So I was digging around my hard drive this evening and came across (by chance?) a document which I composed at the end of 2008. Crudely, I sent this gem formatted in MS Word to my unsuspecting friends' inboxes instead of putting it on the www.
Take a gander at this highly opinionated summery of my 2008 music release let-down.
A Guide to Adam’s 2008 Top Most Disappointing Records
12/31/08
Disclaimer: The words before you add to equal just my opinion (essentially this translates to: if you don’t agree then you are wrong).
You are receiving this document in your inbox because I consider you a friend who cares about music and might be interested in hearing what I have to say about the year that was 2008. I intend for this letter to be an annual summary of each year’s best records- but as you might have noticed, this year will be different. This year was different.
In a year where the economy sucked approximately 45% of our savings away, my weekly record store trips came to an end. With 2008 being such a disappointment for music, the recession couldn’t have come at a better time (unless you plan on retiring in the next 5 years).
Most of you are probably saying something to the effect of “Leave it to Adam to be the eternal pessimist.” My response to those of you who would say that is that I’m just an eternal realist with high expectations.
This annual document will come to you via email/word.doc format until I have my own blog which will be pretty much unreadable because you haven’t heard of any of the featured bands.
So here are the records in 2008 that came close to making me lose my faith in the good guys- I welcome all responses to this in hopes that I may have missed a gem this year.
Enjoy!
In no particular order:
- Of Montreal Skeletal Lamping
Damn it.
After hearing
Satanic Panic In the Attic I was completely hooked on the organic psych-pop these guys employed. Then after a couple of records leaning heavily on Pro Tools synthesis and production 2007’s excellent Hissing Fauna You Are The Destroyer has to this point capped their career. Skeletal Lamping brings more inorganic laptop creations but this time there is no cohesion and no telling when a song ends or begins. I understand re-thinking song structure but OM are best when they can experiment but retain a powerful pop song structure- this does not happen here and ultimately ruins the record as a whole. It’s a mess. On top of this nuisance, many of the lyrics are just too much to handle as Kevin Barns writes the majority of the record as the voice of his alter ego Georgie Peach- a middle aged bi-sexual black man. In between fragments awkwardly strung together to make “songs” there are some bright spots and amazing sounds. Highlights are: “Nonpareil of Favor,” “An Eluardian Instance,” “Gallery Piece” and “Id Engager.”
After two brutally beautiful records (
Pink, Rainbow) BORIS comes up short with this one. The opening track, “Flower, Sun, Rain” is 7+ minutes of corny Japanese “coo-coo’ing” and a distorted drumbeat that doesn’t work. The record is marked by a lack of guitar devastation of BORIS quality and is for the most part void of the beautiful high/low tones this band has become so good at. Highlights are “Statement” and the crushing combo of “KA RE HA TE TA SA KI-No One Grieve” and “You Were Holding An Umbrella”.
Sophomore slump.
Islands, fronted by ex-Unicorns man Nick Thornburn, put out one of the best records of 2006 in
Return To The Sea and after listening to demo versions of songs to be included on Arms Way I had reason to believe the band would equal or step up their previous output. They did…but only in song length and orchestration. The catchy guitar lines featured on demos of “Abominable Snow” are not put in as front and center as they should be. I find many of the songs too long and the string section waters down the great guitar lines. Don’t let this keep you away from the live show, which is still pretty fun. Highlights include “The Arm,” “Pieces Of You” and “Creeper.”
Wow I was looking forward to this one.
This is a case where the record is not bad but it completely ruined my expectations.
The soaring synths, gigantic drums and complementary guitar found on the band’s previous two records take me to places most records can’t.
On this record the band goes in a “different direction” but I find it mostly disappointing.
Basing the record on lost youth and the American 1980’s teenager, Anthony Gonzalez (from France!!!) constructs a synth pop/dance record and rare are the moments of the past shoegaze blankets covering everything around you when the record is on that he has done so well up tot this point.
Sprinkled with a corniness only a Frenchman could produce I find it a major disappointment and similar to his first record which is fit for a European disco.
The record has gotten mostly high marks from music publications/blogs, so again this is mostly just my personal disappointment.
If you prefer a synth dance/pop record with little experimentation pick up
Saturdays but if you enjoy M83’s cinematic emotional textures you’re better off with their finer outputs (Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts, Before the Dawn Heals Us and Digital Shades Volume 1). Highlights are: “Kim and Jessie and “Too Late.”
- Mogwai The Hawk Is Howling
Mogwai’s output has been on a steady quality decline since 2003’s
Happy Songs for Happy People so I wasn’t expecting a radical return to form, but I was hoping for one. It’s a shame the songs on the record don’t live up to the amazing names they have been given (see: “I'm Jim Morrison, I'm Dead,” “I Love You, I'm Going To Blow Up Your School” and “Thank You Space Expert”). First single “Batcat” contains a fairly brutal guitar riff that sounds a bit like some of the garbage you would hear on any contemporary radio rock band’s single-but I warmed up to it. The songs in general are OK, but lack the mellow guitar picking paired with seismic distortion swells found in the group’s earlier work that are capable of pulling tears from a rock. The band teamed with psych-rock legend Rocky Erickson (13 Floor Elevators and solo) to produce the b-side of the “Batcat” single called “Devil Rides”-this is my favorite song of the bunch and is not included on the LP. Highlights include “The Sun Smells Too Loud and closer “The Precipice.”
- Sigur Ros Med Sud I Eryum Vid Spilum Endalaust
Boring.
Another band who decided to leave their formula for success and attempt something new.
First single “Gobbledigook” is what a brisk fresh pine scented mountain breeze might sound like and is a welcome departure from the bands more somber earlier work.
A Sigur Ros record usually puts me to sleep happy, but this one puts me to sleep bored. Again, this is an album that is missing the emotional highs and lows of the band’s previous work and from start to finish has the sound of songs heavily medicated on anti-depressants.
The record’s sound can be seen as more accessible then their earlier, better work, but in most cases this does not work in the band’s favor.
Highlights include: “Gobbledigook.”
- Wolf Parade At Mount Zoomer
Let me start by saying this is not a bad record entirely…it just doesn’t live up to the quality found on WP’s first album (
Apologies to the Queen Mary). The album artwork could be some of the worst I’ve ever seen, which doesn’t give any extra incentive to buy it. The band is good live,-real good, so go see them.
Earlimart is up there on my list of favorite bands but I find this record mostly a disappointment.
This is the sound of a record that should have taken about a year or two longer to make. Released only one year after 2007’s excellent
Mentor Tormentor, on Hymn And Her gone is the studio experimentation paired with the catchy melodies that made 2004’s Treble And Tremble so great. The acoustic guitar is favored here too prominently. Most songs on the album where written and recorded with the acoustic guitar and piano which steals the record’s depth and variation. A welcome surprise here is the strong vocal contributions from Ariana Murray. If you are to pick up an Earlimart record, start with Treble And Tremble. Highlights include: “Face Down In The Right Town” (one of my favorite songs of 2008) and “Time For Yourself.”
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