2008年 Oct 7日 Tuesday, 22:16
Just before I get started, this is not what albums were released this year (although most of them have) it's just what albums I basically had on repeat this year.
1; Jack Johnson - In Between Dreams.
Now, this album is quite a few years old, released in 2005 if I'm not mistaken. And although many people say that Jack Johnson's music is okay to like but not love, they are so very much mistaken. I tried to give On And On a listen, Jack's first 'big album', wasn't much impressed, but I'll be sure to give it a proper listen sometime. Haven't listened to his latest, but from what I hear it's too 'elevator music'-esque. But In Between Dreams is another world all together. The songs, while some may sound a tad similar, are so amazingly beautiful I can't help but listen to it on repeat for 5 or so hours. The many references to his wife in songs such as Belle, Better Together, Banana Pancakes, and Do You Remember, show how much he loves her, and fill me with warm fuzzies :] it's a great album to get into in summer, and songs such as Breakdown, Crying Shame, and Good People will certainly be on repeat for me this summer.
2; Paramore - Riot!
Being one of those 'over-hyped' albums for me, I wasn't too keen on listening to it in case it wasn't as great as I'd heard. But there I was, listening to it everyday for a whole week or more, falling in love with the band as everyone else seemed to have done. Tracks such as Misery Business, Crushcrushcrush, That's What You Get, For A Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic, and Hallelujah, have enjoyed some heavy rotation on my charts this year, and although the rest of the songs haven't quite got that thing that makes you think 'ohmygod, I love this track -clicks "Love" everytime the song plays-' they make an incredible album all-round.
3; of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
As much as I try to, when people recommend me music I hardly ever listen to it more than once. But something about this album was just 'wow' that I had to listen to it over and over. Friends and family who would hear me listening to them gave me a 'are you serious?' kind of look, because of how..uh, shall we say, unique they sound. But that just adds to the magic of it. Epic moments in Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse, and Gronlandic Edit, gave them a few extra listens than other tracks, and the strange title names made me smile when I read them. I'd have to say though, The Past Is A Grotesque Animal, let the album down just a tad, being too long and repeatative just didn't do it for me.
4; Kings Of Leon - Only By The Night
Not being one to listen to the radio or watch TV, the only way I knew Kings Of Leon had a new album was this lovely website that I'm sure you're all aware of called Last.Fm (:]), and even though they had the advertisement saying "Kings Of Leon's new album, premeires here!" all over the site, I still didn't click it. Not until I was at my boyfriend's house watching TV (gah!) and the ad for the new album came on, and, I was hooked like everyone else. Sex On Fire, is, thankfully, as good as it was hyped up to be. Sure, it's less and less like their first sound, but who cares, every band changes once they get more known. Still stuck on the 'I'm loving these songs so they'll get more plays than the rest of the album' thing, which happens to me every album, I can't say too much about each individual song, but the other songs I'm lovin' are, Closer (this has been on repeat), Use Somebody, Be Somebody, 17. Listen to it, now.
5; MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
Recommended to me by sarahgcreep, and ended up liking it more than she did. I like the mix of electronic and well, 'acoustic' sounds I guess you could say. While most people would say they'd prefer them to stick to one sound, I enjoyed the break of too much techno sound. In saying that, tracks such as Kids, Time To Pretend, and Electric Feel do make up the album. And usually I'm not a fan of the last song, because it's usually not as strong as the rest of the album, but Weekend Wars is an incredible song to finish with.
6; The Raconteurs - Consolers Of The Lonely
The Raconteurs are the only band that I've actually physically bought the album of, before hearing the entire album. Basically because they're the best side band of anyone's I've ever heard. The opening track Consoler Of The Lonely, sets you up for an incredible album, with tracks such as Salute Your Solution, Hold Up, and Five On The Five, keeping up with that tempo, and then the slower 'Teurs songs we all love, You Don't Understand Me, Rich Kids Blues, and my personal favourite of the whole album, Many Shades Of Black. And then ending in an amazing, epic story that suits the album well, Carolina Drama. I really hope Jack can keep up with making all these amazing albums, and that the next White Stripes album will be even more incred.
speaking of The White Stripes..
7; The White Stripes - Icky Thump
Just, wow. Been out for over a year and it still amazes me. Each day I listen to it, a new favourite song arises. Although, it will forever be A Martyr For My Love For You, that tops them all. It's the song I play for people who ask why Jack always sings in that, well, 'crazy, annoying way' that the rest of is White Stripes fans have grown accustom to, and even love. So many amazing tracks on here that make up an even amazing sounding album. I'm Slowly Turning Into You, another personal fav, Jack just lets himself go on this one. Oh! And the fact they did an extra vid for Conquest in Spanish, just made me smile x a mill!
8; Justice - †
Always a great way to get into bands, lying on your boyfriend's couch drunk out of your mind after the party's broken up, watching TV and seeing the trippiest video ever and waking up in the morning trying to figure out if you dreamt it or if you really did just find an awesome new band to get into. Thankfully, it was real. While they are a house band, and not many of their songs have lyrics that you can sing-a-long to, the album is just astounding. Especially for a first album. Newjack, DVNO, D.A.N.C.E., Stress, and Valentine are the highlights of it all, but the other songs are just as incredible. Their remixes are just as awesome, most of them can be found at this address. It's always an album I'll play if I'm getting hyped for going out, or if I'm just in a 'bopping' mood.
9; Panic! At The Disco - Pretty. Odd.
While not many hardcore fans of the first album liked this one because it was too different, I say differently. They've matured, it takes a lot of guts to make a completely different sound and bring out an album that you know not many of your earlier fans will like, especially when you go and change your effing name, and take out the ! which means that if people who want to stay true to their last.fm charts will change it to, and have a 'Panic! At The Disco' and a 'Panic At The Disco' in their charts, but not me. I say, fuck it. -rant over- The album is well worth the change, the fresh sound of it makes it a nice album to listen to. Tracks like She Had The World, Northen Downpour, When The Day Met The Night, and The Piano Knows Something I Don't Know, really help the album bring the sense of change. I say a big kudos for changing guys, it's done wonders for ya.
10; Does It Offend You, Yeah? - You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into
Much like Justice in this respect, the album doesn't have many songs with lyrics. But the songs that do are a mix between indie and electronica that I've come to love. And while the name of the album, and even the artist, is a bitch to type out frequently, props for the original names (Attack Of The 60 Ft Lesbian Octopus) and obvious hard work that went into making the album artwork. Tracks that make the album; We Are Rockstars, With A Heavy Heart (I Regret To Inform You), Dawn Of The Dead, Epic Last Song, and Battle Royale.
11; The Mars Volta - Frances The Mute
Just throwing this in here for good measure.. this is The Mars Volta's best album as far as I'm concerned. Best track, Cygnus....Vismund Cygnus, by far.