As 2008 comes to a glorious end, I feel compelled to throw my (unimportant) voice into the music blogosphere. Here are some of my favorites from '08:
Lackthereof
Your Anchor
I discovered my favorite album of 2008 accidentally. Whilst window shopping at Landlocked Music a few months ago, I stumbled upon the store's listening station and found Your Anchor by Lackthereof. (Lackthereof is a side project of Menomena's Danny Seim.) As soon as the album's first sounds -- a cymbal shimmering from silence and a voice uttering The new year is the old year again -- trickled into my ears I was hooked. And I can't say why. Upon first listening to Your Anchor, I found nothing spectacularly intriguing about the 10-song album, yet I found myself listening to it repeatedly. On the surface, this could be just another lo-fi indie rock album, but under the surface this record teems with subdued guitars, determined bass lines and ghostly vocals that convey deeply personal, albeit cryptic, feelings. The album concludes with the National cover "Fake Empire." Seim's sparse treatment of the song seems especially apropos in a year that saw the American empire look more like a house of cards.
Seim proves that a musician doesn't have to reinvent the wheel to craft an absorbing album. And in the age of the MacBook musician, it's a wonderful experience to listen to an album that shines because of its beautiful flaws.
Other notable albums from '08:
The Raveonettes
Lust Lust Lust
Originality isn't the Raveonettes forte, but style is, and on Lust Lust Lust, the band perfects their sound.
The Rosebuds
Life Like
A solid indie rock album. Perfect.
The Walkmen
You & Me
You & Me is the finest album of the Walkmen's career. Lead singer Hamilton Leithauser's voice trims this album with chrome. Magnificent.
Top music moment of '08 (and probably my life):
Watching Jeff Mangum perform "Engine" at Rhino's on 22 October 2008.
xx
Happy New Year, everyone. Here's to a hopeful and optimistic 2009 -- CHEERS!
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1 comment:
I (and we) have seen a lot of shows in btown....but nothing comes close to that night at Rhino's. I still have trouble finding the words to describe it. One of those places in time that will be etched in my mind for the rest of my life.
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