The Best Albums of 2008

5. Lil Wayne- Tha Carter III
There’s a reason why Lil Wayne calls himself “the greatest rapper alive” well actually there really isn’t he’s just kind of a arrogant bastard. But that’s not to say The Carter III isn’t one of the best albums of 2008. Lil Wayne is certainly not the greatest rapper alive. But I believe he is one of the most original mc’s around right now. He has one of the most unique voices around and that gives him that extra flair. Wayne gets a lot of flack from people though, they don’t quite “get” him but what you have to understand is he’s not serious about what he does, at all.





4. Sigur Ros- Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
I’ve always been a giant fan of the Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Ros, in fact I would say they are one of my favorite bands of all time. So it should come as no surprise for me to include this years release from them. The Band did some drasticly different things on this album one thing that was noticably different on this release was the increased used of guitars and less use of strings. Even the cover suggests a newer more playfull version of the band even at times calling to mind a Radioheadesque vibe. The band even went as far as breaking their mold by singing a song in English as opposed to all songs sung in Icelandic and in a language made up by lead singer Jónsi Birgisson's




3.The Raconteurs- Consolers of the Lonely
Jack White is no normal run of the mill musician, he likes things done his way and no other. But can you blame him if his methods have worked so well in the past? The Raconteurs are a super group of sorts consisting of song writer Brennan Benson and music mastermind Jack White and with their high acclaimed first release Broken Boy Soliders does it come as any surprise that the bands second release is any different? Release with absolutely no advertising or promoting before the release and only having been announced a week prior to release the album is much different then their first release. Very much influenced by classic rock gods Led Zeppelin The Who and Badfinger. But what makes the album so amazing is its beautiful chaos, the band sounds like they could fall apart at any time and that’s what makes them so great.





2. My Morning Jacket- Evil Urges
My Morning Jacket, there one of the biggest bands around right now, just recently riding off the fumes of playing one of the best shows of their career so far at Bonnaroo this summer and get this their getting ready to play New Years Eve at one of the most coveted venues to play NYE, Madison Square Garden. Lead singer Jim James is a force to reckoned with, the bands first couple albums showed MMJ as a southern rock revival band with a hint of indie, but it was about James’s haunting reverb drenched vocals on their earlier efforts.
But when Evil Urges came out no one knew what the hell to expect the album sounded so much more different then any of their past efforts. There was still some elements of their past sound but Jim James really wanted to ditch their rock n roll roots sound and move to a sound the was more akin to what their live shows sound like. The band really went against the grain here with Evil Urges even managing to sing falsetto on a few tracks and showing somewhat of a Prince influence in their music. But even though the album was such departure from their earlier efforts they were able to find a new sound that still manages to sound like them and they did it well with this release.



1. Girl talk- Feed the Animals
There are guys like this that make me love music so much, its when I discover that new artist that has a sound like nothing else, you feel like the most important person in the world when you discover an artist like that. That’s exactly what Girl Talk did to me. Imagine if you will, a man who is able to make music out of music that already exists in time. That is essentially who Girl Talk is a man who plays other peoples music. Now what you may be saying to yourselves is that isn’t that basically a DJ, well yes that’s exactly what he is, but in other words he’s a Mash up Artist or a DJ who plays parts from songs and mixes them together with other songs. That is essentially what a mashup artist does. However the only thing is that Girl Talk is freakin amazing at it.
Some of the highlights of this CD are his amazing combinations of Radiohead’s Paranoid Android and Jay-Z’s song Dead Presidents. There are just to many moments like this on this album to list. And perhaps the best part of the album is its replay ability factor. Every time I put this album in I find something new and it makes my brain explode. This is really the perfect album I can’t even give it enough points to do it justice its up there as one of favorite albums of all time which is a long list but a list that is full of talent. If you love music then you will love this album because it takes music that you love and combines it with other music that you love and the end result is music that you will love times two.

