best albums of 2008: 20-11
This morning we crack the Top 20.
20 High Places, 03/07 – 09/07
19 Hauschka, Ferndorf
18 Portico Quartet, Knee-Deep in the North Sea
17 Jay Reatard, Matador Singles ’08
16 John Eliot Gardiner, Brahms Symphony No. 1
15 Siah & Yeshua dapoED, The Visualz Anthology
14 Santogold, Santogold
13 Deerhunter, Microcastle
12 Shearwater, Rook
11 Grouper, Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill
Let’s start with Grouper, probably the least-known of any albums in this section. It’s a beautiful, dreamy record that I’m surprised didn’t get more real-world attention. Running through the rest of this, we get Shearwater, who I still have never heard, but who Joe loves more than life itself. Also the Deerhunter record — lower than Daniel expected! — and Santogold, both well known. The Siah album really is impressive — there was no doubt what the highest-ranking hip-hop album would be on our list. Jayson adores the Brahms, Alex adores Jay Reatard and then there’s the Mercury Prize-nominated Portico Quartet, Hauschka and our old friends High Places.
Tomorrow we will unveil numbers ten through six, and then Thursday the Top Five. Time to make your guesses on what will be in there!
And just a reminder of where we’ve been:
88 DJ/rupture, Uproot
87 Benoit Pioulard, Temper
86 Bobby Watson, From the Heart
85 Mr. Scruff, Ninja Tuna
84 Friendly Fires, Friendly Fires
83 The Avett Brothers, The Second Gleam
82 Zomby, Where Were U in ’92?
81 Olof Arnalds, Vio og vio
80 Jenny Scheinman, Jenny Scheinman
79 The Mole, High As the Sky
78 Fredrik, Na Na Ni
77 Juana Molina, Un Dia
76 Various Artists, Nigeria 70
75 twi the humble feather, Music for Spaceships and Forests
74 Rainbow Arabia, The Basta
73 She and Him, Volume One
72 Bang on a Can All-Stars, Music for Airports Live
71 Otis Redding, Live in London & Paris
70 James Blackshaw, Litany of Echoes
69 Ladyhawke, Ladyhawke
68 Black Mountain, In the Future
67 Cut Off Your Hands, Happy As Can Be
66 Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson at Emmanuel
65 John Ellis, Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow
64 Boduf Songs, How Shadows Chase the Balance
63 Huun-Huur-Tu, Mother Earth! Father Sky!
62 Headlights, Some Racing, Some Stopping
61 Crystal Castles, Crystal Castles
60 Simone Dinnerstein, The Berlin Concert
59 Studio, Yearbook 2
58 Johnson & Johnson, Johnson & Johnson
57 Okkervil River, The Stand Ins
56 The Kills, Midnight Boom
55 Kurt Vile, Constant Hitmaker
54 2562, Aerial
53 Breathe Owl Breathe, Ghost Glacier EP
52 The Fireman, Electric Arguments
51 Titus Andronicus, The Airing of Grievances
50 Blacklisted, Heavier Than Heaven, Lonelier Than God
49 Eliza Carthy, Dreams of Breathing Underwater
48 Seun Kuti & Fela’s Egypt 80, S/T
47 Top Choice Clique, Reel Chemistry
46 Army Navy, Army Navy
45 Chris Knight, Heart of Stone
44 Paul Lewis, Beethoven Piano Sonatas Vol. 4
43 Elzhi, The Preface
42 Fuck Buttons, Street Horrrsing
41 Avishai Cohen Trio, Gently Disturbed
40 Esperanza Spalding, Esperanza
39 British Sea Power, Do You Like Rock Music
38 Kayhan Kalhor, Silent City
37 Liam Finn, I’ll Be Lightning
36 Marco Benevento, Invisible Baby
35 Horse Feathers, House With No Name
34 Crystal Stilts, Alight of Night
33 Valery Gergiev, Mahler Symphony No. 3
32 The Raveonettes, Lust Lust Lust
31 Richard Swift, Ground Trouble Jaw
30 She Keeps Bees, Nests
29 The Rural Alberta Advantage, Hometowns
28 Let’s Wrestle, In Loving Memory Of…
27 Atlas Sound, Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel
26 Beach House, Devotion
25 Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend
24 Pete and the Pirates, Little Death
23 Osmo Vanska, Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 2 and 7
22 Madvillain, Madvillainy 2: The Madlib Remix
21 Carl Craig, Sessions
Hmmm . . . so far only two of my top 10 have shown up on this list, but I would really hope that the David Byrne/Brian Eno album is still to come. I have no idea, though.
