+lampshade

best albums of 2008

i apologize for the lack of consistency here. see, i used to have a lot of free time during the day. now i don’t. which means fewer blogs for you kiddos.

BUT. i did find a spare minute at work to scribble some of my favorite albums of this year onto a post-it note and it’s been stuck to the inside of my wallet for the past three weeks. so now [that i’m on day five of this cold/flu/thing], i’m finally getting around to blogging the list for you. i don’t know how much commentary (if any) i’ll give for each one, but hey, it’s better than nothing at all.

(that was an admiral twin reference…)

NUMBER ONE ::

kings of leon - only by the night
i wrote a blog about this album and, however many months on, i don’t have anything new to add. the record is still amazing, phenominal, classic. i still listen to it as much as i did right after i bought it. my dad bought it for me on vinyl for christmas. i haven’t listened to it yet though because i need to hook up some better quality speakers so i can enjoy it in all its imperfect, vinyl-y goodness.

NUMBER TWO ::

oso closo - rest: remixed
i don’t know how much more i can say about oso closo either. this is THE best band i’ve heard all year. incredible musicians, killer songwriting, and the live show. the live show! they’re going on tour early next…er…this year and i strongly suggest you see them for yourself.

NUMBERS THREE - TEN ::
i can’t rank the rest, so here they are…

jonathan tyler and the northern lights - hot trottin’

ludo - you’re awful, i love you

death cab for cutie - narrow stairs
“i will possess your heart.” enough said.

coldplay - viva la vida

john mayer - where the light is

the effects - …and it is

the raconteurs - consolers of the lonely

david cook - david cook
(that link is to the old one, i don’t remember the “official” link off the top of my head). i’m sure this album won’t make many (any?) other “best of” lists, but i like it. i still listen to it. it’s not great, but it’s not terrible. i think there are some really awesome moments on the record. “lie” is one of the best songs i’ve heard a while. the lyrics are so honest and spot on. i can’t wait to hear “a daily anthem” live again, but this time with a thousand people singing the end part instead of fifteen.

anyway. i had a good year in music terms. there were these releases and i was also introduced to jeff buckley and dredg and ryan adams. i rediscovered the feds and the foo fighters.

they don’t know what it is to be a fan. to love some silly little piece of music, or some band, so much….that it hurts.

“

—

almost famous

it’s been so long since i’ve heard music this good that i almost forgot what it felt like to relate to that quote.

but then i bought the new kings of leon record, only by the night and i remembered. i wasted an album’s worth of gas driving around [what used to be] rural south tulsa with the sunroof open listening to this record. i let it play through me. i kept waiting for the next song to let me down. it never did. i actually think i said, “are you kidding me?” out loud once. i was just amazed that, eight tracks in, this album still had my almost undivided attention (i did have to put a tiny bit of my focus into, you know, driving).

(right now, iTunes is trying to rain on my parade by locking up and refusing to play or upload the album.)

we all know that “sex on fire” is a badass song. (by “we” i mean, “people who recognize good music.”) but this album… i can’t really put it into words. it’s an album album. in a time where albums as a whole are dying and being replaced by singles (the circle of life seems to apply everywhere, no?) only by the night should be listened to as a whole (or at least not on shuffle).

so. stop what you’re doing and buy the new kings of leon record. only by the night.

stop reading this, stop whatever else you’re doing and go buy the record.

hell, if you’re one of those people who’s come to embrace the inevitable future of music and you get your music through iTunes, you won’t even have to get up! of course, if you are one of those people, you wouldn’t have gone to best buy tonight and found out they’re selling vinyl now. at affordable prices. (i bought coldplay’s viva la vida and was giddy with excitement about racing home and putting it on until i put the new kings of leon in the cd player in the car. i probably won’t give the former a listen for quite a while now.)

but i digress.

this record is too good to type through. i’m cutting this short, closing my laptop and cranking up the volume and listening some more.