10 Best Albums of 2008
10. Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna
A big crazy brew of tribal beats, weird disco, Kate Bush, grime, glitches and beats. Worked for me…
09. Lykke Li - Youth Novels
Somewhat more leftfield than your usual Scandinavian pop minx with some warped production, sparse percussion and sexy-as-fuck delivery. I lykke very much (sorry)
08. Laura Marling - Alas, I Cannot Swim
An impossibly lovely and assured debut that crept up on you to caress your soul and kick you in the balls at the same time.
07. Diplo / Santogold - Top Ranking Mixtape
Diplo could probably do an hour’s mix of Kooks songs and I’d still rave about it but Top Ranking takes the cross-cultural mish-mash of the Santogold record and sprinkles it across classic dub, dancehall, crunk, new-wave and hip-hop to create one of the most attention-grabbing and enjoyable mixtape since, well, Diplo’s last one.
06. Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires
“Nu-rave surviviors in actually good shocker”. Melody rich, damn good pop songs that look beyond the usual synth n drums tick boxes to take in references to Roxy Music, N*E*R*D and Frankie Knuckles amongst others. Thoroughly enjoyable.
05. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Those harmonies. Sheesh. What a record…
04. The Acorn - Glory Hope Mountain
I think I mentioned this a few weeks back but I haven’t really stopped listening to it since. Simple, folky arrangements imbued with someting deliciously off-kilter that makes it great to listen to in headphones while walking through parks at twilight.
03. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
The cool ‘Graceland’? Whatevs, this is a classic slice of indie pop that came from somewhere totally unexpected.
02. Hercules & Love Affair - Hercules & Love Affair
A gay disco concept album featuring Antony Hegarty and some arty New York transsexuals doesn’t sound like the best premise for an album but this positively glows and despite the obvious retro reference points, manages to sound completely current. Immaculate production too, both on the floor fillers and the more downtempo moments. Extra kudos too for - in a round about way - inspiring the name of this blog. I’ll tell you the story another time…
01. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago…
Blah blah blah isolated cabin, blah blah hunting deer, blah blah heartbreak etc. Whatever the backstory, this record captivated me like nothing else. At turns haunting and beautiful and with a suitably odd turn-of-phrase it snuck into my consciouness and refused to leave. Brilliant.
