Top Ten Albums of 2008

I should probably do this before, you know, February. My top five for the year were easy. The next five weren't quite as clear, and even at this point, I reserve the right to change my mind as I remember that I didn't give a good listen to records like Alejandro Escovedo's Real Animal. Dammit.

1. Elbow, The Seldom Seen Kid

The British press were on to something when they gave this record the Mercury Prize. I've said time and time again that I'm not really a lyrics guy, but some of the turns of phrase are just brilliant here. It helps that the vocal melodies are so good. There's an almost palpable sense of just trying to make good music with this band, as opposed to the artistic pretensions of Radiohead or the mass market aspirations of Coldplay. Texture and instrumentation is fantastic, and "Grounds for Divorce" just never, ever gets old for me.

2. TV On The Radio, Dear Science,

I believe the critic-speak for this one is "an intoxicating stew," as this music is just so incredibly dense. You've got falsetto vocals doubled an octave down, massive amounts of synthesizers, horns, hand claps and god knows what else, all percolating over some wonderfully funky beats. From what I understand, the lyrics are pretty great, too, but I'm still wrapped up in the sound of it all. The chorus melody of "Dancing Choose" is maddeningly hooky.

3. The Gutter Twins, Saturnalia

One of the most evocative albums I've heard in a long, long time. Some descriptions have been more urban, but they always seem to involve the wee hours of the morning and whiskey. My spin on it is a deserted Western road at 3am after an all-night whiskey bender. It's dark, but it's absolutely gorgeous.

4. The Futureheads, This Is Not The World

I wasn't totally sold on News and Tributes, but I feel like these lads got back on track with this one. It's a massively propulsive record, loaded up with angular guitar parts and three- and four-part harmonies, all imbued with a very British world-weary bitterness. Their best album yet.

5. The Cure, 4:13 Dream

Sometimes an album gains appreciation just because you totally weren't expecting it. If you were to tell me that Robert Smith would still be putting out relevant modern music in 2008 at the beginning of the year, I might not have believed you. On top of this being a very good record that comes out of the gate sounding like newer critical darlings Explosions In The Sky, I'm hearing more of more of The Cure's influence in newer bands across the board.

6. Sons & Daughters, This Gift

The two overarching trends this year seemed to be jangly indie-rock bands with male and female vocals, and multi-cultural influences. This Scottish band was the best example of the former that I came across, and the latter didn't quite make the top ten, mostly because I think Vampire Weekend is a bit too precious.

7. David Byrne & Brian Eno, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today

The best entry from the "new album from old farts" category, narrowly beating out another serviceable Elvis Costello record. I think the most interesting aspect of this is that Byrne can still growl a bit.

8. Local H, Twelve Angry Months

Chicago's own with an album that struck me as a lot more mature than previous work, but still pretty raw in the way it needed to be in order to rock out.

9. We Are Scientists, Brain Thrust Mastery

It's really, really hard to be both very retro and very ironic and not look foolish, yet the Brooklyn band manages to pull it off. Some of the sounds on this record seem straight out of Duran Duran's songbook, but there's a quality to it that makes it somehow still fresh. The massive hooks may help.

10. The Verve, Forth

The band's reunion/comeback does all the things they used to do well, namely four-chord pop/rock gems and expansive, slow-building mid-tempo anthems.

Honorable mentions that I can remember: Oasis, Dig Out Your Soul; Paul Weller, 22 Dreams; Beck, Modern Guilt; Gnarls Barkley, The Odd Couple; Elvis Costello & The Impostors, Momofuku; Portishead, Third; MGMT, Oracular Spectacular; Flight Of The Conchords, Flight Of The Conchords