2008: A YEAR IN ALBUMS – PART 1

Team noize pick through our first batch of the albums of 2008 and reminisce about why they made our musical mouths water in '08.
BON IVER - FOR EMMA, FOREVER AGO
Sometimes an album comes completely out of nowhere and blows your socks off. This is one of those albums. Resonating with the bold hues of a breakup from misery and fury to regret and desperation, 'For Emma, Forever Ago' was borne of one man's heartbroken, solitary exile in the North American mountains, to creep into the hearts (and best of 2008 lists) of countless critics.

Heartbreaking, uplifting, hypnotic - this record can be everything to everyone. Almost claustrophobic in texture, but never unaccessible or off-putting, songs like "re: Stacks" or "Blindsided" left a lump in your throat so big you thought you wouldn't be able to breathe again. Stunning.

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ROLO TOMASSI - HYSTERICS
Does what it says on the tin. 'Hysterics' is 44 minutes of absolute nonsense. Some of the most intense, awkward, passionate nonsense I've ever come across. From post-hardcore to jazz and everything in between, its quite simply a powerhouse of genre-splicing madness that innovates and confounds in equal measure.




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THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM - THE '59 SOUND
According to my Last.fm, this was my album of the year. By now, this band have about as many haters as avid fans, and while I can see the formers' point, this album hit a nerve and continues to give it a swift kick every time I put it on. Pop-rock-punk with soul.

This one took me by surprise. The success of 'The 59 Sound' is in the band's refusal to adhere to the rules of the genre. Pacy opener 'Great Expectations' and the delicious minor chords of 'Film Noir' combine the songwriting of Springsteen with the energy of Alkaline Trio to great effect. Four-piece guitar bands are a dime a dozen especially in the big U.S of A.

Bands like The Gaslight Anthem don't come along often though and this is a piece of work so extraordinary audiences have been flocking in their droves to see them on their few and far between UK dates. Lead singer Brian Fallon manages to capture the spirit of a world-weary wanderer even though he still sits comfortably in his twenties. He possesses that rare gift of story-telling without boring or preaching to the listener. If you like your rock'n roll with a more mature edge but all of the punch pick this up.

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MGMT - ORACULAR SPECTACULAR
So rarely does a band come along that is able to capture the ears of the mainstream while maintaining a tight grip on the underground and an even tighter grasp on the radio waves. Two boys from Brooklyn took this task with ease this year with the help of mystical "Time to pretend" and stomping "Kids". The album itself holds many more jewels to be heard showing the originality and innovation still alive in today's music scene. Oracular Spectacular is an astonishing piece of work. Psychedelic and dreamlike, there are moments when everything alines and the result is breath taking. There are some seriously dark thoughts here but the production envelops you and just won't let you go.

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MYSTERY JETS - TWENTY ONE
Proof that dumping your dad is always a good career move. Since mediocre debut 'Making Dens', the Jets have come on leaps and bounds in producing this, the year's finest pop record. With songs as measles-wrapped-in-velcro catchy as 'Hideway' and 'Half In Love With Elizabeth', and ace 80s pop pastiche 'Two Doors Down', who's to argue? Vote Mystery Jets, you know it makes sense. A modern pop masterpiece of delicately constructed unrequited love songs. The song-writing cuts straight to the bone with its brutal assessment of relationships and loving. At once melancholic and beautifully uplifting, this a diamond of a record that stands head and shoulders above the swell of mediocre British indie music.

.................................................................................................................................................................. LAURA MARLING - ALAS I CANNOT SWIM
A haunting album, surely an 18year old doesn't yet have the passion or experience to produce such a stunning debut, think again. Marling 1 - You 0. Alas, I Cannot Swim blew the large majority of the music press away, even earning Miss Marling a Mercury nomination. ("I've no idea what all this is about," she later professed at the awards ceremony.) Though by no means definitive, this astonishing debut resounded with Marling's quivering vocals and a mesmerising lyrical ache which marked her as gifted beyond her years.

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DAN LE SAC VS SCROOBIUS PIP - ANGLES
A record that has breathed fresh life into the somewhat under rated UK Hip Hop scene, featuring super tight production,catchy beats and lyrics that are of a scholarly caliber. At the end of the day somebody needed to make an example of Dizze Rascal and tell Channel U to shut up.

Sick of the rap world being crowded by rhymes about pimps and diamond chains. Dan and Scroob bring a new-found intelligence and character to the table spitting on all topics from teenage suicide to the confusion of relationships. Backed by Dan Le Sac's box-fresh beats it's a winning combination. Although "Thou Shalt Always Kill" appeared as the flag ship track don't miss out on the thought provoking "Letter from God to man" and the Dizzee Rascal inspired "Fixed"

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THE LOVELY EGGS - HAVE YOU EVER HEARD THE LOVELY EGGS?
With an obvious influx of slightly quirky girl/boy combos, The Lovely Eggs run the risk of being dumped into this category without consideration. But they take this new radio friendly trend and really show you how to create pure crazy, quirky, utterly lovable music.





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THE NOTWIST - THE DEVIL, YOU AND ME
After a 6 year disappearing act, many Notwist fans will be eager for the follow up album to 2002's Neon Golden, and after such a long departure from the music scene you would expect, if Neon Golden was anything to go by, a very noteworthy album. The Notwists new album The Devil, You Me is essentially a more melancholy extension to their previous album, however the newest release is still a masterpiece in song writing which puts any cheap indie-pop act to shame. The Devil, You Me is an album that sucks you in, and you don't even have to be an avid fan of The Notwist to like this record, which is why it's so appealing. If anything it inspires you to purchase more from the band.

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BLOOD RED SHOES - BOX OF SECRETS
It seems like they've been around for a while but the debut album we'd been eagerly waiting for didn't disappoint! Far more noise than 2 people should be able to make, Steven and Laura-Mary forge a wall of thunderous sound that takes punk ethos and smothers it in pop hooks to create (just like them) an irresistible combination. The White who?



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Well that wraps up our first set of the albums of 2008. They'll be seven more in this series so keep coming back over the next few days to find out what else makes the grade!