Link to the 2007 thread.

Two must-hear albums from January:

Drive-by Truckers-- Brighter Than Creation's Dark
Shelby Lynne-- Just a Little Lovin'

First album this year that I've loved:

Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

I haven't been this excited about a debut since Beirut's first, and even then it took a while to really take hold. This is love at first listen. It's not officially re-released until the 19th but I've heard 8 of 9 songs and they're all solid. The first 3 tracks are amazing (#3 is on this months Paste sampler). I'm in love.

My very brief and probably desperately inadequate description of the sound for those that don't have the benefit of the Paste sampler:

lonely, longing, folky, achingly beautiful falsetto harmonies from a cabin in the woods.

I wonder, for the sake of being able to go back and track things easier-se where the development may lie--if the title of the thread shouldn't be "Great Music Of 2008?" Just a question. There are some really fine records out already or about t come out. Andy's Jacob Golden thread gives you a deep hint as to what is already out there that may not get the big nods it deserves, but it is an amazing record. (and Andy? I have been divorced, it was a long time ago, but I remember all of it in listening to this. Marco Benevento's Invisible baby may freak some people out, but if you give it just a chance you will be laughing your ass off and still be amazed at how he did all this for no money. (Another nod to Andy; can you tell I love his work?)

I know I know I am not gonna be crackin with all you indie rock types but the new album by Nik bartsch's Ronin on ECM is stil one of the more unlikely things on that label since its inception--so was the last one; this one is tighter, more groove oriented and is another lightshine on the "new Jazz" emerging from him and Mike Wolfe and Bad Plus, Robert glasper, Christian Scott and EST, and for my money Jose James--get out there and hear it. Know what else is a GREAT pop record? Xiu Xiu's Women As Lovers. Yep. I'm not kidding. This last album in the context of this forum probably deserves its own thread (I'm hopelessly lazy) or I should have put all of this in New Stuff Worth Hearing (feel free to move it forum moderators), but I think these albums are just great. May not be the best of 2008, but who knows what kind of year it will be?

Early favorites (at the two-month mark):

Son Lux -- At War With Walls and Mazes
Malcolm Holcombe -- Gamblin' House
Jacob Golden -- Revenge Songs
Frightened Rabbit -- The Midnight Organ Fight
Hayes Carll -- Trouble in Mind
Lionel Loueke -- Karibu
Marco Benevento -- Invisible Baby
Dub Pistols -- Speakers and Tweeters
Aradhna -- Amrit Vani
Apples in Stereo -- Electronic Projects for Musicians

Hopefully I'll post this right as this is my 1st post and I'm feeling a bit confused at the moment...
So far in 2008 my favs are already listed here. (which is probabally why I signed up) Nic Bartsch's Ronin and Bon Iver. (I was lucky enough to see his opening gig for his current tour in St. Paul a few weeks back.)

Looking forward to Ketil Bjornstad's and Terje Rypdahls new album out soon.

Must-hear albums from February:

Ray Davies-- Working Man's Cafe
Nick Lowe-- Jesus of Cool: 30th Anniversary Edition
Tift Merritt-- Another Country
Lizz Wright-- The Orchard
Son Lux-- At War with Walls and Mazes

Quick Question: I am wondering if we should put together a category under music for fave reissues, or upcoming reissues for 2008 as a separate topic? I'd love to because there are so many great ones--something already released like Jesus Of Cool, This Year's Model, and Paul Weller's Wildwood, as well as many jazz, funk, soul and other underground rock titles


A good year so far:

