2008 music wrap-up
The stuff that came out this year:
10. Rafael Saadiq "The Way I See It"
9. The Fiery Furnaces "Remember"
8. These New Puritans "Beat Pyramid"
7. Father Abraham "I Am Not a Sailor, I Am the Captain"
6. Times New Viking "Rip It Off"
5. TV On The Radio "Dear Science"
4. Blitzen Trapper "Furr"
3. Lindstrøm "Where You Go I Go Too"
2. The Bug "London Zoo"
1. Guns N' Roses "Chinese Democracy"
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Couple things:
If you'd a told me this time last year a member of Tony! Toni! Toné! was going to be on my best of 2008 list (# 10), I wouldn't have believed you.
I ad-lib on a couple tracks on #7, so I kinda feel wierd including it on the list. But the record is fucking great. It will be a free download next year, and y'all should listen to it.
It's odd looking back to see that the year was practically book-ended with "Chinese Democracy." I downloaded the leaked tracks after Dr. Pepper announced their promotional stunt and finished the year listening to the final version more times than any other record that came out this year (according to my iPod). Sure it's a dumb pop metal album, but there's hooks a plenty in it. It's not a classic, but it's not trying to be one either. And after listening to the leaks compared to the final version, there really is something that's going to be missed when the album format goes away. When you agree upon a final sequence of things, it can make the sum of the parts greater than the individual tracks. No bullshiting, I think this was a great album.
Anyway, here's the old stuff that was brand new to me. And frankly, I liked the majority of this list more-so than the previous list:
10. Pissed Jeans "Shallow"
9. Steinski "What Does It All Mean?"
8. Talking Heads "Fear of Music"
7. S.O.D. "Speak English or Die"
6. R.E.M. "Green"
5. Justice "(Cross)"
4. Megadeth "Rust In Peace"
3. Brian Eno "Here Come The Warm Jets"
2. Love "Forever Changes"
1. The Ghost of Tony Gold "For Lovers Only"
still remember where i was when i listened to it for the first time (also well after it came out) - in the back room of java jack's in minneapolis, hooked into my discman, drinking a mocha, reading <i>The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy</i> for the first time, repeatedly laughing out loud, and getting a lot of stares: winter, 1996.
'Polaris' is one of my faves: "I spread disease like a dog / Discharge my pay load a mile higggggh rotten egg air of death runs through your nostrils / Launch the Polaris / The end doesn't scare us / One Day we'll all rust In Peace"
I need to get you my dvd copy of the <i>Hearts of Darkness</i> documentary so you can see John Milius. He has to be the surfer director not so vaguely refrenced in the book.