The top, the other top & the almost top.
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Artist:
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Album:
Here are my top 10 albums for the first half of 2008. Order is based on how often I listened to them so far. Underneath each album are a study on {approved!} allmusic adjectives, lyrics in italics form and some ramblings of mine.
This post is dedicated to Stefan (http://mog.com/SA), who organized this whole project, and whom I tortured by changing my list 3 bloody times :) If you haven't voted yet, go here: http://mog.com/blog_post/view/169238. Today's the last day!
The Top
10. Tindersticks - The Hungry Saw
~ Sophisticated, bittersweet, nocturnal.
Not a great Tindersticks album, but it does work as an atmospheric whole, and I gladly gave in to that voice and its surrounding harmonies.
Yesterdays Tomorrows:
9. Ed Harcourt - The Beautiful Lie
~ Genuinely tortured, vampire metaphors & dark lyrics, eccentrically cathartic.
Got its US release 2 years after its UK one..... Keep your ears on Ed, as he sings from the heart and allows a sneak peek into his mutli-instrument talent tornado. Breath-taking.
Rain On The Pretty Ones:
8. The Whip - X Marks Destination
~ New Order-esque, best indie electro album of the year so far, I wanna be trash.
If you don't feel the burning need to dance to this album, and especially Trash, you're dead below the waist! ;)
Trash:
7. Sons & Daughters - This Gift
~ Fiery, brash, wearing my name around my neck, apparently just self-possessed.
Their most polished album production wise so far, but also their tightest, most solid one.
Gilt Complex:
6. Murder By Death - Red Of Tooth And Claw
~ Gloomy, intense, honest.
One of this year's revelations to me. Chilling male vocals, gloomy music and superb use of violin. It grabbed me by the hair and still hasn't let me go. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
Fuego!:
5. Madrugada - Madrugada
~ melancholic, passionate, one of my favourite vocalists of all time.
If you like Gutter Twins, Murder By Death and the like, you will enjoy this album, and the band in general. That's a promise. They've been criminally overlooked. That's a lethal offense in the court of music, you know :)
What's On Your Mind?:
4. These New Puritans - Beat Pyramid
~ Straightforward, of numbers, colours & philosophy, hypnotic.
While the singer is delivering his {mostly} numeric related lyrics in an addictive talking sort of way, the music makes you feel like there's a threat in the horizon.
Swords of Truth:
3. Ladytron - Velocifero
~ Quirky, eerie, theatrical.
Mesmerizing synth pop with ethereal vocals to boot. Ladytron delivered yet another devour-worthy album. Devour away then.
Ghosts:
2. The Kills - Midnight Boom
~ Aggressive sexiness, thumping, a little tornado.
A ticking sex bomb. It doesn't explode, it teases and teases you. Like tantric sonical sex.
U.R.A. Fever:
1. The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age Of The Understatement
~ dramatic, retro, 20 little tragedies begin.
Yeah yeah yeahs, it's not original. Before I go burn the rest of my unoriginal CDs (that would be all of them, parthenogenesis died a long time ago), let me tell you that this album contains tightly-written, beautifully orchestrated, lyrically charming songs, covered in a retro cloak of nostalgia. I am craving heartbreak while you're making your demands.
Standing Next To Me:
The Other Top
Albums that really are in my top 10, but I left 'em out because other neglected albums required {?} my support, while these are doing fine at our list already:
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Dig Lazarus!!! Dig!!! and The Gutter Twins - Saturnalia.
& The Almost Top
Albums that almost made it: The Duke Spirit - Neptune, The Raveonettes - Lust, Lust, Lust, Clinic - Do It!, British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?, For Against - Shade Side, Sunny Side.
Comments (37)
now I have 10 new albums to add to my evergrowing list - THANKS SIS :)
Mean that - you're the bestest GreekSIS ever !!!
So I guess that loud bang I heard earlier was your head exploding...
Love The Kills, Duke Spirit and Raveonettes!
;-)
@Joxbridge... if you mean me - then my guess is a resounding yes - can't seem to find all the pieces either... dang shame - I had a post at the ready, but the head explosion lost it in a fire of work internet shutdown... argh ;)
Aww you're so fabulous, Lizzieness :)
I aim to EMCD! ;)
Joxy, I'm expecting a cleaning crew to arrive any minute now.
