2008 Album Of The Year (So Far)
Nominations are now open. Rules: Must be music (as defined by me). Must be released in 2008. Must be new material (no live albums, reissues, compilations or movie soundtracks, and especially no remixes). My nominations (in no particular order):
The Raconteurs, Consolers of the Lonely
Augustana, Can’t Love Can’t Hurt
Death Cab For Cutie, Narrow Stairs
Phantom Planet, Raise the Dead
Please submit your nominations (link to a video or a site where we can listen to the album if possible) until 11:59 PM MDT Monday, at which time nominations will close. We will then have some kind of vote, details of which I haven’t figured out yet. Good luck to your favorite bands and please, please, as always: no wagering.
August 02, 2008 in Music | Comments (31)
Of course, we’ll do this again in January, but why wait until then to have all the fun?
Comment by MCQ — August 2, 2008 @ 6:53 pm
Paul Weller – 22 Dreams (really? did you expect anything else??) http://paulweller.com/home.php
Comment by gabby — August 2, 2008 @ 8:00 pm
I’m having a hard time picking best albums as yet; a lot of good choices, but few great ones. But I can say with some confidence that Vampire Weekend is still the worst album of the year that I’ve heard.
Comment by RoastedTomatoes — August 2, 2008 @ 8:15 pm
Waiting for the October release of Snow Patrol’s latest – “A Hundred Million Suns” before I cast my vote.
Comment by Abby — August 2, 2008 @ 8:39 pm
gabby: yeah, I knew. Good nomination though.
RT, I’m glad to hear that someone else is less than thrilled with Vampire Weekend.
Abby: I’m with you, that album will probably be awesome. There are a lot of potentially amazing albums coming up in the second half of the year, but that’s all the more reason to do this list now. We don’t want to forget the good albums from spring and summer in the mad rush of fall and holiday seasons.
Comment by MCQ — August 2, 2008 @ 8:55 pm
I’ll add a vote of confidence for the new Elbow… I’ve really enjoyed that one. A few others that have commanded my attention this year so far, if you don’t mind some suggestions from a frequent lurker…
M83, Saturdays = Youth
Fleet Foxes, s/t
Melvins, Nude With Boots
Plants and Animals, Parc Avenue
Comment by GregN — August 2, 2008 @ 9:14 pm
GregN, you should speak up more often.
My votes:
Ladyhawk – Shots
First two songs on their myspace page are from the new album
Melvins – Nude With Boots
First two song on their myspace page are from the new album
Howlin’ Rain – Magnificent Fiend
First three songs on their myspace page are from the new album
Comment by Susan M — August 2, 2008 @ 9:43 pm
Vampire Weekend | Vampire Weekend… songza, iTunes
Dodos | Visiter… songza, iTunes
Comment by Silus Grok — August 2, 2008 @ 10:08 pm
Right now, it’s Worth the Weight by RPG.
You can hear 2 songs from it on their myspace: http://www.myspace.com/rpgva
Comment by Brian V — August 3, 2008 @ 5:59 am
GregN, the Fleet Foxes album is substantially great. It seemed at first as if it really wouldn’t be my kind of thing — hippies prancing in the countryside, etc. — but it really, really is.
Comment by RoastedTomatoes — August 3, 2008 @ 7:40 am
Susan & GregN, I listened to Melvins – very cool, just not my regular listening sound.
gabby, Never heard of Paul Weller, but liked him. I looked at the tour dates and locations hoping I’d be able to catch him, no luck.
Since I can’t come up with my own nomination, I’m just going to keep listening and wait until the voting starts.
Comment by Abby — August 3, 2008 @ 9:35 am
Vampire Weekend
R.E.M. – Accelerate
Old 97’s – Blame it on Gravity
Comment by BTD Greg — August 3, 2008 @ 10:58 am
Here’s my nomination – finally.
O.A.R. – All Sides
Comment by Abby — August 3, 2008 @ 12:22 pm
I was wondering when someone was going to nominate REM. Coldplay anyone?
Comment by MCQ — August 3, 2008 @ 12:31 pm
Sure! I’ll nominate Coldplay. Not there best, but still not bad.
Abby – Weller RARELY tours the US and even more rarely goes outside of the LA / NYC zone. He’s been around forever (lead of The Jam, Style Council) and has been solo for years. I saw him in LA 3? years ago and it is one of the standout highlights of my life. Amazing show.
