tisdag 1 Jan 2008, 21:55

My overall feeling about the year is that it was neither a treasure trove nor a flop. I picked up new albums by many bands to whom I'd never listened. Out of my top eight albums of the year, half of them were from bands new to me. Bands with whom I was already familiar had mixed results for their new albums. I pulled out five albums that demonstrated very exciting improvements over previous releases. I also pulled out six albums that fell flat compared to previous releases. I should note that some of these slips involved a follow-up to an off-the-charts good album. Thus some of these slips were still killer records.

I'm very happy that the disco high-hat trend has come and gone. Bands still use it, but it's not the defining feature of the landscape. And where it is, the band totally sucks.

Here are the lists … enjoy!

Top records of the year:
Blanket Ice (Luff)
Cryptograms (Deerhunter)
Icons, Abstract Thee (Of Montreal)
Neon Bible (The Arcade Fire)
New Moon (Elliot Smith)
The Reminder (Feist)
Wild Mountain Nation (Blitzen Trapper)
You Follow Me (Nina Nastasia & Jim White)

These records kicked butt compared to their predecessors:
Boxer (The National)
In Rainbows (Radiohead)
Quiver (Michael Merenda)
Relocation Tactics (Spouse) * I should come clean and note that this is my band.
The Reminder (Feist)

These records had a similar impact on me as their predecessors:
Armchair Apocrypha (Andrew Bird)
Challengers (The New Pornographers)
The Fragile Army (The Polyphonic Spree)
Friend And Foe (Menomena)
God Save The Clientele (The Clientele)
Icons, Abstract Thee (Of Montreal)
It's A Bit Complicated (Art Brut)
The Light Divides (Winterpills)
Live Session - EP (Yo La Tengo)
Neon Bible (The Arcade Fire)
New Moon (Elliott Smith)
Proof Of Youth (The Go! Team)
Random Spirit Lover (Sunset Rubdown)
The Shepherd's Dog (Iron & Wine)
Todo Duele Más (Jose Ignacio Ayerve)
93-03 (Frank Black)

These records pale in comparison to their predecessors:
Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Spoon)
Places Like This (Architecture In Helsinki)
Some Loud Thunder (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah)
The Stage Names (Okkervil River)
A Weekend In The City (Bloc Party)
Wincing The Night Away (The Shins)

Bands new to me that released records this year:
Haunt
Haunt is Matt Hebert's new band, formally of Ware River Club. His song writing keeps getting better and he seems to be developing a much better ear for good production.
Kristen Gass
Kristen was introduced to me by Jose Ignacio Ayerve. She's dark and arty and super creative with just an acoustic guitar and her voice.
Luff
Liz Bustemante, band-mate of mine in spouse, plays(ed) drums with these guys. Mogwai and My Bloody Valentine goodness.
Deerhunter
Dreamy and dark. Sometimes instrumental. Love them.
Erin McKeown
Erin was introduced to me by Jose Ignacio Ayerve. She bounces back and forth between jazz and guitar/piano pop. I was thrilled that she sang on a song on the new spouse record.
I'm From Barcelona
Pure sugar indie-guitar-pop from some Scandinavians.
Battles
Chicago-based prog rock/electronic band. Very modern.
Panda Bear
Panda is in the Animal Collective. Very Brian Wilson.
Army Navy
My friend Adam Lasus recorded this record and introduced me to these guys. Former band-mates of Ben Gibbard. Melodic guitar-rock/pop with very cool vocals. Reminds me of Teenage Fanclub.
Frog Eyes
Found these guys because Spencer Krug, from Sunset Rubdown plays keys with them. Weird but good.
Blitzen Trapper
Freakin awesome band. Heavily reminds me of Pavement.
Peter Bjorn and John
60s style boy-pop, again from Scandinavia. Nice sparse arrangements.
Nina Nastasia & Jim White
Very cool duo. Nina sings and plays early 90s style acoustic indie songs with Jim playing the most f–ked up free drums. It's very unique.
Blonde Redhead
Heavy melodic dream pop with tons of reverb. I know these guys have been around for forever but I'm just catching on.

Everything I bought last year:
Armchair Apocrypha
As Blue As Your Dying Eyes
Band Of Silhouettes
Blanket Ice
Boxer
Challengers
Cryptograms
Fluorescent Grey
The Fragile Army
Friend And Foe
Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Get Nice
God Save The Clientele
Icons, Abstract Thee
In Rainbows
It's A Bit Complicated
Lafayette
Let Me Introduce My Friends
The Light Divides
Live Session - EP
Mirrored
Neon Bible
New Moon
Person Pitch
Places Like This
Proof Of Youth
Quiver
Random Spirit Lover
Relocation Tactics
The Reminder
Saints
The Shepherd's Dog
Some Loud Thunder
The Stage Names
Tears of the Valedictorian
Todo Duele Más
We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
A Weekend In The City
Wild Mountain Nation
Wincing The Night Away
Writers Block
You Follow Me
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93-03