Hehehe Cheers, Dave! Thought you might approve ;)
MMMMMMmmmm "Midnight Boom"......i love tooo!!! Cool list.
Hmmm . . . I've heard of exactly one of these.
Gotta pull my head out of my ass some day . . .
Merci, Charley :) I second that MMMMmmm all the way :)
Groon, I hope the one you've heard, you fancy!
That aside, feel free to get video tastes, that will help the head-out-of-ass process hehe
I went to see A Place to Bury Strangers and Holy Fuck once. The headliner was Sons and Daughters. We left before them. Nothing can match APTBS' STROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOBE
thanks for doing this, girl! i especially like the fact that you acknowledged ones that "needed support" and then added ones that are "doing fine already".
"fine" is a relative term these days. support all of them, and thanks for the heads up!
Glad you enjoyed ATBS so much, Heath, but I think it's safe to say that if you haven't seen everything, you cannot know that ;)
My pleasure, Robin! I can be a bit obsessive with albums...I feel guilty towards them (meds!), so I had no choice but to do that :)
Cheers!
Beautiful list -- literally. Aesthetically it's very pleasing to look at and your descriptions are wonderfully pithy. I haven't heard most of this before so you've certainly given me food for thought, or ears, whatever. Ta for the effort.
I need to try out some of those albums on the bottom of your top 10, as too many people I trust have spoken highly of Tindersticks and Ed Harcourt. Otherwise, I wholeheartedly concur.
"I aim to EMCD!" - But of course you do, it's in the blood. Heh.
Kills made #2 ... :::whistling innocently:::
Awwwwww Fluxy, thank you so much for the good words! I haven't blushed in a looooong time, I have to say :$
I'm afraid it has too many videos, but I couldn't think of another way to include album samples - what's a gal to do.
You're very welcome, and I sincerely hope that you'll find something new you'll enjoy :)
Dale, yes, please, do check out my bottom (sorry, I couldn't help it! ahhahahha)
If you like Patrick Wolf, it's very likely that you'll enjoy this Ed Harcourt album.
Look at you all proud and evil! :D
What a delightfully gloomy list, Anna! You will bring us all over to the dark side!
hhahahahahhaah why thank you, Darla! Huge compliment there :)
What can I say, black is the new black, once you go dark you never go back, etc ;)
That Ed Harcourt album is amazing...he was coming to town with the Gutter Twins at the end of the month, but the show was canceled,,,,,damn you Dulli!!!!
I had to be at work the next morning, and it was a four-hour drive home. Holy Fuck were entertaining.
Excellent list Anna! And thanks for mentioning the half year list post. :)
God, I'd better start getting that list up to date!
great list anna i need to brush up a bit, i have not even heard of a few of the bands on the list.
i love that tendersticks album cover. i bet you like the cover better then the music. ;P
Blair, YES, glad you agree!
OI! Do not damn his Dulliness! ;P
Heath, ah, in that case, it's understandable :)
Stefan, thank you! It was my pleasure to do so :)
Time for you to deal with our album-related neurosis ;)
Merci, Mike! Dig in :)
I don't know what you're talking about (could become my future tattoo tho har har).
Cool list, OF COURSE! The G(r)eek goth goddess strikes again. Harcourt is the only one I haven't heard of, but a few others I've not heard their music even though I've heard their names. Need to check out most of these. The Kills seem to be our only matching group on our lists, but whatta great group!
Thanks for a great post, wonderful to have a video for each pick. About half of these are totally new to me. I think your tastes run a bit darker and more elctronic than mine but at least three of these quite caught my uninformed ears. Madrugada in particular, what a voice! and your description of the Kills had to make me appreciate them, if I didn't already.
I can't resist sharing my Best of 2008 so far, which is mostly electronic / ambient / and modern classical in nature. There is some post-rock, dubstep, and even breakcore in there as well...
Best of 2008 [so far...]
hey pimpette
i said soundtrcks count yes AND no
if a single band or artist does a sountrack...well then yeah
it should count
no?
Wow a lot of music I have not heard of, and a few my verdict is still out on. I want to love the Last Shadow Puppets album, yet my verdict is still out on it. What is my problem?
im digging the whip... and their chick drummer. MEOW.