Nik Bartsch's Ronin- Holon
Charles Lloyd - Rabo de Nube (March 11)
Adam Rudolph's Moving Pictures - Dream Garden
Marco Benevento - Invisible Baby
Earth - Bees Made Honey In the Lion's Skull
Connie Price & The Keystones - Tell Me Something
Steve Reid - Daxaar
Cave - Hunt Like Devil (for samples go here
Little Annie & Paul Wallfish - When Good Things Happen To Bad Pianos
Swing Out Sister - Beautiful Mess (Japan Only)
Caroline Herring - Lantana
Stance Brothers - Kind Soul (Rikky Tick/Obliq Sound)
Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)
Jose James - Dreamer
Valet - Naked Acid
Neil Hamburger - Sings Country WInners
Maceo Parker - Roots & Grooves
Giacomo Gates - Luminosity
Morton Feldman - The Viola IN MY Life (ECM New Series, performed by Marek Konstantynowicz viola
Cikada Ensemble, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Christian Eggen conductor)
Gandalf Murphy & The Slambovian Circus Of Dreams - The Great Unravel (out now, but being re-released by Ryko in April)
Thee Silver Mount Zion- 13 Blues For Thirteen Moons
Brian Blade Fellowship - Seasons OF Change (forthcoming from Verve, 04-01-08)
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Blasphemy Is Us . . . er rather, Dig, Lazarus, Dig
Joaquin "Joe" Claussell - Unchained Rhythms
Jacob Golden - Revenge Songs
Billy Bragg - Mr. Love & Mr. Justice (04-08-2008, Anti)
Beady Belle - Belvedere
Coultrain -- Adventures Of Seymour Liberty
Grand Pianoramax - The Biggest Piano In Town

Ooooh, say more about the Brian Blade Fellowship, Thom! I'm curious.

You've also got me champing at the bit to read your review of Dig Lazarus Dig.

And finally... these days, I'm averaging about one new listen every week or two. So, if I have to pick TWO ALBUMS in the month of March, what two should I make time to hear?

My votes: Tift Merritt and White Hinterland.

Well Dr. Overstreet that's really hard. I do know a bit of what you like from reading your posts here and no your blog, so I will attempt to stay within that framework a bit if that's ok:

Caroline Herring's Lantana would be one on Signature Sounds. I love her songs, her voice gets inside me somewhow in thew way many of the current crop do not. Guitarist Rich Brotherton was the perfect producer; and her sidemen are some of the best Austin has to offer: drummer Paul Pearcy, fiddle player Warren Hood, Danny Barnes (Bad Livers banjo player), pedal steel monster Marty Muse and bassist Glenn Fukanaga.


If jazz is at all your thing, I'd give a very good listen to Charles Lloyd's Rabo de Nube. Ever since he signed to ECM in the late 1980s, he's been on a tear. He will be 70 when this comes out next week. He is playing with the sense of adventure that is usually possessed by men much younger. That said, as a true spiritual and musical pilgrim--for him I do not deny they are onen the same-- his disciplne and the rigorous attrention he pays to melodic improvisation makes him a master, a true original, and they are disappearing fast. Thankfully we still have him, and Sonny Rollins and Horace Silver and a few others.

If jazz is NOT your thing, I'd go look for the Earth record. No matter what you think they sounded like before and how loud and obnoxious their music was before, this is not at all like that. It's my fave instrumental rock record in a year or two. This is not metal, not post rock, not noisy, just amazingly dramatic, dynamic, beautifully textured music that is as dark and foreboding as it is sweet, beautoiful and picaresque--and Bill Frisell helps out on a couple of tracks to boot!

IF hipo hop, funk and soul turn you on, Erykah Badu's record will have me digging into t its range, and density for the entire year. It's awesome, something I really need to be hearing right now, but I am not sure I could break it down for you.

As for the Brian Blade Fellowship- The band is as follows: Jon Cowherd on piano, pump organ, and wurlitzer, the great Kurt Rosenwinkle plays guitar, Myron Walden plays alto saxophone and bass clarinet, Chris Thomas is the bassist and Melvin Butler plays tenor saxophone.

The tunes were all written by either Blade or Cowherd or Blade and Cowherd. If you like the previous two offerings by this band, you will love this one. It's the complete fruition of a sound they developed together. It swims a very fluid pond of modern formalist jazz, gospel, soul, and sophisticated pop. It's got a bit more drama than their previous offereings, but it is also more formally composed and very disciplined. Despite it's seemingly lush sound, there isn't anything extra here. This band took some unjustifiable crap on their two Blue Note releases from critics who had no idea what they were trying to do with their music. They were trying to create a music to be played by a BAND, not a group of soloists playing skeletal or knotty melodies so they could show off their individual chops. That notion is unmistakable here. The music can get to some wide ranging harmonic places, but rather than do that for the sake of moving something to the margins, they are merely showcasing a the pich palette of shades inside particular colors rather than trty to jam the entire rainbow inside a particular tune. The various players are all part of very different worlds in their other pursuits, and those influences have come to roost here in a meld that sounds unlike anything that anybody else is doing right now. And that is a plus. If Verve doesn't go all out to get behind this album and really get it out there to people then they should get out of the modern jazz business. The communication between players here, even when they stretch is just phenomenal, deeply emotional and committed.

