There just isn’t enough time in the year, is there? After twelve months of some ridiculously good and bad releases, even the most comprehensive music site (which MONDO is not!) can have trouble keeping up — especially with the excitement of a new year’s releases looming over our heads.
Luckily, with the best-of lists done once and for all, we can throw all convention out the window and go for quantity over quality. Your fearless Music editors slaved over a hot laptop to bring you quick, snappy summaries of twenty albums we didn’t get to in 2008.
By Allana Mayer (AM) and Jake Shenker (JS)
13Ghosts – The Strangest Coloured Lights (Skybucket)
From the band name, I assumed this was either an Anticon release or some horrible tribute to that stupid Matthew Lillard movie; instead, it’s really enjoyable banjo/piano/acoustic indie-folk that makes you want to climb trees. (AM)
Ariane Moffatt - Tous Les Sens (Phantom Sound & Vision)
Don’t fear French music: Tous Les Sens is the third album from Québécois singer Ariane Moffatt, and blends trip-hop and breakbeats with gentle piano-driven singer/songwriter tunes. (JS)
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones - Jingle All the Way (Rounder / UMGD)
The title track may sound like voodoo music, but virtuoso banjoist Béla Fleck and his band of ridiculously talented musicians have made Christmas music a) interesting and b) insanely complex. (JS)
Byetone – Death Of A Typographer (Raster-Norton)
Thank God people are still releasing dark, threadbare electronica without calling it dubstep (God, that shit sucks). (AM)
Cloud Cult - Feel Good Ghost / Teapartying Through Tornadoes (Rebel Group)
Every once in a while, it’s nice to be told that everything’s going to be okay. (AM)
Cloudland Canyon – Lie In Light (Kranky)
I have listened to “You & I” more times than I can count and still think it is perfectly suited for both fucking and fighting – maybe both simultaneously. (AM)
The Fireman – Electric Arguments (ATO / RED)
While previous albums from The Fireman (Paul McCartney’s collaboration with producer Martin Glover a.k.a. Youth) were experiments in electronic music, Electric Arguments is an almost entirely organic effort. Nobody would’ve guessed that when Paul passed 64, he’d still be writing kickass songs. (JS)
Grouper – Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill (Type), and Gregor Samsa - Rest (Kora)
I think that I’d like these two albums played as the soundtrack of the day of my death. (AM)
Helvetia – The Acrobats (The Static Cult Label)
This album is like an oversized mug filled with piping hot chicken soup, and a really great lap blanket, and someone massaging your feet all at once; in other words, it’s Yo La Tengo. (AM)
The Holloways - Sinners & Winners EP (The Orchard)
The Holloways are a cross between The Jam and The Clash, and this 4-track EP is a delicious teaser for their upcoming full-length (supposed release date March 2009). (JS)
Howlin’ Rain – Magnificent Fiend (Birdman / American)
This is a Comets On Fire side project that drops the ’90s-era psych/stoner influences and finds a home in ’70s classic rock instead, plus pulls off a great Queen/gospel revival medley in “Lord Have Mercy.” (AM)
Kaki King - Dreaming of Revenge (Velour)
Stop singing; get back to rocking. (AM)
Karkwa - Le Volume du Vent (Audiogram)
Another reason to embrace the French: Karkwa’s third album is full of great rock songs, shows strong minimalist influences, and brings them one step closer to sounding like Radiohead. (JS)
Koushik - Out My Window (Stones Throw)
My booty, when I listen to this album, must inevitably shake; it has made for some awkward streetcar rides. (AM)
The Lost Fingers - Lost in the ’80s (Tandem)
Big stars at this summer’s Montreal Jazz Festival, The Lost Fingers are a gypsy jazz trio whose repertoire consists entirely of really awesome ’80s music (first single? “Pump Up the Jam.” ‘Nuff said). (JS)
Mouth Of The Architect – Quietly (Translation Loss)
At some point over the past few years, I’ve developed the ability to ignore stupid metal growls-as-vocals; thus, this album is actually pretty enjoyable. (AM)
National Bank – Come On Over To The Other Side (Universal Norway)
This gets more enjoyable every time I hear it, and isn’t nearly as creepy as their self-titled debut (which featured the ode to stalker fantasies, “Hello My Name Is Fred.” Shudder). (AM)
Quiet Village – Silent Movie (!K7)
“I wanna be Crockett!”
“No, I wanna be Crockett!”
“No, it’s my turn!”
“Why do you guys want to be Crockett, anyway?”
“Shut up, Robbie.”
“Yeah, the alligator can’t talk.”
“I hate this game.” (AM)
SND – 4, 5, 6 (Line / Mille Plateaux)
This is the musical equivalent of a kid getting himself a Spirograph and calling it physics. (See the E if you don’t believe me.) (AM)
Sun Kil Moon – April (Calo Verde)
This album made my mom sad over the holidays, and for that it can never be forgiven. (AM)
I never sent you my contributions for this, but that’s because I only came up with one:
Bauhaus – “Go Away White”
Fuck. This. Shit.