mxdwn Top 30 Albums 2008

30. Ghostland Observatory – Robotique Majestique

Electrifying the electronica scene this year with their most popular album to date, Ghostland Observatory are the guys we were all dancing to.

– Kelsey Adelson

29. Panic at the Disco – Pretty Odd

The sophomore album of emo darlings Panic at the Disco turned the scene on it’s head by sounding far more like Bob Dylan getting stoned with The Beatles and The Beach Boys than the trip-hop cabaret dance punk fans were expecting. And it works!

– Kelsey Adelson

28. Okkervil River – The Stand Ins

The rockers from Austin supplied in 2008 sides C and D to what was going to be a double album in 2007. Instead of putting out the double – something singer Will Sheff felt was “super pretentious” – Okkervil River released two records in consecutive years. Both were excellent and 2008’s The Stand Ins hit number 28 on our list of best records. Double albums are often difficult to digest, but when the music’s this good you may even be willing to buy it on Stereo 8.

– Timothy Kelly

27. Ladytron – Velocifero

The clouds roll in on Ladytron’s sprawling fourth album, letting industrial thunder and lightning crash through the hazy dream-pop of 2005’s Witching Hour. Dueling sirens Mira Aroyo and Helen Marnie remain the masters of seductive menace, haunting and hypnotizing the masses no matter what the musical backdrop may be.

– Rob Huff

26. The Melvins – Nude With Boots

In this second offering from the larger four-piece version of The Melvins complete with bass from Jared Warren and second drums from Coady Willis, the group scratches the surface an excellent advancement to hard rock/metal–namely in the use of genre-defying four-part harmonies. The multi-part “Dog Island,” the imposing “The Smiling Cobra” and the almost-pop “Nude With Boots” all deploy this tactic, make Nude With Boots the first step in what could be a broader musical advancement.

– Raymond Flotat

25. Dr. Dog – Fate

The Philadelphia quintet with god-like hooks and harmonies as smooth as a grocery store conveyor belt, provided 2008 with an addictive record. Fate delivers retro-cool melodies and is buoyed by a consistent ability to find summertime. Critics like to compare them to the Beatles, the Beach Boys and the Band – in confidence and competence that may be true, but Fate is all their own.

– Timothy Kelly

24. Deerhunter – Microcastle/Weird Era Cont.

Many artists have made huge hullabaloos about releasing 2 albums the same day. Deerhunter released Weird Era Cont. merely as a bonus album with Microcastle in order to reward internet-leak-avoiding fans come release date. Those who opened their wallet were given a complete scope of what Deerhunter’s career has been building towards to date: An uncanny ability to create serenely perfect pop and a fearless sense of experimentation. Microcastle packs the former from top to bottom, be it in the c-86 esque paranoia of “Agoraphobia” or the fist-pumping first single “Nothing Ever Happened.” Weird Era Cont. is like a lo-fi parallel universe with the no wave-like disco of “Opereation,” the ambient looping “Slow Swords” and the psyche-out expansion of “Cavalry Scars II/Aux Out” which unpretentiously reconstructs a Microcastle track to almost 10 times its length. These 2 discs are bold, beautiful, engaging and irresistibly repeatable.

– Matthew Kiel

23. Estelle – Shine

A terrific debut album that mixes R&B, hip hop, reggae, and soul, Estelle has versatility comparable to a “Miseducated” Lauryn Hill that, ahem, shines on such tracks as the sultry “Come Over,” the understandably selfish, George Michael-sampling “No Substitute Love” and the desperate, Cee-Lo assisted “Pretty Please (Love Me).”

– Brad Ludwick

22. Coldplay – Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends

Whether “Viva La Vida” is plagiarized or not, the title track to Coldplay’s lauded juggernaut release shows a force prominent enough to attract the legendary Brian Eno as producer to one of the year’s most acclaimed albums. Dropping Chris Martin’s piano ballads for a fully fleshed out wave of orchestral punch, Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends brings Coldplay one step closer to U2-like godliness.

