keep selling out)

 

[jumpluff]

crystal castles crystal castles

only one who mentioned this was altmer =[ gouki, where are you? this was an amazing debut imo, some of the tracks are a bit too abrasive, but it's a great glitchy electro rave record, and haunting too. a huge plus is also that the vocalist, alice glass, gives off a massive karen o [yeah yeah yeahs] vibe without being a cheap substitute.

hot chip made in the dark

more solid electro, really nice, i think it's probably better than their previous release, the warning

does it offend you, yeah? you have no idea what you're getting yourself into

more british danceypunkey shit, it's pretty fun to listen to. speaking of which, i'll give honourable mention to hadouken!'s music for an accelerated culture, which has some p. good songs. and the new sigur rós, although nothing will top takk.

other shit i hear is good so i mean to look into:
the new a silver mt. zion
fleet foxes
mogwai's new album
stations by russian circles
stand ins by okkervil river
portishead
the new of montreal [had no idea they released something this year lol o_O]
^ goes for tv on the radio

this was an OK year but i think 2007 had some better stuff released. nothing except CC really grabbed me the way, say, 65dos', Pelican's, and Do Make Say Think's releases did.

My favorite album for this year would have to be Made in the Dark, by hot chip. That was a highlight.

that is so great

eta: irrelevantly enough, i suppose, some stuff i'm anticipating greatly from '09, which i hope will be a stunning year to make up for this one's lacklustreness: animal collective, metric, radiohead

 

[The Planck Constant]

In no particular order, the albums I've personally enjoyed most are as follows:

Destroyer - Trouble in Dreams
Islands - Arm's Way
Kaiser Chiefs - Off With Their Heads
Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping (Going to see them in Asheville, NC on January 4th. Anyone else going?)
Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust

I want to put Human Highway's Moody Motorcycle on the list, but I haven't really listened to enough of it to make a strong judgment yet. So far, it just seems like the Islands album Return to the Sea, with a bit more folk.

 

[Echo]

Block Party - Intimacy
Another solid record, but I still prefer Silent Alarm

I used to be a huge fan of Bloc Party until Intimacy. It's shattered more than solid. Halo is the only decent track I could actually enjoy to an extent. But oh well, I suppose I just had my hopes too high.

 

[Altmer]

Which is why I put (Meh) next to Blooddrunk because it really isn't a good album I just haven't found much else this year. I guess it didn't deserve to be in best of 08 lol.

there's loads of good stuff that isn't blooddrunk that could be on there

As for Incurable Tradegy besides the forced attempt of the concept and seemingly random song structures I thought it had some good hits like Diagnosis Terminal, Tides of Blood, and Black Light ending.

didn't like any of those

Eluveitie is folk metal and how have you not heard of Yngwie Malmsteen? Anything In Flames puts out now should be ignored.

I know the names and styles, I just haven't actually listened to the albums.

 

[JTH]

I didn't really like 2008 that much, it had a lot of albums from bands with much better work [see: okkervil river, hold steady, tv on the radio]

Off the top of my head

M83 - Saturdays=Youth
Why? - Alopecia
The Tallest Man On Earth - Shallow Graves
Chad VanGaalem - Soft Airplane [Thought it had a clunker or two]
Ludachrist - Bangfest [Better than Girl Talk, though I just heard this so it might not last]

And Bon Iver was also as good as advertised.

There were some really good songs, but no album has really had me coming back from more aside from some of these.

 

[Wishy]

crystal castles crystal castles

only one who mentioned this was altmer =[ gouki, where are you? this was an amazing debut imo, some of the tracks are a bit too abrasive, but it's a great glitchy electro rave record, and haunting too. a huge plus is also that the vocalist, alice glass, gives off a massive karen o [yeah yeah yeahs] vibe without being a cheap substitute.

I thought it was a pretty great album, but half the time I could barely tell there were supposed to be vocals (Or any at all) ?_?. But anyways, I love the 8-bit fucked up sound. Sadly, none of my friends do!

Has there been any mention of Dear Science by TV on the Radio? Got it as a birthday present and it is a really awesome album from them, just as amazing as Return to Cookie Mountain. Some of the best tracks are Family Tree, Stork and Owl, Red Dress, and Golden Age.

eta: irrelevantly enough, i suppose, some stuff i'm anticipating greatly from '09, which i hope will be a stunning year to make up for this one's lacklustreness: animal collective, metric, radiohead

Have you heard 'Help, I'm alive' yet? @_@

 

[Altmer]

TV on the Radio is a band I hear loads about and have never actually listened to.

