My Top Ten Albums of 2008 December 19, 2008

1. Los Campesinos! “Hold On Now Youngster” (Arts & Crafts)

Interestingly the press described this Los Camps record as twee, but it’s not any one thing – it’s twee/emo/punk/pop and completely heart wrenching. I love everything about this record – the pop hooks, the drawn out pauses between songs and most of all the lyrical references. My Last.fm profile indicates this album holds several of the songs I listened to most in 2008, which is certainly a sign of true love.
2. Thao & The Get Down, Stay Down “We Brave Bee Stings & All” (Kill Rock Stars)

She’s like Cat Power in dead pan tone but a very different person in lyrics. She had me at “Swimming Pools” (which is about adventures in spring break for those who aren’t really trying) and really won me over when everything else on her debut album was as great. Also, top album for singing along to in a car by yourself. Always by yourself, don’t subject others to that treatment.

3. Lykke Li “Youth Novels” (Atlantic)

Another album I listened to on repeat for the whole year. In spite of it being featured in everything from Grey’s Anatomy to a Victoria’s Secret commercial. She, like many female songwriters on my top ten this year, spoke to the human condition in a very specific way that I couldn’t help but find immediately relatable and could not get enough of.

4. The Dutchess and the Duke “She’s The Dutchess, He’s The Duke” (Hardly Art)

The official album of my fall ‘08. Sometimes it’s like The Zombies, sometimes like early Stones, occasionally like the Kinks with very different vocalists and, at the odd moment, like The Mamas & The Pappas. It’s too rough for a Wes Anderson movie and too good for the mainstream.

5. M83 “Saturdays=Youth” (Mute)

I’ve never been a huge fan of M83 before this album, but his trip to John Hughes nostalgia land was one I was extremely glad to take. This was truly a perfect album, especially if you loved ’80s L.A. synth bands and Kate Bush. This was also one of my top concerts for ‘08 at the Bowery Ballroom.

6. Be Your Own Pet “Get Awkward” (Ecstatic Peace)

Possibly the greatest travesty of this year was that Be Your Own Pet broke up after releasing this album, because that means the album won’t end up on many year end lists. A huge shame since it is such an improvement over their first. This go around the group incorporated more hooks and ’50s girl-group styling to their excessively violent (so much so that the U.S. release is stripped of a few songs their label found too offensive to release) lyrics. Yeah, girls are scary.

7. TV on the Radio “Dear Science” (Interscope)

When TVOTR said they were setting out to make a dance record this time around, who knew they’d actually come out with a dance record I’d want to dance to? It’s so up and full of life – an amazing cap to the end of the Bush presidency that has made so many of us feel so oppressed for nearly a decade.

8. Laura Marling “Alas, I Cannot Swim” (Astralwerks)

An amazing debut from a 19 year old girl – Laura Marling is one of the better lyricists I’ve heard in quite some time. Her quirky turns of phrase and cadence while singing remind me an awful lot of early Elvis Costello, minus significant amounts of snark. Really looking forward to hearing future works from Marling.

9. Hot Chip “Made In The Dark” (Astralwerks)

Everything about this album, from the beats to the packaging, is class with a touch of heartbreak. As always, Hot Chip deliver a record that is both dance floor ready and full of moments of quiet introspection. Honestly, listening to their work is like talking to an actual, complicated person.

10. Santogold s/t (Downtown)

There was a lot of licensing around this album and normally that might turn me off. The thing is, the songs Santi wrote are so incredibly catchy that I couldn’t stop listening to them all year. Also, if you live in NYC and didn’t at some point put on “LES Artistes” with the iPod for a walk around then you haven’t listened to it right yet.

Honorable mentions: the second Los Campesinos! album (how punk rock, two albums in one year), Death Cab, The Notwist, Vampire Weekend, No Age, She & Him, Cut Copy, Okkervil River, Raveonettes, The Last Shadow Puppets, Liam Finn (who made my ‘07 list instead), Passion Pit EP, The Muslims, R.E.M., Elvis Costello.

Best concerts: M83 at Bowery Ballroom, Foals at Bowery, Lykke Li at Le Poisson Rouge.