Tip jar

If you like CaB and wish to support it, you can use PayPal or KoFi. Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy the site - Neil.

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Support CaB

Recent

Welcome to Cook'd and Bomb'd. Please login or sign up.

March 28, 2024, 08:46:15 AM

Login with username, password and session length

Your favourite records of 2008

Started by Vitalstatistix, December 07, 2008, 11:45:26 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

Vitalstatistix

Until that damn Animal Collective album leaks...

Spoiler alert



Whilst those not paying attention are still bopping their heads to "The Rat", The Walkmen have quietly and confidently produced their most subtle, mature and enchanting record. Yeah motherfuckers I could write for Q I just don't want to !!

[close]

Spoiler alert



African rhythms, ska punk, perky melodies, humour, imagination = magnificent pop music. Mark my words, these guys are going to be the biggest band of the 21st century.

[close]

Spoiler alert



Why? used to be a nerdy, nasally whiteboy rapper. He's now the frontman of one of the most unusual and surprising bands around.

[close]

actwithoutwords

Ah, I was wondering when this thread was going to happen. It's not been a strong year I have to say, I was trying to do a top 10 the other day and I was really struggling. I'll do a proper list later but for the moment, 3 albums dominated the rest for me this year:

Deerhunter- Microcastle/Weird Era Cont.
Fleet Foxes- Fleet Foxes
Dodos- Visiter

CaledonianGonzo

A nice, round dozen of each:

Albums               
1      Furr by Blitzen Trapper       
2      For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver               
3       How Will I Know If I'm Awake by Brent Cash             
4      Uproot by dj /rupture           
5      Alegranza! by El Guincho             
6      The Very Best Mixtape by Esau Mwayma & Radioclit       
7      Fleet Foxes by Fleet Foxes           
8      This New Year Could Be For You And Me by Lacrosse
9      Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust by Sigur Ros             
10     Freedom Wind by The Explorer's Club           
11     Morning Tide by The Little Ones       
12     Dear Science by TV on the Radio       
                     
Singles
   
1       Sabali by Amadou et Mariam
2       Main Street by Anders Elowwson
3       Caught In A Crosswalk by Baskervilles
4       Sound of Kuduro by Buraka Som Sistema
5       Clouds by Elders
6       Morning Sun EP by Fleet Foxes   
7       The Promise by Girls Aloud
8       Blind by Hercules & Love Affair
9       Soul On Fire by Spiritualized
10      Valerie Plame by The Decemberists         
11      The Good Old Days by The Lodger   
12      London Bridges by This Is Ivy League                         
               
Still got a few I haven't heard yet - Department of Eagles, School of Seven Bells, the Amadou et Mariam elbum, etc. so who knows where they'll end up in the grand scheme of things.

Disappointment of the year is probably Skeletal Lamping, I'm afraid...   

Quote from: actwithoutwords on December 07, 2008, 11:59:13 AM
It's not been a strong year I have to say

Yeah - I'm not convinced it's really been a vintage year, either..       

Caroline

I haven't listened to that much new music this year, but I would definitely agree with the Why? album. Literally one of the best albums I have ever heard, I hear new things every time I listen to it, and it's ludicrously catchy.
Also Women - Women, which I don't think has come out properly in this country yet. They're from Canada, the lazy comparison  I would make is that it's a bit Animal Collective, but this album is fantastic, a brilliant winter record.

Ten of the best Albums and Singles from lets face it, a slow year for new music

ALBUMS
Fantasy Black Channel - Late of the Pier
For Emma, Forever Ago - Bon Iver
Made In The Dark - Hot Chip
Antidotes - Foals
When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold - Atmosphere
Meanderthal - Torche
The '59 Sound - The Gaslight Anthem
Alas I Cannot Swim - Laura Marling
The Airing of Grievances - Titus Andronicus
The Bronx (III) -The Bronx


SONGS
Flo Rida feat. WILL I AM - In the Ayer
Sébastien Tellier - Divine
Pete & The Pirates - Mr. Understanding
Panic at the Disco - That Green Gentleman (Things Have Changed)
Weezer - Pork and Beans
Lykke Li - I'm Good, I'm Gone
Portishead - Machine Gun
Metallica - The Day That Never Comes
Hot Chip - Ready for the Floor
T.I. feat. Rihanna - Live Your Life

buttgammon

The albums I liked this year:

Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
Lykke Li - Youth Novels
Those Dancing Days - In Our Space Hero Suits
Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping
Foals - Antidotes
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Santogold - Santogold
Roots Manuva - Slime & Reason
Neon Neon - Stainless Style
Britta Persson - Kill Hollywood Me
Benga - Diary of an Afro Warrior

Compilations/Mixes:

Dubstep Allstars 6
Steppa's Delight

I'll probably think of something I've forgotten soon enough but that's it off the top of my head. Not a vintage year but not too bad either.