Comment by gabby — August 3, 2008 @ 1:52 pm
And by “there” I clearly meant “their”. Sheesh.
Comment by gabby — August 3, 2008 @ 1:52 pm
Thanks gabby, that album probably deserves mention here.
Comment by MCQ — August 3, 2008 @ 2:07 pm
At first the only album I could think of that I’ve heard that came out this year is Snack Time by Bare Naked Ladies. That is sad, especially since my baby is 7. It is time to pull my self out of mommy-world and remember that I used to like big-girl music and I will start by exploring all of the nominees listed here–thanks!
However, I did finally remember that this album came out this year, and I quite love it: Swimming by the French Kicks http://www.frenchkicks.com/swimming.htm
Comment by shazbraz — August 3, 2008 @ 8:16 pm
gabby – it looks like he’s in the U.S. in September. I’m going to see if I can swing a weekend trip.
Comment by Abby — August 3, 2008 @ 9:19 pm
Pierre-Laurent Aimard, The Art of the Fugue. Unfortunately, it’s not on YouTube, and to really get the genius of Bach’s composition, you need to listen to the whole thing and see what he does with the melody, but even the iTunes and Amazon snippets are great.
But you can read about it in a great Slate article.
Comment by Sam B. — August 4, 2008 @ 7:45 am
I’ll put up a nomination for Hush Sound – Goodbye Blues
Hush Sound on Amazon
Try Medicine Man, Love You Much Better.
I like almost every song on this album. And I kick myself for not going to see them here last week. =(
(Wish I could add Sara Bareilles and A Fine Frenzy, but it looks like they came out in 2007. Bummer.)
Comment by FHL — August 4, 2008 @ 12:26 pm
Abby – I’m trying to find proper justification for abandoning my boys and make the trek to see him in Sept, but I haven’t come up with anything yet!
If you can go, go. It’ll be a great show. And then come back & let us all know how it was!
Comment by gabby — August 4, 2008 @ 12:50 pm
gabby – call it a “mental health” weekend. If mom’s happy, the kids are happy! Justification accomplished.
Comment by Abby — August 4, 2008 @ 2:56 pm
Unfortunately, it would be a “mental health” Tues / Wed. Much harder to swing!
Comment by gabby — August 4, 2008 @ 4:37 pm
James “Hey Ma” is good. Their first album since 2001. Is only available on Import right now, but should be released in the U.S. next month.
I also liked “I’ll Be Lightning” by Liam Finn, Neil Finn’s 23-year-old son.
I thought the Coldplay album was good, but admitting that probably makes me uncool.
There are a bunch of albums I haven’t listened to yet: Goldfrapp, Portishead, Beck, The Kills, The Zutons, Nick Cave, Weezer, My Morning Jacket, The Hold Steady…
Comment by Matt Thurston — August 4, 2008 @ 6:50 pm
Sugarland – Love on the Inside
Comment by Darin H — August 4, 2008 @ 7:21 pm
The new My Morning Jacket is good, but different. Just like their last one was different from the one before that. This one has some songs that are like 70s soft rock. Which I love.
Comment by Susan M — August 4, 2008 @ 7:37 pm
“I also liked “I’ll Be Lightning” by Liam Finn, Neil Finn’s 23-year-old son.”
Oooooh. How on EARTH did I forget about that?! (it must have been a Weller induced fog) However, I totally second that.
Comment by gabby — August 4, 2008 @ 9:43 pm
Oh, WHAT? I so didn’t know James had a new album coming. Cannot wait!
Comment by shazbraz — August 4, 2008 @ 10:14 pm
Absolutely not, Matt. That’s ridiculous. Don’t be silly. It just makes you gay.
Comment by MCQ — August 5, 2008 @ 12:12 am
Just kidding of course, Matt. An old joke from the 40 yr old Virgin. I tried to find the clip of that scene to link to but to no avail.
In any event, nominations are now closed and I will now ask Rusty or someone else with more expertise than I to help me make a way that we can vote on all these great nominations. There are enough nominations that we probably need at least a few rounds of voting to narrow the field. The winner of this vote can then go head to head against the winner of the second half of 2008 in a winner-take-all steel cage match in January.
Thanks all for the great nominations. I hope everyone can listen to all these great albums. From what I’ve heard so far, they are well worth the effort.
Comment by MCQ — August 5, 2008 @ 12:18 am