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New Music 2008: Whadja Get?

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  • #61
    Re: New Music 2008: Whadja Get?

    I buy plenty of single tracks from the iTunes (Plus tracks only) and Amazon.com (DRM free MP3) online digital music stores... too numerous to mention... I track them at my Top 20 webpage and my Last FM webpage. You guys pretty much can see what single tracks I own by checking these pages out.

    Albums: I tend to lean more toward the traditional CD when I buy an album... and usually it has to be $10 or less (BestBuy or WalMart) for me to buy a single disc new CD (or even oldie); otherwise I'm satisfied to just get a single digital track at iTunes or Amazon or wait for years for a certain title to be reduced down to the bargain bin. Amazon digital frequently puts entire albums on sale for $3.99 or less. I bought a 22 song Patsy Cline collection from Amazon.com digital for only $1.99 several months ago.

    That said, recent albums I bought on CD that came out this year 2008:

    Enya - And Winter Came - the cold chilly holiday season is ideally suited to Enya's latest album filled with several originals and a few covers of holiday music. You have to like airy new age music to appreciate Enya. No head banging here.

    The Killers - Day & Age - just bought this a few days ago. I haven't listened to it all the way through, but I have liked their 2 previous studio releases. I'll probably like this one, already dig the tracks "Human" and "Spaceman".

    Lenka - Lenka - pop goodness in the vein of Colbie Caillet perhaps but more upbeat, brassy and electric. Plenty of tracks on this are already my favorites: "The Show", "Dangerous & Sweet" and "Trouble is a Friend".

    The Raveonettes (2 EPS) - I'm bunching these 2 shorties into one. One thing about their music, is that it is next to impossible to find on CD at an affordable price now that they are on an indie label instead of Sony/Columbia. I really love their Christmas single "Come on Santa" which is on their 4-track Christmas EP that I got from iTunes Plus. Different cover of the old Darlene Love song "Christmas Baby Please Come Home".... of course this duo loves the old Phil Spector "Wall of Sound" production as a lot of their music pays homeage to this recording technique with a lot of noise added in.

    I also like the EP that came out just before this Christmas release. Beauty Dies is a 4-track release with 2 songs that I really like... "Black /White" and "Here Comes the End". The Raveonettes also released several free tracks from their website and MySpace, remixes of "Aly Walk With Me" and "Dead Sound" from this year's earlier release, Lust Lust Lust.

    One album that I should have bought last week was by a "new band" called The Fireman, which is actually the latest "experiment" by Paul McCartney and I don't know who else. Amazon.com had a free downloadable track from this album last week which I did get... however I forgot to check if BestBuy had the CD on sale last week (their first week new release single CDs often sell for $9.99 or less)..... so this is one I'll wait on for a while until I see it for sale again or maybe get a digital copy at a later date. The samples I heard at Amazon.com sounded interesting and different from recent music put out by McCartney.
    I'm still here. Are you?

    Comment


    • #62
      Re: New Music 2008: Whadja Get?

      Scrivener - thanks for the blurb on the new Asia disc. I gave up on them quite a few years ago, but I will have to check this volume out.

      BTW - have you seen the Rodrigo y Gabriela "Live In Japan" CD/DVD set in stores there?

      This time of year, I am put on moratorium by the Alpha Female - no purchasing of CDs, DVDs or books until after Christmas. Any new releases I want, I let her know - so she has ideas for herself and others for my Christmas gifts; otherwise, my collections are so large that she generally has no idea whether or not I already have something.

      One exception is holiday CDs (though the new Enya is on the moratorium list, oddly) - I've been enjoying the twisted take on classics from Bela Fleck & the Flecktones (imagine Tuvan throat singing on "Jingle Bells"), as well as the wonderful mix of special guests working with Yo-Yo Ma on his holiday disc (he does a duet with Jake Shimabukuro on John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over).") The jazzy overtones on the Hawai`i-Island based acoustic guitar trio Kohala's Christmas album makes for some sweet listening, too - we're using it on-air this month.

      Comment


      • #63
        Re: New Music 2008: Whadja Get?

        More 2008 releases.