 

[havoc]

7. The Ocean And The Sun - The Sound Of Animals Fighting

Good experimental rock band and I really enjoyed this album. Uzbekistan, On The Occasion Of Wet Snow and Another Leather Lung are all great tracks.

This was an ok album, but like all TSOAF albums to me it consisted of:

1. 5ish good-to-really awesome songs (there were 7 on this one)
2. 7-8 "things" that made me feel like my cochlea was run through a cheese grater

Cellophane is my favorite off of that album.

I have only heard like 3-4 albums from 2008:

1. Robyn - s/t
this was probably my favorite of those 3-4 albums. really good pop music. "With Every Heartbeat" has this symphonic string section mixed with electro arpeggios that mesh really well. the lyrics are pretty good, and some are quite hilarious ("Konichiwa Bitches"), but some are boring girly-singalong stuff. The music makes up for it, trumps most electro-pop beats. good surprise, give it a B.

2. Local H - Twelve Angry Months
a breakup album, bar rock style. each song represents a month after a really bitter breakup and the ensuing on-again, off-again romance. it's rockin', but there's a bitterness in the album that's so on-point to me that it makes listening to the whole thing almost uncomfortable. the drawback is that bar rock is usually extremely straightforward, almost to the point of cliché. B-

3. Sound of Animals Fighting - The Ocean and the Sun
it's a bunch of ska/emo guys making experimental/progressive rock, but falls into the same trap a lot of progressive rock does: a bunch of BITCHIN GUITAR SOLOS and electronic garbage that mean absolutely nothing but to grate the nerves. see above. C-, worth checking a few songs out though.

4. Vampire Weekend - self-titled
this album is....ok. it's really nothing special. a bunch of rich white kids making music about...being rich and white, a subject that gets annoying quickly. the big thing is that they use AFRICAN INFLUENCE, man THAT'S never been done before! I liked when white guys did that trick 35 years ago; they were called "The Police." or just listen to Blur's album "Think Tank." C

5. Lil' Wayne - Tha Carter III
really disappointing. "Lollipop" is a horrible song and that alone drags the album down a lot. it's a commercial rap album with a few songs to remind you that, yes, he can be awesome when he WANTS to be. but all he WANTS to do is use Autotune and go "HAHA" every few lines and other dumb stuff solely because he can. C-

that's really all I've heard from 2008. as my ratings show, really not that good.

 

[Haitian]

Wale - Mixtape About Nothin'
DC rapper who produces an entire mixtape based on Seinfield (what...?) It's pretty cool and has its moments.

all of wale's mixtapes were pretty good, but i wouldn't include them in an album thread. glad that someone else here listens to him though.

rap had a bad year, album wise lol. the mixtape game was great as always, but albums were not up to snuff; no classics or anything from what i've seen. so i'm just gonna list stuff i liked, didn't like, and generally meh material.

stuff i liked:
88-keys - the death of adam
statik selektah - stick 2 the script
black milk - tronic
common - universal mind control
scarface - emeritus
nas - untitled
ludacris - theater of the mind
the knux - remind me in 3 days...
johnson&jonson - blu & mainframe are - johnson&jonson
ice cube - raw footage
ghostface killah - the wallabee champ (though not really a full-fledged release, just rarities and b-sides, etc.)
evidence - the layover ep
the roots - rising down
snoop dogg - ego trippin'

the albums i listed are not really underground, just not promoted very well. most of the stuff here doesn't deserve a 4/5 though, so take this with a grain of salt. the best from this list are probably untitled, rising down, and stick 2 the script with an honorable mention going to johnson&jonson.

stuff i that either was bad or just not good:
lil wayne - the carter III
t.i. - paper trail
ll cool j - exit 13
murs - murs for president
rick ross - trilla

carter 3 was just bad. phone home, lollipop, la la, dr. carter, eww. while it did have some decent/good tracks (mr. carter, comfortable, tie my hands, dontgetit, you ain't got nuthin'), half of that is because of his amazing features (jay-z, jadakiss, fabolous, babyface, robin thicke...). lil wayne can rap; drought III and dedication 2 were some good mixtapes that i still listen to. but this album was garbage as a whole.

paper trail just wasn't good. good features, good tracks to sing along to, but lyrically, t.i. is not where it's at.

for someone with so much talent, exit 13 was trash.

murs lol

rick ross lol

albums i still want to listen to:
jake one - white van music
atmosphere - when life gives you lemons, you paint that shit gold
guilty simpson - ode to the ghetto
percee p - perseverance: the remix
fat ray & black milk - the set up
the cool kids - the bake sale
skillz - the million dollar backpack

that's all, folks.

