best albums of 2008

[HoopsMcCann]

the gutter twins (greg dulli of the twilight singers and afghan whigs with mark lanegan of screaming trees and queens of the stone age) team up for saturnalia, out in march. they just posted a song on myspace, and if 'idle hands' is any indication (and i've been told it is), the album is gonna be a ****in' monster

also, pj harvey is teamming up with john parish for a follow-up to dance hall at louse point, will come out later in the year

unfortunately, i've already gotten the new drive-by truckers album and pencil it down for the biggest disappointment of the year

 

[Dedo]

unfortunately, i've already gotten the new drive-by truckers album and pencil it down for the biggest disappointment of the year

Damn. That's discouraging to hear, but it's what I was afraid would happen when Isbell left.

By the way, I didn't much care for his solo effort, either.

 

[HoopsMcCann]

i was so-so on his solo record -- some songs, i thought were fantastic, some, eh

and well, some of the cooley songs on the new album are good. the shona songs, though. ugh.

 

[EmbassyRow]

I hear Chinese Democracy could drop any day now.

 

[TyWebb]

I hear Chinese Democracy could drop any day now.

Is that the name of Axl's next kid?

 

[dreunc1542]

A girl named Kate Nash just released her debut album called Made of Bricks and on first listen it's really good. She's drawing comparisons to Lily Allen but I think the more apt comparison is Regina Spektor.

 

[Cosmo]

I hear Chinese Democracy could drop any day now.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. [/slash]

 

[sportschick]

A girl named Kate Nash just released her debut album called Made of Bricks and on first listen it's really good. She's drawing comparisons to Lily Allen but I think the more apt comparison is Regina Spektor.

I love me some Regina Spektor, so I'll have to check that girl out.

 

[dreunc1542]

A girl named Kate Nash just released her debut album called Made of Bricks and on first listen it's really good. She's drawing comparisons to Lily Allen but I think the more apt comparison is Regina Spektor.

I love me some Regina Spektor, so I'll have to check that girl out.

Here's her myspace page if you want to get a taste before buying the album which is on itunes for only 8 bucks. http://www.myspace.com/katenashmusic

 

[EStreetJoe]

Shelby Lynne and her sister Allison Moorer both have new albums coming out this year... Shelby's in January and Allison's in February.
The few tracks I've heard off Shelby's disc harken back to the soulfulness of her breakthrough I Am Shelby Lynne disc and away from the great acoustic music of her last two albums.
Allison's album is mellow acoustic-ish as well and features some great covers including Ring of Fire; Both Sides Now; Go,Leave; Revelator; and a bunch of others.

Marah's new disc is supposed to be out sometime this month as well.

At some point this year Southside Johnny & the Jukes album of Tom Waits covers, featuring a guest appearance by Waits himself, will be coming out.

 

[Barsuk]

I disagree on your lukewarm assessment of the DBT record, Hoops. I think the Cooley songs are fantastic, as are several of the Patterson songs and a couple of the Shonna songs. IMO, they could've trimmed three or four songs off the record, but ****, that still leaves 15-16 solid tracks.

Other than that, I'm definitely looking forward to the new Nada Surf album coming in February, but I haven't been looking ahead too much -- mostly catching up on what I missed from 2007, as always seems to happen when all the end-of-year, best-of lists come out.

ADD: Holy crap, just listened to a few tracks from that Kate Nash album, and it is fantastic. I can definitely see the comparisons to Lily Allen and Regina Spektor, both of whom I like. I would really say she's somewhere in between. Good stuff.

 

[HoopsMcCann]

I disagree on your lukewarm assessment of the DBT record, Hoops. I think the Cooley songs are fantastic, as are several of the Patterson songs and a couple of the Shonna songs. IMO, they could've trimmed three or four songs off the record, but ****, that still leaves 15-16 solid tracks.

it just feels disjointed and underwhelming to me

 

[dreunc1542]

ADD: Holy crap, just listened to a few tracks from that Kate Nash album, and it is fantastic. I can definitely see the comparisons to Lily Allen and Regina Spektor, both of whom I like. I would really say she's somewhere in between. Good stuff.

Yea, she really is in between both of them but that works as I like this album a lot. Foundations is a fantastic song and I'm guessing it will be the first single off the album. I'm sure she'll be big in London but it will be interesting to see if she ever hits mainstream radio over here. I'm not holding my breath.

 

[HoopsMcCann]

mtv is pumping her hard (huh huh huh) -- but not sure how much i'm digging it.

 

[dreunc1542]

mtv is pumping her hard (huh huh huh) -- but not sure how much i'm digging it.

I haven't watched MTV in forever. Glad they still at least talk about music. I can definitely see how she wouldn't be for everybody.

 

[Barsuk]

ADD: Holy crap, just listened to a few tracks from that Kate Nash album, and it is fantastic. I can definitely see the comparisons to Lily Allen and Regina Spektor, both of whom I like. I would really say she's somewhere in between. Good stuff.

Yea, she really is in between both of them but that works as I like this album a lot. Foundations is a fantastic song and I'm guessing it will be the first single off the album. I'm sure she'll be big in London but it will be interesting to see if she ever hits mainstream radio over here. I'm not holding my breath.

From what I've read, she already is big overseas -- the album came out over there last year -- and there seems to be a lot of buzz here, too. Maybe not mainstream radio, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Mainstream radio leads to major label, leads to record label meddling to make a more popular record, leads to crappier music, in many cases.

Funny thing is, I've been seeing "Kate Nash" on music blogs and stuff for a while now, but for some reason I always saw "Kate Bush" and glazed over it. Kate Bush is fine, but never did much for me, musically. Kate Nash, on the other hand, I am digging.

 

[Barsuk]

I disagree on your lukewarm assessment of the DBT record, Hoops. I think the Cooley songs are fantastic, as are several of the Patterson songs and a couple of the Shonna songs. IMO, they could've trimmed three or four songs off the record, but ****, that still leaves 15-16 solid tracks.

it just feels disjointed and underwhelming to me

I can see that (the disjointed part, anyway) but it doesn't really bother me. Not every record has to be a concept album. I think that's one benefit of my having picked up the Truckers late in the game -- I didn't have any preconceived notions that everything had to be as cohesive as "Southern Rock Opera."

 

[sporting_guista]

I hear Chinese Democracy could drop any day now.

Four replies! That didn't take long!

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I hear Chinese Democracy could drop any day now.

I've heard 10 of the songs. Pretty good stuff... Who knows if it will ever be available legally...

 

[pallister]

As for the DBT reord, I think it's probably 6-7 songs too long, but some of the songs, especially "Daddy Needs a Drink," "Ghost to Most," "The Righteous Path" and "Self-Destructive Zones" I keep playing over and over. I'm hoping a lot of the other songs grow on me, like The Dirty South. When I first sarted listening to that years ago, I only liked a few songs. Now, I'll put the CD in my car and listen to it all the way through 10 times before putting anything else on.

And as for Isbell's solo CD, I'm sure most people excpected a more intense record (I think the same can be said for the new DBT), but it's grown on me. I especially like "Razor Town" and "Devil is My Running Mate," although my favorite is "Try," which is the heaviest song on the record.