        James McMurtry
        Just Us Kids
        I already wrote about the advance single, "Cheney's Toy," earlier in this thread. Picked up the rest of the album the day it became available. Musically, it's McMurtry through and through: Country rock leaning more toward rock, with country-flecked guitar work that reminds me of Timbuk3 and vocals that remind everyone of Lou Reed. I don't know if McMurtry does his own lead guitar work, but the solos on this album are terrific. Kinda dusty, kinda grimy, very soulful. Lyrically, it's some of McMurtry's best work since his first two albums. Bitter, sarcastic, bemused, and always interesting. No painting by numbers on this album.

        Jana Pochop
        The Early Year
        This independently released five-song EP is by a musician I got to know on Twitter. I don't know what prompted one of us to follow the other, but I became aware of her when I sent a Twitter message about really liking the latest album from Adrienne Young (I'm really on a serious bluegrass kick lately) and she responded by saying she loved Adrienne Young. I purchased everything I could find from her and became a quick fan, pre-ordering this latest music as soon as it was announced. It's contemporary singer-songwriter folk music, mostly Jana's very good guitar-strumming and her vocals. I hear a little bit of Mary-Chapin Carpenter here; it's definitely folk music flavored strongly by the American Southwest. Jana's got a rather high, thin voice that sometimes has trouble holding a note, but her lyrics are clever, comfy, and sincere, and that goes a long way with this kind of music. People sensitive to vocalists who sometimes have to slide up or down to the intended note might have difficulty listening to this, but otherwise, I give it a strong recommendation. I think Jana's a really good acoustic rhythm guitarist and I will continue to buy anything she puts out. Her blog is always a fun, interesting read, too.

        John Mellencamp
        Life, Death, Love, and Freedom
        Fricking terrific. If the most recent thing you've heard from Mellencamp is that ubiquitous "Our Country" song that played over those Chevy truck commercials, you've got to put that out of your mind and give this a listen. It's Mellencamp's folkiest album ever. It is sad, melancholy, mellow, simple songwriting and produced by T Bone Burnett. I get excited about anything T Bone's name is on, so when I saw he was working with one of my favorite, favorite musicians, I almost did a little dance right where I was. Check out the first track, "Longest Days." Good stuff.

        Jordan Zevon
        "The Joke's on Me" from Insides Out
        I can't remember what kept me from buying the whole album, but when I saw Zevon play this song on Letterman one night, it almost moved me to tears, just because of who it was and where he was performing. This is a great tune, not really reminiscent of Warren Zevon at all, except for the slightly sardonic, self-deprecating lyrics: "It looks like the joke's on me / 'Cause I'm the only one / That isn't really having fun / It looks like the joke's on me / I've signed the dotted line / To be the perfect punchline." And later: "The agony of defeat with a catchy melody / Standing dead on my feet / Maybe someone should bury me / A natural born loser smothered in humor / It looks like the joke's on me." I think I've just convinced myself to buy the rest of this album.

        Juliana Hatfield
        How to Walk Away
        It's like the former Lemonhead, former Blake Baby woke up in Sheryl Crow's body but kept her lyrical (and physical) voice. Musically, the best way I can describe this is Juliana Hatfield channeling Sheryl Crow. It's good. It's quite good. It lacks the sorta unpolished, fun vibe that characterized her early work, as if she woke up one morning feeling old, but it's got some of her best singing. Definitely worth a listen if you dig Crow. Might be disappointing to longtime Hatfield fans.

        King's X
        XV
        I don't know what happened to King's X, but since signing with InsideOut America, the band has just ROCKED. This, the second release on the label offers more of what was offered on 2005's Ogre Tones, with perhaps a bit more finesse and a bit less ferocity. It's crunchy, rumbly, grumbly power metal sung in three-part harmony. A definite candidate for my top-ten list this year.

        Midnattsol
        Nordlys
        It's dark Norwegian symphonic folk metal with female operatic vocals. Very goth-sounding and pretty. For people who care (yes, I'm mostly talking about myself), a look at the band's lead singer might be enough to convince you at least to give it a listen. I like it.

        Minus the Bear
        Acoustics
        I love this band. It's the mathiest math-rock I've heard in ages. This EP is made up of acoustic versions of the of the band's previously released material, plus one new song. It's very, very good, and if I had to decide today what my album of the year is, it would be this.
        Last edited by scrivener; December 3, 2008, 07:30 AM.
        But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
        GrouchyTeacher.com

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        • #64
          What a surprise!...

