–By Lennox723 and jonny
2008 was a mixed bag, musically. There were definitely some great and worthwhile albums that came out but nothing was really mind-blowingly brilliant that could be definitively called the Album of the Year. For me, the year was marked by some very inspired pop songs. Whether it be Beyonce’s “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)” and its riveting video or Vampire Weekend’s world-infused rock or Santogold’s “L.E.S. Artistes,” there was an abundance of catchy, hook-laden music this year. Perhaps it’s the election of a popular president, but this year was definitely a good one for pop music.
It’s probably no surprise, then, that my favorite albums of the year were the ones that adopted a little pop optimism but balanced this with wariness about the turbulent state of things. My list is headed by three essentially one-man bands that crafted intimate, personal albums that somehow still manage to be expansive in scope.
10. The Ting Tings – We Started Nothing
As frivolous as We Started Nothing may be, I just couldn’t resist the catchiness of the Ting Tings’ music. “Great DJ” is as great a single as any this year, and to be followed by another highlight, “That’s Not My Name,” is an amazing two-fer. Unfortunately We Started Nothing doesn’t maintain this level—it’s almost impossible to do so. Had the album been full of “Great DJ’s” I would have died from too much awesomeness. But even if the rest of We Started Nothing does not equal “Great DJ,” they are still terrific pop confections. Furthermore, the Ting Tings put on a great live show.
Check out: “Great DJ,” “That’s Not My Name,” “We Started Nothing”
9. Tift Merritt – Another Country
While I miss the sultriness and spunk of Tift Merritt’s last album, Tambourine, Another Country is itself another memorable collection from a talented and underrated artist. What we get in Another Country is an older, wiser Merritt, a woman who has learned some lessons and been dealt some blows since her last exuberant album. Not to imply that Merritt is now a dour presence, but rather her music simply bears upon it a touch of pain and hurt and more than a dollop of spirited resilience. The title track is a gorgeous song that captures the trepidation and hope involved with discovering love.
Check out: “Broken,” “Another Country,” “Tell Me Something True”
8. Nada Surf – Lucky
With a devoted following of young fans who devotedly flock to their shows, it’s surprising to realize that the members of Nada Surf are pushing 40. Their youthful appeal is easy to identify. Nada Surf have a knack for songs that encapsulate both the awkwardness and bravado of teenage striving. But with age Nada Surf also realize that the energy that comes along with being young is all-too transitory, and in Lucky, the best songs combine a spunky youthfulness with forebodings of an end to all this young energy. The album opens with the fiercely anthemic “See These Bones,” which embodies the duality in Nada Surf’s music. In it, Matthew Caws (singing from the perspective of the dead) warns the listener, “What you are now, we were once.” Dour stuff, indeed, but tied to an uplifting melody, the message that ultimately emerges is that living is an adventure well worth embarking on.
Check out: “See These Bones,” “Whose Authority,” “Weightless”
7. She & Him – Volume One
It is impossible not to like this album. Light and frothy and beautifully sung and played by Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward, Volume One is a welcome treat of retro tunes. Volume One engenders nothing but goodwill in each of its songs. These may seem like simple aspirations, but to pull them off successfully is a difficult task, yet She & Him do so with ease.
Check out: “Sentimental Heart,” “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?,” “This is Not a Test”
6. Dodos – Visiter
If it wasn’t for the undeniable melodies that underline the Dodos’ songs, the music in Visiter would all sound like half-improvised clanging. The Dodos may be described as a more accessible Animal Collective, but to do so would be a disfavor - they are creative and inventive in their own right. Their accessibility is actually a good thing in this case. In songs like “Jodi” and “Fools,” Dodos create frenetic music that eventually coalesces into edgy pop symphonies that soar before crashing spectacularly to a fitting conclusion.
