Best Of 2008

Here are my favorite albums of 2008; some of these might be predictable, but then again some of them might not. 2008 had a lot of great releases and I had quite a few ties when ranking these albums, but in the end I had to cut the ties. So, here are my five choice picks of the year. Go buy the albums and listen to them as a whole, for these albums are up here, partially, for their completeness.

1.Fleet Foxes s/t

Download:
Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal







2.Chad VanGaalen Soft Airplane

Download;
Chad VanGaalen - Willow Tree







3.Lindstrom Where You Go I Go Too

Download:
Lindstrom - The Long Way Home







4.Deerhunter Microcastle/Weird Era Cont.

Download:
Deerhunter - Nothing Ever Happened







5.M83 Saturdays = Youth

Download:
M83 - Couleurs

Daniel Martin Moore

Daniel Martin Moore is a new artist, so new that "you've never heard of him before", according to Sub Pop. From Cold Spring, Kentucky, Daniel's soft folk has the same effect on me as most of Jon Brion's work ( listen to "Little Person"). His sound is very reminiscent of the feeling that settles over one when Christmas is at hand. His new album, Stray Age, is out now.

Download:
Daniel Martin Moore - It's You
Daniel Martin Moore - That'll Be The Plan

Future Islands

"When we got out to the water there was [sic] one to two feet walls of foam in parallel lines as far as we could see in both directions. I'd never seen anything like it and, of course, in our fragile states we saw it as some divine providence." - Sam Herring

Download:
Future Islands - Beach Foam

"Beach Foam" is a beautifully crafted song from North Carolina's Future Islands, reflecting on the loss of a loved one and all that accompanies such a twist fate. Sam Herring's belted vocals provide a raw emotional warmth to the group's resolute synth-punk bounce, pandering to the melodramatic side of our hearts. With swelling synth hooks ready to crash at every turn, Herring's voice rides the crest of every breaker that rears its head straight towards shore. Earlier this year the group released their record Wave Like Home.

Weird Tapes

Weird Tapes has posted up his holiday giveaways. The clock has just struck twelve here. Its time for some late night space disco.

Download:
Faux Fox - Personal Best (Weird Tapes Version)

Visit his blog for "Christmas Break".

Voice On Tape

Voice On Tape's hauntingly ethereal voice is like a howl to the moon, raising the hairs on the back of your neck with its otherworldly beauty. "Marry You When Yr Sleeping" will wash over you, fantastically blurring the line between nightmarish and heavenly. You can find out how to purchase his album, Bits & Pieces, here.

Download:
Voice On Tape - Marry You When Yr Sleeping

Strange Powers

Thanks to AD.

Download:
The Shins - Strange Powers (Magnetic Fields cover)

(Photo)

Grouper/City Center Split 7"

Grouper just released her beautifully dreamy debut, Dragging a Dead Deer Up A Hill, earlier this year, to much acclaim, and will now be releasing the exclusive new track "False Horizon" on a split 7" with her friend City Center, who I had not been aware of up until this point, yet now believe to be the savior of a dismal week with his "This Is How We See In The Dark". Though I haven't gotten to hear the finished version, which he reassures is "a lot more refined/better", this demo is enough to suffice. He writes on his blog,

"Liz's song is exclusive to this release, and recorded around the same time as her last amazing full-length "Dragging A Dead Deer Uphill". It's fucking mindblowing. My song is "This Is How We See In The Dark", which I wrote just for this release after checking out Liz's song and trying to write a counterpoint piece. I've been playing it live in every show since the end of the summer, so if you've seen me play at all, it might sound familiar."

"False Horizon" is currently posted at Grouper's myspace. There are only 500 copies available for purchase, so get on that. Visit City Center's blog for purchasing info.

Download:
City Center - This Is How We See In The Dark (First Version)

Ty Segall

I've been waiting for an excuse to post about Ty Segall since I found out about him a month or two ago. Well, tonight he'll be swinging down from San Fransisco to play at The Smell and I recommend everyone, who has an ounce of appreciation for promiscuous psychedelic lo-fi garage rock, to go. This dude is extremely talented; he's a one man band who plays the drums with his feet while strumming and singing at the same time. Earlier this year he released his self titled LP (highly recommended) on Castle Face.

Download:
Ty Segall - So Alone
Ty Segall - The Drag