The Best Albums Of 2008 (the year Indie Rock quit sucking)

1. Vampire Weekend- vampire weekend
when it came out, i wanted to hate them...every time something new came out i wanted that record to take it's place...much like the Strokes before them, it's hard to deny Vampire Weekend and their self titled debut album. if there was a more enjoyable pop record in the year 2008 (hell the last 3 years) then i don't know what it was. surrender to the afrobeat/indiepop/masterpiece and just move on.
the video for "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"


2. No Age- nouns
No Age lands my second spot for putting out an album that reminded me of why i loved Sebadoh and Husker Du so damn much, this band really should have been around in the early 90s (too bad noone in Athens seems to give a shit about them). this is music for music nerds.

3. M83- saturdays=youth
like if My Bloody Valentine had been a synth-pop band from the 80s. M83 were the perfect soundtrack to my fall pity party. lush and dreamy, it reminded me why i love shoegazer bands so damn much. you can pretty much bet the house that the next Sofia Coppola movie will have a couple of tracks from this album on it's soundtrack. plus is there anyone out there with better videos? Kim & Jessie have an answer for you...


4. Deerhunter- microcastle
i've definently accused this Atlanta band of being overrated/pretentious/bullshit after seeing them live a couple of times, but then they dropped Microcastle on my ass which is a surprisingly catchy indiepop record with just the right amount of weirdness to remind me of mid-90s Sonic Youth.

5. Jay Reatard- matador singles 08
my favorite pop punk songwriter discoverd his inner indie popster and put out an assortment of Clean/Tall Dwarfs inspired gems and Matador collected them all for us to enjoy without hunting down all those damn singles.

6. MGMT- oracular spectacular
the perfect weirdo pop combination of the Flaming Lips and the Unicorns...but with a huge Prince influence (or maybe that's just what i hear in them). MGMT released 3 of the best singles of the whole year (Kids, Time To Pretend, Electric Feel) and the rest of the record is pretty solid too.

7. Spiritualized- songs in a&e
after several so/so records, J.Spaceman finally put out an album that is the equal of Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating Through Space. it only took him a decade.

8. The Kills- midnight boom
the Kills finally put out an album that's as cool and sexy as their image. all the reference points are still the same (suicide, jesus & mary chain, pj harvey, etc...) but finally they learned how to take those influences an write some songs to go with the sound.

9. Fucked Up- the chemistry of common life
i may be 30 years old, but i still love a good fucking heavy rock record as much now as i did when i was 17. Fucked Up delivered the best hardcore/post-hardcore/whatever the hell you wanna call it...album in a good long time. the spirit of Black Flag lives on...and it's Canadian....who knew?

10. The Walkmen- you & me
more of the same from one of my favorite bands of the decade. lots of songs about heart break and regret...which is always good for me cuz i got both of those in spades. not nearly as classic as Bows & Arrows or their debut, but a solid album none the less. here's the video for my favorite track, "in the new year"



11. TV On the Radio- dear science
maybe i'm just starting to get bored with TV On The Radio, but this is by far my least favorite release they've put out yet...still it's better than 90% of what other people are putting out, and the song The Golden Age was one of the best singles/videos of the year.

12. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds- dig!!! lazarus dig!!!
so it's pretty obvious that last year's Grinderman project infused a desire to rock and roll in Alternative's elder statesmen. Lazarus is a sex,drugs/rock n roll boogie fest from a band that's been pretty somber this past decade or so. i'm digging it. Nick Cave still has it. here's a video of the song "Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!"


13. Albert Hammond jr- como te lama?
not nearly as good as his first solo record, but still better than that 3rd Strokes album. a good indie pop record.