Best Albums Of February 2008
2008 is shaping up to be a very strong year. There was a great set of albums released during January. Now, February follows with even more fascinating albums. Here are my favorites:
Mountain Goats – Heretic Pride | buy it at amazon
Download “Sax Rohmer #1” (mp3)John Darnielle started The Mountain Goats as a solo project recorded on his boom box and released on cassette. Those early recordings were full of acoustic guitar, emotional dynamics, and potent lyrics. After about a decade, The Mountain Goats landed on the label 4AD. With the release of Tallahassee, Darnielle’s subject matter became more directly internal. The production of the recordings has noticeably increased since the boom box days with John Vanderslice and Scott Solter now manning the consoles. With Heretic Pride, Darnielle appears to have returned to the subject matter of his earlier recordings while continuing to record at Tiny Telephone.
Nada Surf – Lucky | buy the limited edition [2 discs]or the 1 disc version at amazon
Download “See These Bones” (mp3)When I first heard 2003’s Let Go, I was instantly attracted to Nada Surf’s music. “Blonde On Blonde,” “Inside Of Love,” and “Blizzard Of ‘77” had me hooked. With The Weight Of The Gift, I had to give the record a few listens before I was hooked and it wasn’t as strong of an appeal for me as Let Go. Lucky, their first album is three years, falls somewhere between those previous releases. It didn’t take as long to work its way into my head, but it doesn’t stick as strongly as the songs on Let Go. Perhaps it’s too difficult for a band to surpass the sound that perfectly captivated you. It may be my second favorite Nada Surf album, but it is still far better than most releases by every other band. And much like The Weight Of The Gift, this album grows on me even more with each listen.
Throw Me The Statue – Moonbeams | buy it at amazon
Download “About To Walk” (mp3)Scott Reitherman is the man behind the curtain, so to speak. And what appears on the aural surface of Throw Me The Statue’s full-length debut is a realm every bit as clairvoyant and spellbinding as the land of Oz. This album received limited release in 2007. Now, Secretly Canadian has given Moonbeams a national release. The album is a bouillabaisse of indie pop goodness.
Headlights – Some Racing, Some Stopping | buy it at amazon
Download “Cherry Tulips” (mp3)With their first full-length album, Kill Them With Kindness, Headlights attracted a lot of attention for their keyboard and reverb laden indie pop. On Some Racing, Some Stopping, the band continues to write accessibly poppy songs, but the production is more straightforward. The songs are layered with more instruments and guests on accordion, guitar, xylophone, and other instruments.
Lemuria – Get Better | buy it at amazonThis three-piece band is a mixture of power pop and punk. Sheena Ozzela (guitar, vocals), Alex Kerns (drums, vocals), and Jason Draper (bass) all share songwriting duties on this debut full-length album. As I wrote a few days ago, this album “is an assemblage of distorted and restless ear candy.” (Sorry for using that same phrase, but I haven’t been able to come up with a better description for this album in the past few days)
Lightspeed Champion – Falling Off The Lavender Bridge | buy it at amazonDevonte Hynes, former member of Test Icicles, made an autobiographical album for his solo debut. Released on Domino Records, this album was created with the help of many members of Saddle Creek bands, included the production work of Mike Mogis. The instrumentation is mostly acoustic with horns, woodwinds, and pedal steel added. While it is a departure from his previous band, Falling Off The Lavender Bridge, is a layered and distinctive singer-songwriter album.
Aidan John Moffat – I Can Hear Your Heart | buy it at amazon
Download “The Boy That You Love” (mp3)I’ve seen this album described as an audio novel, poetry, or “spoken word from the Scots Bukowski.” The album is accompanied by a written story, entitled “Poop,” to be read before listening to the audio story, entitled “Loop.” Atop the vinyl scratches and ethereal samples, Aidan John Moffat tells a broken love story that begins, “We like to fuck and shag/ We’re not in to making love.” It gets vulgar and descriptive. He recites the Dorothy Parker poem “A Very Short Song” and closes the album by covering Springsteen’s “Hungry Heart.”
Say Hi – The Wishes And The Glitches | buy it at amazon
Download “Northwestern Girls” (mp3)
Download “Toil And Trouble” (mp3)
Download “Zero To Love” (mp3)Eric Elbogen shortened his band name from Say Hi To Mom to simply Say Hi with this release. The album is an infective set of synth heavy songs with indelible melodies and continuously gyrating rhythms.
Atlas Sound – Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel | buy it at amazonBrandon James Cox, of Deerhunter, released this album as a solo project under the name Atlas Sound. Lush layers of noise and keyboards create a musical bed that is sonically betwixt between haunting and soothing with Cox’s vocals washed with effects but still remaining mesmeric.
Jason Collett – Here’s To Being Here | buy it at amazon
Download “Out Of Time” (mp3)As a member of Broken Social Scene, Collett keeps good company with Kevin Drew, Emily Haines (Metric), Feist, and Andrew Whiteman (Apostle Of Hustle), and many others. Collett’s solo albums are guitar driven and have a countrified classic rock feel while his vocals are sung with a glissando style reminiscent of a slightly more refined Dylan.
Download music with eMusic’s 25 FREE MP3 Trial Offer. No Restrictions - Own Your Music!
Back to The Wheel's Still In Spin Mainpage.
Submit this story to:
Comments