best albums of the year so far
22Jul08
I know that everyone understandably wants to talk about the technology improvements to eMusic today, but there’s another cool new feature I wanted to mention: our list of the best albums of the year so far. You can read it here.
Hopefully you aren’t too list-weary after last week’s big best albums ever brouhaha, but we’re really excited about these 2008 albums. They go pretty solidly across the spectrum, and feature a lot of the titles you would expect, with hopefully quite a few that you would not. Please let us know how you feel about this list, and below share what we missed!
Also, like the best albums list, there are varying lists by territory. The link above is for the US list, and here is the UK list and the EU list.
Justin Townes Earle … or anything else you want to name from the country, blues, folk (non-hipster variety) releases. There must be room for at least one.
Frightened Rabbit gets my vote. Stunning. If I had to choose one album that both sums up my devotion to emusic and justifies it, it would be this.
For a little (lot;)) more variety, I’d like to submit my own humble list in progress.
I’m warming to the nu-noise sound of 2008: Times New Viking; Sic Alps; Abe Vigoda; F–k Buttons (tho they’re a different type of act, really). This new Mae Shi disc — which just appeared on eMusic and received an 8.1 from Pitchforkmedia — also is in the same vein and, from the :30 samples, sounds interesting. The link is below.
http://www.emusic.com/album/The-Mae-Shi-Hlllyh-MP3-Download/11210537.html
My own humble list in progress too.
(BTW, I’d love to be able to add comments to other people’s lists. Sometimes it would be to suggest missing titles, but most often saying thanks — I find a TON of new music this way. But I’d only want this feature if I had the power to delete the “not available in my country” comments.)
It’s very nice that the EU list is almost identical to the UK list and thus includes Ladytron, which I’ve been desperate to download since I first heard it but could not, because it’s actually not available in, you know, Europe.
I’m glad you could at least resist the temptation to remind me again that Fleet Foxes would be available to me if I lived across the channel. Too bad I went to the UK list anyway now just to see whether a simple mix-up of lists could explain Ladytron’s presence in “my” list.
Hi Arne - the Ladytron album is available in just over half the countries served by the EU store, but, obviously and disapointingly, not where you are. Sorry - sometimes we have to make choices between showing SOME people a great album and not showing anyone at all.
has anyone noticed an album that appears in the UK/EU list that’s not on the US list but IS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD in the US?
just curious…
The Wedding Present album not present? Shame, definitely in my list and agreed Daniel Esq. Fuck Buttons is a brilliant album. Shall check out your Mae Shi disc recommendation too.
My favorite indie rock albums so far this year are the Colour Revolt’s debut; the Duke Spirit’s Neptune (which recently appeared on eMu); and New People Make Us Nervous, the new album by the Canadian band Statues (strongly recommended to fans of the Futureheads). I also really like the Evangelista album, Hello Voyager (Carla Bozulich backed by members of Thee Silver Mt Zion), and the Dananananackroyd ep.
hmm. surprised to not see the mountain goats make the cut. it’s one of my favorites of the year.
Its My Fav. Album …
Simply Sacha by Sacha Boutros is my undisputed pick for my favorite album of the year so far. I love the latest from Cassandra Wilson and Esperanza Spalding, but Ms Boutros’ disc is the complete package. She sings standards like Speak Low and Stormy Monday and ups the ante with compositions of her own like Amor Imposible, Mi Inspiracion and Dedication. Stellar performances from Red Holloway, Geoffrey Keezer and Chuchito Valdes leave me scratching my head after discovering this is Sacha’s debut release. I can’t wait to hear what comes next. This lady is destined to be a big, big international star.