desormais

I promise that I'll get around to commenting on everyone's blog; i had to check with mercie to make sure that it was proper etiquette instead of just replying to my own blog. makes sense. i don't want anyone to think i'm ungrateful, though.

shocking news of the day: apparently "darth vader" means "dark father" in dutch or something. i never knew that. my mind is kinda blown.

anyway! though it's a little late, i wanted to start a series of blogs (and hope to blog everyday) about the kind of shit i like. even though it's february, since i just joined this is the only time i can do this

here's my top albums from 2008, in no particular order:

Electric President - Sleep Well
aka the best band/album no one's heard of. apparently based off of dreams the lead guy has had over the years, it's a cute little indie poppish electro album that paint images so surreal and vivid it's hard not to love the lyrics and the wonderful sound accompanying them. from the beautiful (we will walk through walls) to the frightening (robophobia), it's one of those albums i keep coming back to and listening over and over again, even after almost a year.

Styrofoam - A Thousand Words
even though it's significantly different from his past efforts, this one's super poppy and catchy. more scattered electronically than electric president, though both are similar (and on the same label, morr music), it's an album that'll stay in your head for days. not as many stand out songs as he's had in the past, but it's one of the few albums i can listen to start to finish without feeling the urge to skip around.

Alkaline Trio - Agony & Irony
an obvious choice (i've had my alk3 tattoo for 7 years now), and a logical progression from Crimson and of a major label jump. cleaner and catchier than any album they've had in the past, they're still as amazing as ever; even dan doesn't have an annoying song this time (i'm looking at you, poison.)

Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
yeah yeah. what can i say that hasn't already been said about these guys? at least i was listening to them before they were cool. yeah. you heard me. (Same with Friendly Fires and MGMT; but my favorite's always been "time to pretend," not "electric feel." take that, mercie.)

M83 - Saturdays = Youth
although i'm not super crazy about it, songs like "graveyard girl" and "we own the sky" make it a keeper. and really, anything's good after his awful attempt at ambient with "digital shades." plus they were fucking amazing live, as always; just ask mercie.

runners-up:
Xiu Xiu - Women as Lovers
a couple good songs (most randomly their cover of "under pressure"), but nothing really stands out. but since it's xiu xiu, it's a winner by default.

Have A Nice Life - Deathconsciousness
a weird shoegazey/sludge/doom metal hybrid of a depressing ass cd. most of it is DEFINITELY mood music, that mood being "i'm so depressed i want to implode; i think i'll do it by listening to 20 minute long droning noisey songs." however, "The Big Gloom" is one of the most amazing, depressing songs ever conceived, so i'm torn.

Reggie and the Full Effect - Last Stop: Crappy Town
i fucking hated this album at first. it's so completely different from his previous work as reggie that i resisted it for the longest time, but the more i listened to it, the more i started to notice the reggie touches. the lyrics of struggling through addiction and love and instead of parody it was raw emotion full of regret and righteous indignation. it's one of the few emocore/screamo/whatever the fuck albums i'll listen to.

Moving Mountains - Pneuma
i'm almost embarrassed to admit that i've listened to this album about a hundred times, but it all flows together so well. it's basically pussy emo-ish/pop punk mixed with post rock. and horns. but there's so few lyrics (and the lyrics themselves are recycled throughout the album) that as a whole, everything about it mixes so well. it's really a beautiful album that took me completely by surprise.

now for dishonorable mentions:

fleet foxes.
seriously. i don't get it. i seriously don't get the indie fuck/pitchfork obsession with it. i don't necessarily hate the fleet foxes or their album, but i'm just not a fan of it or really most folksy type music for that matter (one of the few exceptions being iron & wine). i probably wouldn't care as much except for the INSANE hype around it; it got album of the year at waaayyy too many places, and i just don't get it. oh well.

portishead - third
talk about a fucking disappointment. maybe it's just me (i preferred massive attack for the most part, but it's not like they're THAT different), but other than a brief period where i "got" it or enjoyed it or whatever, i have not been able to listen to it despite my best efforts. oh well.

mogwai - the hawk is howling
i don't necessarily dislike this album as much as i'm disappointed by it and myself. let me explain. there's nothing about this album that's really bad per se; in fact, it sounds just like a bunch of mogwai songs. and i love mogwai songs. however, this is also sort of the issue i have with it: none of the songs really stand out or do anything. admittedly, i haven't given it much of a listen. other than "the sun smells too loud," which i really like, i haven't had the motivation to listen to it all the way through. nothing catches me. and seriously, that's a fucking shame.

so yes, this was an incredibly long post. if anyone actually reads all (or any) of this, color me amazed.

i'd love to hear people's feedback on this. hopefully i've piqued interest in some of the lesser known bands.

<3,
.s