Neil Young: Sugar Mountain Live at the Canterbury House 1968

Neil Young, one of the most beloved singer songwriters of the last 60 and one of the legends in the pantheon of classic rock musicians, whether he’s putting out noise filled pre-grunge rock or putting out introspective and depressing folk songs or even putting out electronic albums (yes he has done that) there is a reason why they call him the chameleon of rock n roll. The rock world has been buzzing about Neil a lot lately he just announced that he is finally going to release his much talked about live box set. And fans are still raving about his protest album released a few years back. And with this classic live cd/dvd release he’s showing no signs of burning out or fading away.
Sugar Mountain gives us a very fascinating glimpse at a very un heard era of Neil, recorded in 1968 with Neil almost 23 and liberated from the musical shackles that Stephen Stills and Buffalo Springfield put him in we see Neil very unsure of himself, this is apparent in his in between song dialog. Sugar Mountain is full of the beauty that Neil exhibits in his performances playing Mr Soul his Buffalo Springfield signature song and then going into the beautiful Expecting to Fly, another Buffalo Springfield tune.
The albums title track Sugar Mountain which is a LP B side but often celebrated by fans is a flawless performance the entire album is a treasure however although Neil’s performance during the show is amazing one of the major flaws of this CD is a the sound quality, there is a constant hiss throughout the whole CD and one of the biggest disappointments of this album is the so called “DVD” which is really just a still shot of Neil with the concert while the audio plays.
Despite the false advertising this album is still a great album and it really shows us how great a performer Neil is even before all his success he knew how to work an audience and this release certainly shows that. If you’re a fan of Neil then your definitely going to want this album and its also perfect for anyone who doesn’t know all that much about Neil but want a good intro to where Neil got his start from.

Score 4/5

Phish- At the Roxy

Generalizations are a bad thing to make, but sometimes they’re painfully true, Vermonters are some of the strangest people you will meet. They are completely unlike most people. All Vermonters have this strange thing about loving everything that comes out of Vermont whether it be Ice Cream or Cheese or “the most important band of the 90’s” according to Rolling Stone. If you don’t know who im talking about, well then you can just press that little X in the top right corner and get off this blog.
The band of course im speaking of is Phish, straight from the fine state of Vermont and formed in 1984 at The University of Vermont and Goddard College (also in Vermont) Phish was a very rare band. Their studio efforts never sold much at all, the real revenue came from touring. Phish had that magic that very few bands had, their shows were unlike any other and the community of fans that was built from show to show was unlike any other. The band continued to sellout every venue they played throughout the 90’s until 2004 when guitarist Trey Anastasio announced the band would breakup at the end of the summer. During this time the band released a large collection of live releases and this is where most of the income has come from for the band.
At The Roxy was recorded in 1993 at the Roxy Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia comprising of 3 nights and spanning 8 discs At the Roxy showcases Phish at very early point in their career. This collection has all the great Phish staples that will get you off your feet and make you groove but also some tunes you can just rock out too.
The highlight of the collection is from the second night on Disc 5 where the band’s segue throughout the entire disc and go in and out of Phish staple “Tweezer” and get into a deep funk on the classic track “Reba.” There are even some great covers like an outrageous cover of the Kiss song Rock N Roll All Night and the Neil Diamond song Cracklin Rose.
All the things that make Phish such a great band is here. This collection is the perfect Christmas gift for that special diehard Phishhead in your life but its also a great place to start for those unfamiliar with the jamband. I know I’ll be blasting this all the way down to Hampton, Virginia in March for the Phish reunion show.

