I thought 2008 was a very good year...for music. (49 Tunes here)
I liked a number of albums, and I had a hard time picking
the absolute best.
"What Does it All Mean?" by Steinski has the most songs I
continue to listen to. That is very surprising to me,
because it is a "mashup" (consisting entirely of parts of
other songs). On first listen, I thought 'this is nice, but
it will grow old quickly.' That did not happen. It is so
dense with samples, including not just music, but movie and
TV dialog, and even old news flashes, that you can hear
something new even on repeated listens.
I have a video mashup of one
of Steinski's "songs" on my web site.
"Tell Tale Signs: Bootleg Series" by Bob Dylan consists
entirely of unreleased material from other albums, but it
is nearly as awesome as his last three fully realized
albums. After many years wandering in the musical
wilderness (and post heart attack), Dylan's last ten years
have been the most consistent and sustained of his career.
"Fleet Foxes" by Fleet Foxes is a breath of fresh air with
their soaring vocal harmonies and pretty melodies. I loved
three of their songs, but found the remainder uninspiring.
They sound a lot like the 60's group The Hollies.
I admire "For Emma, Forever Ago" by Bon Iver, but cannot
listen to more than one song at a time. It is a carefully
crafted, yet simply produced, heartfelt album. I like to
have one his songs in a mix, but I cannot listen to the
album by itself.
I just love "A Mad and Faithful Telling" by DeVotchKa. It
is so different and infectious.
"Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!" by Nick Cave is really weird, and
fun, with a diversity of styles, that makes listening to
the whole album entertaining.
"Harps and Angels" by Randy Newman is the best album he has
produced in years, and perhaps his most heartfelt.
"Stay Positive" by The Hold Steady is one of those albums
with no bad songs, but no great ones either. I always like
to have a song from this album in my recent mixes.
"A Piece of What You Need" by Teddy Thompson is
exceptionally well produced and sung, with a number of good
songs. Its pleasures are a bit subtle. Teddy is the son of
the great song writer and guitar player, Richard Thompson.
His mother is a great, though little known, singer.
Other albums, "Elbow", "Brighter Than Creation's Dark" by
Drive by Truckers, "Two Men with the Blues" by Willie
Nelson & Wynton Marsalis, and "One Kind of Favor" by
B.B. King.