          ...All steel guitar related stuff.
          Anybody interested can say so, and...you'll...be...sorry...

          Thanx for the review of Kings X. I liked them in the beginning, and they must have matured quite a bit since.

          Oh yeah, I did get another copy of the 200- live DVD by Amon Duul II.
          Friggin expensive!
          https://www.facebook.com/Bobby-Ingan...5875444640256/

          Comment


          • #65
            Re: New Music 2008: Whadja Get?

            Went to two of the Symphony Pops concerts recently. I did that great bargain they had of 3/$45.00 of their series. I bought the Ellis Hall Cd and the
            Bela Fleck "Jingle all the way" CD last weekend. It was cool to have the
            artists actually take time and sit in the lobby to meet with fans and sign
            things and pose for pictures (if people had a camera). The last of
            the series (for me anyway) is next weekend, "Peter and the Wolf" narrated
            by Jorge Garcia of "Lost" fame. Looking forward to that one too!

            Comment


            • #66
              Re: New Music 2008: Whadja Get?

              Just bought that Paul McCartney "Fireman" CD today at WalMart for $9.00.
              I'm still here. Are you?

              Comment


              • #67
                Re: New Music 2008: Whadja Get?

                Originally posted by mel View Post
                The Raveonettes (2 EPS) - I'm bunching these 2 shorties into one. One thing about their music, is that it is next to impossible to find on CD at an affordable price now that they are on an indie label instead of Sony/Columbia. I really love their Christmas single "Come on Santa" which is on their 4-track Christmas EP that I got from iTunes Plus. Different cover of the old Darlene Love song "Christmas Baby Please Come Home".... of course this duo loves the old Phil Spector "Wall of Sound" production as a lot of their music pays homeage to this recording technique with a lot of noise added in.

                I also like the EP that came out just before this Christmas release. Beauty Dies is a 4-track release with 2 songs that I really like... "Black /White" and "Here Comes the End". The Raveonettes also released several free tracks from their website and MySpace, remixes of "Aly Walk With Me" and "Dead Sound" from this year's earlier release, Lust Lust Lust.

                One album that I should have bought last week was by a "new band" called The Fireman, which is actually the latest "experiment" by Paul McCartney and I don't know who else. Amazon.com had a free downloadable track from this album last week which I did get... however I forgot to check if BestBuy had the CD on sale last week (their first week new release single CDs often sell for $9.99 or less)..... so this is one I'll wait on for a while until I see it for sale again or maybe get a digital copy at a later date. The samples I heard at Amazon.com sounded interesting and different from recent music put out by McCartney.
                Quite a bit of the “Raveonette” catalog and the new “Fireman” album are available on eMusic. I subscribe to emusic and find it a bargain and a treat, with my plan it works out to around 23 cents a song. Most of their stuff is from indie or foreign labels. For major label stuff I use itunes, Amazon, or run out and buy the CD or vinyl. Emusic has music from around the world and most genres. I found some “Makaha Sons of Ni'ihau,” and now have Pakalolo on one of my iPod play lists.

                Comment


                • #68
                  Re: New Music 2008: Whadja Get?

                  More 2008 releases that found their way into my collection.

                  Guns N' Roses
                  Chinese Democracy
                  You knew this either had to be terrific or lousy. I am quite pleased to announce that it's terrific. I've only given it one attentive listen-through, but it really rocks, and it's just a really interesting collection of songs. I love the title track, but other highlights for me are "Catcher in the Rye," "Better," and "Street of Dreams." There's one slow song (booooo!) and one song that sounds a lot like vintage GNR, the title of which escapes me at the moment. I say if you own a GNR album, get this one too.

                  Motley Crue
                  Saints of Los Angeles
                  Pretty good album! The guitar-playing by Mick Marrs is some of his best ever, and the band sounds like it's having fun. The title track is your best place to start, and "Face Down in the Dirt" is good, too.

                  Presto Ballet
                  The Lost Art of Time Travel
                  This will probably be my choice for prog rock album of the year. The best song, "The Mind Machine," is in my 8tracks.com playlist, mentioned and linked to in another thread. Excellent proggy stuff.