Jeffrey, if this record is something you are looking forward to, you should have a copy; write me at allmusic (tjurek@allmusic.com) and I will give you a contact so you can score a copy for review.

Hey Thom, thanks for all your recommendations in this forum! I recently bought Marco Benevento's Invisible Baby, and have been listening to it pretty steadily in the last couple of weeks. I really enjoyed the first few tracks, and pretty much agree with all you said in your review of the record over at AMG. I have recently taken an interest in hearing the best instrumental music out there, especially from bands that don't necessarily stick to one particular genre. I think Benevento did a great job blending rock and jazz elements There are some beautiful guitar textures on the new Earth record in the clips I listened to, so I think I will have to get that one too.

I find instrumental music to be the optimal music to listen to when I am on the computer, or driving in heavy traffic; I am usually easily distracted, but I still seem to be able to write and pick out certain musical motifs or melodies at the same time. I like all kinds of different music, mainstream and indie, and even some jazz up to a point, but I think I enjoy those bands that do something unique or different within jazz sensibilities. I also recently discovered Brad Meldhau's Places, and have been listening to that one on and off for a few months now. I'll make sure to check out a few more of the artists mentioned in your list. Thanks again!

I've only listened to one album from 2008, and that is:

Heretic Pride by The Mountain Goats

Really good album. Might rival The Sunset Tree as my favorite Goats album with time.

EVANGELISTA - Hello, Voyager (Constellation)
Last year Carla Bozulich, formerly of Ethyl Meatplow, the Geraldine Fibbers, Scartem, a killer album of covers of Willie Nelson's Red Headed Stranger album (with a guest appearance by the artist himself) and last year's noisy masterpiece called Evangelista, she uinveils a new band with the name of thaaty album. Centered around her and Tara Barnes, and Shahzad Ismaily, this set employs most of Thee Silver Mount Zion, some former Godspeed! You Black Emperor players, Nadia Moss and some local Monteal drummers to wail out a haunted racket that is at once tender and brutal. I love this set as well as the new recording by THEE SILVER MT. ZION MEMORIAL ORCHESTRA & TRA-LA-LA BAND - 13 Blues For Thirteen Moons also on Constellation.

BENGA - Diary Of An Afro Warrior (TEMPA, UK) Benga has been making dubstep and broken beat 12-inchers since 2002 (and he's only 21 now). Diary Of An Afro Warrior is his debut album ande people have been talking about it since June of l;ast year. Everybody went gaga overt the two Burial albums, and the SKkeam disc, but this kicks Burial's ASS, as THE coolest dubstep recording I've ever heard. This is stranger, less Eno-ish and warm, more jagged and dislocated and messed up. At the same time, traces of the bets Massive Attack and Tricky stuff are in here, though this doesn't sound anything like them. Watch for this to enter the mainstream charts in the UK. It also has two very distinct incarnations. The CD contains 14 cuts. it is less a clubbish dubstep record and more a sound adventure, while the LP version, which has nine, contains 5 tracks not on the CD, and plays through more like a clubbed out, freakyu dubstep recording, and flows more from one cut to the next. I bought BOTH. Look it up, read about it, this is all killer no filler.

RAS G - Beats Of Mind (Blues Interactions/P-Vine, Japan) A wiold, freaky and completely outa head collection of dub, instrumental hip hop, fubnk and warped, twisted and screwed up broken--nee busted--beat by this elusive West Indian, crate digging, beat maker who lives in Harlem. This is a collection of his dub plates and 12-inch records, and out to be heard by anyone having even a rempote interest in the true music of the underground. Most of this stuff never got out of New York, but apparently a few things have. The vinyl is long gone so this is the ONLY place to find it. Three cheers for P-Vine (owned by some cats from Detroit) who licensed this and put it out, even if only in Japan.

