Jordan Lyall’s Top 10 Albums of 2008
This is a list of my favorite albums this year. I’m not trying to claim these as the “absolute best” albums, it comes down to personal preference. These are albums I had a change to pick up in the last 12 months. If you have any recommendations for me, email me at jordan.lyall [at] gmail [dot] com. Thanks and enjoy!
1. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes Fleet Foxes released their first full-length album last Summer. They call their music “baroque harmonic pop jams” and have been compared to The Beach Boys. Beautiful, beautiful music. @atubbs says “Opening the Fleet Foxes CD reminds me what buying a record must have been like.” Amazon | Listen to “White Winter Hymnal”
2. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular MGMT (pronounced “management”) can be categorized as “Indie Electro Pop.” The album is catchy and danceable, though I wouldn’t have minded if the last few tracks were left off. @spencerante calls it “Flaming Lips meets Daft Punk.” Amazon | Listen to “Time to Pretend”
3. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend’s debut album of the same name is packed with melodious modern grooves. Very fun. @blahbleorg enjoys their “Great afro beats and pop hooks.”
Amazon | Listen to “Oxford Comma”
4. Santogold - Santogold Santi White (a.k.a Santogold) says her intentions with this her first solo album were to “help break down boundaries and genre classifications.” She succeeds with these infectious, foot-stomping tracks. @current_music calls it “a new kind of funky music.” Amazon | Listen to “Lights Out”
5. She & Him - Volume One She & Himis what you get when you mix indie rocker M. Ward and “that chick from Elf” (Zooey Deschanel). Simple melodies and one amazing voice. Side note: Deschanel is now engaged to Death Cab’s Ben Gibbard. Talk about some talented offspring. To @frickness the album “sounds like: Sufjan Stevens, the Everly Brothers, [and] even the intro to Spongebob” Amazon | Listen to “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?”
6. The Cool Kids - Bake Sale The second EP for the Chicago-based rap duo is what I would call “infectiously obnoxious.” Hip-hop is fun again. @jchristie regards Bake Sale as a “fun, bass-heavy retro CD.”
Amazon | Listen to “Bassment Party”
7. Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now, Youngster This debut album from Welsh indie rockers Los Campesinos is a sugar rush of guitar-heavy pop punk. Another fun, energetic album. @davidalln relates there’s “nothing like waking up to Los Campesinos!’s You! Me! Dancing!” Amazon | Listen to “Death to Los Campesinos!”
8. Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs Though Death Cab’s sixth studio album didn’t quite live up to some of their previous albums, it proved that they can still turn out quality indie-blues. @movingsideways says it’s “a great ‘riding alone on a train after a long holiday’ album.” Amazon | Listen to “I Will Possess Your Heart”
9. Beck - Modern Guilt Beck is back! Produced by Danger Mouse, Modern Guilt, the 10th album from Beck, unveils some of his retro styles. @therichbrooks “found it boring on first listen, but finding more layers after additional listens. Amazon | Listen to “Gamma Ray”
10. The Ting Tings - We Started Nothing Yet another debut album made the list. You may have heard this English pop duo on a commercial slinging iPods. Rolling Stone calls it “peppy New Wave.” @wende opines: “people either love them or hate them. Clearly, I’m in the former.” Amazon | Listen to “Great DJ”