23 Daves

I can never, ever think of more than 4 or 5 "great" albums in any given year.  In part, this is possibly because I'm a picky sod, but it's also because I either don't have the money to buy all new releases straight away, or perhaps don't have the inclination (there's a lot of back catalogue stuff out there I'm discovering all the time).

2008 is a particularly tough one because it's just been so disappointing.  But, if forced to list, here's what I'd pick:

David Cronenberg's Wife: "Bluebeard's Rooms"
I'm really not wholly convinced there's anything new going on here, given that you can hear elements of Clinic, Nick Cave and Lou Reed running right through the entire album, but as a coherent whole this pissed on just about everything else this year.  Some critics complained that it was far too bleak - I personally thought there were tons of streaks of pitch black humour there, as well as some demonic (and occasionally beautiful) melodies.

Neon Neon: "Stainless Style"
A couple of the hip-hop influenced tracks here don't fit in and jar horribly when you listen to this, but there some fine material to be had.  Again, the critics all said "It's all so fresh and new!" when actually it clearly sounded like a New Order/ Super Furry Animals mash-up in places, but there again that's no bad thing.

Misty's Big Adventure: "Television's People"
Too much attention appeared to be paid to the 'concept' over and above the quality of the music in places on this album, meaning it's not their best - but that still leaves them way ahead of the pack.

The Fall: "Imperial Wax Solvent"
Nice return to form, I thought, although not as mindblowing as last year's Von Sudenfed side project album.

Sebastien Tellier: "Sexuality"
And I'm going to stop here, because this - like most albums in 2008 - was hugely flawed in places and had content which frankly sounded throwaway.  Hidden amongst that, though, was the best single of 2008 ("Divine") and some truly great slabs of atmospheric electronic sauce.

I can't go on.  I sometimes worry that in the digital age where people just grab the mp3s they're interested in, bands seem to be forgetting about how to make albums which work when listened to as a whole.  Certainly this year there were a lot of albums out which had some fantastic stand-out tracks, but they were swimming like toothsome audio croutons in a tasteless watery soup of nothing in particular.  Some of those albums even got nominated for the Mercury Prize.  Last year was a great year for LPs, I hope 2009 returns to that.

Johnny Yesno

Quote from: 23 Daves on December 07, 2008, 02:16:06 PM
The Fall: "Imperial Wax Solvent"
Nice return to form, I thought, although not as mindblowing as last year's Von Sudenfed side project album.

Yes, there's some great stuff on that, particularly 'Senior Twilight Stock Replacer'. Nice to see Smith was wise enough to involve Andi Toma from Mouse On Mars.

My favourite album of this year, however, is Supreme Balloon by Matmos. It's almost on continuously at our house.

purlieu

#8
I've been terrible at keeping up with new music this year, but have stumbled across a couple of things.

'Tail Swallower and Dove' by These Arms Are Snakes is fabulous, possibly their best work yet.  I was surprised at how well 'cleaning up' their sound worked.  It's much tighter sounding than before and the sound really suits the band.  Lovely stuff.

'Misfortunes' by This Is Hell impressed me too.  Although it's a little harder going than their debut, it still does an excellent job of punching you in the face repeatedly, and the melodic moments that shine through every now and then make you want more.  Still the best hardcore/thrash crossover band around at the moment.

'The Anti-Mother' by Norma Jean was alright.  Not as bad as I was expecting from the pre-release press (metalcore band do lots of singing), but still by far their weakest work.

Haven't got around to listening to the new Bronx record yet.  Probably should, although I wasn't too impressed with their second effort.

After all the hyde, I eventually downloaded that Why? album.  It was even worse than I was expecting.  Ok, so they've made the whole Pitchfork indiebore genre a little different by bringing in hip-hop bits, but it still falls by the wayside with a distinct lack of memorable songwriting or tolerable vocals for me.  Bring back cLOUDDEAD, I say.

The Future Sound of London - Environments II.  This was a fantastic surprise, I was expecting more like the original Environments release, but was faced instead by a 14-track epic with strings and choirs and allsorts.  The way it's going, this could wind up being one of my favourite records in a few years time.