– John Tron

21. The Sea and Cake – Car Alarm

Prekop’s soft vocals and smooth delivery on the group’s eighth studio album is the icing on a cake full of guitar solos, synthesizer, vibe, and piano that fits perfectly into the indie rock genre. The album took three months of development and the product is surely worth a listen.

– Libby Parent

20. Does It Offend You, Yeah? – You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Yourself Into

Playing wholeheartedly in the joyous fun that recent crop of dance rock bands have slowly veered towards, the short name challenged Does It Offend You, Yeah’s You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Yourself Into finds the group reveling in the style that bands like Bloc Party, Klaxons and LCD Soundsystem have made popular over the last few years. Tracks like “Being Bad Feels Pretty Good” and “Dawn of the Dead” are chipper, poppy and primed to set a dance floor moving. And like Klaxons or Bloc Party, the real instrumentation of the four piece helps give tracks like “Epic Last Song” and organic flow devoid of 4/4 monotony.

– Raymond Flotat

19. Nine Inch Nails – The Slip

Ever the geek, Trent Reznor applies the tech concept of accessibility to this proper verse-chorus-verse follow-up to NIN’s instrumental experiment Ghosts I-IV. The album was a free download so people everywhere could get it. More importantly, it was tightly-coiled aggro fun (!) closely resembling his seminal debut Pretty Hate Machine so people could, you know, get it.

– Adam Blyweiss

18. Kings of Leon – Only By the Night

17. Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles

There’s no denying Crystal Castles’ lo-fi glitch noise is sloppy, but the DIY spirit trunks any lack of studio magic. Ethan Kath’s Atari-like synths go down as the most unparalleled sounds of the year, as singer Alice Glass’ pained screams pump life into a robotic pandemonium that went unheard far too long.

– John Tron

16. Santogold – Santogold

Despite the endless comparisons to M.I.A., the prowess of Santogold is undeniably unique. Santogold goes in every which musical way. From the hypnotizing riff of the instant indie classic “L.E.S. Artistes,” the dub of “Shove It,” the pop-punk of “You’ll Find a Way” to the grimy electro of “Creator,” it’s all there, while frontwoman Santi White enchants listeners with that damn catchy chorus to “Say Aha.”

– John Tron

15. Little Joy – Little Joy

The Strokes’ Fab Moretti helms the trio that released this year’s number 15 album of the year. Whether cooly crooning, playfully plucking or keeping dead-on time, Moretti, along with girlfriend Binki Shapiro and Los Hermanos’ Rodrigo Amarante has pressed a record that’s part polynesia, part Echo Park. The Strokes are on hiatus, but Little Joy’s pulling tight the slack.

– Timothy Kelly

14. Ratatat – LP3

On LP3, Ratatat deviated slightly from the course set by their earlier work, the equally brilliant Ratatat and Classics. While the first two releases saw the band playing a unique mash of electronic rock with a reverence for hip hop, Ratatat’s latest offering saw rockers Mike Stroud and Evan Mast slowing down the band’s signature sound and creating more intricate compositions. Keyboards, computers, synths, some serious guitar work, and a vocoder gave us a truly organic, if not trippy, album with enough glitchy blips, bloops, and blops to hold us over until the next Ratatat release.

– Ben De Leon

13. Hercules & Love Affair – Hercules & Love Affair

Dusting off Studio 54’s mirror balls and making them sparkle anew, Andrew Butler’s Manhattan dance troupe take the listener an expansive, rewarding journey of both sonic and sexual self-discovery. Butler and DFA’s Tim Goldsworthy expose disco’s still-beating heart, bleeding it over the listener via smoldering beats and yearning lyrics delivered by Antony Hegarty, Nomi, and Kim Ann Foxman. Few artists tried to move your heart as well as your feet. Even fewer succeeded.