“the Deerhunter record — lower than Daniel expected!”
Much lower! And you say there’s a landslide No. 1 selection? I’m stumped. I guess I’ll fall back on my other choices: Vivian Girls or The Hold Steady. Those just don’t sound right. Times New Viking? Can’t see it. Steinski? Inspired choice, but I can’t see it. Girl Talk? Not his year, I don’t think. Please don’t say it’s Ponytail. Would the Soundways Nigerian compilation count? I dunno.
(Pleasantly) surprised to see Grouper so high. And I think I’ve finally become convinced to give Shearwater a try.
Was the landslide number 1 this list or the user list? (or both?)
I’ve been assuming that the No. 1 would be an indie-rock record. Looking over the list so far, it occurs to me that maybe I made a bad assumption. I’m sticking with it, tho.
The landslide #1 was on the user side, although the final numbers made it closer than I first thought. Still, on the user poll, it’s a significant win.
On the editors’ side, the #1 was a consensus for the most part. There was some initial disagreement, but in the end we all felt happy with our very bizarre Top Ten.
Well we’ve still not had TV on the Radio (was that available stateside?) or Bon Iver so my guess would be one of those for number one. Possibly Fleet Foxes (again was it available in america?) or the Hold Steady.
I’m still hoping to see the albums from Why?, Lambchop, Eli “Paperboy Reed” and the Dodos feature…
Yeah, I guess Bon Iver will be up there, too. In fact, it’s making more-and-more sense.
TVOTR and Fleet Foxes are both only available in the EU.
Bon Iver is my guess for yr #1. I’d like to see Plants & Animals and Blackblack rank high up yr list as well.
Just seen Fleet Foxes in the UK list. Thought it would be higher than 23 – it’s done really well in a lot of the music mags lists over here, Mojo had it at number 1, Uncut at 2.
“very bizarre” = yay.
I checked out Shearwater and found myself pleasantly surprised by a sound I didn’t previously have in my music collection. Meiburg’s voice, the icy tone of the music, and the unexpected swells of emotion all combine to make a record overflowing with sorrow but also striking passion.
And Century Eyes is the best song Interpol never wrote. It seems a bit out of place on Rooks, but it ultimately works.
Jonathan you might have made me listen to that record finally. Joe couldn’t do it, but it appears you can.
And Uncle Simon, we are all Fleet Foxes agnostics over here. I have had the misfortune of seeing them live three or four times now, and I can tolerate them and that’s about it. I’m glad so many people love them — I can never talk shit about people finding music they love. I will simply never be among them.
An impressive and, it seems, deliberately obscure list so far. Which makes me hopeful School of Seven Bells or Tobacco will wind up in the Top Ten, but fearful the comparatively mediocre Hold Steady and Of Montreal discs will wind up there instead.
Oh trust me, your fears are definitely unfounded, Mr. Purdy.
I am hoping Whitey Morgan, drive by truckers, or something else shows up here but I wont hold my breath. If you like southern rock or country check out these artist
I liked the Whitey Morgan too but if they’re going to throw a scrap in the direction of real country (nah, indie rock with a steel guitar don’t count) it better be Justin Townes Earle, a stellar breakout debut which heralds the arrival of a major artist.
I never expected to see my picks up there but I have dl’d three or four albums off the list so far based on it and it is pretty unique in its diversity. Go, 17D.
The diviersity is definitely nice While I stick mostly to indie music, I like knowing that there is music belonging to other genres I can also check out. That Brahms work is tempting, I can’t wait to go home and listen to the samples and see what i think.
I’m still hoping Alopecia by Why? shows up somewhere. This was the year of Anticon for me with 3 records landing on my fav for year end (subtle, alias).
I doubt much if any of my list will show up. Zomby was a late standby, but didn’t eek out any of the other contenders for top 10.
I was a little surprised to see the 2562 record and not the Benga or iTAL tEK records, both of which I felt were far superior.
And geez how many times did I listen to the new Presets album this year?
Nice to see Santgold on the list. That was an album I wasn’t sure I was going to like until I ended up pretty obsessed with it. It doesn’t make my top twenty but it’s not bad.
Speaking of which, when are we going to have 17dots bloggers listing their top twenty?