FSOL also did 'From The Archives volume 5', which is definitely the strongest of all those archive albums so far.  Works like a singular record rather than 20 scattered pieces.  And under the name Yage, there was 'The Woodlands Of Old', which was them and the old drummer from the Propellerheads doing really fucking weird world music inspired ambient breakbeat terrifying dark creepy stuff.  Nice, but too long at 21 tracks.

Off Land's 'Grey Surfaces' EP is the best thing he's done yet, much more stark and minimal ambient than the more melodic (and occasionally cheesy) stuff he's done in the past.  This comes highly recommended as it's a net label release too.

The new Slipknot was pretty good, although I still haven't bought it. 

And I still quite like Viva La Vida.  It's the best thing Coldplay have done yet, anyway.


Things I had high hopes for, heard, and ended up not getting:
Oasis.  Boring.  I go through phases with them, but it's been so long since I could be arsed I'm beginning to doubt I'll ever get another new Oasis record.

The Streets.  Oh dear.

Travis.  Well, 'J Smith' was a fantastic lead track, and I was hoping the album would follow with more massive gothic choirs, guitar solos and choppy rhythms.  What we got, instead, was The Coral b-sides.  Ugh.

Mercury Rev.  This band are a bit of a joke now, aren't they?  Senses on fire?  Fuck off.

Did that Brett Anderson album even come out in the end?

I think the second Brett Anderson album came out, yeah.

My favourite album of 2008 - 'Starling' by tvfordogs.

Vitalstatistix

Quote from: purlieu on December 07, 2008, 03:32:28 PM
'Tail Swallower and Dove' by These Arms Are Snakes is fabulous, possibly their best work yet.  I was surprised at how well 'cleaning up' their sound worked.  It's much tighter sounding than before and the sound really suits the band.  Lovely stuff.

Ooh I'll have to check this out, I'd forgotten about this band, who I consigned to the 'potentially interesting' pile after that Oxeneers album.

Can't believe you don't think Why? has memorable songwriting!

purlieu

Ah I dunno, so many of the melodies just don't do it for me, but there's that whole area of music (the Pitchfork indiebore stuff as I put it) which I just don't 'get'.  It's the only stuff my housemate listens to... Why? and The National and Thee More Shallows and Parenthetic Girls and stuff.  I know they're all quite different in their own ways, but there are a number of similarities and I just can't really work out what people are listening to.  Meh.

The TAAS is definitely worth listening to.  I loved the EP and liked Oxeneers a lot, although it was definitely lacking something.  Easter bored me so I was a little hesitant when it came to this, but I'd say it's definitely their most varied and most immediate release yet.

Emma Raducanu

Max Richter - 24 Postcards in Full Colour.

purlieu

Ah, I forgot all about that!  Yes, lovely work, much better than Songs From Before I thought.
Hmmm, I've heard more 2008 albums than I thought.

Nik Drou

Some Albums I Dug this Year:

Holy Fuck - Holy Fuck

Health - Disco

Truckasauras - Tea Parties, Guns & Valor

TV on the Radio - Dear Science

The Fall - Imperial Wax Solvent

Flying Lotus - Los Angeles

Adam & Joe - Song Wars Vol. 1

Some Singles/EP's I Dug:

Animal Collective - Water Curses

Free Blood - Grumpy

Dizzee Rascal - Sirens

Crystal Castles - Courtship Dating

The Corrections - Barcode

Ladytron - Ghosts

Singapore Kane - Don't Take it Personal

Bjork - Declare Independence

quadraspazzed

Purley on the basis that these are pretty much the only 2008 albums that I've listened to more than once...

Spoiler alert
[close]

Spoiler alert
[close]

Spoiler alert
[close]

Spoiler alert
[close]

Spoiler alert
[close]

Spoiler alert
[close]

Caroline

Quote from: Nik Drou on December 07, 2008, 07:02:36 PM
Health - Disco

I meant to say this one as well. And The Hold Steady. But Why? was far and away my favourite.

Nik Drou

Quote from: Caroline on December 07, 2008, 07:57:58 PM
I meant to say this one as well. And The Hold Steady. But Why? was far and away my favourite.

Well, it was a toss-up between Disco and the original album.  I didn't want to put them in the list twice, they arent that good!  Those were just records closest to the top of my head.  It's slightly depressing how obvious a lot of them are.

ThickAndCreamy

Is Disco really worth it? Listening to Health they just sound like the songs drag on and the progression is slow, and dull at times, almost like typical Post Rock style music. Does it just become wonderful with time, like No Age's album was.

