The Top 15 Best Atlanta Albums Of 2008

It’s been a banner year for the Atlanta music scene. The international success of bands like Deerhunter, Black Lips, and Mastodon over the last couple of years has put a spotlight on our city and many other artists are beginning to reap the benefits. I still believe that too many of our best and brightest are being overlooked, but that’s exactly why I do what I do. Looking back at my favourite local albums from last year, it seems this year’s class of studio work runs substantially deeper. I felt our scene is so overpopulated by albums worthy of recognition that I extended my original top 10 to a top 15 and I’m still leaving off a ton of really good records from Inside The Perimeter.

A couple of notes, there are a few local albums that have been self-released over the holidays, but I’m rolling them into consideration for next year’s list, and one album on here technically came out in the holiday season of last year. I didn’t do write-ups for this list as many of these are going to make my top LP and top EP lists in a few days, but if you are unfamiliar with any of these acts, I urge you to click on the “tags” below to see all of our posts on the artist. I know someone is gonna complain about Bradford Cox being involved with 20% of this list, but the guy is kicking ass in both quality and quantity of work, so don’t be a player hater. Here is the best Atlanta music of 2008:


15. The Goldest : The Goldest

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14. Gringo Star : All Y’all

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13. Atlas Sound : Things I’ll Miss

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12. Today The Moon, Tomorrow The Sun :

The Lightning Exhibit

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11. No Face : You Mean So Much To Me

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10. Nomen Novum : Mantis Man 7″

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9. Parade : Ghosts

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8. The Liverhearts : Ornament

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7. Lid Emba & Bobcrane : We Substitute

Radiance

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6. All The Saints : Fire On Corridor X

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5. Dead Confederate : Wrecking Ball

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4. Atlas Sound : Let The Blind Lead Those

Who Can See But Cannot Feel

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3. This Piano Plays Itself : This Piano Plays

Itself

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2. Slushco : When I Met The Boss Of Nova

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1. Deerhunter : Microcastle/Weird Era Cont.

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Live Videos: The Liverhearts, The Coathangers (9/6/2008)

Last Saturday I dropped by Lenny’s to check out the Totally Titties Two breast cancer research benefit. I got there just in time to see The Orphins leave the stage. I keep botching every attempt I make to catch them. Next, The Liverhearts brought it hard and made the trip well worth it. This was their first show in about 3 months. Their new bassist had some technical difficulties early, but once those were ironed out, they blasted the songs from Ornament I am now intimately familiar with, and it was so good. I stuck around for The Coathangers, but I have to say that each time I see them, it gets less enjoyable. They just seem so superficial and the songs are not aging well with me at all. They are going to have to up the ante and bring things to another level on their sophomore album due out early next year to keep me interested in these ladies.

The Liverhearts:


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What The Hell Am I Listening To?!?

This is an “Underground Hottlanta” crossover edition of “What The Hell” with two stellar albums from two underrated local bands:

The Liverhearts

The Liverhearts have been a staple in the Atlanta underground music scene most of this decade. Their post-rock meets math-rock meets punk sound is anchored by driving rhythms on the drums under sweetly dissident guitar lines and intense, raw vocals. Their debut full-length, Ornament, is a 38 minute high energy sonic blast. Momentum only lulls briefly at the half-time instrumental track “Panicum Repens” to give the listener a break before opening up a second assault. This is one of those albums you have to listen to as loud as possible and one I’ve been jamming hard.

Of Doctors And Daggers

Cincinnati

The Liverhearts Myspace

But Ornament here

All The Saints

This Atlanta via Alabama trio take grungy, dirty sounds of the last 20 years and arrange them together with a post-modern aesthetic and a touch of psychedelia. One of the things I love most about their album, Fire On Corridor X, is that it achieves the fuzzy, distant The Jesus And Mary Chain feel that many bands have been aiming for lately without seeming like an overt, cheap ripoff. In fact its their tempered employment of this sound that make them so unique. Rather than hiding behind distortion, their song arrangements seem to shine with a dose of reverb. The album itself also has plenty of range and dynamics that takes you on a journey through their world of bluesy shoegaze.

Farmacia

Papering Fix

All The Saints Myspace

Buy Fire On Corridor X here

Tonight In The A: Cinemechanica, Bad Dudes, Ho-Ag, The Liverhearts


Cinemechanica

This show at The Drunken Unicorn tonight is gonna be hott so here’s a few tracks to entice you into catching it:

Cinemechanica (Athens) : Brain Tarp
Bad Dudes (Los Angeles) : King Kong
Ho-Ag (Boston) : American Mall (Elek)
The Liverhearts (Atlanta):

The Liverhearts Go On Tour, Drop New Album

An Atlanta band that is really impressing me lately is The Liverhearts. They have a new album they are about release called Ornament, and the live stuff I’ve heard from it sounds awesome. They leave on tour this Friday and are bringing the new album for you to pick up, so OTP readers be advised. They will return to Atlanta for their CD Release Show at The Earl with Lay Down Mains and Rizzudo on April 19th and will be opening for Cinemechanica at The Drunken Unicorn April 24th, so you ITP readers should hit both of those. Tour Dates:

4/4: charlotte:: Yauhaus
4/5: baltimore:: the nerve center
4/6: new haven::people’s center
4/7: reading, PA::goggleworks center for the arts
4/8: NYC:: the Delancey
4/9: brooklyn::Don Pedro’s
4/11: richmond:: Rumor’s
4/12: winston-salem:: elliot’s revue
4/13: knoxville:: the Birdhouse
4/19: atlanta:: The Earl#
4/26: atlanta:: The Drunken Unicorn%

#with Rizzudo, Lay Down Mains
%with Cinemechanica, HO-AG, Bad Dudes

The LiverHearts (Live in Atlanta)-The Last Song

Live Videos: Rizzudo, The Liverhearts (2/2/2008) The Earl

Saturday night we went down to the Earl to catch this awesome ATLien show. It was my first time seeing both bands, and I was very impressed. This was apparently the first time Rizzudo played in over a year. The Liverhearts have a new album about to come out, and they played straight through that. Rizzudo also said they are about to work on another album. I bought their self-titled EP at the show and have been really enjoying it. I feel like I missed videoing some of the best moments of the show (like the end of Rizzudo‘s set), but I learned I need to get more memory cards. Enjoy:

The Liverhearts:


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