I think Punch by the Punch Brothers (Chris Thile etc) is the album of the year so far. I'm not totally sold on the lyrics yet, though they do communicate disillusionment and loss well. But the music is DELICIOUS bluegrass prog. The band seems every bit as good as the legendary Telluride "house band."

I also think the Meanest of Times by the Dropkick Murphys is a definite top 10, but that may be a 2007 release...

I think Punch by the Punch Brothers (Chris Thile etc) is the album of the year so far. I'm not totally sold on the lyrics yet, though they do communicate disillusionment and loss well. But the music is DELICIOUS bluegrass prog. The band seems every bit as good as the legendary Telluride "house band."

I also think the Meanest of Times by the Dropkick Murphys is a definite top 10, but that may be a 2007 release...

I think Punch by the Punch Brothers (Chris Thile etc) is the album of the year so far. I'm not totally sold on the lyrics yet, though they do communicate disillusionment and loss well. But the music is DELICIOUS bluegrass prog. The band seems every bit as good as the legendary Telluride "house band."

I also think the Meanest of Times by the Dropkick Murphys is a definite top 10, but that may be a 2007 release...

Sorry about the repetitions above.
I'm not sure how that happened?

THE RAVEONETTES - Lust Lust Lust

Good stuff, feeding my love of heavy reverb.

Favorites three months in:

Sun Kil Moon — April A+
Tift Merritt — Another Country A
Son Lux — At War With Walls and Mazes A
Drive-By Truckers — Brighter Than Creation's Dark A-

I have a huge list of Thom-recommended stuff that I want to check out, but this are the standouts so far. I'm also looking forward to the new Roots disc. It's been a good year so far.

Man, I'm so excited to hear this one. The last one is so dynamic--sometimes harrowing but always beautiful!

The three titles I posted above were supposed to go into "New Stuff Worth Hearing," not Faves of '08 so far . . . my age and dementia are creeping in.

Hey Jason--and anyone else who is interested: That video for the Roots' new single (whichsi about statutory rape by the way) is in NO way indicative of ehatthat album sounds like and it's not supposed to be. Check this post from the awlays reliable if sometimes furstrating SOULBOUNCE blog, which offers the real cover of the album--should piss off those fraidy-cat PC libs whose pontifications add up to real censorship and willfully oblivious conservatives that foolishly and bogusly believe that America has achieved anything remotely resembling racial equality and that all discussions in America are not ultimately about race and class -- that will help bring a welcome sigh of relief to the Roots hardcore fanbase, and offers not only a look at the tracklisting, but an explanation of the source for the cover and another track to spin.

I'm surprised that I don't see more about them in the alterna-Christian press, but Wild Sweet Orange is the best thing about 2008 so far. You should check them out, if for no other reason than that they cite Flannery O'Connor as their sole "influence" on Myspace.

At the mid-term of the first semester of 2008, I haven't been overly impressed with a lot. Here is where I stand thus far:

1. Headlights :: Some Racing, Some Stopping :: A
2. Tift Merritt :: Another Country :: A-
3. Ida :: Lover's Prayer :: A-
4. Beach House :: Devotion :: A-
5. She & Him :: Volume 1 :: B+

However, there are a couple that I've missed and a couple I'm looking forward to, namely - Erykah Badu, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, and Sun Kil Moon

The Raconteurs new album, Consolers of the Lonely, is really good. It's much better than their first album I think.

I have listened to 2 2008 CDs only so far... CDs that I purchased 'cause I love every previous one from both artists.

One is Richard Julian's Sunday Morning in Saturday's Shoes, the other is Kaki King's Dreaming of Revenge. Both records are in the style of what they did before. Both are kind of records that need several listens to be appreciated.

Man, that was a bit frustrating to read such a low view of music this year. I agree with you on those releases for the most part, but I have absolutely loved several releases besides those:

Matthew Ryan
Counting Crows
Foals
Bon Iver
French Kicks
Tokyo Police Club
The Weepies
Tyler Ramsey
Sun Kil Moon
Eric Avery
Greg Laswell

I think this has been a great year for music so far.

New Faves--I have no idea what makes the final list but this is a great way to narrow it down later. 2nd Quarter thus far

Benga - Diary Of An Afro Warrior

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!

Kathy Mattea - Coal

Sy Smith - Conflict (why ISN'T This amazing woman as big as Erykah Badu?????

