So another year, another bunch of albums. As always, it was hard to decide where to rank everything, and if I were to re-assess this list in 6 months time, it would probably be completely different, but then, that's the game innit? So now, here are my top ten albums of 2008:-
1) Portishead- 3rd : After 10 years away, they've delivered a fantastic set of post-punk influenced tunes, still blowing my away after 8 or so months of living with it. Top Stuff
2) You Am I - Dilettantes : Tim Rogers is in a rich vein of song writing form, this being the 3rd brilliant record he's been responsible for writing in as many years.
3) Radiohead - In Rainbows : Yes, I know the songs were released online in 2007, but they were only physically released on January 1st 2008, so it makes the list. A real return to form too.
4) Sloan - Parallel Play : Canada's finest purveyors of power pop goodness. My surprise of the year.....not that it was this good, but that after releasing the marathon effort that was 2007s Never Hear The End Of It, I'm shocked they had songs left over to record.
5) HDU - Metamathics : This has grown on me over the year. After not being blown away initially, having seen them play this stuff live, it all makes sense now.
6) Mogwai - The Hawk Is Howling : A real return to form from these Scottish post-rockers, rather than (over)reacting to their previous albums, they've just gone out and created a masterpiece.
7) The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age Of The Understatement : A rather awesome collection of 60s influenced pop gems.
8) Fleet Foxes - S/T : A late discovery, could possibly have made it higher up the list with a bit more time to digest this album.
9) Sam F. Scott and the Bunnys on Ponys - Straight Answer Machine : Lovely indie pop gems, well played by some of the biggest and brightest names in the Wellington indie scene.
10) The Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride : While not hittin the heights of previous efforts, there are still some great tunes on this album.
There you have it. Unlucky to miss out were albums by Brian Wilson, Mudhoney and School of Language, with albums that, while having their pleasures, were good rather than great.
On the other hand, the latest efforts by Wire and The Futureheads were highly anticipated on my part and turned out to be rather disappointing (tho The Futureheads album featured 3 fantastic singles it must be said)
STAY TUNED FOR MY TOP TEN SONGS AND GIGS OF 2008
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Brandy is not a fruit
Building on 2006 return to form Convicts, Aussie rock 'n' roll legends You Am I have return with a new album, Deletantes. An album that is not as rough around the edges as some previous releases, it has a lot in common with lead singer Tim Rogers last solo album, 2007s Luxury Of Hysteria, some of the songs having a somewhat floaty, almost psychedelic feel to them.
The album opens with the title track, which certainly epitomises this floaty, swelling approach, starting with acoustic guitar and building to a massive climax. This slow build approach continues through the next 2 songs, before we finally get one of You Am I's trademark rockers, Frightfully Moderne (Chorus - You Ain't Seen The Best Of Us Yet). Continuing with the fun glam rock action of Wankers, the album delivers tune after tune of You Am I goodness, with honest to goodness rockers mingling with lovely ballads, and in Giving Up and Getting Fat, what sounds like an anti music industry rant. Hell, Tim even half-raps on stand out tune The Big Wheel. The momentum threatens to drop off towards the end of the album, before they close things off with The Piano Up The Tree, a perfect album closer, all swelling and anthemic. Damn this album is good!!!
The album opens with the title track, which certainly epitomises this floaty, swelling approach, starting with acoustic guitar and building to a massive climax. This slow build approach continues through the next 2 songs, before we finally get one of You Am I's trademark rockers, Frightfully Moderne (Chorus - You Ain't Seen The Best Of Us Yet). Continuing with the fun glam rock action of Wankers, the album delivers tune after tune of You Am I goodness, with honest to goodness rockers mingling with lovely ballads, and in Giving Up and Getting Fat, what sounds like an anti music industry rant. Hell, Tim even half-raps on stand out tune The Big Wheel. The momentum threatens to drop off towards the end of the album, before they close things off with The Piano Up The Tree, a perfect album closer, all swelling and anthemic. Damn this album is good!!!
