Best Albums of 2008
These “best of the year” lists, should be done after the year has past. Unfortunately, Hype Machine has forced me to do it early and so I am stuck with a list, which is not finished and only contains nine albums. Do not worry, I will post the final one next year when I have finished making my mind up. Leave a comment if you disagree, or if I missed one out, so I can see if I want to include it in the final version. Enjoy!
Flight of the Conchords has been a bit of an addiction since I discovered their TV series. I basically downloaded anything I could find from their rather huge collection of music. Of course, I decided to buy their debut. It’s just a shame how it’s not very different from their TV show material. They are at their best when they perform live and since the album is mainly ripped straight from the TV show, I didn’t put it any higher on the list. Still, their material is both funny and musically interesting. Using styles ranging from David Bowie to Shaggie, Flight of the Conchords’ album is well worth listening to.
The Most Beautiful Girl (In The Room)
Peaceful, The World Lies Me Down, is an interesting take on folk music. It has both witty and clever lyrics, produced by a very unlikely kind of vocalist. It has the beautiful voice of Laura Marling and it has some really nice instrumental work, the violins are particularly memorable. Though, I did not enjoy the slow sections of the album, finding them slightly dull, it is the faster paced tracks, like 2 Atoms In A Molecule and Rocks And Daggers that make Noah and the Whale’s first album truly great.
MGMT don’t prove the formula ”quality of quantity”. With ten tracks on the album, only three proved to be amazingly epic (Time to Pretend, Electric Feel, Kids). The rest is just not very interesting. You can argue it’s all experimental, which is fine, but don’t put it on the album then. It’s a shame, because if they had kept up the standard of those three, MGMT’s debut would be the best album of the year.
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Tokyo Police Club produced a pretty amazing EP last year, and their debut was a bit more gritty, but did not disappoint. Their sound is very Strokes-esque, but with a less harsh (Candian) vocalist and distorted synthesisers, which produces a faster sound, something which might be heard on a dancefloor somewhere.
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The Blood Red Shoes’ album is short, but ferocious, simple, but still fascinating. With just a guitarist and a drummer, it seems like their music might be dull, but this is where you start listening to their impressive debut. Hard and fast drumming, relentless guitar strumming and the interesting interwoven vocals from Laura and Steven create a great rock record.
Dark and strange, Alex Turner’s side project, The Last Shadow Puppets, did not really spark my interest initially. But after a couple of months, I can really appreciate it. Age Of The Understatement sounds like an album made of Bond theme songs, but with a lot more depth It manages to keep all the grandness even with the slow, acoustic songs. I can’t wait to see what Alex Turner will do next.
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A flawed, but great album from Foals. It’s a real shame they missed out on Astronauts and All and Hummer, for Heavy Water and Big Big Love (fig. 2). The rest is perfect. In the last three months they have creeped into my Last.fm’s 8th most listened to artists. Battling guitars, addictive bass lines and unbelievable drum patterns make an album which everyone should try. Red Socks Pugie is definitely one of my favourite tracks ever. They also managed to prove themselves as the best band I have seen live.
Lightspeed Champion’s first album is stunning to listen to. With it’s incredibly beautiful melodies, violent and open lyrics, Dev Hynes has created an album where every song is a masterfully created sensation. Would have got my album of the year, if not for Salty Water. I don’t need to describe it anyway, because you should already be rushing to get this from the shops or be downloading it right now.
Just an incredibly well-rounded album. There are no flaws, it’s just a barrage of incredible songs. And with a completely different sound, to anything right now, they have a winning formula. From the opening bangs of Mansford Roof, to the simple melody of Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, to the final clash of Walcott, Vampire Weekend’s debut, is a thrill to listen to. You’ve got it anyway, haven’t you?
Blood Red Shoes Live
This is Philip, my friend from north Germany, and he is hear to explain about the Blood Red Shoes gig he recently went to:
Living in Dresden, a pretty small city in former East Germany, I don’t really get to see very many good bands. So, one day I was sleepily cruising the web, when lo and behold, Blood Red Shoes were coming to Dresden! I obviously gathered a few friends and had the tickets bought in less than an hour.
Blood Red Shoes were playing Beatpol, a really awesome venue that I’d never been to before. It’s this really old house that has been renovated and it has a really great feel to it. My friends and I made sure to arrive early and get places right in front of the stage. The venue filled up quickly, and by the time the support act, 1984, started playing, the place was packed. 1984 played quite well, better than when I saw them at Frequency Festival, and got the crowd going a little bit. However, when Blood Red Shoes came on at 9 o’clock, everyone went wild straight away. As soon as they played the first note, people started dancing and having a good time. I didn’t see anyone bored, just standing there, and not having a good time.