                  R.E.M.
                  Accelerate
                  Best stuff from REM in ages. Good, rocking album.

                  The Raveonettes
                  Beauty Dies, Sometimes They Drop By, and Wishing You a Rave Christmas (all EPs)

                  The Raveonettes released four EPs this year and I got three of them (the other was an EP of remixes that didn't interest me much), and yes, I got them from eMusic.com too. I'm a long-time subscriber. I really like this band, if you can't tell. It's all good, and it all sounds like the band's Lust Lust Lust album, mentioned a few times already in this thread.

                  Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder
                  Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass: Tribute to 1946 and 1947
                  I just love me some Ricky Skaggs. I am not familiar with any of the original versions of these songs so I have nothing to compare these performances to, but man, it's some terrific stuff. Also released this year is a compilation called American Masters Series: Best of the Sugar Hill Years, and I know we're staying away from reissues and compilations in this thread, but if you haven't heard this stuff, I highly recommend it. Skaggs is just a killer musician with amazing stage presence. I am in the process of getting my hands on everything bluegrass he's ever recorded.

                  More tomorrow.
                  But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
                  GrouchyTeacher.com

                  Comment


                  • #69
                    Re: New Music 2008: Whadja Get?

                    Originally posted by alohabear View Post
                    AC/DC's Black Ice is the best CD from the band since 1980's Back In Black. A must for any rock fan.
                    No it's not, but it's the best album from the band since For Those About to Rock, We Salute You (AC/DC's best album). It's good stuff. I don't know if it's a must, but if you're even a casual fan, you'll find it a worthwhile purchase. Twelve bucks and available only at WalMart.

                    I think I've shared this before, but Malcolm Young once said something like, "It annoys me that people are saying we've made the same album for twelve years. We've made the same album for seventeen years."
                    Last edited by scrivener; December 8, 2008, 02:52 PM.
                    But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
                    GrouchyTeacher.com

                    Comment


                    • #70
                      Re: New Music 2008: Whadja Get?

                      Originally posted by scrivener View Post
                      Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder
                      Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass: Tribute to 1946 and 1947
                      I just love me some Ricky Skaggs. I am not familiar with any of the original versions of these songs so I have nothing to compare these performances to, but man, it's some terrific stuff. Also released this year is a compilation called American Masters Series: Best of the Sugar Hill Years, and I know we're staying away from reissues and compilations in this thread, but if you haven't heard this stuff, I highly recommend it. Skaggs is just a killer musician with amazing stage presence. I am in the process of getting my hands on everything bluegrass he's ever recorded.
                      You heard about the project he worked on with Jack White of White Stripes fame?
                      The Raconteurs, a Nashville-based rock band featuring Jack White of the White Stripes, has rerecorded its new single, "Old Enough," as a bluegrass song featuring Ricky Skaggs and Ashley Monroe. "We wanted to show a different side of the band and work with a few local artists we highly respect," said the Raconteurs' Patrick Keeler. "Ricky is a legend, plain and simple, and one of the best players around. Ashley Monroe is a young, rising star with an angelic voice." The single will be released digitally exclusively through Amazon on Dec. 2, followed a week later by all other digital retailers. The single will also be available as a CD single on Dec. 9 and released on vinyl on Dec. 16. The B-side will be a bluegrass version of "Top Yourself."
                      I met Ricky Skaggs when he was a rising-star youngster in the late 1970s, touring with Buck White's bluegrass band, The Down Home Folks (featuring Buck's two musical daughters); Ricky ended up marrying Buck's daughter Sharon. Dobro wizard Jerry Douglas was part of the band at that time, too. Wish I still had the concert tapes I made back in those days!

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                      • #71
                        Re: New Music 2008: Whadja Get?

                        Originally posted by Leo Lakio View Post
                        BTW - have you seen the Rodrigo y Gabriela "Live In Japan" CD/DVD set in stores there?
                        I had it in my hands last weekend when I went to Best Buy to pick up Chinese Democracy but put it back as an act of self-discipline. The audio tracks are available on eMusic; I haven't downloaded them because I want the DVD too. It's next on the list.