Its been a while
Portishead were one of those bands for me that came along at a crucial point in my life and will always remind me of that time. So I was quite excited when news surfaced that after about 10 years, Portishead were about to finally release a new album, entitled 3rd. Now, before I go on, a disclaimer of sorts. Despite having the album since pretty much the day it was released, I've been incredibly reluctant to actually review it, the thought of thinking about it in a critical fashion almost too much to fathom. But here we are.
First off, while 3rd shares DNA with Portisheads previous two albums, there are some important differences. The first difference is the distinct lack of film score samples used. While the album retains that noir-ish soundtracky quality the band were famous for (opening tune Silence sounds like the theme tune to a really cool spy film), they're not relying on other peoples work to achieve this.
The other major difference is just how post-punk the album sounds. Its all quite angular really, with lots of harsh sounds and abrupt shifts during the songs. Hunter is a perfect example in many ways. It grooves along quite languidly, in no real hurry, and then, without warning, a harsh, abrasive keyboard riff spoils the mood in the best way possible, before returning from whence it came and the song resuming its languid pace.
A personal favourite of mine is The Rip, a song that just builds and builds and builds, gorgeous. And then in the middle of the album, there is a 3 song run that just leaves me for dead, with We Carry On (where the band invoke Flowers Of Romance era PIL). into the ukulele led Deep Water with its oldtimey feel, then the albums startling 1st single, Machine Gun, which is all drum machines, vocals and stabby synths.
This album really does live up to the hype, sensational.
First off, while 3rd shares DNA with Portisheads previous two albums, there are some important differences. The first difference is the distinct lack of film score samples used. While the album retains that noir-ish soundtracky quality the band were famous for (opening tune Silence sounds like the theme tune to a really cool spy film), they're not relying on other peoples work to achieve this.
The other major difference is just how post-punk the album sounds. Its all quite angular really, with lots of harsh sounds and abrupt shifts during the songs. Hunter is a perfect example in many ways. It grooves along quite languidly, in no real hurry, and then, without warning, a harsh, abrasive keyboard riff spoils the mood in the best way possible, before returning from whence it came and the song resuming its languid pace.
A personal favourite of mine is The Rip, a song that just builds and builds and builds, gorgeous. And then in the middle of the album, there is a 3 song run that just leaves me for dead, with We Carry On (where the band invoke Flowers Of Romance era PIL). into the ukulele led Deep Water with its oldtimey feel, then the albums startling 1st single, Machine Gun, which is all drum machines, vocals and stabby synths.
This album really does live up to the hype, sensational.
When Things Are Spliting At The Seams
My my, haven't Sub Pop been experiencing a renaissance as of late, with great record after great record coming out and actually being noticed, thanks to a certain film and a certain comment about how a certain Sub Pop band will change yr life. And here is another. In late 2007, Band Of Horses released their 2nd LP, Cease To Begin, tho I didn't actually discover it until the middle of 2008, when the opening tune from the album, Is There A Ghost In My House, started getting a large amount of airtime on ALT TV. This song is fairly typical of the album as a whole, with a wide screen cinematic feel somewhat reminiscent of fellow Sub Pop group The Shins(as referenced earlier in this post). In particular, both bands feature vocalists that sing in a particularly keening fashion. 2nd single No Ones Gonna Love You More Than I Do is a particular stand out for me, with keening vocals in full effect, plus a gorgeous chiming guitar and organ underpinning the song quite nicely thank you very much. Other songs on the album betray the influence of the Beach Boys, tho on The General Specific, this influence is balanced out with some nice countryish touches.
Side 2 opens with a cool little instrumental piece called Lamb On The Lam (In The City), before Islands On The Coast kicks things up a notch, upping the tempo with a riff that wouldn't be out of place on a Wolfmother album. And later on, just when you could be getting a touch sick of the chiming guitars, along comes Marry Song, with its electric piano and country style vocal harmonies.
All in all, an amazing album and one of my favourites of the past year or so.
Side 2 opens with a cool little instrumental piece called Lamb On The Lam (In The City), before Islands On The Coast kicks things up a notch, upping the tempo with a riff that wouldn't be out of place on a Wolfmother album. And later on, just when you could be getting a touch sick of the chiming guitars, along comes Marry Song, with its electric piano and country style vocal harmonies.
All in all, an amazing album and one of my favourites of the past year or so.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)