Aug 06 2008
Please excuse the smell. Ease arrives this week a bit scatterbrained and bloodshot. Below you’ll find a hodgepodge of content, including a uncharacteristically succinct “Best Albums of 2008 (So Far)” list, a “Most Inadequate Albums of 2008 (So Far)” rant, a couple news stories, a few stray news dribbles, the latest in a series of Flashback Album of the Week installations and, of course, our current six-disc rotation. A stew. A stinky, stinky stew. Hold your breath.
Best Albums of 2008 (So Far)
Very few of my favorite artists have released albums so far this year. No sweat. Many albums – often from unexpected and sometimes unknown sources – have kept my ears happy in 2008. Thus far I have a list of about 200 new albums I’ve put in my player this year, at least 50 of which I think are very much worth exploring. Without going into any detail whatsoever, here are the 30 albums I love most from 2008: 30. The Cool Kids’ Bake Sale; 29. Nick Cave’s Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!; 28. Throw Me the Statue’s Moonbeams; 27. Los Campesinos’ Hold On Now, Youngster; 26. The Black Keys’ Attack & Release; 25. Mount Eerie’s Black Wooden Ceiling Opening; 24. Drive-By Truckers’ Brighter Than Creation’s Dark; 23. Flowers Forever’s Flowers Forever; 22. Justin Townes Earle’s The Good Life; 21. Brendan Canning’s Something For All of Us; 20. Beck’s Modern Guilt; 19. No Age’s Nouns; 18. Fleet Foxes’ Fleet Foxes LP; 17. Times New Viking’s Rip It Off; 16. R.E.M.’s Accelerate; 15. The Felice Brothers’ The Felice Brothers; 14. Sun Kil Moon’s April; 13. Dr. Dog’s Fate; 12. The Whigs’ Mission Control; 11. The Breeders’ Mountain Battles; 10. Eef Barzelay’s Lose Big; 9. The Hold Steady’s Stay Positive; 8. The Baseball Project’s Vol. 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails; 7. Portishead’s Third; 6. She & Him’s Volume One; 5. Silver Jews’ Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea; 4. Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks’ Real Emotional Trash; 3. Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy’s Lie Down in the Light; 2. Paul Westerberg’s 49:00; 1. Lee Miles’ Heathen Blux.
Most Disappointing Albums of 2008 (So Far)
10. Sigur Ros’ Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust is good, but Icelandic pop-cum-pseudo-drone? C’mon! Some of us aren’t complete idiots! 9. Aimee Mann’s @#%&*! Smilers is hardly the return to form it was supposed to be. 8. Cat Power’s Jukebox is, well, boring as hell. Given the advance media attention this album saw, I feel the need to twist the knife ’til the handle breaks off. 7. Sloan’s Parallel Play – stick a fork in ‘em, these once-great Canadian rockers are now all-around awful. 6. Destroyer’s Trouble In Dreams is the first ever completely forgettable Destroyer record, a shame, considering it was also the most anticipated. 5. Richard Swift’s As Onasis is two discs full of indulgent garage jamming from the man who could be writing the anthems of tomorrow. 4. Wolf Parade’s At Mount Zoomer is a major letdown, considering how good their debut was. These guys looked to be the ones able to finally create a place for indie kids/newbies and indie adults/strongholds to hold hands. 3. Tapes ‘n Tapes’ Walk It Off proves that most indie payoff-era bands are better off just stealing from Pavement. 2. Albert Hammond, Jr.’s Como te Llama? is going to follow him around the rest of his career as the stinker that followed a surprising pop masterpiece that most folks still don’t appreciate (but will in time). 1. My Morning Jacket’s Evil Urges is a strange mix of novel, weird, exciting and instantly dated trash. Okay, some of it is very good, but find me a publication – or even a single person – who still listens to this album in two years and I swear I’ll rebuy it and listen to it for a month straight.
