Home › Island Scene › Latest Stories
Our Favorites: CDs of 2008
More Latest Stories 
Share and Enjoy 
It’s hard to believe, but 2008 is already one-third of the way gone.
We’re four months removed and yet only eight months away from another round of “Best of" lists dominating the newspapers and magazines showcasing another year’s worth of artistic merit.
But why wait that long? There’s quite a bit of great music already out this year. Do we need December to come around before we shine a light on it? So here’s our list of six of our favorite albums of 2008 so far, many of which you’ll be hearing about again in December.
‘Robyn’
Robyn (CherryTree)
This album has been floating around for years, first as a 2005 Swedish import and then, again, after it was released in the UK in 2007. Now it has finally made it to the States and hopefully people will pay attention. You might remember Robyn (not to be confused with Robin S.) from her mid-’90s tracks “Show Me Love” and the sublime “Do You Know (What it Takes).” Back then she was just another teenage pop tart. Now she’s a grown woman and one of the best pop singers around. She’s also one of the most adventurous. This album has everything from boastful raps — “I’m so hot that when I rob your mansion, you don’t call the cops you call the fire station” — on (“Konichiwa (expletive)”) to electro ballads (“Be Mine!”) all of which are on par with the best stuff pop divas Beyonce and Rhianna have released in the past couple of years.
Recommended if you like: Annie, Kylie Minogue, Justin Timberlake
‘Jim’
Jamie Lidell (Warp)
After releasing a sort of aggressive electronic first album, Jamie Lidell came back with “Multiply,” one of 2005’s most surprising and excellent records. You might remember his track “A Little Bit More” from all those Target commercials, but it was the title track that really opened up the world to Lidell. In that song, Lidell went head first into the style of Otis Redding circa “Dock of the Bay.” “Jim” follows up on the success of “Multiply,” weaving even more ‘60s-era soul and funk into Lidell’s wide range of electronic dots and loops. Lidell isn’t trying too hard to sound vintage. He’s just making a killer soul record by taking his influences and pushing them through a new template.
Recommended if you like: ‘60s R&B, especially the more raw stuff from Stax. Also, if you like Amy Winehouse’s collaborations with Mark Ronson.
‘Mission Control’
The Whigs (ATO)
The Whigs are another band that made its record with the intent of the stereo being turned up to 11. There’s nothing fancy about this album. It’s just three guys pounding out solid rock songs on guitar, drums and bass. But there’s an urgency in their music, despite sharing a lot of the laid-back guitar riffs of the Southern Rock cannon. Like the Kings of Leon, part of the band’s charm is the languid drawl of singer Parker Gispert. He even yawps with a Southern accent. But there’s something more. On the lead single, “Right Hand on My Heart,” the band comes together with a ferocity not seen by the current leaders of the Southern Revival (Drive-By Truckers and My Morning Jacket). The New York Times aptly compared that song to power rock of The Who’s catalogue. Perhaps that’s why I can’t turn on the indie rock channel on Sirius without hearing it. And each time I do, I turn up the radio and sing along.
All the fallen leaves will find their branches again
Raindrops in the heavens I’ll eventually swim
River, an ocean, a wave in my heart
We got your money now we’ll make a new start
Recommended if you like: modern Southern Rock, My Morning Jacket, Drive-By Truckers, Kings of Leon
‘Saturnalia’
The Gutter Twins (Sub Pop)
A collaboration between long-time cohorts Greg Dulli (Afghan Whigs, Twilight Singers) and Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees), the pair had previously worked together on a few Twilight Singers albums and Dulli had toured with Lanegan, but never as a team. You almost wish they’d been working together all along. Lanegan’s menacingly low blues bark fits in so well with Dulli’s tales of addiction and lust and his biting, guitar-drenched hooks. Add to it Dulli’s often soaring backing vocals and the result is a slightly chaotic, occasionally demonic rock record. Make sure to check out “Idle Hands,” which might be my favorite rock track in the past two years, to hear the duo perfect its witches brew.
Recommended if you like: The Afghan Whigs or Screaming Trees.
‘Lust Lust Lust’
The Ravonettes (Vice)
This Scandinavian duo released one of the most impressive debut albums of 2003 (“Chain Gang of Love”) and then promptly followed it with one of the most disappointing CDs of 2005 (“Pretty in Black”). Three years later they are back and better than ever. “Lust Lust Lust” sounds like a love child between Sonic Youth and The Jesus and Mary Chain which has My Bloody Valentine for a nanny. It begs to be listened to at top volume. There are layers upon layers upon endless layers of guitars, which are often distorted to the point that people who don’t love those other bands will want to pull the plug. But underneath the walls of distortion are some amazing melodies and some of the most propulsive rock drumming we’ve heard in a while. The songs are covered in the clove smoke of hip. Imagine the cool of the Strokes when they first came out and you can understand the aura that surrounds this band. It doesn’t hurt that their lead single “Aly Walk With Me” is the most stylish song of the new year.
Recommended if you like: Sonic Youth, The Jesus and Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine
‘Vampire Weekend’
Vampire Weekend (XL)
I’m not sure if it’s possible to have more buzz than Vampire Weekend does right now. After getting blown up by just about every music blog in the world, the band made the leap to “Saturday Night Live” and spread their gospel to the masses.
It’s easy to understand the appeal. For the first time since “Graceland,” a band has made a record steeped in African music that doesn’t come off as the world music flavor of the month. Vampire weekend dubbed the sound “Upper West Side Sowetto,” which pretty much sums up the band’s combination of Afro-pop melodies and rhythms with preppy, overly literate indie rock lyrics. For God’s sake, they wrote a song about Oxford commas. How much more Lit major can you get? But you’d be hard pressed to find a better song about grammar or a more exciting debut album so far this year.
Even if Vampire Weekend did dis South Florida by ditching Langerado for “SNL,” you shouldn’t hold that against the band. They are too good to miss.
Recommended if you like: Peter Gabriel, David Byrne, Paul Simon’s “Graceland”
E-mail Jonathan Foerster at jfoerster@naplesnews.com
Comments
This site does not necessarily agree with comments posted below — responsibility lies with the relevant reader alone. Read our privacy policy & user agreement.
Post your comment
(Requires free registration.)