As promised, here is my year-end list of the best music from the past year. I listened to more new music this year than in previous years, thanks to a couple of great offers from eMusic and the essential NoiseTrade.com. So much so, in fact, that I couldn’t limit myself to only ten albums for this post. So I give you my Top Twelve, an album for each month. My rules for this list are simple: the album had to be released in 2008 to qualify. I always fall in love with plenty of “back catalog” material during the course of a given year, but this list is strictly 2008 music. The same will apply to my Top Ten Songs post, which I’ll make tomorrow.
One caveat: every year there’s a December release that I’ve been anticipating that I simply don’t have time to digest before I make this post. Last year it was Radiohead’s In Rainbows; this year, it’s Keane’s Perfect Symmetry. I love what I’ve heard of the Keane album so far, so there’s a chance it could crack the list after I give it a couple of thorough listens.
I also have to make this comment before getting into the list: last year, I was pretty much sold on Michael McDermott’s beautiful Noise From Words as my album of the year from the moment I first listened to it. But over the last 12 months, the essential album for me from 2007 would have to be Emotionalism by The Avett Brothers. I had it ranked on my list last year, but Emotionalism is the classic example of an album that continued to grow on me to the point that I would now rank it as one of my favorites of all-time. The point is, these lists are fluid and I reserve the right to make certain amendments to them from time to time.
12. Micah Dalton, Pawnshop
Dalton was one of my first NoiseTrade finds. Paste refers to him as “an earthier, cleverer Ben Harper”; others compare him to Paul Simon or Donnie Hathaway. The truth is this Atlanta-based singer-songwriter is an amalgam of diverse sounds, from acoustic pop to gospel to soulful R&B. With Pawnshop, Dalton goes for the gusto; the album is a short story told in twelve vignettes, each song forming another chapter in the tapestry Dalton weaves. I’m not sure if you can still find this one on NoiseTrade; if not, this is a link to his MySpace. Top Tracks: We Came Alive Tonight, Grandest Prize
11. Old Crow Medicine Show, Tennessee Pusher
I’ve been an Old Crow fan since my good buddy Taylor first introduced them to me a few years ago. I was soon taken in by their artistry; OCMS has long been known for their “old timey” sound, which has been described as roots music with a rock and roll attitude. After falling in love with Wagon Wheel, Big Time in the Jungle, and James River Blues (to name just a few), my expectations were high for this new set of songs. It was hard not to be a little disappointed in this Don Was-production; it lacked the immediate fury and zest of previous Old Crow records. But continued playing has allowed me to hear this album on its own merit. It’s a really solid recording, and in many ways I think the band demonstrates a more mature, restrained sound which, although it surely disappointed fans who wanted more “barn-burners”, suits the band just fine in my opinion. Top Tracks: Caroline, That Evening Sun
10. Langhorne Slim, Langhorne Slim
It’s a testimony to the strength of this list that this album ranks this low. eMusic identifies this Brooklyn-based folker as a mixture of The Cramps, Beck’s early indie recordings, and the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack. He’s definitely quirky and I imagine his voice grates on plenty of people’s nerves, but I love his sound. You can get all of his stuff on eMusic. Top Tracks: Spinning Compass, Worries
9. Sheryl Crow, Detours
I used to have a thing about listening to female artists. Don’t ask me why, I just never found anybody I really liked listening to. Except for Sheryl Crow. For 10 or 12 years, I’ve followed her career and I usually love everything she puts out. This album was no exception; just really solid singer-songwriter stuff infused with her own unique style. Top Tracks: Detours, Now That You’re Gone
8. Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend
It makes no sense to me why I like this music. But I do. I first heard of these New York rockers earlier in the year and declared them to faddish for me. Part Afro-pop, part 80’s new wave, part classical strings, part frat boy garage band…like I said, it makes no sense why I would like these guys. But this debut is awesome. Mansard Roof has become my kids’ favorite song; they love to hold hands and dance around the room while it plays over the speakers in our living room. For that reason alone, it makes my list. Oh yeah, the rest of the album is pretty good, too. Top Tracks: Mansard Roof, M79
7. Jakob Dylan, Seeing Things
Plenty of singer-songwriters on this list. Bob’s son makes the successful shift from band frontman to solo performer with this solid batch of acoustic tunes aided by uber-producer Rick Rubin. While I’d love for The Wallflowers to get back together sometime soon, it’s good to know that we won’t miss out on Jakob Dylan’s artistry in the meantime. This set is pretty low key, but its understated tone imbues it with an intimacy that just works. All I can say is that these songs sounded familiar the first time I listened to them; and I mean that as a compliment. Top Tracks: I Told You I Couldn’t Stop, On Up the Mountain
6. Matthew Barber, Ghost Notes
These next two albums are pretty much interchangeable for me. Barber was an eMusic recommendation from Scott and Greg. I have to say, I wasn’t disappointed. A Canadian singer-songwriter, Barber sings with a smooth, mellow voice and Ghost Notes is the culmination of nearly two years worth of writing and demoing. In that regard, much like Ryan Adams’ latest effort (which makes an appearance later in the list), Ghost Notes proves the axiom of quality over quantity. While And You Give is getting a lot of play for Barber these days, in my opinion the Top Tracks on this album are Our Voices, Where the River Bends, and Easily Bruised.
