I was inspired to create my own top ten albums list after visiting with everyone these last couple weeks, I am warning you that there are some stretches. I wanted to say that it was a lot of fun and I promised several folks that I would make an attempt at staying in better contact. So my aping your lists is that first attempt. Without further adieu here is my list of the best albums of 2008 (in order):
1. Raphael Saadiq- The Way I See It (I may have this album a little high at number one, but it was just such a breath of fresh, or I guess more accurately recycled, air. This album is a picture perfect Motown album, and although you can hear the new recording advances in the production, it really seems somehow extremely pure. That is, of course, except the bonus track where Jay-Z drops a guest rap (it’s not that great and I could have done without it). Maybe this just represents my excitement at first hearing Saadiq’s Smokey Robinson inspired soul, but I am putting it number 1. PS- Don’t buy any of his other albums, they are dogshit)
2. Flight of the Conchords- S/T (The show is great and I may get a lot of shit for this, but this album did not leave my car CD player for a solid week after I got it. If you have not seen the show, watch it, and if you don’t have this album, buy it. Some of the mixes are a lot different on the album than the show, and it usually works out for the better.)
3. Lil’ Wayne- Tha Carter III (Really great album, altough I think it still plays a little more like a very coherent, high-budget mix tape rather than a full album, but there is nothing really I could say about Lil’ Wayne that has not already been said. Really love the literalness of “Mr. Carter” being that both he and Jay-Z have the surname Carter, and I think that “Dr. Carter” is one of the more clever songs, especially for a mainstream record that I have heard, maybe ever.)
4. The Knux- Remind Me in Three Days (Got this one for Christmas, so I haven’t had a chance to play it more than twice, but I was really struck by it. Really plays well all the way through and of course extra props for playing their own instruments.)
5. Roger Miller- S/T (Vinyl Reissue) (This is a HUGE stretch, I bought a used copy of this album at a local record store run by this big vinyl nerd. He told me that they had just reissued this album and they made a select run of vinyl. Of course I paid 4 dollars for a 60’s or 70’s copy. Anyway, great, great album, really straddles that fine line of traditional and serious country songs with those ridiculous ones that he was known for. No shit, a small tear welled up in my eye on the last song “Vance.”)
6. Gnarls Barkley- The Odd Couple (Really good follow-up to one of my favorite albums of the last few years. Another one, like Mello Gold, that wasn’t able to hold my full adult ADD attention span all the way through. But it has some great tracks and is overall a very enjoyable listen.)
7. C-Rayz Walz and Kosha Dillz- Free Style vs. Written (This album is great, it pairs one of favorite MC’s, C-Rayz-Walz, with Kosha Dillz (a Jewish rapper from Hairy Chest, New Jersey, wherever that is) and they take turns free styling and writing as the album title would indicate. They also switch verses on some songs, it is pretty hilarious to hear the white Jewish Kosha Dillz saying “Killa bong, bong/ From the BX baby live with my moms, moms.” Despite all the kitsch and novelty of the project there are some really great beats and excellent rhymes from both MCs.)
8. Beck- Mello Gold (To be honest, I have only given this album a couple of listens all the way through. There are some solid tracks that stand out when they come up on random on my mp3 player, but it lacked some of the hook that “The Information” and certainly “Guero” had. Good album overall though.)
9. The Hold Steady- Stay Positive (Sort of an adult punk rock album. I noticed it was not a popular choice when I spoke with some danger crew members about it, but I loved the themes of drugs, touring, positivity, and teenage angst being sung by a 40-year-old man)
10. Steve Earle- Washington Square Serenade (Actually released in late 2007, but I just got it this year. Not a great album, but like I said I stretched some of these, and this is sort of a yearlong listen achievement award because I spent large portions of the year listening to “I’ll be Alright,” “El Corazon,” and “Guitar Town,” which are all far superior albums. But it’s not a bad album and it has some interesting concepts and tracks. He mixed the album with the dust brothers, spends most of the songs singing in country twang about living in New York City, and he closes with a pretty poor version of a great Tom Waits song.)
2. Flight of the Conchords- S/T (The show is great and I may get a lot of shit for this, but this album did not leave my car CD player for a solid week after I got it. If you have not seen the show, watch it, and if you don’t have this album, buy it. Some of the mixes are a lot different on the album than the show, and it usually works out for the better.)
3. Lil’ Wayne- Tha Carter III (Really great album, altough I think it still plays a little more like a very coherent, high-budget mix tape rather than a full album, but there is nothing really I could say about Lil’ Wayne that has not already been said. Really love the literalness of “Mr. Carter” being that both he and Jay-Z have the surname Carter, and I think that “Dr. Carter” is one of the more clever songs, especially for a mainstream record that I have heard, maybe ever.)
4. The Knux- Remind Me in Three Days (Got this one for Christmas, so I haven’t had a chance to play it more than twice, but I was really struck by it. Really plays well all the way through and of course extra props for playing their own instruments.)
5. Roger Miller- S/T (Vinyl Reissue) (This is a HUGE stretch, I bought a used copy of this album at a local record store run by this big vinyl nerd. He told me that they had just reissued this album and they made a select run of vinyl. Of course I paid 4 dollars for a 60’s or 70’s copy. Anyway, great, great album, really straddles that fine line of traditional and serious country songs with those ridiculous ones that he was known for. No shit, a small tear welled up in my eye on the last song “Vance.”)
6. Gnarls Barkley- The Odd Couple (Really good follow-up to one of my favorite albums of the last few years. Another one, like Mello Gold, that wasn’t able to hold my full adult ADD attention span all the way through. But it has some great tracks and is overall a very enjoyable listen.)
7. C-Rayz Walz and Kosha Dillz- Free Style vs. Written (This album is great, it pairs one of favorite MC’s, C-Rayz-Walz, with Kosha Dillz (a Jewish rapper from Hairy Chest, New Jersey, wherever that is) and they take turns free styling and writing as the album title would indicate. They also switch verses on some songs, it is pretty hilarious to hear the white Jewish Kosha Dillz saying “Killa bong, bong/ From the BX baby live with my moms, moms.” Despite all the kitsch and novelty of the project there are some really great beats and excellent rhymes from both MCs.)
8. Beck- Mello Gold (To be honest, I have only given this album a couple of listens all the way through. There are some solid tracks that stand out when they come up on random on my mp3 player, but it lacked some of the hook that “The Information” and certainly “Guero” had. Good album overall though.)
9. The Hold Steady- Stay Positive (Sort of an adult punk rock album. I noticed it was not a popular choice when I spoke with some danger crew members about it, but I loved the themes of drugs, touring, positivity, and teenage angst being sung by a 40-year-old man)
10. Steve Earle- Washington Square Serenade (Actually released in late 2007, but I just got it this year. Not a great album, but like I said I stretched some of these, and this is sort of a yearlong listen achievement award because I spent large portions of the year listening to “I’ll be Alright,” “El Corazon,” and “Guitar Town,” which are all far superior albums. But it’s not a bad album and it has some interesting concepts and tracks. He mixed the album with the dust brothers, spends most of the songs singing in country twang about living in New York City, and he closes with a pretty poor version of a great Tom Waits song.)
1 comment:
Flight of Conchords, Fuck Yes!
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