The 2008 Music Journal Recommendations Thread!

[murlough23]

I was just projecting about Superchick.  I don't think I was going to even give it a listen at all.

I finally listened to it yesterday. I think you were right to stay away. It's a bit of a stretch even for someone like me who marginally enjoyed them before. Their lyrical themes are getting tiresomely repetitive and they seem to be struggling just to create an album's worth of material (only 9 new songs on this one and most of 'em run 3 minutes or less). Plus, while I usually love electronic manipulation of rock music, the way they do it is turning what might have otherwise been a solid, fun pop/rock song into a mutated stutter. I'll give it a few more listens to be fair, but I think Superchic[k] might be destined for my Bottom 10 list this year.

NP: "Bright Lights", Matchbox Twenty

[Ian]

Yo, Wanderer, you heard Have A Nice Life yet?

[Aaron]

Yo, Wanderer, you heard Have A Nice Life yet?

I'm having a bad mental day so refresh my memory: is that the band name?  I'll have to look on my list.

[Ian]

Band: Have A Nice Life, Album: Deathconsciousness

I know it's a bad name, but: It's near an hour and a half long, it's some industrial/shoegaze/ambient stuff, and it's my top album of the year so far.  Haven't really been able to get anyone else into it yet though.  If you like I can send you a special PM.

[Aaron]

Band: Have A Nice Life, Album: Deathconsciousness

I know it's a bad name, but: It's near an hour and a half long, it's some industrial/shoegaze/ambient stuff, and it's my top album of the year so far.  Haven't really been able to get anyone else into it yet though.  If you like I can send you a special PM.

I think I've heard it and I wasn't thrilled with it but gave it around an A-/B+

[murlough23]

I think I've heard it and I wasn't thrilled with it but gave it around an A-/B+

Heh. That's a pretty high grade for not being thrilled.

[Aaron]

Heh. That's a pretty high grade for not being thrilled.

I don't necessarily have to be thrilled for it to be a solid album musically.  Cindy Morgan makes good music that I'm not thrilled over but she is still solid.

[murlough23]

Cindy Morgan makes good music that I'm not thrilled over but she is still solid.

I'd debate that regarding her latest one, which I find to be highly inconsistent.

Regardless, I guess I see this issue of how we rate things differently - if I can respect something artistically I won't give it a bad grade, but if it doesn't really do that much for me personally, I'm gonna have a hard time grading it higher than other things that I got more personal enjoyment out of.

[Ian]

I personally try to consider the quality of an album within it's genre (and if no genre can be identified, I look at what the album is aspiring to be, how well it meets it's goal, and how ambitious the goal was).  So my music journal list and my personal favorite list will probably turn out to be a bit different.

[Aaron]

So my music journal list and my personal favorite list will probably turn out to be a bit different.

As will mine

[ajyouthguy]

ajyouthguy
House of Heroes - The End Is Not the End
For pretty much the same reasons I recommended it to bloop.

so apparently this is (mostly) a digital release...i've had trouble finding hard copies of it...any suggestions, or just spend the $10 and get the digital version from iTunes or Amazon?

[murlough23]

so apparently this is (mostly) a digital release...i've had trouble finding hard copies of it...any suggestions, or just spend the $10 and get the digital version from iTunes or Amazon?

The physical copy is only available online or at their shows, I believe. I got my copy from zambooie.com for $14 (which I think was $10 + $4 shipping). I'm working on my review of the album now and the usual "Album Worth" thing that I do puts it at $20! That might be a bit extreme, but the point is that it's worth just about any price you'd realistically find it for.

I believe a more widespread physical release is planned for February 2009, but don't quote me on that.

Others have recommended things to me in this thread that I have been remiss about following up on... I will try to remedy that by year's end.

I must say that 2008 has been my best year for music in the entire new millennium this far... I have given six albums an A grade, and I never do that for more than three or four albums most years.

NP: "Angels We Have Heard on High", Sixpence None the Richer

[bloop]

I agree.  I haven't remotely finished my digesting pile, and my list is looking really good.  There are still a few standouts in said pile, as well.

[murlough23]

I agree.  I haven't remotely finished my digesting pile, and my list is looking really good.  There are still a few standouts in said pile, as well.

Indeed - I looked at your "Digesting" list recently, and I don't envy you the arduous task that lies ahead.

Looking over my previous Music Journals, I realize that I used to give out A's a bit more easily than I do now. There are some albums I've really loved recently (Mute Math, The Listening, etc.) that I've taken the hard line on and given a B+ because I felt that they skimped on content a bit. This apparently didn't matter as much to me in the past if I found myself listening to an album rather frequently. I might go back and re-grade some of that stuff for consistency, but taking that into account, I haven't had 6 or more A's on my list since 2000.

NP: "River", Sixpence None the Richer

[Ian]

I've got four 9's in my journal, down two from last year.  I'm starting to think about what albums I might include for my decade-end list, and I don't think there are any from this year that will be included in the top ten, whereas 2 from last year have a good chance (Boxer is guaranteed, and Person Pitch has a shot).  So I would definitely say this year wasn't as good.  Next year is looking to be excellent though.

As for recommendations, any fans of ambient need to give Helios - Caesura a listen.

[ajyouthguy]

The physical copy is only available online or at their shows, I believe. I got my copy from zambooie.com for $14 (which I think was $10 + $4 shipping). I'm working on my review of the album now and the usual "Album Worth" thing that I do puts it at $20! That might be a bit extreme, but the point is that it's worth just about any price you'd realistically find it for.

i got it from Amazon MP3 downloads for $8.99

[Wildcatblue7]

So, I'm a bit ashamed to say that I've been incredibly out of the loop this year and I've heard exactly two 2008 releases in their entirety, and one of them was Tha Carter III.  So, um.  I did listen to Fleet Foxes, but it didn't do anything for me, and TV on the Radio just sounded a little bland . . . are there other ones that I should make an effort to check out that I actually may like?