I'm not saying my favourite records of 2008 yet, I have got barely any and I'm waiting to buy every record I want from this year within the next 6 months once I have money. I feel like I shouldn't judge unless I have a full spectrum of records to compare.

Nik Drou

Well, I liked it, particularly the Crimewave remix.  You'll probably prefer it to the relative dirge of the original record.  I enjoyed bits of Nouns but couldn't get into it as a whole.

Cack Hen

it hasn't been a bad year for music, in fact there's never actually a bad year for new music. i can only assume the people who say that just haven't looked hard enough.  

in reverse alphabetical order:

women - women

seeing as it has huge peaks and then piddling middles, i think this shows really great potential for women. trust me, the highs make it worth coming back for more.

wale - the mixtape about nothing

a seinfeld-themed hip hop record! sounds a bit gimmicky, i know, but it's actually really awesome. if you're a fan of lupe fiasco or kanye then definitely check this out (although you probably already have).

vivian girls - vivian girls


one of the best albums all year, it's very short so it's just begging to be burned out. there's absolutely no reason not to get this today! 12 short noisy tracks of consistently satisfying girl pop.

ponytail - ice cream spiritual

rrrrrrrrrrrrriiiba!! goes the opening track. schizophrenic pop music in the deerhoof style, albeit less formulaic and more exciting. listen to 'beg waves' and try to resist downloading everything they've ever done, you'll wonder why it's taken you so long.

no age - nouns

probably my favourite of the whole year, i saw a lot of hype rise and fall over nouns, but for me it's remained a constant in my every day listening. easily the most exciting rock album i've heard in a few years, and on top of that their gigs hit you like a steam train. you wouldn't believe how much energy and enthusiasm these two guys can pull together on stage.

little - little

shiny french pop! this was the first album i ever bought digitally, of course i tried to download it illegally (what do you take me for?) but it was just so damn hard to find i ended up paying a quite reasonable £6 for it. and i'm glad i did, the production is really warm, her voice is absolutely stunning and there's a range of beautiful songs which keep me coming back.

johnny foreigner - waited up til it was light

despite coming from birmingham, they symbolise a sort of 'nathan barley' music culture, you'd probably all hate it. i think it's great fun, big riffs, big melodies, one thing you can't knock them on is their enthusiasm, especially live. they've got some seriously hardcore fans, too - people with JF tattoos, even.

HEALTH - DISCO

if you don't know, HEALTH released their s/t album and then released a remix version of it. general consensus seems to be that it's a big improvement on the original but i like them both, although admittedly DISCO does have the edge. their droney noise-rock sound seems to work brilliantly for electronic remixes, somehow their start-stop tunes got some groove.

fuck buttons - street horrrsing

noise assault! i loved this the first time i heard it, long songs, big noise.

deerhunter - microcastle

i think this leaked about 7 months before release date, poor brandon cox. then the icing on the cake was when he accidentally left his mediafire folder open to the blood-hungry hounds of atease who ripped it to pieces and ended up with loads of crap and the secret special disc of microcastle. the guy can't catch a break. but he should take some comfort in the fact that this is probably the best deerhunter album so far, as a songwriter he's taken huge steps and still managed not to compromise the glorious flourishes of dreamy noise.

crystal castles - crystal castles

another big favourite, people say things like 'it's too long' or 'sounds too samey' but i think that's bullshit, it just takes some patience. for some reason people expect electronic records of this nature to be throwaway and completely without substance, but crystal castles have crafted an electronic record that not only sounds fresh but has great pace. it reminds me of daft punk's homework, after a little while the rhythm of it seeps into your skull and becomes utterly irresistible. most of the stuff you might have heard about them being thieves is mostly exaggerated, it comes from people inside the chiptune community who are angry that CC found 'mainstream' success with a chiptune style. to my ears, 'alice practice' is by far more fun, exciting and just outright brilliant than any bullshit super mario trance mashup. i do like some chiptune, it's just there's a lot of shit and a lot of the people involved are idiots.  

beach house - devotion

another favourite! in fact this probably my favourite dream pop album...ever. i'll admit dreampop isn't something that i'm overly big on, it just seems like a nice idea filled with albums that never make the most of it. devotion is an utterly beautiful album, almost perfect.

abe vigoda - skeleton

another one to watch out for, they do post punk tropical jams and although at this point they're just finding their feet, the album is still really good. i predict the next album will be absolutely incredible, watch this space!

