Seattle Subsonic

Listen To THIS: 21 Excellent Tracks From 2008 (Local Edition)

December 10th, 2008

And so the lists begin. Yes, it is that time of year, Music Nerds (that stands for Never Ending Radical Dudes, btw), where all your favorite on-line idiots tell you who and what they liked most in this wondrous year of 2008 (not counting Mr. Barry Obama). What made you dance? Who made you sing? What made you think? But, most importantly, what made you feeeeeeeeeel. And, if you’ve spent at least 1% of your leisure time reading this site, you’ll no doubt recognize some of the names below such as the Heavy Hearts, Sera Cahoone, Starfucker, Past Lives, Mono in VCF, Grand Archives, the Saturday Knights, Portugal. The Man, and many others who’ve graced these pages. I may have cheated and called Black Mountain ‘local’—whatever, I’m fine with that.

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Here today is the first edition of a two part series, where I’ve listed—along with the actual music (!)—my favorite listening tunes from our little hotbed of an enclave of a musical commune: the Pacific Northwest. Tomorrow I’ll give you my non-NW perspective. Most people know me as partial to albums over single tracks, but a little unconventionalism is always good for the soul. Chicken soup, if you will. Please remember that this isn’t necessarily intended to be a definitive “Top 10″ list where I snarkily snoot about the best of the best; it’s simply a thoughtful collection of all the rad shit I’ve been listening to these past 12 months. And why 21? Why the hell not 21?

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No particular order: (you can find audio players after the break)

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1.     Sera Cahoone – “The Colder the Air”

2.     The Heavy Hearts – “Attrition”

3.     Grand Archives – “Sleepdriving“

4.     The Helio Sequence – “The Captive Mind“

5.     Fleet Foxes – “Mykonos“

6.     Starfucker – “Isabella of Castile“

7.     Past Lives – “Beyond Gone“

8.     The Dutchess & the Duke – “Reservoir Park“

9.     Mono in VCF – “Escape City Scrapers“

10.   Portugal. The Man – “Colors“

11.   Black Mountain – “Queens Will Play”

12.   Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head – “L.A. Noir“

13.   Head Like a Kite – “Daydream Vacation“

14.   These Arms Are Snakes – “Lead Beater“

15.   The Saturday Knights – “Nobody Beats Us“

16.   Kinski – “Crybaby Blowout“ (This came out in 2007. I’m an idiot.)

17.   Jaguar Love – “Antoine and Birdskull“

18.   Man Plus – “Once In Awhile (Getting High Alone)“

19.   Partman Parthorse – “I’m A Book“

20.  Helms Alee – “Shhmna“

21.  Venus Verse – “Dreaming Again“

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Here are the songs with players for your listening pleasure:

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1.     Sera Cahoone – “The Colder the Air“

[audio:http://www.seattlesubsonic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/07-the-colder-the-air.mp3]

2.     The Heavy Hearts – “Attrition”

[audio:http://www.seattlesubsonic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/01-attrition.mp3]

3.     Grand Archives – “Sleepdriving“

[audio:http://www.seattlesubsonic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/08-sleepdriving.mp3]

4.     The Helio Sequence – “The Captive Mind“

[audio:http://www.seattlesubsonic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/03-the-captive-mind.mp3]

5.     Fleet Foxes – “Mykonos“

[audio:http://www.seattlesubsonic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/04-mykonos.mp3]

6.     Starfucker – “Isabella of Castile“

[audio:http://www.seattlesubsonic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/11-isabella-of-castile.mp3]

7.     Past Lives – “Beyond Gone“

[audio:http://www.seattlesubsonic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/01-beyond-gone.mp3]

8.     The Dutchess & the Duke – “Reservoir Park“

[audio:http://www.seattlesubsonic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/01-reservoir-park.mp3]

9.     Mono in VCF – “Escape City Scrapers“

[audio:http://www.seattlesubsonic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/01-escape-city-scrapers.mp3]

10.   Portugal. The Man – “Colors“

[audio:http://www.seattlesubsonic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/02-colors.mp3]

11.   Black Mountain – “Queens Will Play”

[audio:http://www.seattlesubsonic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/06-black_mountain-queens_will_play.mp3]

12.   Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head – “L.A. Noir“

[audio:http://www.seattlesubsonic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/06-la-noir.mp3]

13.   Head Like a Kite – “Daydream Vacation“

[audio:http://www.seattlesubsonic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/07-daydream-vacation.mp3]

14.   These Arms Are Snakes – “Lead Beater“

[audio:http://www.seattlesubsonic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/08-lead-beater.mp3]

15.   The Saturday Knights – “Nobody Beats Us“

[audio:http://www.seattlesubsonic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/10-nobody-beats-us.mp3]

16.   Kinski – “Crybaby Blowout“

[audio:http://www.seattlesubsonic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/01-crybaby-blowout.mp3]

17.   Jaguar Love – “Antoine and Birdskull“

[audio:http://www.seattlesubsonic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/07-antoine-and-birdskull.mp3]

18.   Man Plus – “Once In Awhile (Getting High Alone)“

[audio:http://www.seattlesubsonic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/07-once-in-awhile-getting-high-alone.mp3]

19.   Partman Parthorse – “I’m A Book“

[audio:http://www.seattlesubsonic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/07-im-a-book.mp3]

20.  Helms Alee – “Shhmna“

[audio:http://www.seattlesubsonic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/09-shhmna.mp3]

21.  Venus Verse – “Dreaming Again“

[audio:http://www.seattlesubsonic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/dreaming-again.mp3]

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*P.S. I’ve had trouble playing these in Firefox, so try Explorer if you have similar issues.