[murlough23]

So, um.  I did listen to Fleet Foxes, but it didn't do anything for me, and TV on the Radio just sounded a little bland . . . are there other ones that I should make an effort to check out that I actually may like?

Based on this, I'm almost afraid to recommend anything else to you.

NP: "Don't Wanna Know", Lloyd

[ajyouthguy]

I did listen to Fleet Foxes, but it didn't do anything for me,

i listened to clips from it finally today, too, and was glad, at least initially, that i didn't buy it, that i listened first, although Amazon has it for $5 digital download.  i couldn't get into it, though.  maybe i'll give it another chance when i'm at work next week or something.

[murlough23]

I realize that not everyone is going to react to Fleet Foxes as strongly as I did, but really? It did absolutely nothing for the both of you? That's a bummer. I fought against listening to that album on principle because I thought it was something it wasn't, and then it really surprised me, so now I sort of feel the need to defend it.

NP: "My Refuge", SonicFlood

[Wildcatblue7]

I realize that not everyone is going to react to Fleet Foxes as strongly as I did, but really? It did absolutely nothing for the both of you? That's a bummer. I fought against listening to that album on principle because I thought it was something it wasn't, and then it really surprised me, so now I sort of feel the need to defend it.

NP: "My Refuge", SonicFlood

It made me sad as well because I wanted to like it.  It just did diddly for me.

[NinjaRob17]

Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that way now. I've listened to it four times and it still has done nothing for me. I don't even see the artistic value in it, except for in "White Winter Hymnal", which also happens to be the only song I like on the album.

[murlough23]

Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that way now. I've listened to it four times and it still has done nothing for me. I don't even see the artistic value in it, except for in "White Winter Hymnal", which also happens to be the only song I like on the album.

Man. That's the only song you even like? Bummer of the year.

What really gets me going about that album is the way that the vocals are interwoven so well and the rich melodic structure of pretty much every song. I suppose this isn't necessarily the kind of thing that excites everybody, but since it was getting so many critical raves, I figured there were a variety of different things to like about it, so I figured the band's fanbase would cut a pretty wide swath. Oh well.

Not saying there's anything wrong with you guys for not liking it, but it is surprising to see such a pronounced "meh" reaction to it. Just proof that our minds work in very different ways, I guess.

[Wildcatblue7]

I realized I've heard several 2008 releases.  However, they are...

NIN--Ghosts I-IV
NIN--The Slip (I was pretty much on a giant NIN kick all year)
Lil' Wayne--Tha Carter III
James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer--The Dark Knight OST (haha)
Blaqk Audio--CexCells

plus most of
Coldplay--Viva La Vida...
Kings of Leon--Only By the Night (may end up buying this one)
Fleet Foxes--whatever it was called...was it self-titled?

Okay, so, with that in mind, what should I check out just to give something new a chance?  I've seen Last.fm's top 10, and to be honest, nothing caught my ears just by the description...but that isn't always the be all and end all, obviously.  I know I missed A LOT this year, so help me out.  Also, next week is finals week and I will have plenty of down time to listen to new and random tunes.  I take all comers.

[Ian]

Well, my favorite this year was Shugo Tokumaru - Exit.  It's some really exquisite pop.  Also popular was the new TV on the Radio, M83, Bon Iver, Sigur Ros, Sun Kil Moon, and Portishead.  I really enjoyed Death Cab for Cutie and My Morning Jacket, though seemed to be a little more polarizing.  There's plenty of other good releases this year too, but that's a start.

[ajyouthguy]

i listened to clips from it finally today, too, and was glad, at least initially, that i didn't buy it, that i listened first, although Amazon has it for $5 digital download.  i couldn't get into it, though.  maybe i'll give it another chance when i'm at work next week or something.

ok, so here we are a month later, and i gave it another chance, and i'm man enough to admit i like it.  not just a little, although i'd hesitate to say 'a lot.'  i've listened several times this week, and got it for $5 thinking it was at least worth that much of a chance.  i haven't decided where to put it yet, but it will be fairly high on my top albums of 2008 list, which i purposefully haven't finalized b/c i knew there were a few albums i needed to re-listen to, as well as this one and another one which i've only recently gotten.

[murlough23]

ok, so here we are a month later, and i gave it another chance, and i'm man enough to admit i like it.  not just a little, although i'd hesitate to say 'a lot.'  i've listened several times this week, and got it for $5 thinking it was at least worth that much of a chance.  i haven't decided where to put it yet, but it will be fairly high on my top albums of 2008 list, which i purposefully haven't finalized b/c i knew there were a few albums i needed to re-listen to, as well as this one and another one which i've only recently gotten.

Interesting; I guess Fleet Foxes is a "grow-on band", though for me it was pretty much immediate.

I actually gave the Fleet Foxes CD as a belated Christmas gift to a friend from Seattle who is into indie rock. She had never heard of them, but had the CD lying around when some of her friends who also live in the area came over - they noticed it and complimented her taste in music (even though she hadn't listened to the CD yet at the time). So I'm glad to have helped spread the word, but I'm surprised someone else who lives up there and likes the band didn't get to her first.

I did finally get around to listening to Blitzen Trapper, but will need several more listens before I can make sense of my feelings about it.

[dgp11776]

I know this is old, but I can see Murlough digging The Reign of Kindo.