                        This time of year, I am put on moratorium by the Alpha Female - no purchasing of CDs, DVDs or books until after Christmas.
                        When I was a kid, my mom would make me get rid of a bunch of books every year before December, knowing that I'd be getting new ones for Christmas and my birthday AND that any money I received from relatives was also going to be used for books. I think this was a good thing; I've tried to continue it in my adulthood, 'though I confess I've skipped a few years many times.

                        Originally posted by Leo Lakio View Post
                        You heard about the project he worked on with Jack White of White Stripes fame?
                        I hadn't heard about that. It's going on the list, too! Jack White has a definite fondness for American country music.

                        Ricky ended up marrying Buck's daughter Sharon.
                        The Whites are a legendary family in country gospel circles. They were never really my cup of tea, but I've admired them since my early college days.

                        -----

                        Metallica
                        Death Magnetic
                        It's a good album, but like St. Anger a few years ago, it needs repeated listens before the songs begin to distinguish themselves from each other. I kinda liked the freeform, kind of chaotic structure of the St. Anger songs, and while the songs on Death Magnetic have a similar sound (raw, aggressive), they are something of a return to earlier Metallica styles, with longer solos and more traditional structuring. This is still growing on me.

                        I mentioned in this thread that I thought the sound was flat and thin; it turns out that there were TONS of complaints about the way this album was engineered. Apparently, the dynamic range was sacrificed in order to make the album LOUDER. So anyway, it turns out that the sound on the Guitar Hero tracks is actually better. There are fans screaming for a remastering of the album (not sure I'm using the right words here), which I would be in favor of. I don't know much about the technical aspects of music recording, but I do know that this is not a good-sounding recording.


                        Sam Phillips
                        Don't Do Anything
                        Some background: Sam used to be known as Leslie Phillips, and if you heard of her under that name, it means you either listened to contemporary Christian radio or you had a friend who did. She was really good. Her song "Your Kindness" was a staple in worship services (those blasted Minus One accompaniment tracks!). But when Amy Grant's popularity soared in mainstream pop, Leslie's record label wanted the same thing for her, and it did its best to market her that way. She responded by recording The Turning, still one of the best CCM albums ever (produced by her future husband T Bone Burnett), her bitter, perplexed, WONDERFUL farewell letter to the CCM business entirely. She renamed herself Sam (it had been her nickname for most of her life, I think; it wasn't a tribute to the other Sam Phillips) and released a bunch of critically lauded albums on Virgin, including The Indescribable Wow and Cruel Inventions. She also played the mute terrorist in Die Hard with a Vengeance.

                        The critics still love her, but record sales, alas, did not keep pace with the acclaim, even with T Bone's magic touch (she's one of a very few artists whose albums he has produced more than once; Bruce Cockburn is another). She's on Nonesuch now (same label as Wilco) and Don't Do Anything is her third album on the label and her first in twenty years not produced by T Bone (their marriage ended recently). It's very, very much like the previous two: moody, quiet, pensive. But it is quite beautiful. I would love to compare her to someone, but I can't think of anyone who sounds like her. Just find a way to hear it.


                        Serenity
                        Fallen Sanctuary
                        Austrian progressive/symphonic metal. Sounds a bit like Scorpions meet Dream Theater, but maybe a little more mechanical-sounding than Dream Theater. This is good metal, with nice symphonic themes (very movie-soundtrack-like) and fun background vocals.


                        Sia
                        Some People Have Real Problems
                        You've probably already heard some of this. Sia can really sing. Check out "Little Black Sandals" and "Death by Chocolate." She reminds me most of a less gritty Joan Osbourne. Very pretty vocals.


                        Sieges Even
                        Playgrounds
                        A live album from the German progressive metal band. I'm not fond of the way this is mixed; it almost sounds like a soundboard recording. The vocals are way, way up front and the drums way, way back. I can't hear the guitar well enough either. Still, it's a really good performance. I was slightly surprised at how well the rest of the band sings on BGVs. A great, energetic performance, it turns out this is the band's swan song: it announced a month after the album's release that the band is through.


