Monday, December 22, 2008

Parallax View Albums Of The Year 2008

Further apologies for the recent gap in transmission, but to get things moving again here's our rundown of the best albums released in the UK for the first time in 2008. We can't pretend to have heard all of the albums released in the time period, but of those we did these were the best, and in this precise order.

1. VELOCIFERO - LADYTRON
2. Stainless Style - Neon Neon
3. Santogold -Santogold
4. Fed - Plush
5. Stay Positive - The Hold Steady
6. Youth Novels - Lykke Li
7. Alas I Cannot Swim - Laura Marling
8. Hold On Now Youngster - Los Campesinos!
9. Dear Science - TV On The Radio
10. You & Me - The Walkmen
11. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
12. Seventh Tree - Goldfrapp
13. Alpinisms - School Of Seven Bells
14. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
15. We Are Beautiful We Are Doomed - Los Campesinos!
16. Only By The Night - Kings Of Leon
17. Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires
18. In Our Spacehero Suits - Those Dancing Days
19. "Couples" - The Long Blondes
20. Kensington Heights - Constantines
21. Neptune - The Duke Spirit
22. Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke
23. Fortress Around My Heart - Ida Maria
24. For Emma Forever Ago - Bon Iver
25. Box Of Secrets - Blood Red Shoes
26. El Rey - The Wedding Present
27. Knowle West Boy - Tricky
28. Blood Looms and Blooms - Leila
29. Thomas Tantrum - Thomas Tantrum
30. Oceans Will Rise - The Stills
31. Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
32. Oracular Spectacular - MGMT
33. Reality Check - The Teenagers
34. Chemical Chords - Stereolab
35. Waited Up 'Til It Was Light - Johnny Foreigner
36. X Marks Destination - The Whip
37. Nouns - No Age
38. HLLLH - The Mae Shi
39. Rosie and the Goldbug - Rosie and the Goldbug
40. Falling Off The Lavender Bridge - Lightspeed Champion

Feel free to use the comments facility below to vent your spleen or link to your own list(s).

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2 Comments:

Blogger Ben said...

Ladytron at #1 - could've seen that coming!

So Oracular Spectacular slipped considerably in your estimation as the year wore on?

Still debating whether to rank the first or second Los Campesinos! album the highest. Nice to see someone else who agrees that they're both very good records, though.

Of the albums in this list that I've not heard, the ones that intrigue me most are Bon Iver, Johnny Foreigner, Stereolab, The Wedding Present, Neon Neon, School Of Seven Bells and Crystal Castles. If you haven't heard the Stephen Malkmus album (and I'm guessing from this list that you haven't), I strongly recommend it!

10:59 AM  
Blogger Dead Kenny said...

Season's greetings, Ben.

Would have been easy to drop the 'tron down a notch or two to avoid accusations of predictability and favouritism, but we had to be true top ourselves and admit Velocifero consistently gave us more pleasure in 2008 than any other contemporary release. The fact the record has been virtually ignored in other EYOL's gives even more compelling impetus to such honesty.

As for MGMT, OS was benched when we selected our Half Term Top 20 in the summer so if anything we decided we were being a bit harsh and it's come back into a little favour. Some of the best tracks of the year for sure, but still a little too lop-sided for inclusion in the upper echelons which by and large includes albums that work much better as a whole.

Malkmus? We heard enough of his latest but not enough to compel inclusion. Maybe again it works better as a whole, and with S-K's Janet Weiss on drums, prepared to keep an open-ish mind.

And yes, Neon Neon and School of Seven Bells should definitely be on your wishlist, probably JoFo too, as they have a similarly breakneck approach to your beloved LC!

1:31 PM  

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