Seattle Subsonic

My Favorite Albums of 2008 – local and otherwise

December 29th, 2008

So it may seem a little last minute to unleash my favorite albums of the year, but I wanted to give the record companies every possible chance to squeeze in a last attempt and slip into my 2008 list. I mean, it’s only fair, right?  Isn’t that what they strive for? I was actually very torn between this post and another listing the most overrated albums of 2008. Maybe if we’re lucky I’ll have a minute before the new year to unleash my rant. Until then, these 10 albums deserve all the praise they received and then some.
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10) The Black Angels – Directions to See a Ghost (LITA)

Torn with fury from the dark mud of an ancient jungle comes Directions to See a Ghost, the Black Angels’ sophomore follow up to the 2006 album Passover. Picture a dimly lit, smokey room of an endless warehouse. Stack the Marshall Amps up tall, wrench up the bass and you might get the same feeling that this album gives your soul. The music does not come at you, it comes through you. It lurks in your chest and attacks your ears from the inside. The only thing you can do is to pull your over-sized headphones on, kill the lights and let it run its course. Eventually the ceremony will be over and you’ll be set free to continue on your merry way, but you’ll feel primal… almost cleansed.
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9) High Decibels – High Decibels (Rolling Jack)

When people talk about fusion music, this is what they are referring to. Hip hop, rock, soul and blues blended like a really good mint julep. The one defining component of the High Decibels is the fact that the loops are not digital but come from a live guitarist laying down the blues riffs for Duke Johnson and Chief. This album is just oozing with cool head nodding tracks, peppered with highlights like That Dude which brings in a Zeppelin-like aspect and Miss Cindy which takes the slide guitar to places Howlin’ Wolf would never have imagined.
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Ting Tings – We Started Nothing (Red Ink)

The Ting Tings are yet another power duo to add to the long list of 2-person groups of recent days. All I can say about this album is that it’s terribly fun – my guilty pleasure of 2008. At first, I wasn’t turned on by the sound, but I kept hearing songs off of the album and found myself asking who the hell it was. You may have caught Shut Up and Let Me Go on the iPod commercial, or That’s Not My Name on the YouTube video for Yo Gabba Gabba (OK, I admit, I may be the only one to have seen it there, but it’s 2 great tastes that taste really good together, c’mon!) It’s a total dance party dipped in electro rock beats and chanting sing-along lyrics.
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7) Elliot Brood – Mountain Meadows (Six Shooter)

Naming an album after the site of Mormon militia massacre seems like a bold step for any band. Especially if you’ve been previously dubbed as Urban Hillbilly and Death Country. While Mountain Meadow, the sophomore effort from the Toronto trio, isn’t pushing a political message, it is chock full with emotion. The album moves from song to song incorporating banjos ukuleles and here, thick electric guitars and drums there, all while maintaining total coherence. It’s one of the few albums produced that works best as a whole even though there are several stand-out tracks. It’s not quite country, not quite folk, not quite blues and not quite rock but instead a gritty, rasping and progressive combination of each.
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6) Raphael Saadiq – The Way I See It (Sony)

If you would have told me 5 years ago that one of my favorite albums today would be released by the frontman of Tony! Toni! Tone!, I would have simply laughed in your face. But here we are and The Way I See It has earned a permanent spot in my rotation. Yuk’s on me I guess. While Amy Winehouse was the first to mainstream the retro soul sound, Raphael has embodied it. This is a true tribute to Motown bridging a generation gap by including old-school and new-school guests on the album including Stevie Wonder, C.J. Hilton, Joss Stone, and even Jay-Z.
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5) Helio Sequence – Keep Your Eyes Ahead (Sub Pop)

Love it or hate it, this is the new sound of the Helio Sequence. Personally, I love it. After wearing the digits off of their 2004 release, Love and Distance, this long-awaited follow-up struck me as strange at first. Then, it grew on me, like a stubborn northwest moss. The most obvious difference is lead singer Brandon Summers’ astonishingly altered voice after severely damaging his vocal chords on tour. The overall sound is decidedly less poppy, instead capturing haunting melodies, especially shown in the tracks “Shed Your Love” and “You Can Count on Me.” The snappy drums, electro-pop sequencing, and grimy guitars that define Helio Sequence still appear throughout the album, though “Hallelujah” might be the beacon of light for those looking for something familiar in the duo’s sound. Kudos must also be given to Brendan and Benjamin for producing and arranging this album themselves.
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4) Black Keys – Attack and Release (Nonesuch)

Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney truly have the Midas Touch. Their most recent release, Attack and Release was initially slated to be an album written by them for the legendary Ike Turner and produced by DJ Danger Mouse. When Ike unexpectedly died, so did the project. Then, over a couple drinks, Patrick convinced Danger Mouse to pick up the reins and give the songs they had written new life as the band’s 5th album (7th if you count the Junior Kimbrough tribute and the first EP). This rebirth seemed to inspire the Akron duo to do some reinventing with their sound – incorporating organs, pianos and banjos into the arrangements. Nothing seems off limits. The result is an incredibly well constructed tribute to the ability these two possess to rock your ass off as well as the talents DJ Danger Mouse has make a gem shine bright without removing any of the dust and grime.
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3) Does it Offend You, Yeah – You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Yourself Into (Almost Gold)

So are you offended by Daft Punk or Death From Above 1979? How about Arcade Fire or LCD Soundsystem? Justice? The B-52’s? What if you mashed them all up in a giant musical goulash spiced it up with a little 80’s new wave and video game sound effects. Would it offend you then? Me either. In fact I love them all with a side of toast. While DIOYY has been criticized for ripping off the sound of most of the above mentioned bands, I have found them to have incorporated the best of all of them into one glorious body-jerking mess. The tracks are filled with heavy beats, pounding bass, and overflowing with cowbell and “electro-infused Weird Science” (to quote Jules). This music is an inevitable dance party. You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Yourself Into sits in my top 3 this year because it is one of the only albums that I can leave on repeat and always look forward to the next song.
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2) Foals – Antidotes (Sub Pop)

Foals are Sub Pop’s newest disco-rock child hailing from Brighton, UK and fronted by the often out-of control Yannis Philippakis and Jimmy Smith on lead and rhythm guitar. They each play in perfect high pitched discord, almost everything above the 12th fret. Their guitars chirping like electrocuted crickets cranking out methodic and mathematic rhythms. Walter Gervers takes bass playing into a jerking and convulsing realm along with the piercing leads and Jack Bevan’s drumming is precise and punctuated. But what really strikes me as the album progresses is Edwin Congreave on keyboards and synth. This is the band’s bread and butter. This echoing pulsing sound. This is the source of the hypnotism, the part that kicks you in the back of the knees over and over causing you to bob and weave. Antidotes is filled with it and I challenge you not to submit.
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1) Saturday Knights – Mingle (LITA)

This was (and shall continue to be) Seattle’s official album of summer. Now while local blogs and critics embraced Mingle, there was a hefty amount of national backlash against it calling it disjointed and immature. As many times as I have tried to sum up my feelings for the long awaited full length masterpiece from local Hip Hop heroes, Tilson and Barfly, I cannot top the words of our own DJ 100 Proof, so to wrap up my 2008 top ten, I will stand aside and let his words take over for me.
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“I can’t remember any group that incorporated so many musical styles and genres into an action-packed 40-minute album. I can’t even bring myself to classify this as a hip-hop album, which is a great thing. Off the top of my head, I can pinpoint elements of punk, greaser, surfer, and classic rock, heavy metal, blues, Euro-pop, reggae, rockabilly, electronic, and of course hip hop. To blend all those different sounds (and more cowbell!) into one album and pull it off so seamlessly is effing impressive. Not to mention that they bring an arsenal of quotable verses, rewind-worthy one-liners, and all around great lyricism to the tracks. A lot of the lines are subtle, but after a few listens you can’t help but flash the “O face.” Barfly calmly drops gems on “45″ (”Can’t hang homeboy? I’m fuckin drapery”) and “Dog Park” (”She party like a rock star, so delirious/ I party like a Dog Star, so Sirius.”)
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All the songs are great in their own way, but of course I have a few favorites. “Ass Kicker’s Haircut” sounds like the beat was made for the Heavy Metal soundtrack. “Dog Park” is as close to pop they get. It’s damn catchy and has a sing-songy chorus with endless, classic dog references. “So off the chain” indeed—Motorin’ makes you wish you were racing Greased Lightning with the radio on blast. It has the best beat on the album and Tilson’s tongue-twisting verse is truly something to behold. “I Go” is the shortest song on the album but packs the most punch (more cowbell!) and begs to be rewound the first few times you hear it.” — DJ100Proof