– Rob Huff

12. Gnarls Barkley – The Odd Couple

The Odd Couple, Gnarls Barkley’s follow up to their massively successful debut is aptly named. Beyond their obvious physical differences, the enigmatic duo, the shy Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton and the boisterous Cee-Lo Green, continue their innovative approach to their music and their image. They bring whimsy to the joyously dark “Run.” They hide behind characters while exposing themselves with the brutally honest “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul.” They’re unconventional and odd but never boring.

– Jacquie Frisco

11. Flight of the Conchords – Flight of the Conchords

Assembling material from Flight of the Conchords long ascendancy up to popularity and most importantly the best tracks from their hit TV show of the same name, this collection is uproarious, fun and witty. Hilarious genre send-ups “Inner City Pressure,” “Foux Du Fa Fa” and “Ladies of the World” show off Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie’s penchant for precision detail poking fun at 80’s synth pop, 60’s French pop and 70’s soul respectively. And the real gems—the band’s classic futuristic cyborg number “Robots,” the emasculating funk of “Business Time” and the random pastiche of “Leggy Blonde”—make this one of the strongest outings of comedy music in a long, long time.

– Raymond Flotat

10. Cut Copy – In Ghost Colours

Over the course of a single album, this Aussie posse manages to leapfrog over New Order’s entire ’80s category, enveloping their Ghost Colours in a bizarre love triangle of synth-pop, shoegaze, and Madchester beats. Like Hercules & Love Affair, Cut Copy’s sound may not be new, but the warmth and sincerity with which they create it is all too rare in what’s often too cold and pretentious. The year’s biggest triumph of Substance over style.

– Rob Huff

9. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes

Like the natural world that clearly inspired the album, it is hard to find even a moment of the Fleet Foxes self-titled debut that doesn’t feel completely organic. Robin Pecknold’s lyrics are attentive and intricate, his voice is peacefully expansive, and the record resounds with an overall vibe of refreshing calm and creativity. First-time listeners love the instant accessibility of the roundabout “White Winter Hymnal” and the catchy “Ragged Wood,” but unearthing the deeper cuts will expose the true genius of the sound. “He Doesn’t Know Why” and “Blue Ridge Mountains” are masterpieces, harmonizing Brian Wilson, Neil Young, and the Zombies into eerie-without-being-haunting, backwoods sing-along jams.

– Ryan Lewis

8. Adele – 19

Adele’s debut, 19, is a breath of fresh air. She has the soulfulness of fellow Brit Amy Winehouse, sans the bad girl antics and brashness. Her velvet smooth voice belies her young age, evoking thoughts of a time when singers crooned in smoky, after hours jazz clubs, leaving listeners to reflect on the bigger things, like love and heartbreak. There’s a lot to love on this CD.

– Jacquie Frisco

7. She & Him – Volume 1

Sometimes it can be as simple as putting together a boy (M. Ward) and a girl (Zooey Deschanel.) Ward’s licks are soulful, Deschanel is endlessly charming, and the entire project is as endearing as the name implies. This record is delightful proof that making stellar music doesn’t have to be complicated when you have the right pieces.

– Ryan Lewis

6. Girl Talk – Feed the Animals

Again, Girl Talk has produced a solid collection of mashups that include some of the best combinations yet. From Jay-Z to Britney Spears, Animals hits unprecedented highs across the board, using new and old releases from multiple genres throughout the album. Gillis creates sincerely enjoyable art from all of the best; it’s the ultimate power hour playlist.

– Libby Parent

5. Hot Chip – Made in the Dark

The British quintet’s third album marries the wobbly electronics of debut Coming on Strong to the shell-breaking fun(k) times of The Warning. If the stylings of Does It Offend You, Yeah? and Black Kids are any indication, Made in the Dark may turn out to be one of dance-rock’s last great statement albums. Titles and lyrics become universally recognizable dialogue–“We are ready for the floor. Hold on, don’t dance! We’re looking for a lot of love”–and we discover a song cycle based on (and exhibiting the sonic extremes of) the fragile joy and ultimate desperation of a club-night hookup.