The Cure- 4:13 The Dream

Robert Smith, perhaps one of music’s most interesting characters. Even almost at the age of 50 Smith is still dawning his trademark lipstick and wild messed up hair look that made him a hero to all goth kids long before most goth kids were even born.
4:13 The Dream is drastically different then the late 80’s post punk Cure there are no bouncy choruses and catchy guitar riffs. Interestingly enough it seems like Smith’s lipstick may have entered into his brain and caused him to dawn a more glam metal sound akin to that of T-Rex and The Sweet with double guitar harmonies and all.
The albums opener Underneth The Stairs is one of the most interesting Cure tracks I’ve ever heard, Layered with distortion and reverberated guitars the tracks screams out to the listener and is easily one of the best tracks on the album and its as close to romantic as The Cure can possibly get. Another key track of 4:13 The Dream is The Only One which conjures up some classic Cure pop sound but with an edge which is what makes the Cure so good.
4:13 The Dream is one of the The Cure’s most interesting releases to date and it seems like Smith’s vocals have gotten increasingly worse from album to album. But understand this, 4:13 The Dream is certainly no Wish which is the pinnacle of classic Cure maybe it’s the age of the band that’s changed the sound but the edginess is all here it just sounds different.
The album as a whole is very un even and evenness is what made all the late 80’s Cure albums the best. If you’ve like the string of latest Cure albums then you probably wont like this release but if you hated the grunge only 10 years later sound of 2004’s self titled release then you may like this album.

Classic Album: Wilco- Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Believe me I know what your thinking, “man this guy really cant fit the stereotypical music snob more then this choice, I mean come on man, Wilco is the band that every music magazine creams their pants over. Cant you pick something a little more original?” I know that Wilco is talked about way to much in the indie music world and writers for publications such as Rolling Stone and Pitchfork Music cant seem to get enough of them, but there’s a reason for it, they are an amazing band, they have a sound that is so unique and yet sounds so strangely familiar, its like The Beatles, The Grateful Dead and Steely Dan had a baby and that baby grew up to become a horn rimmed glasses wearing hipster spewing out thought provoking and relatable goo goo’s and ga ga’s.
Wilco, formed in 1994 born from the ashes of alt-rock band Uncle Tupelo, the band’s mastermind Jeff Tweedy has been able to write some of the best sounding music released in the last 10 years. But perhaps Wilco’s best album to date is the seminal 2001 release Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, originally an album that was never supposed to be released due to contract controversies the album tales tells of love lost to heavy metal drummers and the never ending search for a radio cure.
The album starts off with song I Am Trying to Break Your Heart which starts off with the line “Im an American aquarium drinker” if that’s not one of the most interesting lines written in music I don’t know what is. The song evenutlay explodes into a chaotic mess of feedback and random noise and then beautifully segues into the acoustic pop-rock sounding Kamera.
This album is full of beautiful gems, but perhaps my favorite song on the entire album is the tune Heavy Metal Drummer a fast paced rocker with a Aphex Twin sounding intro that shouldn’t fit into the song but fits so incredibly well. The song tells the heartbreaking tale of a man who loses his girlfriend to the drummer of a heavy metal band. This album is what I would delightfully call a modern rock epic album, perhaps even the Sgt. Peppers of the 2000’s its beauty and poeiantcy is something to truly behold. Saying you don’t enjoy this album is like saying you don’t enjoy breathing or eating food, its something you just have to do.

Classic Album: The Mars Volta - De-Loused at the Comatorium

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala, even the names conjure up cryptic thoughts. Theese two men are the backbone of the sensational progressive metal latin jazz hardcore group The Mars Volta. One could even go as far as saying that the two are the Lennon- McCartney of this generation, ok that may be taking it a bit far but its certainly worth a try. Theese two men have bonded a music friendship unlike any other musicians I can think of. Their willingness to push each other to their musical limits is what drives their creativity.

Since their early days in the legendary El Paso hardcore band At The Drive-In they have made some of the most electric and emotionally charged music perhaps their music could be considered “REAL” emo because it is pure emotional and raw music. Thats just what the first release of the The Mars Volta showcases and that’s what makes this album so amazing.