                        T Bone Burnett
                        Tooth of Crime
                        This album was showing up on MUSE (remember that?) ten years ago as an available album but nobody I spoke to knew anything about it and I could never track it down. Turns out it was never released until 2008. It's some of the songs T Bone wrote for Sam Shepherd's play, The Tooth of Crime. It's pretty dark for a T Bone album, and very orchestrated. There's just some heavy instrumentation on this album, quite unlike most of his solo recordings, which tend to be rather spare. zztype gifted me the entire album on iTunes before I even knew it was out! So yeah. I really dig it. Check out "Kill Zone," "Dope Island," and "The Slowdown." This will not be everyone's cup of tea. It is perhaps the least accessible of T Bone's albums, and that's saying something.


                        Tiles
                        Fly Paper
                        Progressive Rush-like rock. Rush-like is really the best way to describe just about anything the band does. That's a compliment. I recommend "Hide in My Shadow" and "Hide and Seek" to start, but it's all good.


                        Ted Nugent
                        Sweden Rocks
                        Live album. It sounds like a bootleg recording; it's just not very well mixed. Ted still plays a mean guitar, but while he still can sing the notes, his delivery sounds lazy, especially if you've heard his completely over-the-top live recordings from the seventies and eighties. His between-song and during-song banter don't make much sense, either. I'm not sure why that bugs me, but it does.
                        But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
                        GrouchyTeacher.com

                        Comment


                        • #72
                          Re: New Music 2008: Whadja Get?

                          I buy my country CDs from Australia since I can't get them here.

                          With our dollar being really strong against the Aussie dollar, I've been able to get myself quite a few CDs at a good price.

                          I've picked up so far:

                          Hillbilly Road - John Williamson
                          Bourke to Beaconsfield - Colin Buchanan
                          Dust Will Settle - Sunny Cowgirls
                          Spirit of the Bush - Lee Kernaghan (AWESOME CD)
                          Smoky Dawson and Friends
                          ABC Saturday Night Country - Volume 3
                          Saturday Night Country - Volume 4
                          I'm Doing Alright - Adam Harvey

                          Comment


                          • #73
                            Re: New Music 2008: Whadja Get?

                            Originally posted by scrivener View Post
                            No it's not, but it's the best album from the band since For Those About to Rock, We Salute You (AC/DC's best album). ."
                            You, of course, meant Back in Black. No biggie. We forgive small slips.

                            I only bought a couple pieces of new music. M.I.A.'s new one and one by Wooden Shjips that may not have been released this year.

                            I usually listen to tunes on Rhapsody now rather than buy cd's.

                            Comment


                            • #74
                              Re: New Music 2008: Whadja Get?

                              I'm quite sure I'll still be purchasing music from 2008 for the next few years, but I think I pretty much have everything I need to make my top twenty for the year, which I hope to work on this week.

                              Here are the last few acquisitions (probably).

                              Caitlin Burgess, I Know It's You (released June 10, independent).
                              Burgess is a guitar-strumming singer-songwriter from Canada who sounds a lot like Jill Sobule but with better vocals and maybe not quite as clever lyrics. It's nice, pretty, smart music, 'though I have found that the songs are best not when played along with their siblings on the album, but when they pop up unexpectedly during an iTunes song-shuffle. I have a feeling this album's going to grow on me in 2009.

                              Elvis Costello and the Imposters, Momofuku (released May 6, Lost Highway Records).
                              Just got this today and have given it four listens. It's good, but I don't think there's anything here that's outstanding. Gotta give it a few more spins. When Elvis isn't pissed off, he's just not as good. So far, I like "Turpentine," "Flutter and Wow," and "Pardon Me, My Name is Eve."

                              The Gaslight Anthem, The '59 Sound (released August 25, Side One Dummy records)
                              I only downloaded this because eMusic.com proclaimed it the best album of the year. It's punky, melodic, longing music by some boys from New Jersey with an obvious love for Bruce Springsteen. The Gaslight Anthem's songs sound nothing like the Boss, but every song seems to be infused by the same spirit. You know how it seems from Bruce's earlier albums that whenever he got into a car, something life-changing and urgent happened? How every song seemed to be begging someone else to realize that THIS was the most important night of everyone's life, at least until next Saturday? The Gaslight Anthem's songs have that same feeling. It's really, really good. Highly recommended. Check out the title track, "High Lonesome," and "Meet Me by the River's Edge," which actually contains the lyrics, "No surrender, my Bobbie Jean."