– Adam Blyweiss

4. MGMT – Oracular Spectacular

Since garnering some semblance of mainstream success with “Time to Pretend,” MGMT has positioned themselves as one of the premier experimental acts blending dreamy electronics with colorful psychedelia. The catchy song with a memorable intro and lyrics that made one feel like an “I don’t give a shit”-rock star (“I’ll move to Paris, smoke some heroin, and fuck with the stars) was a huge indie, as well as commercial, success. And while most could recite the song’s chorus, some failed to realize that hey, Oracular Spectacular had nine other songs on it. Good thing for MGMT that the rest of the album is just as solid as its famous single. From the over-sexualized disco jam, “Electric Feel,” to the hipster dance anthem, “Kids,” to the reeling and epic psychedelic trip near the end of “Weekend Wars,” MGMT defiantly proves its creativity and versatility on Oracular Spectacular and assures itself the distinction as a band to watch out for in the coming years.

– Ben De Leon

3. Portishead – Third

With the word “comeback” attached to so many once-successful bands in 2008 (Guns ‘N’ Roses, The Verve), it’s somewhat contradictory that the return of Portishead feels so natural, almost expected and yet so surprising. With the familiarity of dark soundscapes and Beth Gibbons’ seemingly frayed, beautiful voice, this is still the band that delivered Dummy so long ago. However, the decade out of the game has clearly had the effect aging does on wine as opposed to leaving the milk out for too long. Third is a masterpiece from the layered production of “Magic Doors,” to the post-punk of “We Carry On,” to the psychedelic 70s krautrock of “Small,” and the pure, bombastic creativity of “Machine Gun.” Previous Portishead efforts had an impeccable organization to go along with their impact. While Third retains a consistent familiarity with the old, there’s never a sense of predictability leaving only a set of songs grabs listeners by the ears and refuses to let go.

– Matthew Kiel

2. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend

A recent Google search for the meaning of Vampire Weekend’s “A-Punk” yielded many an explanation as to the song’s elusive significance. And just like any other mystery, theories abounded. From a young woman filing for divorce papers to a sticky-fingered rapscallion taking a cancer patient’s ring, the methodical dissection by some was truly astounding. In the end, however, whether or not someone got it right seemed irrelevant for when the three-chord saccharine intro came in with Ezra Koenig singing, “Johanna drove slowly into the city / The Hudson River all filled with snow!” meaning gave way to good times. And in the end, isn’t that what Vampire Weekend is all about. While some heralded Vampire Weekend’s debut as a trailblazing experiment in indie-pop and African soukous and others contemplated just what the hell a mansard roof is, or who this Jackson Crowder was, one would be hard pressed to find anyone–from public radio music snobs to the blogging literati to brace-faced teenage girls–who couldn’t help but tap along to the beat of any one of Vampire Weekend’s songs or scream out a chorus in one cathartic release. And at its core, isn’t that what makes an album of the year?

– Ben De Leon

1. TV on the Radio – Dear Science

It has become difficult to find anything more to say about an album that can continuously chew you up and spit you out a gnawed mess of your own emotions and thoughts. With Dear Science, TV on the Radio has managed to raise an already sky-high bar, blending their traditional innovation, intellect, and power with a new, organized-chaos approach to instrumentation that features a partiality for hand-claps and subtle tones. The result is a thoughtfully-urgent clarion call, exposing both the darkest and lightest truths of the world we face with only the most appropriate of placed rhythms. New York’s indie darlings have created a sonic masterpiece of expression, malleable enough to flirt between moments of serenity, protest, wild passion, and cold loneliness with assertive acceptance and unfounded confidence.

– Ryan Lewis