It’s really hard to explain into words why this album is so gosh darn epic. Maybe it’s the fact that all the tracks segue into each other with seamless quality. Or maybe its just the raw power of songs like “roulette dares” or “take the veil cerpin taxt” The Mars Volta don’t just stick to one sound all the time they range form different epic sounds throughout the entire album and they seem to master each one of those sounds. But the album isn’t all power its got a softer side featured in the song “Televators”

No matter what you think of this review, wether your interested in the album or you agree with me or you just think I’m plain batshit insane for loving this band so much. Just understand this De Loused In The Comatorium is one of the best albums put out in the last couple years from its amazingly complex sound to its cryptic lyrics and bizarre story line its just to perfect. It has all the things that make music so amazing. The album never gets old for me and I doubt that it ever will.

Weezer - The Red Album

A very good friend of mine once made a very interesting argument about what true “emo” music is, he claimed that even though we oftentimes think of “emo” music as bands like Taking Back Sunday or Thursday, (at least that’s what I consider to be true emo.) The only true and pure emo band around today is Weezer, the music that they make is the most raw and emotiona around and can put any one of those other so called emo bands to shame.

Weezer is one of those few bands that even since the 90’s with their early release Pinkerton they have done what very few bands of the post grunge era were able to do and that is stay interesting and stay relevant. The band consistently has successful record sales with each album they put out, and hell they even had a music video with The Muppits that should give them at least a little bit of credibility

Rivers Cuomo is known for not only having the best name ever, but for having the talent and ability to write simplistic indie-rock songs that don’t just appeal to the indie rock fanbase, but are enjoyed by a very large and broad audience. And Weezer’s latest album The Red Album is really no different. Produced by legendary producer Rick Rubin The Red Album is certainly no Pinkerton and no Blue Album, even though Weezer have been able to stay popular after all these years that doesn’t necessarily mean their music is actually all that good.

There are times on this album where they try and sound like their classic sound but just come off as too sarcastic and then there are times when they try and sound like a pop band with tracks like “Pork and Beans” and those songs are at least entertaining. Rivers even attempts to sing falsetto on the track “The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)” which is the best track on the album. One of the cool things on The Red Album is every member of the band sings a track on the album. However a creative idea but a miss as far as interesting sounds go.

Weezer certainly has come a long way since their alternative post-grunge sound and it seems like with every album they try harder and harder to be a terrible hipster band with pop sensibilities. Maybe they could have done it back in 2001 but not today, and certainly not with The Red Album.

Score 2/5

Pnuma Trio- Character

The Pnuma Trio a truly fascinating and amazing band, comprised of Lane Shaw; the master drummer, Ben Hazelgrove ripping up the keys and Alex Botwin bringing the funk. Its these three men that make up the live electronic band who seems to be popping up everywhere on the scene recently and they certainly are making a name for themselves. One of the tough things for bands in the live/electronic genre is successfully transferring their live sound into a studio setting without sounding like generic electronic music.But in fact the music found on Character is certainly far from generic.

Each of the songs found on Character are so complex yet diverse that they themselves have enough character to stand independently. One of my favorite tracks on this album is “More Samples” which is an in your face heavy sounding track that leaves you breathless from beginning to end. One of the most interesting things about this album is the fact that it certainly is no common electronic album, the album even features some hip-hop tracks featuring MC’s Ced Hughes and Rashaan Ahmad and Pnuma’s music finds to be the perfect backdrop for a rapping and doesn’t out of context or unnatural which is really too perfect and is something the band should look into more of down the road.

Character is a great album in world of generic electronic albums they do what they do with originality and their music flows too well together at times, expect to see more out of these guys they’re hitting the road and dazzleing audiences and now with this release their blowing your mind in your very own home.

