As explained in Jourdan’s previous post, the year of 2008 is drawing to a triumphant close. Below is second half of Bodhi Tree’s 2008 wrap-up of the year’s best in musical compisition. We hope to have a slew of random Bodhi-esque awards to hand out at some point, but for now this simple list will have to do.
10a. Heartcore- Wildbirds & Peacedrums
-While you could argue that this technically may not have been a 2008 album, these Swedish vocal-heartthrobs dropped this beauty on American soil back in May. I stumbled upon this band only a few weeks later thanks to the ever-so reliable Good Records, who spun the record as some friends of mine prepared for an in-store performance. My friend Jess and I immediately found Mariam Wallentin’s vocals to be a more badass reincarnation of Feist. Her chemistry with Andreas Werlin can only be matched by the adorable couple I was forced to tie them with in tenth place, featured below.
10b. Re-Arrange Us- Mates of State
-This is the one pick I’m expecting quite a bit of flack for, but I refuse to make any excuses. The rapport between this husband and wife is so delightfully harmonious that after 9 months of constant exposure and listening I still can not get over it. I’m sure you have your notions on Mates of State, but if any of them are based on their previous work then do yourself a favor and give this record a listen. Hearing tracks like “Get Better” and “My Only Offer” just make me want to shrink them down and carry them in my pocket everywhere. For lack of a better, more masculine adjective, this is the cutest album of the year.
9. Rook- Shearwater
-This album is full of contradictions in a most admirable way. It’s soft (“I was a Cloud”), yet hard (“Century Eyes”), pessimistic (“Rooks”), yet harmoniously beautiful (“The Snow Leapord”) all at the same time. Anyone who questioned frontman Jonathan Meiburg for abandoning his post at the Okkervil River during the height of his former band’s existence is almost certainly retracting their unwise criticism. On a side note, the album release show for Rook at The Parish in Austin may have been the year’s best live performance, just ask anyone who was in attendance.
8. Silent Movie- Quiet Village
-A smorgasbord of intricately connected samples make Silent Movie an almost ideal soundtrack to a rather audacious year. As I stated when I reviewed this album for KVRX this summer, it’s the sweet, satisfying dessert following a delicious meal that features The Avalanches Since I Left You as the main course. The album fluctuates through ambient melodies to fast, meant for a late Saturday night timbres, all the way into reggae and soul, provoking imagery of film along the way, just as advertised.
7. Laulu Laakson Kukista- Paavoharju
-Another example of why 2008 could be considered the year of the Scandinavians, Paavoharju takes psych-pop to a whole new level. The foreign name may throw your expectations a bit off the mark, but this album evokes a variety of musical styles, that flow together in an unexpectedly fluid manner. The greatest thing about this album is that people can enjoy it from a multitude of interpretations. Some may use it to fall asleep, while others remain fully engaged, bobbing there head to “Kevatrumpu” as they finish the day’s tasks.
6. A Certain Feeling- Bodies of Water
-Hearing a band for the first time in a live setting and loving them can almost be poisonous, particularly when they are playing almost completely unreleased material. Thus was the case with Bodies of Water, a band who reeled me into their vicinity 3 times over the course of SXSW 2008. Once again, this band’s intertwining of male/female vocals hits the spot, but in a much more unique manor than any other album’s I’ve encountered in 2008 or otherwise. Through their well-aligned and extremely demanding vocal energy, its clear that David and Meredith Metcalf are on a joint mission that is not to be met with vexation, whether you are “Gold, Tan, Peach, or Grey.”
5. Crystal Castles- Crystal Castles
-To the chagrin of many doubters, these remix wizards lived up to the hype when it came to dropping material of their own. Through their own mix of samples, innovation, and vocal modulation, Alice Glass and Ethan Kath made the syncopation of screaming and dancing socially acceptable. The best exemplification of Crystal Castles’ talent: they can even make a Health song sound good. I honestly can’t think of another act who could pull of that miracle.
4. Alopecia- Why?
-Despite putting a song on his palm that we can’t read, Yoni Wolf once again gave the world access to a revolutionary outlook of hip-hop in 2008. If you know me well, then you should be aware of the fact that 2005’s Elephant Eyelash may very well be my favorite album of all time. Only a man who would fly to my funeral from anywhere would impress in a situation with such high expectations. He may be a landmine as opposed to a ladies man, but his expertise has yet to explode.
3. Devotion- Beach House
-Not surprisingly, this is one of my two overlaps with Jourdan’s list, and honestly, you would have to do quite a bit of excavating to discover a legitimate 2008 music wrap-up that doesn’t credit this album with the respect it deserves. Their dreamy melodic pop will whisk you away into a state of relaxation only the non-working folk on the shores of Florida can imagine. Whether it be distant percussion or swirling, effortless vocals, this album is pristine to its core. In year that was headlined by the tough times brought about by an economy gone astray, Devotion plus a glass of red wine may be the ultimate prescription for a stress-filled day.
2. Third- Portishead
-No band in the last 15 years has operated in such a hidden shadow of fright and secrecy. Even in their heyday , when they essentially founded the trip-hop genre, Portishead was a mystery, rarely preforming live or granting interviews. After two brilliant albums, the band went into a ten year hibernation period, almost seeming forgotten sans the routine appearance of a song from Dummy in a movie every so often. Portishead may have only been out to prove that they still had it with Third, and that’s fine, because they definitely still do. We all know what a decade-plus wait can do to expectations and results (see the predicted disaster of Chinese Democracy) and usually it is simply a matter of how close can you get to matching the hype. While I may be a bit bias, my favorite band of the 90’s showed us all in 2008 that they are still musical staple, one of the big guns that should never be written off as long as the slightly neurotic and farouche Beth Gibbons can still operate her majestic vocal chords.
1. Miami Ice- Icy Demons
-Once again, this may be met with some controversy because it was released in Japan in 2007. Nevertheless, these Chicago natives deployed their latest LP in America this Summer. In my opinion they are the best mix of innovation, creativity, talent and fun available in the industry today. They can hook you with any instrument, whether it be the bouncy keys on the album’s title track or the swooning bass on “Crittin Down to Baba’s.” I honestly can’t listen to just a single track on this album. Each note serves a single fix, and I’m an attic that simply craves more. Any band who can say they opened for Of Montreal and outshine them release wise in 2008, deserves the accolade of album of the year. Don’t agree with me? Then in the wards of frontman Griffin Rodriguez aka Blue Hawaii “Fuck it dude I say whatever.”
Honorable Mentions:
Dance Party in the Balkans- Alaska in Winter
Parc Avenue- Plants & Animals
Ode to Sunshine- Delta Spirit
Arm’s Way- Islands
Spectrum, 14th Century- Final Fantasy
The Rhumb Line- Ra Ra Riot
The Midnight Organ Fight- Frightened Rabbit
Water Curses- Animal Collective
Come into My House- No Kids
S/T- Hercules & Love Affair
