Maybe the test of a record that really grabs me is how many multiples of ten it lasts the "at least once per day" test. This was a year with several 1s, but not really any 2s. Which makes it a down year, but that's okay... there was a lot of good new stuff to listen to in 2008. There were also several records that just never quite kicked in for me.
New records I liked a lot in 2008:
- To Survive, Joan as Police Woman
- In Ear Park, Department of Eagles
- Un Dia, Juana Molina
- We Brave Bee Stings and All, Thao Nguyen
- Fleet Foxes
- Dear Science, TV on the Radio
- Retribution Gospel Choir
- Everything that Happens, Byrne and Eno
- Med Sud ..., Sigur Ros
- The Renaissance, Q-Tip
- Provisions, Giant Sand
Old records I liked a lot for the first time, for whatever reason, in 2008:
- Go Home, Art Ensemble of Chicago
- Dublin Blues, Guy Clark
- For Emma, Bon Iver (it came out in 2007, right? i just heard it this year)
- Nebraska, Bruce Springsteen
- Adobe, Tony Malaby
New records I didn't like that much in 2008, even though there are several reasons one might presume I would have liked them quite a fair bit actually:
- Stay Positive, The Hold Steady
- Vivian Girls
- Microcastle, Deerhunter
- Nouns, No Age
- Rip it Off, Times New Viking
- At Mount Zoomer, Wolf Parade
- April, Sun Kil Moon
- Volume One, She and Him
- The Stand Ins, Okkervil River
- Field Manual, Chris Walla
- Receivers, Parts & Labor
New records I might like but haven't really heard enough of yet in 2008, and plan to hear more of, but just haven't yet, and I'm fixin' to correct that, honest:
- Dig Lazarus Dig, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and the Exclamation Points
- Third, Portishead
- A Thousand Shark's Teeth, My Brightest Diamond
- Break Up the Concrete, The Pretenders
- There's Me and There's You, Matthew Herbert Big Band
- Real Animal, Alejandro Escovedo
We didn't go to very many shows this year, but of the ones we did see, Guy Clark performing on the mall was a highlight. Not because it was over-the-top great or anything, but because of just how damned good he is. It was ridiculously hot, he was wearing a cast and was in obvious pain, but he worked through all the favorites the crowd called for, graciously, and sounded great throughout. Not to mention his impeccable songwriting and playing to begin with.
Recent comments
3 days 9 hours ago
1 week 2 days ago
1 week 4 days ago
1 week 5 days ago
2 weeks 15 hours ago
2 weeks 2 days ago
2 weeks 2 days ago
2 weeks 2 days ago
2 weeks 3 days ago
2 weeks 3 days ago