The Roots - Rising Down (April 29)

Ferron - Boulder (Produced by Bitch--fortcoming)

Matana Roberts - Chicago Project

Counting Crows - Saturday Nights, Sunday Morning

Portishead - 3

Guapo Elixirs - S/T

Angel Band - With Roots & Wings

Russian Circles - Station

LSD Pond - s/t

Stanton Moore Trio - Emphasis

John Ellis - Dance Like There's No Tomorrow

Brian Blade Fellowship - Seasons Of Change

Esperanza Spalding - Esperanza

Three and a half months into 2008, these are my ten favorite albums of the year, listed in no order other than alphabetical.

Marco Benevento-- Invisible Baby
Maybe it's jazz and maybe it isn't, but that's the beauty of this record; Benevento and his arsenal of pianos, keyboards, and strange musical toys blurs genre lines and challenges all of our notions of what instrumental music can be on this set of songs that's quirky, catchy, frequently beautiful, sometimes silly, and always mesmerizing.

Black Keys-- Attack and Release
Auberbach and Carney-- one of the two best color-coded garage-rock/blues minimalist duos in America-- polish and expand their sound without compromising the vitality and visceral punch that has always made their music so essential. There may be elements of hip-hop and classic rock here, but this is as much a blues album as anything they've done.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds-- Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
Cave is positively foaming at the mouth on this one, spitting out a heady concoction of mythology, absurdist storytelling, sharp moral awareness and bawdy sexual humor that has to be heard to be believed. He's never sounded more alive with imagination and vision, and the Bad Seeds have never played a groovier, more melodic batch of songs.

Islands-- Arm's Way
A kaleidoscope of sounds and styles, Islands follow up their excellent debut with an album that's even more thrilling with the sheer possibilities of music. This is a melodic, careening, and endlessly creative good time that makes genre-hopping shape-shifting seem totally fluid and organic. It's the best kind of indie rock record, and it's a shame we don't have more of 'em.

Aimee Mann-- @#%&! Smilers
I'm already tired of typing that title; thankfully, the music isn't nearly so awkward. In fact, this is the richest and most assured album she's ever cut. Electric guitars are replaced with pianos, organs, vintage synths, strings, horns, and Jay Bellarose's impeccable percussion work, and the result is a lush, sophisticated, and tuneful set of songs that finds Mann's poetic gift at a new peak.

Tift Merritt-- Another Country
On her third album, Merritt sounds like she's past the point of caring whether her music is country, folk, or pop; what counts is that this is an unabashedly, often disarmingly beautiful album of introspective gems, a knockout performance from a singer/songwriter who grows by leaps and bounds with each new album.

Neon Neon-- Stainless Style
A loving homage to the 1980s, a concept album about John Delorean, a meditation on love and lust and the nature of truth, an impossibly fluid blend of rock, rap, pop, electronica, and white-boy funk... this one's for adventurous listeners only, but, for the bold, this is an album of rich rewards and more than a little bit of fun.

The Raconteurs-- Consolers of the Lonely
Jack White gives his "side project" the same level of creative vim and vigor he brings to his day job, and the result is an album that's significantly more aggressive and ambitious than the last one. White and his Raconteurs leave their mark on innumerable styles of British and American rock and roll, and this lumbering, unwieldy album is charming because of-- not in spite of-- its epic sprawl and overreach.

Son Lux-- At War With Walls and Mazes
A thunderously beautiful album that's both intimate and epic, Ryan Lott's first record is a triumph, a deeply spiritual, meditative song cycle that incorporates Kid A electronica, chamber pop, classical music, and even a bit of opera. It's spooky, mysterious, and transcendent.

White Hinterland-- Phylactery Factory
Casey Dienel adds "bandleader" to her already-impressive resume, bringing jazzy improvisation to her latest batch of whispered folk songs. There's a lot of sadness in these lyrics, but there's also a lot of humor-- and, at its best, it carries a sense of mystery that makes for a record of considerable depth and intrigue.

Glad to read this about AImee Mann, Josh. it's been sitting here on mydesk, and I have been looking at it, and looking at it, and looking at it with some kind of trepidation because of the title. I will give it a spin later in the week or perhaps during an early morning drive in the country over the weekend.