Check out: “Red and Purple,” “Fools,” “Jodi”
5. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
The Fleet Foxes’ debut is the sound of warm, summer days blessed with unending, soul-refreshing breezes. The album is full of gorgeous harmonies that evoke the best of the Beach Boys and the rootsiness of 1970’s rock. Perhaps the best compliment I can pay it is that it is an album that lingers long after the last song, “Oliver James,” has faded, and like other great albums you can’t help but listen to it again. As old-fashioned as the album may sound, it manages to be fresh and surprisingly relevant. Good music simply never goes out of style.
Check out: “White Winter Hymnal,” “Ragged Wood,” “Oliver James”
4. Mates of State – Re-Arrange Us
There is nothing groundbreaking about Re-Arrange Us other than that from start to beginning it is a complete pleasure to listen to. Husband-and-wife Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel are almost too cute to behold, but rather than cloy, the Mates’ album is full of affectionate harmonizing and infectious rhapsodizing, amounting to one of the more entertaining albums of the year. The Mates have found a formula and have delivered a lean, irresistible pop record. I can personally attest that Re-Arrange Us has held up through several road trips during the year. The Mates made driving along I-5 a joyful, love-soaked experience.
Check out: “My Only Offer,” “The Re-Arranger,” “Blue and Gold Print”
3. Shugo Tokumaru – Exit
A delightful album with charm to spare. Shugo Tokumaru follows a similar musical vein as Sufjan Stevens and Jens Lekman, yet like those two, he is a singular personality. I have no idea what Tokumaru is singing about in Exit as he sings almost exclusively in Japanense, but it really doesn’t matter. The twinkling sonic wonderland Tokumaru creates in songs like “Parachute” and “La La Radio” is universal in its appeal. In fact, it’s perhaps better not to know. Listening to Exit is like a great, stress-relieving vacation. You just have to bask in its warm, joyful glow and sense that smile creeping upon your face.
Check out: “Parachute”, “Sanganichi,” “La La Radio”
2. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
Stark and gorgeous, Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago is another DIY wonder like VanGaalen’s. What may seem hermetic and cold upon first listen is actually a warm, heartrending song cycle that reflects on love, loss, and isolation. A sad-sack album it is not, though, as Justin Vernon imbues the album with a defiant spirit that manages to transcend the insularity of most folk music. Armed mainly with a tremulous falsetto and a forlorn guitar, Vernon has crafted a folk album of startling purity that, though seemingly familiar, is profound in every way.
Check out: “Skinny Love,” “The Wolves (Act I and II),” “For Emma”
1. Chad VanGaalen - Soft Airplane
If anyone can be said to hand-craft his music, it would be Chad VanGaalen. Not only does he write, produce, record, and play most of the instruments in his albums, he also creates the bizarre artwork and animates his own music videos. Soft Airplane is his third–and best–album, following in the footsteps of Skelliconnection, which also topped my list in 2006. VanGaalen’s music is disjointed yet beautiful, morbid yet hopeful, freewheeling yet intimate. The songs in Soft Airplane were written around the same time as the tracks from Skelliconnection and Infiniheart, but in the time since, VanGaalen has finessed and edited them, perhaps with a nod towards greater musicality and mass appeal. The songs are still too idiosyncratic to reach a wide audience, but anyone willing to lend an ear will be haunted and chilled by VanGaalen’s craftsmanship. I’m curious how much more VanGaalen can cull from the do-it-yourself process. Soft Airplane suggests that there is still plenty to glean from the solitude of VanGaalen’s personal studio.
Check out: “Bare feet on wet griptape,” “City of Electric Light,” “Rabid Bits of Time”
My only regret with this list is that I couldn’t make room for the Walkmen’s You & Me, a return to great form from a band that will likely continue rocking into the next decade. I would also like to mention the Little Ones’ effervescent debut LP, Morning Tide. It was a delightful album that was ultimately too much sugar, but songs like “Ordinary Song” and “Boracay” deserve a place in pop radio–that is, if there is a station out there that still plays good pop music.
–Lennox723