Music Blog
Three people doesn't really seem like that large a group to bring to a consensus, but music is one of those things that is so highly personal and subjective that it made it a bit tricky to agree on what the ten best albums of the year were. I personally gravitate towards the Brit-pop sound, Jeremy can lean toward roots music, and David has such a broad listening history that things hit his ears differently than they might others'.
After going around for a while, we agreed on nine records (that works out to three apiece) which captured the sound of the year and merited being counted among "the best," but were left with a 20-way tie for the tenth slot, so we left it empty. I guess it's indicative not only of our three varied perspectives, but also of the diversity of independent music at this time in history, and of The Long Tail phenomenon.
9) Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid (Geffen)
VIDEO: "Grounds for Divorce"
8) Vampire Weekend - s/t (XL)
MP3: "M79"
7) Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead (Sub Pop)
MP3: "Keep Your Eyes Ahead"
6) TV on the Radio: Dear Science, (DGC/Interscope)
VIDEO: "Dancing Choose"
5) Calexico: Carried to Dust (Quarterstick)
MP3: "Two Silver Trees"
4) Fleet Foxes: s/t (Sub Pop)
MP3: "White Winter Hymnal"
3) Star-f-er: s/t (Badman)
MP3: "German Love"
2) Blind Pilot: 3 Rounds and a Sound (Expunged)
MP3: "Go On, Say It"
1) Blitzen Trapper: Furr (Sub Pop)
MP3: "Gold for Bread"
Tagged: Best of 2008
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Archived Comments
Dave Cusick / January 3, 2009
@JP: Yeah, I guess I painted your listening habits in a broad stroke. On the same hand, I probably haven't ever expressed my love for Portland's Clampitt, Gaddis and Buck (cgandb.com), Mighty Ghosts of Heaven (mightyghostsofheaven.com) or The Flat Mountain Girls (flatmountaingirls.com). Plus, I once painstakingly crafted an alt-country/roots/Americana CD for a commercial country-listening friend needed to hear some REAL country music (and probably hadn't heard any in the last 20 years on the radio). The generalization is useful only in differentiating three people who actually have pretty similar musical tastes. But maybe, in 2009, we should focus on what unites us, not what divides us. ;)
Jeremy Petersen / January 1, 2009
I (good-naturedly) quibble with your assessment of my listening. My #! album for 2008 was TV On the Radio's Dear Science. In 2007 it was The National's Boxer. In 2006 it was Belle & Sebastian's The Life Pursuit. Just sayin':).
gunky / January 2, 2009
JP/DC/DC2 - Great show on the best of -- I've been looking forward to it. I like having all 3 of you there discussing the offerings. Unfortunately I was out of state during the broadcast (and my parents listen to classical and jazz, which is all good but I couldn't tune in on the 27th or 28th). So I'm going back to the archives. But your normal mid-week archive only appears to cover two hours (9-11 PM) whereas the show on the 27th seems to stretch past 11 PM (to midnight?). If I'm correct and not just a luddite, is there any chance to get the rest of the show posted in the archives? I'm going for the 27th and 28th, at least. Might have to try some other nights too.
David Christensen / January 2, 2009
Hey Gunky -- We'll get that fixed so the 3rd hour is there.
gunky / January 2, 2009
Thanks, Dave. A followup. Maybe I'm just addled from a week of holiday festivities, but the Dec 27 and Dec 28 streams are identical. You can tell just by looking at the playlists, where Dec 27 & Dec 28 at 9PM are the same. I'm not sure what happened but listening to them I'm hearing the same stuff (including the scintllating commentary by the 3 wise guys). S'up with that?
David Christensen / January 2, 2009
You are correct -- we ran the end-of-year special both nights, just because it was that good.
gunky / January 2, 2009
Hmmm, somehow I missed the memo on that. I thought maybe you had new and different insights (or lists, e.g. listener vs DJ picks). Thanks for clarifying. Looking forward to the 3rd hour.