20/1/2009

3/1/2009

Top 11 Records of 2008

First off these are not necessarily records that were released in 2008, but stuff that I heard for the first time in 2008.

For starters 2008 was largely a year of beats and electronic music for me. And an insane amount of jazz thanks to blogs like soundological investimigations. I used to do my best to keep up with rock and indie releases just so I could maintain my snob cred and boast about having a broad music taste. Somewhere down the road I stopped giving a damn. The only non-beats-based stuff I listened to were probably Bon Iver and the new ones from Mogwai and Sigur Ros. Oh and Fleet Foxes. That's the token indie album that no one could do without this year.

Let's run this motherf**ker down then (in alphabetagamma order):

Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago (2008) This was my emo record of the year. I'd break it out every time I had an imaginary break-up with my imaginary girlfriend. I have no idea what he's singing about and his quavering voice is annoying to at least one person I know. A simple but beautiful album.

Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes (2008) I avoided listening to Fleet Foxes for the longest time because I saw a picture of the band on the internet, and the fact that I saw it on Pitchfork. Why must indie bands always look like the type of music they sing? Would it make them less legitimate as musicians if they looked like regular people? That aside, the album's pretty good. I just hate the mental image of scraggly beards every time I listen to it.

Flying Lotus – Los Angeles (2008) Oh yeah, Flying f**king Lotus!! My new favourite producer. The off-kilter beats, out-of-time samples and complex beat programming made up some of the freshest electronic/hip-hop music that I've heard in a long time. The whole Flying Lotus sound and to a larger extent the entire new-beats movement (that's what I'm going to call it for now until someone comes up with a better term) consisting of people like Samiyam, Hudson Mohawke, Afta-1 and Dorian Concept are really pushing things forward for hip-hop. As far as I'm concerned anyway. Because it doesn't seem like there are a whole lot of other people talking about this scene outside the confines of message boards and online communities. Either I'm onto something here or I'm just being a raving fanboy.

Illa J – Yancey Boys (2008) This is more of a J Dilla record for me than an Illa J record. And if you're wondering what's with the name similarity, Illa J is the younger brother of J Dilla, and Yancey Boys was made entirely from previously unreleased Dilla joints from the Delicious Vinyl label. The music comes from recording sessions between '95 through '98, which to me is Dilla's golden age of beatmaking. Unfortunately Illa J's rapping is piss poor. Sample lyric off 'Timeless': "I spend so much time just doing nothing / I think it's time for me to start doing something / Find me a fun activity / Enjoy this life of liberty." It's like he's rapping off a school assignment he wrote on how he intends to spend the summer. But hip-hop is always about the beats to me, and this record has heaps of what I love and miss most about Dilla's music.

Jay Reatard – Matador Singles '08 (2008) I love me some garage punk every now and then, and Jay Reatard fills my quota for 2008. He has an enormous discography for a relatively young artist so thank goodness for compilation albums. Makes you want to flail your arms and do the pogo, even if it means knocking the teeth out of the sweet girl with the chic short haircut standing next to you.

Miles Davis - The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions (2003) Miles Davis - The Complete On The Corner Sessions (2007) With these two I have sort of completed my Miles Davis boxset collections, the other two being Complete In A Silent Way Sessions and Complete Bitches Brew Sessions. 'Sort of' because there are all the other boxsets of his earlier music from the 50's which I don't really care about. As with all other jazz I listen to, I'm only really into stuff released between the late-60's and all-70's. Boxsets are really daunting music purchases. Jack Johnson Sessions comes in five discs with about 4 hours of music. On The Corner Sessions has six discs and 6 whopping hours of music, a few minutes short of 7 hours. Some of the stuff on the discs are really only for completists and jazz archivists – there are various takes of single pieces, multiple reworkings and numerous sessions with different players. While it's interesting to read the liner notes and listen to the music in context, it's not something that I'll find myself replaying on a regular basis. The real gems though are the rare and unreleased stuff like the twinkling keys and guitar on 'Konda' from Jack Johnson Sessions and the proto drum'n'bass of 'Rated X' (recorded in 1972!) from On The Corner Sessions. I've always maintained that if you only listen to one jazz artist it should be Miles Davis. These boxsets will tell you why.

Portishead – Third (2008) You can read the critical analysis about this record elsewhere, so let me tell you what this record means to me. Every time I put on Dummy or Portishead, it reminds me of the mid-90's and the whole trip-hop thing. I love those two albums to death, but they always bring me back to a period of time in music when artists were releasing similar (but groundbreaking) records. Third on the other hand somewhat displaces time. Sure, there are influences of other genres of music in it but you can't quite put your finger on it, like, where exactly does this belong? I mean, yeah, when I play Third in 2020 it will remind me of listening to music in 2008, but it won't remind me of what music sounded like in 2008. The only thing for sure is that it sounds distinctly Portishead.

Q-Tip – The Renaissance (2008) A new Q-Tip, finally, after a slew of unreleased records. I love the fact that he produced the entire record himself save for two tracks (they are Dilla beats anyway, so win-win) which gives the record a consistency and flow, unlike the format of most new multi-producer hip-hop records which try too hard to make each track sound like potential singles (case in point: Nas' Untitled aka Nigger). While Amplified was Q-Tip's attempt at distancing himself from his Tribe Called Quest legacy, Renaissance shares the same spiritual and contemplative vibe of Tribe's Midnight Marauders.

Sleestack'z - Behind The Iron Curtain (1996) Sleestack'z were doing their thing right about the same time when people were getting hip to Rawkus and the entire mid-90's backpack hip-hop movement. Unfortunately they didn't go on to further prominence the same way groups like Company Flow did. Which is a real shame because Behind The Iron Curtain is full of nasty abstract beats and lyrics (the mysterious and moody 'Ruination' is the highlight for me). The perfect thing to listen to on headphones when you need to remind yourself that it didn't used to be all Lil' Wayne.

Various Artists – Spiritual Jazz: Esoteric Modal and Deep Jazz from The Underground 1968-77 (2008) I've got nothing to add that hasn't already been described in the album title, other than I'm glad there are dedicated crate-diggers out there mining all these rare joints for the benefit of high-brow armchair connoisseurs like me. So I'll leave you with a Youtube clip of an amazing live performance of one of the tracks that you'll find on the CD (God bless the guy who uploaded it).

Happy New Year!