As we near the year's
halfway point, I thought it'd be cool to ask
some of my favorite artists what their favorite records have been so far in '08, regardless of release date. And surprisingly enough, some of them actually replied. I'll probably roll out my own list tomorrow, but first, and far more notably, here are their picks (much thanks to everyone who contributed):
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Edward Droste,
Grizzly Bear:
that's a no brainer for me!
beach house,
devotion. I've listened to this album since I got it in the fall non stop until now. They rapidly climbed my most played tracks on iTunes to overtake many of my favorite songs. This is the type of music that just grows and ages with each listen in the best way possible. I never tire of it and I'm sure that 10 years down the road I'll appreciate it as much as I do now.
mp3:beach house :: gila********************************************
Josephine Olausson,
Love Is All:
crap. one album? so hard. i just recently got the
health album that i really like. and i like the
no age record. and
white williams. but my favourite is maybe the
vampire weekend one. a lot of my friends seem to have some sort of problem with them, which sort of has forced me to love it even more.
mp3:vampire weekend :: m79********************************************Bradford Cox,
Atlas Sound/
Deerhunter:
my album of the year so far would be
Animal Collective's
Water Curses EP. I think its really enigmatic. "Cobwebs" might be my favorite thing I've heard in the past 5 years. The last song sounds great in your bedroom in the late afternoon with the windows open. The most important band of our generation and I mean that with all sincerity.
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Marissa Nadler:
Lets see, I have been really into listening to
Sammi Smith vinyl records that were a gift to me from a friend. I heard her rendition of Kris Kristofferson's "Sunday Morning Coming Down" and ever since then have been really into her. Apparently, she was Johnny Cash's favorite singer. More present records that i have been into are the new
el perro del mar, and the new
beach house record, which is just so beautiful. I just got the new
Efterklang record which is cool. They are this band from Denmark.
video:sammi smith :: help me make it through the night********************************************Wale:
the dream, the roots, bun b, james morrison
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Noah Lennox,
Panda Bear/
Animal Collective:
my favorite album this year (so far) is the
erykah badu one called
new amerykah: part 1 (4th world war). animal collective was in mississippi in january or so and wed watch a lot of vh1 soul when we werent working on something and for a stretch of a couple of days erykah was always on. sometimes it was a video but one time i saw kind of a performance where she was doing a bunch of new songs and i really liked them and i liked the way she performed them a lot. wed see the honey video all the time and i really liked that and im really psyched that its just an added bonus track on the album. all the songs go together well but theyre also all kind of different. theres something strange that i cant quite put my finger on but all the songs go down easy if you know what i mean. the music feels very personal and real and i like that.
video:Erykah Badu :: Honey********************************************
Aziz Ansari,
Human Giant:
Wolf Parade -
At Mount Zoomer. I played my favorite albums of '08 -
Wolf Parade, Hercules and Love Affair, Deerhunter, Cut Copy, Portishead, and Lil' Wayne - lightly under a 7 hour Top Chef marathon, and I think I've decided my pick is Wolf Parade. All those albums are amazing and I probably gravitate to the new Wolf Parade, because I've been anticipating it quite a bit. Oh shit! Dale just left out the pork belly UNREFRIGERATED all night and it might screw up Stephanie's chances in the Elimination Challenge. I gotta go. I hope Lisa gets eliminated, I fucking hate her.
mp3:Wolf Parade :: Language City********************************************
XXXChange,
Spank Rock/Fully Fitted:
i dunno if this is super obvious or what but I've been super into what i've heard of the
Lykke Li stuff. the albums not on itunes yet where i get most of my music but i found this one: "I'm Good. I'm Gone" floating around on the internet somewhere. soooooooo good. love the quality of the recording/production too! you can actually hear the room!
also on the subject of girls with cool accents:
http://www.myspace.com/mysokoher whole thing feels a little twee but her cover of the teenagers "love no" is awesome.
mp3:Lykke Li :: Dance Dance Dance********************************************
Frankie Rose,
Vivian Girls:
my favorite so far this year is
Thee oh sees new album -
The Masters bedroom is worth spending a night in... I think its solid. The last couple of records were good but this one is the most cohesive... I cant stop listening to it.
mp3:thee oh sees :: ghost in the trees********************************************
Annie Clark,
St. Vincent:
Man Man's
Rabbit Habbits. man, man man own psychosexual dirtdance this album. I love this band...I saw them at coachella and they had b boy painted drums. So cool in my book.
