The Quest For The Best Albums Of 2008
Who dropped 2008′s biggest polished turd, Axl or Kanye?
I am in serious music listening mode right now trying to go through every album from this year I haven’t heard yet, so here are some of the albums I’ve come across so far. First, multiple people with seemingly trustworthy music tastes have told me that the new Guns N Roses album, Chinese Democracy, is good so I gave it a try. Basically, listening to this album is like going to a garbage dump and looking for treasure; you might find some neat stuff in there, but in the end you are wading through stinky, unappealing junk. Yes, there were a few brief moments where I was like, “that’s a neat production trick”. But then my next thought would be “too bad it is wasted on this terrible music”. To be fair, I never liked GNR when people thought they were awesome, and Axl‘s voice has only gotten more annoying to me with time, but I really tried to like this album, and it pretty much sucks.
Speaking of garbage, I also listened to Kanye West‘s new album, 808s & Heartbreak. First, it’s an R&B record, not a hip-hop record, and Kanye was barely a marginal rapper. His terrible singing is magnified by what I would consider the worst trend in music right now, the auto-tuner. I know that Pitchfork believes all vocal effects are created equal, but they are wrong, and this thing is way overrated and painfully overused, especially by Kanye on this album. If that’s not enough, the lyrics could have been outdone by a fourth grader. And even if his shallow, cliche message were communicated artfully, it is virtually impossible to feel empathy for someone who has a huge, public crybaby fit anytime anyone doesn’t acknowledge that Kanye is the greatest human on Earth. After that Bonnaroo debacle, I hope his ass gets dumped about 100 more times. The true test is to put this album next to The Love Below and it is clear that Andre 3000 is a genius, and Kanye West is a wannabe fraud.
I won’t waste your time with Mp3s from either of these douches, plus they might sue me or something.
In an unrelated story, The Pirate Bay recently celebrated their 5th anniversay.
On a fun side note, Stephen Colbert successfully launched “Operation Humble Kanye” this week (This is hilarious!):
Ok, so how about some good music?
Women
The album I have been enjoying the most over the last couple of months is the self-titled debut release from Women. This almost 30 minute champion of a piece manages to channel just about every good artist of indie music you can think of, but in a transcendental way that displays a deep understanding of so many aesthetics rather than just some collection of stolen ideas. This is easily one of the best records to come out this year, so get it:
Lambchop
Lambchop is one of those bands that I had heard about for eternity, but never really looked into. At least until I saw Kurt Wagner, the creative force behind it, open for Yo La Tengo earlier this year. I have still yet to dig deep into their catalogue, so I don’t have much context as to where their newest, OH (Ohio), fits in, but taken by itself, it is one the best alt-counrty-ish albums I’ve heard in a long time. Here is a track from the album and then a live tune from a recent show:
Lambchop : You’re A Big Girl Now (Bob Dylan cover from 11/14/2008)
Shugo Tokumaru
One more album I’ve been jamming lately that will probably end up with accolades from me is the newest Shugo Tokumaru album, Exit. For those of you who don’t know, Shugo is from Japan and does some beautiful indie-pop stuff. While Shugo has been making great tunes since about 2004, Exit is the first album available in the States, so take this opportunity to welcome such a gifted musician:
- Posted by Davy Minor on December 5, 2008 at 7:19 am
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Photos and Video: Yo La Tengo, Kurt Wagner- 1-12-08 at The Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, GA
“Tom Courtenay” Click here to read the entire post…
- Posted by Ohmpark Staff on January 23, 2008 at 9:13 pm
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