ThickAndCreamy

Quote from: Cack Hen on December 07, 2008, 08:47:28 PM
johnny foreigner - waited up til it was light

despite coming from birmingham, they symbolise a sort of 'nathan barley' music culture, you'd probably all hate it. i think it's great fun, big riffs, big melodies, one thing you can't knock them on is their enthusiasm, especially live. they've got some seriously hardcore fans, too - people with JF tattoos, even.
I bought this album when I saw it at a low price on ebay, I still don't understand why it's so highly rated. It's mediocre for most songs with tinges of energy and excitement. It's as if they got half way through writing a semi decent album and then gave up entirely and created numerous songs in half an hour. The single, Salt, Peppa and Spinderella is also awful to the point of being embarrassing. To me it was by far the worst song on the entire album and I still cannot comprehend why they chose to release it as a single. Don't get me wrong, JF aren't terrible by any means, they are just stunningly average.

Live they are only slightly better than average, with lots of energy and excitement. However, this still doesn't make up for the fact the lead singer is an annoying twat of a man and in the two times I've seen them live (support and festival) the lead singer was an irritating twat.


You do love Pitchfork don't you Cack Hen?

Also, I agree entirely with Ponytail, just one listen of their myspace made me force myself to buy the album. It isn't extraordinary, just very fun noise pop, energetic and just a lovely little record. I've also already stated my love for Nouns on here before, so I won't lecture you all about it's greatness. Recommending to see No Age live is also obvious, one of the best bands I've seen live in my entire life.

Lot's of your choices I am also hoping to buy soon, along with many other records.

rudi

I may as well c'n'paste a post on the other forum I frequent:

1. Tilly and the Wall: O

I always assumed I'd hate this band. Stupid name, fans I'd cross the road to avoid, having a tap dancer in place of a drummer, but I was wronnnnnnnnnnng; so, so wrong. A hell of an album, absolutely all over the place stylistically, veering from twee "Juno" style timidity to Suzy Quatro stomp in the blink of an eye. It has never left the coveted "to hand" slot in my car since I took a punt on it. American pop done proper. Next year I'm definitely finding their previous work then seeing them play. Ohhhh yus.

PS: beware the last track - it's so bad it almost makes you dislike the rest of the album. Just snap off the offending section on your album, that's my advice...

2. The Black Keys: Attack and Release

Now I've always been a bit fond of TBK, but their brand of stripped down guitar n drum blues was in danger of disappearing up its own Jack Daniels barrel. Who'd have guessed the remedy was to get Danger Mouse to man the mixing desk for the latest album? What should be an embarrassing clash of styles is the single most beguiling album I've owned in years. Far and away the most played album of mine on this list, every track is a thing of beauty. Superficially simple, there's something to discover, or revisit and rehear, upon every listen. DM shows an awesome deftness of touch and Dan and Pat display a touching amount of trust in allowing him to sprinkle just.. enough technology to add a certain humour and fill out the sound in as unobtrusive a manner as possible. Rusty started a thread about songs you wish you'd written; I just want to be the keyboard player on this album. Beautiful.

3. Benji Hughes - A Love Extreme

A 25 track, double CD as a debut?? Madness. But then Hughes is certainly not the full banana. A warped one man show with songs ripping off everything from Beck to The Strokes via Marky Mark. The whole comes across like a funky Jim Noir, tracks literally running into one another, utter disregard for intros and outros, half-finished ideas, hilarious lyrics ("I Went with Some Friends to See the Flaming Lips" being a personal favourite) and the catchiest hooks outside a trout lake. It pretty much defies decent explanation, I just urge you to find the album and buy it before the next one makes him enorm.

4. Yeasayer: All Hour Cymbals

Now, I think this came out the end of 2007 but I've never claimed to have my thumb on the nub of youth, vicar. An unashamed return to the prog-vibe of early 70s with that expansive hippy-chant approach, dozens of instruments on every track, a refreshing lack of snare and all carried out by three art-rockers from Brooklyn (my music capital of 2008). Perfect for sunny days, every track a direct shot of joy to the heart. I wish I was half as clever...

5.Benga: Diary of an Afro-Warrior

While the world went wild about Burial, this crept out from the mean streets of Croydon. Everything dubstep had been promising to be: dark yet accessible, disorientating yet rhythmic. His use of live percussion kept that direct link between reggae and techno viable. Not for everyone, I agree, but I can drive for miles, with this throbbing through the chassis of the car, feeling invincible inside my bubble of bass. Yummer...


