As I promised, below is a list of my favorite 25 (actually 30) songs of 2008:
30. Why? - Good Friday
29. Fleet Foxes - Your Protector
28. Dodos - Red & Purple
27. The Hold Steady - Constructive Summer
26. Born Ruffians - Little Garcon
25. Ben Folds (ft. Regina Spektor) - You Don't Me
24. Estelle (ft. Kanye West) - American Boy
23. Blitzen Trapper - Furr
22. Beach House - Gila
21. Okkervil River - Lost Coastlines
20. She & Him - Sentimental Heart
19. MGMT - Kids
18. Born Ruffians - Hummingbird
17. TV On The Radio - The Stork and Owl
16. El Guincho - Palmitto's Park
15. Lupe Fiasco - Little Weapon
14. Vampire Weekend - Walcott
13. Passion Pit - Sleepyhead
12. Why? - The Hollows
11. Joel Alme - The Queen's Corner
10. Department of Eagles - No One Does It Like You
9. Lil Wayne (ft. Jay-Z) - Mr. Carter
8. My Morning Jacket - Highly Suspicious
7. Animal Collective - Water Curses
6. Bon Iver - Lump Sum
5. Fleet Foxes - Mykonos
4. The Hold Steady - Slapped Actress
3. Dodos - Fools
2. Sigur Rós - Gobbledigook
1. MGMT - Electric Feel
Now, before we (I) get to my favorite album of 2008, let's take a gander at some of my favorite albums from 2008 that didn't make the list:
My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
Okkervil River - The Stand Ins
Sigur Ros -Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
Why? - Alopecia
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
Passion Pit - Chunk of Change EP
El Guincho - Alegranza!
Lupe Fiasco - The Cool
And now...my favorite album of 2008...
1. Fleet Foxes - Sun Giant EP/ Fleet Foxes
Coming in at #1 and winner of the prestigious "First Annual Rather Be Pogging Countdown of My Favorite Albums" are Fleet Foxes and their EP/ self-titled album.
At first I was skeptical about putting this album at #1. The songs on both the EP and album are just seem so simple, and the sound they produce is too 60's folk, I figured their work wasn't worth #1. Unlike some of my favorite albums-of-the-year from previous years (I liked 2004- Arcade Fire Funeral 2005- Sufjan Stevens Illinois or Wolf Parade Apologies to the Queen Mary 2007 - LCD Soundsystem Sound of Silver or Panda Bear Person Pitch) I felt Sun Giant EP/ Fleet Foxes were an old, revised sound, rather than a new sound that pushed the progression of music forward. But after seeing these guys live, it became clear to me that though their sound may be a mountainier version of Beach Boys, their songwriting and talent (especially singing harmonies live) are just as deserving as every other year's #1.
It's hard to say exactly what makes Fleet Foxes so worth listening to. Maybe it's their angelic harmonies. Maybe it's their obscurely ruggid yet romantic lyrics. Maybe it's their hippyness. Maybe we should ask Bill Nye the Science Guys (science rulez) why it's so enjoyable. But whatever it is, Fleet Foxes have made me realize one thing about music; a lesson most hipsters could use:
Music does not need to be progressive to be liked. Kind of an obvious statement, but still one many of us look past. It often seems like people in general want to like whatever is most cutting edge (this is probably why more and more rappers are using that weird synthesizer voice). Music will make it's progressions (just think of how each decade has it's own "sound"), but good music will always be good music, regardless of what era it came from. Fleet Foxes' are the anti-cutting edge. And by being the anti-cutting edge they have become cutting-edge (I've lost my mind).
Good-bye 2008. Hello 2009. (8 days late)
Coming in at #1 and winner of the prestigious "First Annual Rather Be Pogging Countdown of My Favorite Albums" are Fleet Foxes and their EP/ self-titled album.
At first I was skeptical about putting this album at #1. The songs on both the EP and album are just seem so simple, and the sound they produce is too 60's folk, I figured their work wasn't worth #1. Unlike some of my favorite albums-of-the-year from previous years (I liked 2004- Arcade Fire Funeral 2005- Sufjan Stevens Illinois or Wolf Parade Apologies to the Queen Mary 2007 - LCD Soundsystem Sound of Silver or Panda Bear Person Pitch) I felt Sun Giant EP/ Fleet Foxes were an old, revised sound, rather than a new sound that pushed the progression of music forward. But after seeing these guys live, it became clear to me that though their sound may be a mountainier version of Beach Boys, their songwriting and talent (especially singing harmonies live) are just as deserving as every other year's #1.
It's hard to say exactly what makes Fleet Foxes so worth listening to. Maybe it's their angelic harmonies. Maybe it's their obscurely ruggid yet romantic lyrics. Maybe it's their hippyness. Maybe we should ask Bill Nye the Science Guys (science rulez) why it's so enjoyable. But whatever it is, Fleet Foxes have made me realize one thing about music; a lesson most hipsters could use:
Music does not need to be progressive to be liked. Kind of an obvious statement, but still one many of us look past. It often seems like people in general want to like whatever is most cutting edge (this is probably why more and more rappers are using that weird synthesizer voice). Music will make it's progressions (just think of how each decade has it's own "sound"), but good music will always be good music, regardless of what era it came from. Fleet Foxes' are the anti-cutting edge. And by being the anti-cutting edge they have become cutting-edge (I've lost my mind).
Good-bye 2008. Hello 2009. (8 days late)
I enjoyed this list very much Zach except for the fact that Dane Cook's Vicious Circle isn't on it.
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