It's that time again:
1. Best albums of 2008 (albums which actually came out this year):
- ELBOW: Seldom Seen Kid - seemed at the time an unadventurous choice as Mercury winner, but having now listened to it, I can't disagree. Classy, understated, tuneful. Every track a gem.
- FLEET FOXES: Fleet Foxes - a great album, but I thought their live performance on "Later" was massively disappointing.
- LAST SHADOW PUPPETS: Age of the Understatement - is there nothing Alex Turner can't do?
- STEREOLAB: Chemical Chords - same as all the other Stereolab albums for the last five years but I think they make some sublime music (see also High Llamas).
- GOLDFRAPP: Seventh Tree - liked her first album, the next two left me cold, a "return to form" then.
- PORTISHEAD: Third - good, but too harrowing to listen to very often.
- RACHEL UNTHANK & THE WINTERSET: The Bairns
- NICOLE WILLIS & THE SOUL INVESTIGATORS: Keep Reachin' Up - thanks to Cocktails for this tip
- EMMA POLLOCK: Watch the Fireworks
- E.S.T.: Seven Days of Falling
- SCOTT MATTHEWS: Passing Stranger
- MARVIN GAYE & TAMMI TERRELL: Greatest Hits - Motown didn't get any better than this for me
- FIELD MUSIC: Tones of Town
- VARIOUS ARTISTS: Creme de la Creme: Philly Soul Classics and Rarities (again)
- DUFFY: Warwick Avenue - this is her one good song
- ADELE: Chasing Pavements - ditto (perhaps a bit harsh)
- TING TINGS: Great DJ - ditto
- LADYHAWKE: Paris Is Burning - er, ditto
- SEBASTIEN TELLIER: Divine - great Eurovision performance, language-related controversy ensued
- ASTEROID GALAXY TOUR: The Sun Ain’t Shining No More - best of Radcliffe and Maconie's records of the week
- SOHA: Tourbillon (Serre-Moi Fort Si Tu M'aimes) - token world music entrant
- RACHEL UNTHANK & THE WINTERSET: Sea Song - I've already waxed lyrical about this: fantastic arrangement, great lyrics and melody, wonderful singing
- BLACK KIDS: Hurricane Jane
- Wychwood Festival (particularly The Blockheads and Emma Pollock)
- Broadstairs Folk Week
- Alan Barnes
- Blue Nile
- High Llamas
- Rachel Unthank & The Winterset
- Richard Hawley
- London Community Gospel Choir
- The Coalporters
- The Guardian
- NME
- Uncut and Mojo Magazines (via Stereogum)
- Q Magazine (via Rollo & Grady)
See you in 2009...
4 comments:
Happy New Year Mr Hooley.
I like your choices here. They are strangely similar to some of mine which could mean that great minds think alike or not very much of note has been released this year!
I haven't bothered to listen to any new Stereolab records since Cobra Phases. Is Chemical Chords much different?
And we might be alone in being disappointed by the rest of Ladyhawke's offerings. The CD is in the Rough Trade top 10 albums of the past year.
Hello Cocktails. New Year greetings to you too. And while we're at it, thanks for your interest in my blog. Nice to know someone out there is actually reading! I've tried in vain to drum up interest among my friends...
Re Stereolab. I'm not familiar with Cobra Phases. I think that's quite an early album, no? They're much more interesting these days, a lot more melodic, I think. As I say though, if you've heard any of their last, say, five albums, you pretty much know what you're going to get. Critics are often quite dismissive of them for this reason but as far as I'm concerned if it ain't broke... You could try sussing out the stuff on their myspace page. Most of these tracks are from Chemical Chords.
Nice choices Mr Hooley and Happy New Year.
Possibly a bit harsh on the Ting Tings though :)
Thanks. Glad you approve.
Yeah, might be a bit harsh on the Ting Tings. The only other track of theirs I've actually heard is "Shut Up and Let Me Go" which I don't like much. We'll see what they come up with in 2009...
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