Missed the cut, but very noteable mentions: Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes, Burial: Burial, British Sea Power: Do You Like Rock Music, Va: Johnny Greenwood is the Controller, Portishead: Third, The Cool Kids: Bake Sale, Raconteurs: Consolers of the Lonely.

Marvin

I've got to say I disagree strongly with the idea it has been a bad year music-wise, I'll post my list in a bit but I think there's been plenty of good stuff.

rudi

Quote from: Marvin on December 07, 2008, 10:08:03 PM
I've got to say I disagree strongly with the idea it has been a bad year music-wise, I'll post my list in a bit but I think there's been plenty of good stuff.

Indeed, I've really enjoyed new music this year for the first time in a lonnnnng time.

Vitalstatistix

Quote from: Cack Hen on December 07, 2008, 08:47:28 PM
fuck buttons - street horrrsing

noise assault! i loved this the first time i heard it, long songs, big noise.

Mmmm good one. These guys make an insane amount of brilliant noise live, so if you get the chance go for it. Great album tooo.

Cack Hen

i saw them support mogwai, they were probably better than mogwai.

brand_new_modems

burial (s/t) was from 2006 rudi ya cheesemo

i have enjoyed some singles and albums

paavoharju - laulaulongfinnishtitlethat'shardtorememberoffhand
philip jeck - sand
byetone - deathofatypographer
grouper - dragging a dead deer up a hill
marcel dettmann - mdr04
SND - 456
shackleton/skull disco - soundboy's suicide note
newworldaquarium - the dead bears
alva noto - xerrox vol. 2 (not on general release until january bitches!)
richard skelton - marking time
function - anticipation
mika vainio (null) - oleva
machinefabriek - dauw
and my beloved bootleg of the stars of the lid performance at leeds holy trinity church in may. shits on all music for the rest of spacetime

i like music that goes BZZZZT CLICK CLICK BZZZZT CLICK CLICK CRACKLE POP GRRRR WHIZZ BANG for the most part yes

chand

#28
Here's a list of 20 I really, really like from this year:

Subtle - 'ExitingARM'
Collections Of Colonies Of Bees - 'Birds'
Flying Lotus - 'Los Angeles'
Neptune - 'Gong Lake'
Nadja - 'Desire In Uneasiness'
Gang Gang Dance - 'Saint Dymphna'
Dimension X - 'Dimension X'
Evangelista - 'Hello, Voyager'
Why? - 'Alopecia'
Benga - 'Diary Of An Afro Warrior'
TV On The Radio - 'Dear Science'
Boredoms - 'Super Roots 9'
Religious Knives - 'Resin'
James Blackshaw - 'Litany Of Echoes'
Don Caballero - 'Punkgasm'
Zach Hill - 'Astrological Straits'
Grails - 'Doomsdayer's Holiday'
School Of Seven Bells - 'Alpinisms'
Parts & Labor - 'Receivers'
Stacy Epps - 'The Awakening'

My list is a lot shorter, because I really lost track of music in the midst of various other dramas. Still, some really good stuff in my opinion out of 100-odd new 2008 albums I bought. The Subtle record for my money is better than Why?'s, probably my favourite thing any of the Anticon alumni have been involved in since 'The No Music'. It's fucking baffling, it's the third part of a story Doseone has been telling over the past three albums, focusing on a fictional rapper by the name of Hour Hero Yes. There's a website for it which apparently features 20,000 words of contextualising story elements, but regardless of all that I think they're musically one of the more interesting bands around the moment, and catchy in a really strange way. The Nadja record is possibly their best so far, it added live drums which helped flesh out the sound I already loved; big, slow-moving doom-y riffs with an odd beauty to them. Gang Gang Dance's record divided a lot of fans of previous stuff like 'God's Money' since it was a bit more...obvious? Accessible, certainly, but I wouldn't say it was a bad thing, some fucking ace tracks on there.

The Neptune album is dirrrty, they're a band who make their own instruments out of scrap metal, and they use them to make a nice scummy art racket along the lines of Shellac. The Collections Of Colonies Of Bees record was my favourite 'post-rock' effort of the year, really beautiful melodies, and Dimension X was really fucking bizarre in an unexpected way, Chris Corsano on the drums fighting a load of noise, overlaid with B-movie samples. Zach Hill's record was probably the most hard to describe though; I quite like Hella but I really really dug last year's Marnie Stern record he was involved in, and this is a really intriguing album, one of those where you never know quite what's gonna happen next.

Maximash