I don't particularly like making best-of lists. But since the High Priestess has decreed this one, count me in on The Whip, Kills, Shadow Puppets, and Gutter Twins. And I'd throw in Cut Copy's In Ghost Colours, Goldfrapp's Seventh Tree, Santogold. Martha Wainwright's I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too, The Ting Tings and Fleet Foxes. Is that ten?
Nice list, and good to hear so many are being exposed to my man Ed Harcourt for the first time. He's been my favorite singer-songwriter, along with Hawksley Workman, for eight years now. He has several other albums that are even better! Will be seeing him in just over a week for my birthday weekend.
Here's a few new ones that are currently in my top ten - Paavoharju - Laulu Laakson Kukista, The Bug - London Zoo, Pete & the Pirates - Little Death, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, 2562 - Aerial, The Horror The Horror - Wired Boy Child.
Uncle A, why thank you very much! In goth we trust ;)
It shouldn't come as a shock to anyone that tantric sonical sex is common in our lists hehehhe
Thank you kindly, waydutch! I'm glad the many videos didn't become overwhelming after all.
It's extremely pleasing for me to read that some bands caught your ear, and especially Madrugada. They are one of my favourite bands of all time and they are, like I said in the post, so underrated that it drives me insane. His voice is truly superb........
Headphone Commute, temptations are useless if you resist them! Glad you caved and thank you for the link :)
Pimpy, yup, if the soundtrack is from one artist only, it should count as an album; agreed! :)
Kevin, I recommend many listens and paying attention to lyrics. If that doesn't help, I know a good therapist I can recommend ;)
Sam, I was wondering how come no one commented on the hot drummer so far. Thank you for keeping manhood standards up! :)
Mikey, I like doing them mostly for trying to keep my scattered brain focused. My brain cells are all over the place and such a list requires tremendous effort on my behalf. I like to torture myself mentally :)
Glad to see we have so many albums in common...you are a man of great taste ;)
Tony, thank you for that link. I've only heard She Fell Into My Arms from that album, and to be honest with you, I didn't like it at all. In fact, it was hard for me to believe that the same person who created The Beautiful Lie, created that song as well. By reading your wonderful review, I realize with relief that the rest of the album is not like that. I will hunt it down then.
Don't know any of those, except Pete & the Pirates; lots of hunting for me to do! Especially for The Horror The Horror; marvelous band name, if I may say so.
This is definitely getting bookmarked! I love your list...~and your "tantric sonical sex"~. That was a really good time, my dear!
Helen, you scared me! I was just dragging your head (= your avatar) back into my MOGs that trust me section (I always tidy that section up, 'cause I use it as an extension of My trusted MOGs one), when a notification about your comment popped up!
You're not watching me, are you? :o)
Spookiness aside, thank you so much! That makes me very jolly :)))
Ha! I do like scaring...and peeping, maybe i was...don't you worry bout it. Some of those things are a little creepy tho with you. Like when we were both commenting at Bartleby's intermission post at the same time and both mentioned wrestling. I could see us both mentioning wrestling but the fact that it was the same time was a little spooky.
This is what my good friends and I go through on a regular basis...we're pickin up each brain waves and that makes me very jolly!! ; )
mog...is messing with me and didn't post my comment...good thing I don't trust it and saved my text!!!
Oh and you can drag my head just about anywhere sweetcheeks!
Sorry about this comment's tardiness; I blame it on life. I couldn't let this post fall through the fingers of time. Your reseach provides a window into/a clue about/a purchase on the essence of 2008 so far, all for our delectation. Your top ten were impressive. My favorite was Whip's drummer (Lil Fee?), but I wish the video had shown more of her drumming. I wanted to see how she drummed, but the video's concept focused elsewhere. Thank you for letting me vent.
Helen, we do have a spooky (in a good way) connection, I lurve it :)
And I always copy my comments, always. I do it without even realizing what I'm doing.
No one has ever called me sweetcheeks before, awwww! :*
No worries, Charles. I'm often e-late myself :)
Thank you very much!
She is a very charming drummer. They shouldn't have put the less-is-more concept on her, I agree. I'm also curious about how she drums live, guess if I'm lucky I'll one day know :)
"""""No one has ever called me sweetcheeks before?????"""""
did anyone ever made you cry???
what'up???
i never mentioned that i seem to like the song that you continuesly listened to....understatement biaaaats
That song is from my number one album!
I only listened to it 634656 times that day.....
I knew you'd succumb to its grandness in the end :)