                              She & Him, Volume One (released March 18, Merge Records)
                              It's Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward doing pretty, dreamy, gentle, croony vocal pop. Still growing on me. Paste magazine named it album of the year, and it has popped up on other year-end best-of lists.
                              But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
                              GrouchyTeacher.com

                              Comment


                              • #75
                                Re: New Music 2008: Whadja Get?

                                Here are my twenty best albums of the year. Since I've already written about almost all of them here, I'll spare you the comments except to say that 11 through 20 aren't REALLY in any order. They are, but they could easily be in a different order if I were to create this list tomorrow. I do feel good about these being the top 20, and I feel pretty sure about the order of the first ten.
                                1. The Gaslight Anthem, The '59 Sound
                                  I knew this was the best album of the year midway through my first listen.

                                2. Minus the Bear, Acoustics.
                                  This is also very easily the NEXT-best record of the year. Just a mind-blowingly good collection.

                                3. Crooked Still, Still Crooked
                                  I still don't know what neo-bluegrass is, but if it means haunting, beautiful, engaging, and fun, then yeah. This is it.

                                4. Dengue Fever, Venus on Earth
                                  Still the freshest thing I heard in 2008. A Twitter/Flickr friend of mine has been teaching English in Cambodia for a few months and she says that in Cambodia, people are aware of the band but don't care much for them. Silly people.

                                5. King’s X, XV
                                  When I listen to my 2008 smart playlist in shuffle mode, I am always caught off-guard by the songs from this album. What a great-sounding, well-produced, terrific album.

                                6. Asia, Phoenix
                                  I really hope the band makes up its canceled concert date here, because there's just no way I'm going to miss it.

                                7. Elvis Costello, Momofuku
                                  Wasn't too impressed at first, but totally digging it now. It's kind of a nice blend of Elvis's different moods and styles.

                                8. Presto Ballet, The Lost Art of Time-Travel
                                  You really can't have too much mellotron.

                                9. Sheryl Crow, Detours
                                  Holds up very well to repeated all-the-way-through listens, even all these months later.

                                10. The Raveonettes, Lust Lust Lust
                                  There seems to be some disagreement about when this album was released in America. Whatever. It's a great album.

                                11. John Mellencamp, Life, Death, Love, and Freedom
                                  Gets better with every listen.

                                12. T Bone Burnett, Tooth of Crime
                                  This is a puzzling album; I keep getting the feeling I'm not really hearing it correctly.

                                13. Black Mountain, In the Future
                                  Another challenging album; definitely music for your head and not your hormones.

                                14. AC/DC, Black Ice
                                  Because some things should never change.

                                15. Extreme, Saudades de Rock
                                  A much more musically diverse album than I originally gave it credit for. I'm hoping the band stays together and keeps going, because I have a feeling the next album could be a killer.

                                16. Circle II Circle, Delusions of Grandeur
                                  Interesting band that plays around with power metal, progressive metal, and straight-ahead metal. New (?) lead vocalist sounds great.

                                17. The Duke Spirit, Neptune
                                  I'm not sure why this album didn't blow up. Shoulda been everywhere.

                                18. Guns n' Roses, Chinese Democracy
                                  I am not as enamored of this as I was when I first picked it up. It's a bit overwhelming, the layers and layers and layers of production, but it's still a good, rocking album. I need to see me some more Axl in the coming years.

                                19. Ricky Skaggs, Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass: Tribute to 1946 and 1947
                                  Because I still can't get my fill of Mr. Skaggs or his Kentucky Thunder.

                                20. Sam Phillips, Don't Do Anything
                                  Confession: I'm putting this here because I have a FEELING it's where it belongs. I didn't listen to it as much as I should have for some reason. My moods didn't seem to call for it. I'll make up for it next year.



                                Summary: Good year for me, discovery-wise and re-discovery-wise. I'm reconnecting with some old idols (Asia, Extreme), continuing healthy relationships with long-time friends (King's X, Elvis Costello), learning a lot about new (to me) forms (Crooked Still, Ricky Skaggs), and getting turned on to things I never imagined (Dengue Fever, the Duke Spirit). I have no idea what's in the pipe for 2009, but I say bring it. New Bruce Cockburn would be nice.
                                Last edited by scrivener; December 31, 2008, 05:34 PM.
                                But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
                                GrouchyTeacher.com

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