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5) Boris – Smile (Southern Lord/Diwphalanx)

Smile (both US & Japanese versions–which, truthfully, are pretty hard to tell apart) really isn’t a bad album as much as a huge letdown. Pink was such a revelation, and what I thought was a huge step forward for Boris. Smile just feels like one step back and two to the side. It’s so frustrating seeing such a talented band finally hit its stride on an album like Pink, only to depart backwards instead of embracing the success.  What’s even more maddening is that the band itself view Pink as some layman’s album, a blunder in their catalog! I’m tired of noise/experimental bands getting a “get out of jail free” card for dropping inferior albums that only serve to nurture their own vanity, rather than to be truly challenging. An album like Pink took the years of drone & instrumental noise Boris was known for, and made it all make sense into a cohesive, well thought out and executed, thoroughly enjoyable album. I guess “enjoyable” is a 4-letter word in the drone and noise clique, because Boris seems to be running as far and as fast away from it as possible.

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4) Deerhoof – Offend Maggie (Kill Rock Stars)

I’ve really enjoyed watching Deerhoof mature over this past decade+, from their noise beginnings on albums like The Man, The KIng, The Girl (1997) to the simple, quirky & accessible indie pop of Apple O’ (2003), all the way to the epic Runners Four (2005). Deerhoof has always been a band about progression, taking the music further and in new directions with each album. It was easy to ignore the fact that 2007′s Friend Opportunity was merely an expansion on Runners Four. You can’t fault a band who wants to spend a little time in this new and exciting sonic landscape it’s created! Deerhoof did the same thing with Milk Man following Apple O’. The problem with Offend Maggie, however, is that you realize that Deerhoof is now stuck in a rut. They’re just following the plan laid out on Runner’s Four & Friend Opportunity, and executing it again, for a third time. Those two previous albums felt like they were building to some major magnum opus… some album that would catapult Deerhoof out of being an indie darling, and onto a bigger stage and influence, working out the kinks along the way. Offend Maggie is not that album, and I hope it isn’t a sign that Deerhoof has gotten comfortable and run out of ideas. I guess we’ll truly know on the next album if the incubation period just took a little longer this time, or if Deerhoof is indeed just treading water.

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3) Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend (XL)

Just what the world needed, J. Crews’ house band! Vampire Weekend is another in a long line of indie rock bands following the Arcade Fire’s lead in turning indie rock into adult contemporary. Sadly, indie rock has become a lot like wine-making, which has gotten to be so formulaic that you’d have to be a real idiot at this point to fuck up making a decent wine. Vampire Weekend are like a Trader Joe’s vintage–a cheap, tasty thrill concocted through deliberate, researched execution, devoid of history & heart.

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2) Metallica -  Death Magnetic (Warner Bros.)

They ditch the tribal biker bar logo in favor of their classic one, and they bring in Rick Rubin to produce. Can you blame me for being a little excited? I mean, fuck, if Chinese Democracy can come out and be really enjoyable, why can’t Metallica write another album that is, at the very least, on par with the Black Album? Sadly, none of this came to be! Like Weezer, Metallica were simply playing on our nostalgia while packaging us another St. Anger. I don’t care what the press releases says, this isn’t any triumphic return to their thrash roots. And James Hetfield’s voice has lost its bark–plain and simple, he’s too old to get away with singing/writing some of these lyrics with a straight face.

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1) Of Montreal – Skeletal Lamping (Polyvinyl)

I’ve always found Of Montreal’s meteoric rise astounding; they stood on the fringe of the powerhouse Elephant 6 collective as the band “least likely to succeed”.  The band could never settle on who or what it was, and just crammed every artistic whim they got into every song. They were the musical equivalent of a square peg hammered into a round hole. Then something happened on The Gay Parade that gave some hope, some inkling they could get things straight, and it wasn’t until Aldhils Arboretum that it felt like Of Montreal were finally realizing who they were and how to write songs. Then something profound happened… out of nowhere came 3 truly fantastic albums. Of Montreal realized how to meld their sun-drenched psychedelia with synth-pop to amazing and very catchy results. But now comes Skeletal Lamping. I suppose after 4 fantastic albums and countless bouts of media praise and attention, Kevin Barnes felt his artistic inclinations could do no wrong. Skeletal Lamping isn’t a retreat back to their unlistenable roots, per se, but it is a torturous exercise in listening to a band who has gotten so full of itself that it’s lost all concept of how to construct compositions, edit itself, or just know when to pull in the reigns. This album is like listening to a love letter from Of Montreal to Of Montreal.

Dear Of Montreal,
You are so amazing. Everything you play is like magical nuggets of musical genius. You can do no wrong. Outback Steakhouse wouldn’t come to just anyone now would they? They came to you for a reason! I bet that if you really wanted to, you could make 2 + 2 = 5!
Love,
Of Montreal

We’ve now reached the conclusion of not only the Best of 2008, but the Most Disappointing as well. Next week I’ll do a more in depth look at the state of Thrash Metal in 2008 and do a small follow-up list of great albums from 2008 I just hadn’t had the time to fully listen to before completing this list.

Most Disappointing Albums of 2008:

• For albums 10-6 on the list click here!

Top 40 Albums of 2008:

• For albums 5-1 on the list click here!

• For albums 10-6 on the list click here!

• For albums 15-11 on the list click here!

• For albums 20-16 on the list click here!

• For albums 25-21 on the list click here!

• For albums 30-26 on the list click here!

• For albums 35-31 on the list click here!

• For albums 40-36 on the list click here!

- My Pal the Crook