All of the Blood Red Shoes songs are perfect for shows. They are all super, simple punk songs, usually with a slowdown and a really wilder part. They played their whole album “Box of Secrets” and played a couple new songs as well. These new songs were great, and sounded just like the classic Blood Red Shoes songs: lots of energy and fast paced. Steve and Laura Mary didn’t really say much, but they made up for that by playing with a truckload of energy and passion. After the concert I only managed to get half of the set list, as some girls standing next to me ripped off the other half, but the last five songs were:
You Bring Me Down
Forgive Nothing
Count Me Out
This Is Not For You
I Wish I Was Someone Better
‘Count Me Out’ was one of the new songs they played, which was great: I can’t wait for the new album. Everybody enjoyed every single song, with almost everybody singing along and rocking out as best they could. But the crowd really went wild for ‘I Wish I Was Someone Better’. The whole venue simply turned into one giant mosh pit within a few seconds of the song and there was no escaping it. Blood Red Shoes left the stage right after, but the crowd was just screaming for an encore, so they played another new song and then ADHD.
I left Beatpol half deaf, soaked with other people’s sweat and my own, with a Blood Red Shoes t-shirt in my hand and a huge smile on my face. I hadn’t listened to much Blood Red Shoes for a while, but after seeing the amazing way they played their songs, with all the energy and emotion, it seems like all the songs are stuck in my head again. After talking to lots of people after the show I heard the same thing – Great gig, and it was super fun.
It’s Getting Boring By The Sea
Thanks for the picture, Nicozz
Frequency 2008 – Day 1
Blood Red Shoes played the first set with great enthusiasm and managed to get some of the crowd going, something very difficult for the first band. It was interesting to see that the drummer did his own sound check, which was quite amusing. They ended with a brilliant I Wish I Was Someone Better. Then came on The Wombats, obviously one of the highlights, because suddenly the wave breaker was full. As they played their opener, Kill The Director, the crowd went crazy. Everyone stopped for a sing-along for “Little Miss Pipedream”; and the crowd sung considerably well, the festival was taking place in Austria. Madness ensued as The Wombats played their last song Let’s Dance To Joy Division.
We Are Scientists failed to impress me, even The Great Escape didn’t sound that great. The crowd had died down when We Are Scientists played, so I might not have been the only one. However, there was a great moment, for me anyway, when Dev Hynes came on and played After Hours with them. 
After, I dashed to go see Lightspeed Champion, it didn’t matter, he was delayed because Black Kids were canceled. When he did go on, Lightspeed Champion started off with a shaky Tell Me What It’s Worth and throughout the show their were sound issues, none of the backup singer’s mics seemed to work. Dev then played some new songs, and was joined my Keith Murray from We Are Scientists. Dev did a beautiful solo version of Everyone I Know Is Listening To Crunk with most of the crowd joining in. The ending song, his famous Star Wars/Midnight Surprise 20 minute epic track, was brilliant and it was really great to seem him from the front. Sadly, there was a very small crowd, but they were a dedicated one, with definitely the biggest amount of singing coming from the crowd than any other artist. I briefly managed to shake his hand before being bombarded with people trying to get his autograph. I then caught the end of Jose Gonzales, which didn’t manage to get me any more exited for him as an artist. From a distance I saw some Flogging Molly, which has definitely got me interested in them.
The Teenagers saw a packed crowd in the UK weekender tent. The singer had a good stage presence and was witty, but unfortunately the sound quality was far too loud and sounded really awful, making me migrate outside until Homecoming, easily their best song. The singer tried to pull off getting some of the crowd to sing some of the parts, and took five girls onto the stage. Starting the song off rather badly, everyone sung in for the chorus, but it was obvious that the girls didn’t know the words and the song was pretty much ruined. I wasn’t expecting lots from The Teenagers, but all together they were very disappointing. 
Lastly I saw Travis and then R.E.M from far away. Travis looked to be doing well and it sounded good, but R.E.M sounded rather dull. However, my friend swear that is was brilliant. The day started off well but seemed to get less interesting with the bigger bands, but it was still a fantastic start to the Frequency Festival.
I Wish I Was Someone Better – Blood Red Shoes
The amazing gem from their self-titled debut is a furious mass of energy, distortion and pounding drums. Both members of the band add their distinctive vocals and shout with lots of passion between each other increasing the intensity of the track. The lyrics deal with self-loathing which fits the fast-paced and dirty song. The notes on the guitar are plucked with ferocity as are the throbbing pulse of the fast, thrashing chords. The drum work is just as strong with an accelerated beginning and catchy constant 4/4 beat throughout the rest of the song. Though it’s simple the track is still a fantastic ball of energy and it is impossible not start jumping around as the pre-chorus starts.