mp3:man man :: top drawer********************************************Diplo:
santogold, black lips,
jon dahlback,
carter 3 (not really), al green -
lay it down********************************************
David Metcalf,
Bodies of Water:
According to my itunes play count, the record I have listened to the most recently (in the 2 months since I re-installed itunes) is
j.j. cale's "5." This is an old record, but a very good one. This guy is "laid back." As far as 2008 records go, I say the
Hercules and Love Affair record because it is exciting. I was initially excited about it because I like Antony, but what kept me excited were the really nuanced beats and production. I also like
the Dodos' record. I first heard them at a show in SF that we played with them, and they were fun and captivating. It's a great surprise to hear music you really enjoy played live prior to hearing recordings of it.
mp3:Hercules & Love Affair :: Hercules Theme********************************************
Bethany,
Pocahaunted:
Vivian Girls,
self titled. The songs are so fucking catchy that literally after I listen to them, I am singing them for days. And my dad once told me that you know a song is a hit if it gets stuck in your head. The song "Tell the World" is like the best thing I've heard since the Ronettes "I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine." I think they're amazing women, making really fun music. and their harmonies, oh god their harmonies.
i guess as far as 2007 goes--"
graduate" by
kanye west. kind of fucking amazing. i guess you could count this, because literally i JUST heard this album in it's entirety like a week ago. that song "flashing lights" is fucking perfect. AND "champion" samples Steely Dan, so dude...seriously.
and then--gotta shout out to my favorite man of all time, my dream husband--
the boss. I think that "
Magic" is what you'd expect from Bruce at this age, but I still loved it. "Girls in Their Summer Clothes" is about to be the anthem of my summer. This album is no "Greetings from Asbury Park," but it does the trick, and I'm really proud of my man...
mp3:Vivian Girls :: Tell the World********************************************
Josh Block,
White Denim:
I really love the new
Spiritualized record a lot, but it hasn't had enough time to sink in for me to call it my most listened to record this year. With that in mind, The
George Jones Box Set "
She Thinks I Still Care" that came out in November of 07 (practically 08 for me) has been in heavy rotation in the player right next to
Robert Wyatt's "
Comicopera" that came out one month before it. Both records are just my speed.
video:George Jones :: She Thinks I Still Care********************************************
Evan Mast,
RATATAT:
my favorite so far is easily
springwater's self titled. its an early 70s instrumental album made by a guy named phil cordell in his home studio. loads of guitar layers and beautiful melodies. apparently one of the tracks was a top 5 hit in the UK. somebody recommended this to me saying that it sounded like the 70s version of ratatat - and i have to admit, there's actually a pretty strong resemblance in some ways. its amazing that i'm only discovering this record now.
video:springwater :: i will return********************************************
Jared Van Fleet,
Voxtrot/
Sparrow House:
there is an album i've been listening to a lot this year, but i guess it's not new for most people...
townes van zandt's
our mother the mountain. for me, van zandt's songs, performances, and production all reach their apex at the same time with this record. the result is a sound that is at once dark and hopeful, orchestrated and minimal, bitter and sweet. of the lesser-known tracks, check out "second lover's song". also, thanks to whoever accidentally left this in my car a few months ago.
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Pablo Díaz-Reixa,
El Guincho:
my favorite album so far from 2008 is
Escuela de Zebras by
Joe Crepúsculo. It is a guy from Barcelona who writes amazing lyrics and sings in a very particular way over really good backing tracks made of synths, keyboards, rythm machines and sometimes, guitars. It's brilliant. From old stuff I've been enjoying Totó La Momposina a lot, the first 2 MC Solaar records and listening back again and again to
Cinema Transcendental by Caetano Veloso. I saw
Animal Collective play last weekend at Primavera Sound and their new songs are SO GOOD. They sounded so perfect and how they sync the lights with the sound, the best. Not also the new songs, but the way they played old stuff that was really clever and inspiring too. The
Dirty Projectors were really good too. Beautiful guitar sounds. Also I've been listening a lot to a
Mad Decent cumbia podcast, some pretty awesome tunes in it. And
The Ruby Suns record too, can't wait to see them play live cause I missed them at SXSW. I don't know, that is all I can remember from last weeks.
Our weekly GvsB Sirius radio show airs today at noon + midnight EST on Left of Center. New stuff this week from Girls, Georgiana Starlington, Grouper, Salem, and more. You can listen right here, for free. Full playlist for this week + some mp3s after the jump...
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