Albums in 2008

[MarkGrace]

Geez, I am now realizing that I also left off Made in the Dark by Hot Chip. What a terrible list.

I suppose that I should also mention that EP's were not ranked, despite the fact that there were some great ones from The National, Fleet Foxes (which really felt like an extension of their album) and Animal Collective.

MG--how in the world do you find time (and money) to buy 50 new albums in 2008? I'm not sure I've bought that many in the last ten years.

I guess neither is really a major issue. Time I have plenty of. I listen to records while I study, at the gym, at home, driving, etc. Money I have less of, but I have an emusic account that for $15 a month gets me 50 song downloads -- usually about four albums a month. Unfortunately emusic doesn't carry some labels I really like (the main one being Sub Pop), so I usually buy an album or two per month or will pick up new stuff at the library. The biggest challenge this year was that I ran out of space on my HD and didn't get anything new over the last two months. Sucks.

I recognized 3 or 4 of the bands. What genres are these?

Um...all over I guess. There's some rock, pop, dubstep, electronica, techno, trip-hop (though Portishead is not so trip-hoppy anymore), dancehall, disco-ish, country-ish, punk-ish, etc. The only genre I don't really listen to much of is hip-hop. Not sure why, since I used to love hip-hip, but the only artists in that genre that I really keep track of these days are Clipse, Jay-Z and Madvilllian (MF Doom and Madlib). But none of them put anything out this year.

Icicle Works, Prefab Sprout

I've never heard of either.

My tastes run more to folk/pop.

I know you like She & Him, Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes, but there's some other folky/pop stuff in there. The Dodos, Grand Archives, Okkervil River (my suggestion on them would be last year's The Stage Names), Jenny Lewis (a bit more so on her last album Rabbit Fur Coat), Mount Eerie, et al. Though Mt. Eerie used to go by the name of The Microphones, and some of his best work is under that banner. The Glow Pt. 2 is among my favorite albums of the decade.

Are you a critic of some kind? Just a very eclectic mix to be exposed to.

Only on CUF

I forgive you for not checking out the new Anathallo yet, but it's really you that's losing out.

I had it in my "saved for later" file on emusic but ran into the memory issues mentioned above. I'll try and check it out in January.

[Surfah]

UtahDan, Mark Grace do you like Lobelia Sound? Tom reminds me of Fleet Foxes a bit. I don't think they have ever signed with a label. Most of their stuff is on the internet though.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/defa...?bandID=645621

Youtube, has plenty of stuff from them as well.

[jay santos]

Ok, I'll put a list together and have it up by Tuesday evening.

Cool. I'd like to see that too.

[SteelBlue]

Kind of fun to compare MG's list to these year end lists.

http://www.metacritic.com/music/bests/2008.shtml

[YOhio]

Nice work MG. Triple Dad turned me on to Fleet Foxes (among other things) and I agree with your assessment. That was a great album.

[cougjunkie]

I am guessing all 50 of those albums combined sold less than Britney Spears new album or the Jonas Brothers.

Shows what you know about music.

[MarkGrace]

I did want to hear Britney's new album. I'm a fan and really liked her last one.

[TripletDaddy]

I did want to hear Britney's new album. I'm a fan and really liked her last one.

Circus isn't bad, actually. And she looks very much improved in many of the promo pics.

The funny thing about junkie's comment re: sales....he is correct. Those 2 albums probably outsold the majority of the 50 on your list.

Conversely, if you pick any ONE of the albums on your list, at least those artists played their instruments and wrote their songs. Do any of these pop monstrosities ever learn to play an instrument? Do they Jonas Brothers play their own instruments? I honestly don't know. For all the crap that Hansen received, at least the kids could play the guitar, keys, and drums.

[cougjunkie]

Circus isn't bad, actually. And she looks very much improved in many of the promo pics.

The funny thing about junkie's comment re: sales....he is correct. Those 2 albums probably outsold the majority of the 50 on your list.

Conversely, if you pick any ONE of the albums on your list, at least those artists played their instruments and wrote their songs. Do any of these pop monstrosities ever learn to play an instrument? Do they Jonas Brothers play their own instruments? I honestly don't know. For all the crap that Hansen received, at least the kids could play the guitar, keys, and drums.

Jonas brothers are the new Hansen, they actually play their own instruments, they have long floppy hair, and the unintentional comedy of their songs are at an all time high.

[MarkGrace]

Circus isn't bad, actually. And she looks very much improved in many of the promo pics.

I thought her last CD was awesome. Her voice is thin, but it's a first-rate dance album with great beats and production. Of course none of that credit should really go to her.

[TripletDaddy]

I thought her last CD was awesome. Her voice is thin, but it's a first-rate dance album with great beats and production. Of course none of that credit should really go to her.

I think of all the pop princesses, Britney puts out the most listenable trash. Although that is because Christina Aguilera stopped making music and decided to grow massive breasts for Jordan Bratman. Before X-tina was drugged into sleeping with The Human Sasquatch, I thought she had the best pipes in that genre.

Suckas such as Blowhan, Duff, Jessica Simpson, et al....need not apply. Lousy voice AND crappy beats.

Ashlee Simpson gets a pass because she suffers from acid reflux.......AH AH AH....YOU MAKE ME WANT TO.....SCREEEEEAM!

PS confession....paris hilton's disc shockingly did not make me want to stab out my eyeballs

[Donuthole]

For all the crap that Hansen received, at least the kids could play the guitar, keys, and drums.

Yet they still don't get the simple respect of having their name spelled correctly. Nevertheless, I am hereby proclaiming December 31 as Hanson day on CUF. In celebration, I give you this video.

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[TripletDaddy]

Yet they still don't get the simple respect of having their name spelled correctly. Nevertheless, I am hereby proclaiming December 31 as Hanson day on CUF. In celebration, I give you this video.

[youtube]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/C2610_I066I&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/C2610_I066I&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/youtube]

I wasn't talking about the mmmbop kids. I was talking about LDS musician Mark Hansen.

http://markhansenmusic.com/

[SteelBlue]

Thanks for the list MG, downloaded the Vampire Weekend cd and much of the Santogold disc as well. Also grabbed some MGMT and Frightened Rabbit both of which I'd heard on NPR's best albums of the first half of 2008 broadcast a while back.

[Surfah]

Thanks for the list MG, downloaded the Vampire Weekend cd and much of the Santogold disc as well. Also grabbed some MGMT and Frightened Rabbit both of which I'd heard on NPR's best albums of the first half of 2008 broadcast a while back.

Yeah time to hit the torrents. I am way behind on music.