You may have a liner-less pre-release, Josh, but does Mann play bass at ALL? Do any of the usual suspects (Jon Brion, Michael Penn) show up? I honestly am excited about the change of musical scenery — but I've noticed a tie between her not playing much of anything (or a lack of 'usual suspects') and how strong the songwriting is. (That is, though I liked her last album, I thought it was her weakest — the best thing about it was Joe Henry's production!)

Not much being said about this record yet and that's a shame because it kicks ass for the most part. At various points the album flat runs out of steam, but no matter the strong tunes are strong enough to carry... and most important for goons like me-- hands down the best guitar sounds on any album ive heard this year.

Just got this one and have been digging it as well.

I've just heard a few tracks from M83's Saturdays = Youth, and I'm absolutely smitten. Like I said before with the music of The Mary Onettes, I'm an absolute sucker for anything that smacks of early-mid '80s alt rock. My friend Aaron describes it as "an all-star jam of The Psychedelic Furs, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark and Chapterhouse during the prom scene from Pretty In Pink" and yeah, that's pretty accurate.

Mann plays acoustic guitar, not bass, on most songs, and no, I don't think Penn shows up here, and I know Brion doesn't.

And Thom, yes, the title is awkward and a little silly, but the music is anything but. I'd say it's easily-- EASILY-- the best thing she's ever done.

I haven't mentioned this because I've been listening to it for three months and KNEW I had to review it; I didn't want to come across with an opinion in this forum on this particular album because in those three months I thought I might change my mind. I didn't. Now that the review is written and in the hands of copy editors I can say without any doubt whatsoever that my favorite album of 2008 so far is Back To The Cat, by former Magazine and Bad Seed Barry Adamson--who also scored David Lynch's Lost Hghway among other films and TV shows along the way. Adamson began making "soundtracks in search of movies" back in 1989 with Moss Side Story--six years before we ever heard of David Holmes (the guy who scored all those Ocean's 11-?? films after his own exercises like Adamson's). Adamson's new record is both unlike anything he's ever done before in that there are only two instrumentals on it, and yet is linked inextricably all the way back to his first EP, based on the Nelson Algren novel Man With The Golden Arm--and the film that starred Frank Sinatra as junkie anti-hero Frankie Machine. For my ears, there isn't anything I've heard this year that can touch it thus far, even if the whole world hates it except me. It's polished, its sophisticated, vulgar, sleazy, campy, profund, sexual and uses the idea of the soundtrack to tell a mythological story populated with everyone from lounge singers, hustlers, pimps, predators, broken musicans, gamblers, drunks, crackeads and hopeless romantics who find a sad beauty in all this--in a weird way, like Jesus would. There are tons of musical references, but Adamson makes the musical and narrative mytrhology all his own and comes up wth something very accessible and wonderful. If you find yourself in the least bit curious regarding these ravings of mine check out the longish samples at Adam's web site here, or, listen to it in its entirery on Last.FM here.

Why no mention of Fleet Foxes EP, Sun Giant? I've only started stewing over it today, but I think this may just be my favorite album of 2008. There's a LOT going on in these songs, in terms of actual composition and substance that goes far beyond the dreamy Beach-Boys-In-a-Canyon production. Can't wait to hear the full blown album which should launch this summer.

If you like the EP, you'll love the album. Stylistically, the two are very much cut from the came cloth-- in fact, you could pretty much replace any five songs on the LP with the five from the EP without disrupting its flow very much at all.

Heard it yesterday and I'm floored. I like it so much i'm imposing a moratorium on it today just so i dont over-listen and kill it. Simply magnificent. The comparisons to MMJ and Band of Horses or even Panda Bear will certainly be tossed around, but this album outshines anything I've ever heard from those bands-- by far.

Beside Richard Julian and Kaki King, two other CDs I have recently purchased: Karine Polwart's This Earthly Spell, and Young & Sexy's The Arc (ordered this one yesterday after I received the AMG newsletter).

Karine Polwart is a Scottish folk singer songwriter. I deeply appreciated one of her previous albums, called Scribbled in Chalk.

Young & Sexy is a pop band from West Canada, with lovely melodies. I have their first three albums and they're all really good. The AMG critic says we can love the music despite the lyrics, which makes it perfect for a Frenchie. Hehe.

