my top 20: 10 – 1
The conclusion below the cut!
9. Deastro, Keeper’s
I remember the day we listened to this at the office for the first time — we all knew, immediately, that Randy was something special. My love for this record has only grown since then — a testament to what one kid can do with some simple equipment and a whole lot of imagination. Every song on this makes me feel like I’m living inside Legend of Zelda. And that’s just fine by me.
8. R.E.M., Accelerate
It’s no secret by now that I’m probably the big “dad rock” guy in editorial. There is no record I argued about more in 2008 than this one. I’m not going to launch a huge defense — it’s a sentimental favorite, and I’ve gotten over feeling self-conscious about loving this band. I waited 11 long years for something that sounded like this from Buck, Mills & Stipe, and Accelerate still continues to scratch that itch. So there. When I was a kid, Stipe was my favorite member. These days it’s Buck by a mile.
7. Shearwater, Rook
Gorgeous, sprawling art rock, songs about birds that are really songs about all of us. I didn’t fully appreciate this band until this record — it was the first time, for me, they came into their own, creating something unapologetically ambitious. Every time I hear this, I think of Tilt-era Scott Walker (a record that sounds a lot more straightforward now than it did when it was released). I have probably played this record’s title track somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 times.
6. TV on the Radio, Dear Science
TVOTR’s artier impulses have left me cold in the past, but this record was a mindblower, a dazzling fusion of soul and pop. It’s the art rock record Prince would make, if Prince ever decided to make an art rock record. But even though much ink has been spilled over how accessible this record is, it still is powered by a pounding heart of darkness. TV on the Radio have met the enemy, and he is us.
5. Frightened Rabbit, The Midnight Organ Fight
I’m convinced that anyone who really gets into this record does so for the lyrics, not the music. A harrowing portrait of romantic obsession, The Midnight Organ Fight slices the skin and readies the salt over and over and over again. It’s a bracing, difficult listen, instantly gripping and frighteningly relatable.
4. The Roots, Rising Down
Here’s where I get mad. So, look. Lil Wayne. He’s fine, right? He’s a clever lyricist. The Carter III was a terrifically rewarding record. But how in the world it is outpacing Rising Down on every critics’ poll is a mystery to me. (Actually, no, it’s not a mystery to me at all, I just don’t want to get all cynical and nasty). And if you wanna get into it with me in the comments section, I am ready to chuck the gloves off and go. To me, the Roots are one of the most inventive and visionary bands in popular music. Period. Their fascination with the possibilities of sound is second only to Radiohead. The jag they’ve been on for the last few years has been absolutely riveting, each record a little darker and a little more paranoid than the one that came before. You don’t just listen to songs on Rising Down — you listen to the whole thing, start to finish. I already said my piece about this record here, so I’m not going to belabor it. All I’ll say is this: for the last six years, the Roots have been finding new and breathtaking ways to re-write There’s a Riot Goin’ On. This might be their best work yet.
3. Headlights, Some Racing, Some Stopping
No one at eMusic loves this band as much as I do — except maybe Amishi — and I’ve learned to accept that. I played the hell out of this record in 2008, from start to finish, over and over. It’s not any kind of grand pop reinvention, it’s just full of sturdy, memorable pop songs that retain their charm by the five-hundredth play. It also feels like an album — the first song starts small and goes huge, and every subsequent song seems to build and build and build. One of my favorite live bands currently working, Headlights are all spirit and fire.
2. Portishead, Third
Yancey and I were talking the other day about how everyone seems to have forgotten this record came out. I can’t imagine how — it’s a straight-up fever dream, a whole huge nightmare of sound that smashes to pieces the old Portishead aesthetic and replaces it with lurching, Munchian grotesques. Beth Gibbons’ voice has never sounded more chilling, and she howls against the stark, percussive backdrop like a ghost writhing her way through a combine. Utterly riveting and fascinating, Third is the long, dark night of the soul.
