Top Albums of 2008: Part 2, 35-31
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35) Atlas Sound – Let the Blind Lead the Blind (Kranky)
Bradford Cox really had a nice little grip on shaping the soundscape of 2008, first with this solo release and later with a new Deerhunter album (more on that later). While more intimate and personal than Deerhunter, the sound of this album isn’t that huge of a departure. Flowing somewhere between shoegaze and modern psychedelia, the album is full of warm tape hiss, distortion, and distant loops. This may be a reach, but when Cox does sing or exhibit his pop sensibilities, I can’t help but equate them to some of Bjork’s more cold and poignant moments. This is an album for the brokenhearted.
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34) White Denim – Workout Holiday (Full Time Hobby)
With studio & home recording becoming so cheap and accessible these days, it seems that most of the indie rock scene has migrated towards a lush, more overproduced sound. Whatever happened to the DIY Lo-Fi aesthetic that was so synonymous with the scene in the 80′s and 90′s? Where are the Guided by Voices and Sebadohs of tomorrow? White Denim manages to pick up the very lofty mantle left free by those bands. A no frills, Lo-fi garage rock record mixing everything you ever loved about The Gories and those old GBV Scat releases.
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33) Magnetic Fields – Distortion (Nonesuch)
After a long hiatus, it’s nice to see that Stephin Merritt hasn’t lost any of the tools that made him one of indie rock’s preeminent songwriters. Distortion is a welcome abandoning of the acoustic balladry of 69 Love Songs and more of a return to their 60s’s-tinged electro-pop, caked in so much distortion that it would make the Jesus & Mary Chain envious.
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32) Santogold – Santogold (Downtown/Universal)
You have to marvel at an album that can seamlessly hop from one genre to another, from song to song to song, mixing and matching, and do it this well. But that’s what makes a great pop record, right? There’s a little bit of everything in the pot here (electro, punk, new wave, dub, etc, etc) and the finished product is a pretty tasty album where every track could be a single or, er, in a Beer commercial.
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31) Crystal Antlers – Crystal Antlers EP (Touch & Go)
While this is just an EP, it’s too good to snub from the list. Think of Crystal Antlers as a psychedelic excursion channeled through the post-punk filter of Black Heart Procession. Rather than expound endlessly on the virtues of this EP, I’ll just tell you to go out and get it. I hope that this is but a taste of the eventual album to come.
Be here tomorrow for parts 30-26!