Hey is there any post explaining the difference between this thread and the New Stuff Worth Hearing thread

I'm never sure where to post new finds. Usually I wait a few months before posting to this one since "Best" implies to me a higher endorsement than "Worth Hearing" but I'm curious how others interpret it.

I think you're right. "worth hearing" must a be a step below "favorite music of 2008". I thought "favorite" was more subjective than "worth hearing", in some way.

I've not started to get into 2008 a lot, so my favorites so far are only records from artists I usually appreciate the music more than some others.

I had listened to many more new records last year. Then I was still aware - interestingly, even more aware - that my favorites were always subjective choices from everything I'd heard.

Personally, I'm not really sure of the purpose of either thread ("New Stuff Worth Hearing" or "Favorite Music of yyyy"). If you're posting in the Music forum, then you're probably posting because you've heard music you think is worth hearing. And you'll probably indicate in your comments whether that music is included in your favorites for the current year.

It's not a big deal. But the disadvantage is that it lumps a bunch of unrelated music together. Personally, I like individual threads for individual bands/artists/albums.

Yes. I think the purpose of this "favorite music of 2008" thread is to set lists, to get one sight of the records recommended. Thom seems to use it that way.

But the one of "new stuff worth hearing" seems kinda worthless since we use to comment "why it's worth" on the individual topics of the music forum.

I suspect myself to use this one by laziness. But I'll make an effort for Ron Sexsmith in the music forum, as I started a topic for his next release.

Almost halfway through with 2008, this is roughly what me Top Ten list would look like right now:

The Tallest Man on Earth, Shallow Grave
The Hold Steady, Stay Positive
Marco Benevento, Invisible Baby
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
My Morning Jacket, Evil Urges
Alejandro Escovedo, Real Animal
Barry Adamson, Back to the Cat
Sam Phillips, Don't Do Anything
Islands, Arm's Way
Weezer, Weezer

So far:

Sun Kil Moon — April (A+)
the Hold Steady — Stay Positive (A)
Frightened Rabbit — the Midnight Organ Fight (A)
Bon Iver — For Emma, Forever Ago (A-)
Son Lux — At War With Walls and Mazes (A-)
Tift Merritt — Another Country (B+)
Drive-By Truckers — Brighter Than Creation's Dark (B+)
Bottomless Pit — Congress EP (B+)
Elvis Costello & the Imposters — Momofuku (B+)

and in a act of kindness, I'm willing to add Coldplay on this list (B-) for their new one. I'm sure the new New Year album and the new Early Day Miners discs will end up hear before the end of the year. Maybe Matthew Sweet, too, if he can actually release a good album at this point.

So far, in more or less this order. One of these albums (Hayseed) was released in 1999, but it's new to me this year.

Son Lux – At War With Walls and Mazes
Frightened Rabbit – The Midnight Organ Fight
Sun Kil Moon – April
The Hold Steady – Stay Positive
Marco Benevento – Invisible Baby
Hayseed – Melic
Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
Portishead – Third
Gabe Dixon Band – Gabe Dixon Band

Well, I figured out approximately what you think of the new Hold Steady album, Andy!

Yeah, that gives you some clues. :-) I really do have a lot to say about the album, but I'm trying to respect the dire warnings issued by Mr. Publicist, who sent me the album. Which is weird, because anybody who wants to hear the album has probably already heard it. I will say that the first fifteen seconds or so of the opening track "Constructive Summer" is the most glorious sound snippet I've heard this year. And the rest of the song is pretty great, too. Let's raise a toast to St. Joe Strummer.

I just find it odd that I was never given any such instructions not to talk about the album until release date; either we talked to different publicists, or the guy is simply aware of the fact that people actually READ what you have to say. :-)

I was going to wait until July, but what the heck. Nothing is going to change too much for me between now and then.

Sun Kil Moon “April” - (A+)
Headlights “Some Racing, Some Stopping” - (A)
Tift Merritt “Another Country” - (A-)
Ida “Lovers Prayers” - (A-)
Frightened Rabbit “The Midnight Organ Fight” - (A-)
Portishead “Third” - (A-)
Beach House “Devotion” - (A-)
She & Him “Volume One” - (B+)