1. Erykah Badu, New AmErykah Pt. 1: 4th World War
Absolutely perfect. Not a note on this sounds forced or accidental — from the limber, opening groove of “AmErykahn Promise” the straight neo-soul closer “Honey,” New AmErykah works like a complete statement, a heady, hazy stumble through fucked-up 2008 America. Badu’s voice is languid and mysterious, and the way she winds it across the reggae groove of “The Healer” is still startling months after its release. No album summed up 2008 for me better than this one. How perfect that the ‘promise’ the record implied arrived — fully and finally — this past November.
Rooks as a track just kind of hung around as I listened to the album while others rose and fell as favorites, and now only “Century Eyes” is in the same league to me as this track. The acoustic version on the Snow Leopard EP sounds so similar I didn’t bother with it, though.
I’ll definitely check out Headlights.
“I’ve gotten over feeling self-conscious about loving this band.”
This is a blatant lie.
alright, i’ll take the bait. (removes gloves) here’s why Rising Down gets ignored: with each new record, the Roots become a better band, more sonically inventive, more dangerous, darker and more out there, and with each year, it seems, a better and better live act. and while this is happening, with each record, Black Thought become a worse and worse and worse and worse lyricist. seriously, everyone else left his ass in the dust YEARS ago (Phrenology was the last Roots record i could fully get behind.) and putting him up front drags down the whole project. he tries to sound deep, political, angry, and it just doesn’t register to the point where it’s almost embarrassing. it’s not even that he’s corny; he’s just so… boring. i mean, just listen to “My Favorite Munity” on the Coup’s Pick a Bigger Weapon. Black Thought throws out some generic, half-hearted revolutionary-isms, and then Boots comes in and SCHOOLS HIS ASS, with a verse that’s passionate, playful, clever, angry and from the heart. no posing, no posturing, no bullshit. if i were anyone in the Roots band who played an instrument i’d kick Thought out and just run wild, picking up every bit of inspiration that came our way and make an amazing record. until that day, though, most of us will dutifly listen to each new album, get frustrated, and ultimately forget about it.
by the way: total agreement on Portishead and Erykah. pants-crappingly great. and they only get better and better with each spin.
jrn:
I’ve got nothing to add to that except motherfucking CHURCH. You cannot be this generation’s Sly and Family Stone if your front man is duller than John Mayer.
OK, my turn! (I’m really glad someone took the bait!)
So first off, I’m glad you acknowledged that they’re getting better musically; I feel like they don’t get nearly enough credit for how sonically adventurous they’ve become. Very few people are making records these days that are as dark or panic-stricken as Roots records.
I knew Black Thought was going to be the main issue raised, so I have two (admittedly measly) things to say.
– I think the Roots know this. On the last two records — and especially on the latest — it seems like they’re bringing in more and more “guest MCs” to take the load off Thought’s shoulders. Most of the songs on Rising Down have at least 3 MCs, most of whom, I’ll admit, do a better job than Black Thought.
– I actually turned a corner on Black Thought on the last record. I have no real way to justify this, but something about the precision and cleanness of his flow started drawing me in. He lines up verses like he’s laying out playing cards — clean and slow and orderly. It’s not conventional, but I’ve grown to love it.
Joe,
YOu’re totally right about guest MCs and the Roots. Whenever Peedi Crakk or Wale or really ANYONE comes in on a Roots track, it is almost without fail my new favorite rap song for a few months or so. I dream of the day that Black Thought goes off and forms a group with like, Zack De la Rocha and The Roots hire Beanie Sigel.
There’s an MC on the new record with the terrible name Porn who destroys every track he’s on.
Peedi Crack also shines. I kind of wish they would just hire him full-time.
Your Frightened Rabbit comment is dead on, perhaps one of the best descriptions of it I’ve seen.
I think it’s actually, P.O.R.N. — questionable as to whether this makes or more or less Googleable.
One thing is for sure: I am not attempting that Google from the office.
Ok, I’m listening to Rising Down right now and “75 Bars” just came on. Come on! COME ON! This song is great.
the new Portishead might be my No. 1. It is an awesome record that everyone slept on because it wasn’t Dummy part three.
Why should you have to defend REM, they are a solid band.
I’ve been into REM since 1982, so no apologies required from me. Another day, I’ll tell you about the time I saw REM touring Murmur on top of a bill with Husker Du opening, playing in *an indoor tennis court* at Harvard.