5. Brett Dennen, Hope For The Hopeless
Yet another eMusic download, Dennen’s latest is a little more accessible and a little less political than his previous stuff. That’ll probably serve him well as he gears up for a 3 month U.S. tour at the start of 2009. Identified as one of Rolling Stones “10 Artists to Watch”, Dennen, with his groovy SoCal vibe, is on the verge of a major breakout. Top Tracks: Make You Crazy, World Keeps Turning, Heaven
4. Ryan Adams & the Cardinals, Cardinology
I’ve liked most of what Adams has put out over the years. But even for an ardent fan like me, it was easy to see that putting out 3 full-length albums in 2005 was not a good idea. The years since have seen Adams slow down his output dramatically and with Cardinology, he finally seems to have put out the record we’ve all been waiting for. First of all, the band sounds great; the pedal steel, the guitars, the pianos…it all works here. And the songs shine with a classic-rock sound that effortlessly transitions from Tex-Mex to garage rock to piano ballad and back again. Simply put, Ryan Adams has never sounded better. I love this record. Top Tracks: Let Us Down Easy, Born Into A Light, Go Easy
3. Mark Erelli, Delivered
Erelli’s disc has the potential to rise up the list because, like the Avett Brothers from last year, it just keeps getting better and better with each listen. Writing from the perspective of becoming a new father, Erelli crafts a compelling record of deliverance: he underscores both the things we are delivered from and the new circumstances we find ourselves in on the other side of that deliverance. Man of the Family is an especially powerful song to me; the protagonist welcomes his new child into the world at the same time as the child’s grandfather is passing away. The refrain that haunts me from the song: there’s a little voice inside you / saying you ain’t paid your dues / you ain’t big enough to fill the old man’s shoes. I remember feeling a bit of that same sentiment as my Grandfather passed away just a few weeks before Jackson was born. I love how Erelli articulates the dynamic between fathers and sons; I’m always a sucker for that stuff. But there are plenty of other quality tunes on this record, too – notably Volunteers, a heart-breaking song that bemoans those who pay a high price for the warmongering of empire. If you’ve never listened to any of Erelli’s stuff, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of this one. Top Tracks: Man of the Family, Delivered, Hope Dies Last, Volunteers
2. The Gabe Dixon Band, The Gabe Dixon Band
This was the only album to seriously vie for the top spot other than Coldplay. If you’ve never heard The Gabe Dixon Band, they’re like Ben Folds Five without the swearing. Piano-driven rock is their forte, and their sound hearkens back to the sounds of Elton John and Billy Joel in the late 1970’s. I’ve been listening to All Will Be Well from the Live at the World Cafe EP for a year or so, but I never knew they released this full length album until I found them on eMusic. In my opinion, these guys are one Grey’s Anatomy closing credits montage away from superstardom. Get on the train now, folks. You won’t regret it. Top Tracks: Five More Hours, All Will Be Well, Baby Doll, Till You’re Gone, Disappear
1. Coldplay, Viva la Vida
It’s either love ’em or hate ’em when it comes to Coldplay. But you can count me squarely in the former camp. No album received as much airplay around here this year as Coldplay’s stellar Viva la Vida. During the summer months, I pretty much had this record on nonstop. I always look forward to any Coldplay release, but I was even more stoked when I heard that Brian Eno would be bringing his hefty credentials to Viva la Vida. A more globally-influenced sound, Chris Martin’s experimentation with his lower register, rumors of delays in production…there was plenty that could’ve gone wrong with this album. But these risks and the extended production time paid exponential dividends as Coldplay expanded their sound and Viva became the most legally downloaded album ever. Some critics want to knock it for its universal themes, but personally, I think that’s one of the album’s strengths. The tribal drum beat of Lost!; the rhythmic thump of Violet Hill; the lilting harmony of Strawberry Swing; the Bono-esque quality of Lovers in Japan; I could trot out proof after proof of the epic nature of this album. Even the leftover songs that didn’t make the album comprise a quality EP in Prospekt’s March. Like I said, you either love ’em or hate ’em. I’ve been lovin’ this one all year and it’s no surprise it ranks out as my Album of the Year. Top Tracks: Viva la Vida, Violet Hill, Lost, Strawberry Swing, Lovers in Japan / Reign of Love
already & not yet 