 

[M4GNITUDE]

In no particular order:

Hattin- Crystallion
This band is virtually unknown, but if you are a fan of Dragonforce, or any power metal, check these guys out. It's a very good album. I love the whole idea of it and the way the songs are portrayed. Even the first song "The Ambush" sets a scene for the album. It gives an instromental prologue followed by a short narrative telling of the name of the album, Hattin. That first song then leads to my favorite on the album, Wings of Thunder.

Journey of Souls- Keldian
Ever heard of Keldian? Probably not. They've released an album called "Heaven's Gate" a little while ago. This album is intense. Opening with one of the album's best songs "The Last Frontier", this album keeps the same intensity throughout. The album ends with the songs "Starchild" and "Dreamcatcher" the other two favorite songs on the album. A great Melodic Rock band, Keldian is not to be overlooked.

Ultra Beatdown- Dragonforce

One of my favorite bands, and I just love every song on this album. The guitar solos, the epic lyrics, this album has it all. Even "A Flame for Freedom" slows down the otherwise intense album, but it does not drop the intensity. All around, a great album for Dragonforce fans. Even the three bonus tracks were appealing, with my favorite "Strike of the Ninja", a cover of the song played by their side-project band "Shadow Warriors."

 

[GTS]

"Oracular Spectacular" by MGMT
"Alopecia" by Why?

I was gonna mention these. Is MGMT considered an '08 release, because I think it was on Pitchfork's '08 voting deal.

Girl Talk - Feed the Animals
Easily my most played album of the year, mind blowing mash-up and I got to see him live which was the cherry on the top

Awesome album.

 

[matty]

I used to be a huge fan of Bloc Party until Intimacy. It's shattered more than solid. Halo is the only decent track I could actually enjoy to an extent. But oh well, I suppose I just had my hopes too high.

Ya this is a good point. I liked the album (3 1/2 stars outta 5) but like I keep trying to compare it to Silent Alarm and it just isn't close

all of wale's mixtapes were pretty good, but i wouldn't include them in an album thread. glad that someone else here listens to him though.

eh mixtapes and albums are equivalent since a lot of unsigned rappers can't get others to produce things for them. I still enjoy listening to the entire mixtape though

I was gonna mention these. Is MGMT considered an '08 release, because I think it was on Pitchfork's '08 voting deal.



Awesome album.

Yeee Girl Talk :)

 

[spies]

eta: irrelevantly enough, i suppose, some stuff i'm anticipating greatly from '09, which i hope will be a stunning year to make up for this one's lacklustreness: animal collective, metric, radiohead

the appleseed cast!

 

[Haitian]

eh mixtapes and albums are equivalent since a lot of unsigned rappers can't get others to produce things for them. I still enjoy listening to the entire mixtape though

i respectfully disagree. it's not hard to go in the booth, knock off 20 16's to the most popular beats out there, then get a dj to spin it and call it a mixtape. on that basis, if you are nice lyrically, it's a good mixtape. on an album, you have to pick your own beats, get some singles (if you want commercial success, if not, then this part doesn't apply), get past the a&r and the record company, and be lyrically creative for it to be a good album.

for example: lil wayne can make good mixtapes (drought III, dedication 2, etc), but he has yet to make a good album (carter, carter II, carter III, the block is hot, etc).

 

[extra]

stuff that i liked this year (top 5 i guess, not in any particular order)

Genghis Tron - Board Up The House

Why? - Alopecia

Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles

The Fall Of Troy - Phantom on the Horizon

These Arms Are Snakes - Tail Swallower and Dove

there was something else that i was going to put here instead of phantom on the horizon but i cannot remember what it was.

 

[jumpluff]

the appleseed cast!

they're releasing next year?

holy shit, i had no idea. thank you so much. yeah i'm adding that to the list of highly anticipated records<3

@wishy; you can definitely hear the vocals; they're just blended into the warped 8-bit. like, in knights it actually sounds like crying, and in untrust us it just sounds like blooping, but on closer listening it's pretty obvious :3

also lol a new bloc party release. i liked silent alarm, but a weekend in the city didn't 'do it' for me, so i never bothered with intimacy

eta: oh lol, i thought mgmt released last year. it was decent! i don't know why everyone orgasms over them, but it's fun to listen to.

 

[Evisu]

Emarosa - Relativity

City and Colour - Bring Me Your Love

Anthony Green - Avalon

Just a few off the top of my head.