Score 5/5

A Very Sad Day

I just found out that Led Zeppelin may be touring without Robert Plant... not only that but with the current singer of Alter Bridge (aka all the members of Creed minus their lead singer)

tis a very sad day

and for that we mourn

AC/DC- Black Ice

If you know anything about music you cant deny that AC/DC have it all figured out. They know how to make rock music that kicks you in ass and rocks your soul. Their riffs are some of the most recognizable and they certainly have the credibility; they’ve been using the same formula since 1973 and have had multiple number one albums. They even managed to survive and stay interesting after the death of their original lead singer, Bon Scott.
Black Ice is no different, the same riffs are all here and it still kicks ass, certainly AC/DC can be accused of beating a dead horse, but they’re not just beating it they’re consuming its insides and bathing in its blood. Black Ice is AC/DC’s return to music, their first album since 1990 the album certainly shows their age. Lead singer Brian Johnson still has his classic tortured piercing vocals but its not how it used to be you can hear his age.
But one man in AC/DC still has the rock, the legendary power behind AC/DC, Angus Young. The rock is flowing through his body and I don’t think its going to go away anytime soon. He’s still got the school boys outfit on which seems a bit ridiculous now that he’s about 53. But all his classic riffs are here especially on the track Rock’N Roll Train which lives up to any of the bands classic tracks. My one complaint is that there is nothing new here its all the same music just rehashed its certainly apparent in tracks like “Wheels” and "Spoilin' for a Fight" The album still has the rock but its nothing new. But AC/DC isn’t going to change anytime soon and for that we salute them

Score 3/5

Neil Diamond- Home Before Dark

If there’s one musician in the history of music that can get any group of people to sing along with him it would be Neil Diamond. Yes that’s right good ole Neil has been rocking us with his classic tune Sweet Caroline for years in all his hairy chested pop-rock sensation. But Neil wasn’t always a stadium rocker he has his roots in the acoustic singer-songwriter world. And that’s just what Home before Dark gives us.

Produced by Rick Rubin Home Before Dark certainly shows his age, the album is chuck full of songs about the passing of time and reflection. But don’t get me wrong this album isn’t all mellow acoustic songs there are a few power-house anthems like the tunes “One More Bite of the Apple” and “Don’t Go There” which both could translate well to the stage where the Diamond really shines.

 If you’re a DiamondHead your certainly going to love this album its got all the classic coifed hair and hairy chested Diamond that you know and love but its also go a very different side to Neil. One in which life has certainly taken a toll and he’s not the young man he used to be. If your not a fan of Neil Diamond, well then you can just get right out of here. (only kidding) if your not a fan of the Diamond you may like this album. It’s a very mellow album and there aren’t any “Cherry Cherry’s” or “Sweet Carolines” its just a good and pure acoustic rock album

Score 2/5

Of Montreal- Skeletal Lamping

Kevin Barns, the mastermind of the contemporary psychedelic, lo-fi indie-pop what ever you want to call it band, of Montreal is not only Kevin Barns but another person perhaps a Ziggy Stardustesque alter-ego is what you would call it who goes by the name Georgie Fruit. Of Montreal are a very fascinating band Barnes has left little time in-between releases as of Montreal’s last album was released just last year. But do not take the short release time as hurried material of Montreal’s latest album Skeletal Lamping is full of whimsy and fascination.
The entire album floats from psychedelic sounds to musical soundscapes to funk and seemingly everywhere in-between. Some of my personal favorite tracks are “Id Engager” and “Nonpareil of Favor” which are definitely the popier tracks off of Skeletal Lamping but don’t be confused with all the musical schizophrenia at heart Skeletal Lamping at the very heart is a pop album with a bunch of love songs. Abit love songs about explicit sexual fantasies and a black she-male protagonist but love songs none the less. Skeletal Lamping is certainly a bizarre album and I don’t believe its going to garner any new fans but if you’re a fan of Barnes and of Montreal then your going to love this release and all of its weirdness

Score 3.5 out of 5

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Im Broke

I have no money to buy new music right now....so until I can either work or start a meth lab in my room I cant do too many reviews. So expect alot of top 10 lists soon maybe I've just seen High Fidelity too many times but I love lists.

anywho

thats all I got today


godspeed (you black emperor) to you all

alright that was lame

peace


-The Viking