The problem with Buck Mills & Stipe is that Berry is missing. They’d said from the beginning that as soon as one of them left, the group would be over. They should have kept their word…because it WAS over after Bill left.
I’m not sure I’ve ever heard any Frightened Rabbit lyrics. I love Midnight Organ Fight — a lot, actually — for the way that the sound and shape of the voice fit with the music, rather than any specific words. Kinda like REM back in the day.
“Why should you have to defend REM, they are a solid band.”
They’re a solid band, but they are a shell of their former selves. I couldn’t get into Accelerate, despite the band pulling out every mid-career signifier possible (e.g., the Life’s Rich Pagent — Document period). The hooks are not memorable, the rhythms are limp (and, strange as it may seem, early-to-mid period R.E.M. was all about the Big Beat), and the melodies are formless. Mills is my favorite member, BTW (by a mile).
“everyone seems to have forgotten [Third] came out.”
Nah. Third is going to be in a lot of publications’ Top Five. You’re right: It’s a dark, pulsating masterpiece. And I’m not sure I’ve ever heard Portishead before, so I had no expectations for it, whatsoever.
You must be nearly as old as I am, D., Esquire. Document isn’t mid-period — it was released 21 years ago!
Certainly agreed on the Big Beat in the IRS years tho. Drums are really the only instrument on LRP…just as Mike Mills was the only one singing on Out of Time.
Ha! I’m 40. And feeling very o-l-d.
I think of REM’s career in three highly-subjective phases. Phase One covers Chronic Town — Fables of the Reconstruction (the “Early/Southern Gothic” period). Phase Two covers Document — New Adventures in Hi-Fi (the “Mid/Weird Rock” period). Phase Three covers Up — Accelerate (the “Late/Creatively Spent” period). I know some pretty savvy music fans who love Up or Reveal, but I can’t see it. Up through the midpoint of the Mid/Weird Rock period, REM was maybe my favorite band ever (to date myself even further, my other contenders for “Favorite Band Ever” include The Smiths, Husker Du and The Replacements. But I think today’s indie/experimental rock is, basically, just as good and compelling as the best underground bands from the 80s).
At one point, REM said they planned to do a final show on New Year’s Eve 2000, and break-up the band. Out of respect for their (amazing) legacy, I wish they had.
(I know 40 isn’t old, BTW. I’m just feeling more fatigued these days.)
All this “I think they’re trying to bury Black Thought on their own records” dovetails nicely with their new jobs as Jimmy Fallon’s late-night band, don’t you think?
Hey, is this where the old guys are hanging out? I’m 42 and first saw REM with the dB’s on a university football field in Gainesville FL. Count me as a fan of the “Early/Southern Gothic” period who gave up on them after Automatic for the People.
I don’t think the loss of Bill Berry affected them that much musically — he was never a great drummer. I remember trying to convince a friend to listen to REM (and he was trying to convince me to listen to Yo! Bum Rush the Show). He dropped the needle in the middle of each track on one side of an REM LP (that’s how old I am), and he said, “See? Every song has the same beat.”
The thing that made me give up on REM was the embarrassingly bad songs that got on the radio. It wasn’t just “Shiny Happy People”. Songs like “Orange Crush” and ESPECIALLY “Everybody Hurts” were just awful.
On the topic of the Roots (and drummers), I think Questlove deserves a Grammy for his work on that new Al Green album. Nice choice, Joe.
Happy to see Erykah Badu at the top of a critic’s list. I really love this album and couldn’t understand why it wasn’t more hyped than it was. I think this album sounds *important,* and is the most likely thing from this year to still be around 20-30 years from now.
Headlights deserves to be in everyone’s top 10 (or so) albums of this year. So glad to see someone else brought them up as a standout in the last year. Here on an island in Canada, we don’t get so much of these live bands as a treat, so my admiration is based on a full-sounding album and the desire to get up and dance around in circles everytime Headlights come up in my playlists. The only other bands to do this in the last year are Tut Tut and Sunny Day Sets Fire…ah, good times, these…