The Quest For The Best Albums Of 2008 Is Almost Over

I had the best of intentions to finish all of my 2008 lists before the new year, but it looks like I ran out of time. I’m much more worried about being thorough than being timely so it is ok. I still have a few more scientific calculations to make before I can unveil my final list, and I’m going to be observing New Years celebrations for the next few days, so i would expect to drop it in about a week. There probably won’t be much going on around the site next week other than that as I will need a few days to reload and refuel for another year of serious blogging. But, 2009′s bar has already been set extremely high with the new Animal Collective album Meriweather Post Pavilion available on vinyl Tuesday and Atlanta outfit Nomen Novum‘s first full-length, November, now available digitally. Expect a lot of slurping on those two albums when I return, plus I’ll talk about some of the good 2008 records that I discovered late that just missed the cut. Also, it is getting close to a month since I have been to a concert, so it is time for total live show coverage to return. Here are a few mp3s from some of the albums that made my EP list that i never posted about until now:

Experimental Dental School : Jane Doe Loves Me
High Places : The Storm
Moscow Olympics : What Is Left Unsaid
Abe Vigoda : The Garden
Cynic : Evolutionary Sleeper

Have a happy 2009!!!

Ohmpark’s Top 20 Best EPs/Short-Length Albums Of 2008

I decided to do something a little experimental this year with my best EP list. When I was comparing very short “full-length” albums to longer albums on my best LP list, I kept wanting to hold the time duration against the shorter album. Also, it seems the difference between EPs and LPs can be a bit arbitrary sometimes, so I decided to just draw a line completely based on album length to split up my best album lists. This list, then, is the best of all albums less than 35 minutes, regardless of what the record is labeled. I’m happy with the end result, as I’m able to really highlight some extremely worthwhile briefer albums and it made the competition on this list a lot tighter. When you really think about it, any classic album this short feels like it is in a different weight class. I want to give an honorable mention to Cynic‘s Traced In Air, Parade‘s Ghosts, and Mount Eerie with Julie Dorion and Fred Squire‘s Lost Wisdom because all three were awesome, but here are the 20 best albums under 35 minutes:

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Live Videos: Deerhoof, Experimental Dental School (10/29/08) Asheville, NC

Last week I drove up to Asheville, NC to catch Deerhoof at the Grey Eagle since they weren’t coming to Atlanta. I left in prime time rush hour but was able to make it into the venue and right in front of the stage moments before the first band played. Flying, who was originally on the bill, couldn’t make it because of troubles with their transportation or something, so they had a different opening band along for this tour called Fertile Crescent. They were a guy on guitar and girl on drums, and they were good for an opening band, but there wasn’t much to it. As I was waiting for the next band, I noticed that the crowd in Asheville was extremely young. I don’t think I saw one person other than me without X’s on their hands. Also the style everyone was kicking was a weird hipster/hippie hybrid, lots of dreads and tight pants.

Experimental Dental School came on utilizing the same duo format as Fertile Crescent, except they pulled it of much more impressively. The guitarist had three outputs coming out of his guitar all running to different sets of pedals and what looked like home made amps built in suitcases. You’ll notice in the last video below, some of the members of Deerhoof came out and joined them for their final number.

Deerhoof finished out the show with maybe one of the best shows I’ve seen all year. First, they had smaller and less equipment than any 4-piece band I’ve seen. You could fit everything they brought on stage in the trunk of a hatchback. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a drummer using a minimalistic setup be so impressive. Frontwoman Satomi Matsuzak couldn’t be taller than 4 feet tall, but was full of energy jumping around and dancing while ripping some awesome bass lines. The entire band had such personality on stage, and they played everything flawlessly. Deerhoof is quickly becoming one of my favourite bands, check out some vids:

Deerhoof:


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