Dylan Spoils Fans with Another Messy Collection
On October 8 Columbia Records will release Tell Tale Signs: Rare and Unreleased 1989-2006, a collection of odds and ends from Bob Dylan. Included will be an album or so of unreleased studio tracks, some alternate versions of recent album tracks, some era-specific live performances and other goodies. No clue why, but all the content is just sort of thrown together in what looks to be the least comprehensive manner possible. Who knows? This essential purchase will come in three formats: a standard two-disc set; a limited edition three-disc set; and a four-LP set that will very likely be worth more than my car this time next year. We at the Ease office can’t wait to get our ears on this tasty treat!
Murs Still Cocky, Generous, Miniature
The third in a trilogy of albums with producer 9th Wonder, Murs recently released his latest album, Sweet Lord, exclusively online … for free. Head over to www.okayplayer.com to download what we think is one of the best hip-hop albums so far this year. If you’re familiar with the last two Murs/9th collaborative albums, you know what to expect: funny, party-ready, post-boom-bap hip-hop with no filler. Now for the big news: Long considered to be one of the best underground emcees to never get hipster ink, look for Murs to finally make it big this fall, following the release of his said-to-be-amazing major label debut, Murs For President. The album, which features Snoop Dogg and others, will hit record store shelves on September 30.
Matador, Reatard to Release Raucous Record
One of the most promising “new” artists to hit so far this year is Jay Reatard, a garage rock song-making machine known to knock a sucka out on stage when need be. If you’re one of the few lucky enough to pick up any of the Matador-issued – and very limited – Reatard 45s this year, then you know how good this dude is right now. Well, luckily for the many out there still out of the Reatard loop, Matador will issue Singles ‘08, a collection of 12 songs culled from the 45s, on October 7.
Also in the News this Week
Billy Corgan is suing someone over something stupid again. Huge surprise. Liz Phair, fresh off a batch of shows in support of the reissue of her excellent Exile in Guyville classic, has been busy in the studio, recording with more artistic freedom than she’s had since Guyville itself. Phair describes the album as sloppy, unproduced and, well, good. Fingers crossed. The Donkeys have signed with Bloomington, Indiana label Dead Oceans, who will release their excellent new album, Living on the Other Side, on September 9. It good. It very good. Los Campesinos!, the very young- and naïve-sounding pop band we all hate to love, will release yet another studio album, We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed, via Arts & Crafts in November. Released just months ago, the band’s debut, Hold On Now, Youngster, is an excellent – and very Welsh sounding – indie pop album. Shamelessness rarely sounds so good. Be Your Own Pet recently announced that they’ll call it quits following a UK tour. Whew, Ease was beginning to fear that this Thurston Moore-touted band was actually going to earn a single fan. TV On the Radio will release their third album, Dead Science, on September 23. Silver Jew, Michael Tully’s documentary film about the Silver Jews’ first ever tour, will finally see the light of day, via DVD, on September 23. Buy the new Broken Social Scene album. Now! Oh, and supposedly Q-Tip will finally release his sophomore solo album, The Renaissance, this fall. Yes, we’ve told you this before about Q-Tip with no payoff. Grrr.
Flashback Album of the Week
The United States of America’s The United States of America – You’d probably be better off reading about this album online; there’s just not enough room here to explain its expansive sound, nor its unique place in underground rock history. A few songs sound as huge, shocking and singular as fellow genre-expanding albums like the first Velvet Underground record and My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless. Often described as “the great psychedelic space record of the 60s that almost no one heard,” The United States of America’s one and only album sounds (save for the sometimes off-putting vocals) about like what we’d imagine Syd Barrett often dreamed of stewing up. Endlessly experimental.
Current Six-Disc Rotation
Throw Me the Statue’s Moonbeams; Conor Oberst’s Conor Oberst; Robyn Hitchcock’s Fegmania!; Elliott Smith’s Roman Candle; The Donkey’s Living On the Other Side; Damien Jurado’s Caught in the Trees
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Not A Member? Register for Free!
