The Wheel's Still In Spin: Best Albums Of March 2008

Normally, The Wheel’s Still In Spin posts the month’s preferred albums on the last minute of the month. That didn’t happen in March, which is always a good month. Maybe it’s SXSW, the fact that spring arrives, or just the timing of the end of the first quarter, but this month is consistently one of the strongest months for new releases. This year it was an incredible month with a lot of great releases. Here are my favorites:

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – Real Emotional Trash | buy it at amazon
Download “Cold Son” (mp3)
Download “Baltimore” (mp3)
Stephen Malkmus has assembled a perfect ensemble of supporting musicians. With longtime Jicks Joanna Bolme and Mike Clark on bass and guitar/keyboards, respectively, this is the first Malkmus album with former Sleater-Kinney drummer Janet Weiss. And this is best album the former Pavement member has released since pursuing a solo career. The vocal and guitar melodies share the lead on this well produced album.

The Raconteurs – Consolers Of The Lonely | buy it at amazon
This band made a strong splash with their debut, Broken Boy Soldiers. Splitting vocal and guitar duties between Jack White and Brendan Benson, the album had some great songs like “Steady As She Goes” and the title track. But on their new album, which seemed to drop out of thin air with only a week’s notice, The Raconteurs seemed to have a more cohesive sound that gives the band more definition as a unit instead of a collaboration of great musicians.

Adam Green – Sixes & Sevens | buy it at amazon
Download “Morning After Midnight” (mp3)
For his fifth solo album the co-founder of The Moldy Peaches offers diverse album full of quirky and unassuming lyrics. The production fleshes out some of the more simplistic songs with horns and subtle strings arrangements. The songs keep his deep baritone voice front and center and makes it sound better than it’s ever sounded.

Connie Price & The Keystones – Tell Me Something | buy it at amazon
Connie Price is one of the drummers for this deep funk band, but Dan Ubick writes the music for the band. For Tell Me Something, they take the sound of 70’s funk influenced jazz and condense it into single oriented songs. Then they add 8 guests as MCs and vocalists. The end result is a diverse, intelligent hip hop album that has some of the tightest and most original backing tracks. Tell Me Something was released as 2 discs – one with the vocalists and one with the instrumental tracks.

Born Ruffians – Red, Yellow And Blue | buy it at amazon
Download “Hummingbird” (mp3)
This Toronto trio has a lush, booming sound. Imagine Vampire Weekend melodies, but with a power pop trio as the backing band. This debut full-length album, produced by Rusty Santos – who produced Animal Collective’s Sung Tongs, Panda Bear, Ariel Pink, and more – is an indie pop opus full of dynamic and melodic instrumentation that makes this three-piece sound larger than they are.

The Dodos – Visiter | buy it at amazon
Download “Fools” (mp3)
This is a good folk based album from the duo of singer/guitarist Meric Long and drummer Logan Kroeber. These songs have good melodies and minimal instrumentation – but this band doesn’t need much more than the vocals, acoustic guitar, and percussion. The biggest strength of this album, though, is the way is endlessly flows. From track to track, each song beautifully melds into the next making an album whose sum is greater than its parts.

Elf Power – In A Cave | buy it at amazon
Elf Power has been the musical project of Andrew Rieger. The supporting cast has changed through the past fifteen years with members of other Elephant 6 bands. Currently, there are members of Olivia Tremor Control, Of Montreal, and Instruments. Taking another page from psychedelic pop, Elf Power makes a catchy and mollifying rock album. It’s fuzzed out, but mellow. It’s orchestral pop, uncannily distorted.

Jaymay – Autumn Fallin’ | buy it at amazon
Blue Note is streaming the song “Gray Or Blue” here, at least for now.
Jamie Kristine Seerman (musical alias Jaymay) is a New York singer-songwriter whose first full-length album was originally released at the end of 2007 in the UK. March 11, Blue Note finally released it here in the States. Track one, “Gray Or Blue,” is incredible with opening lyrics, “I feel so helpless now, my guitar is not around/ And I’m strugglin with the xylophone to make these feelins sound.” The album is a portrait of dealing with a crumbling relationship as winter hit New York. That opening song is the one that captures the mood with its mellow rhythm and the lyrical poignancy of, “I keep starin at your mouth without wonderin how it tastes,” “And I notice she’s your love, but she’s nowhere near your heart.” Jaymay is a crafty storyteller. Autumn Fallin’ is an unfeigned folk album. “Gray Or Blue” is one of the best songs of the year.

Kevin Ayers – Unfairground | buy it at amazon
Download “Cold Shoulder” (mp3)
In the 60’s, Ayers was a founding member of the psychedelic band Soft Machine with Robert Wyatt. He also worked with Brian Eno, John Cale, Nico, and Syd Barrett. Now he has released his first album in fifteen years. Still getting assistance from Eno and Wyatt, artists who were influenced by Ayers’ earlier work also accompany him on this album. These musicians include members of Architecture in Helsinki, Neutral Milk Hotel, Psychedelic Furs, and Teenage Fanclub. Full of orchestral production, the album is accessible but solitary.

What Made Milwaukee Famous – What Doesn’t Kill Us buy it at amazon
Download “Resistance St.” ( mp3)
Equal parts pop and blues rock, What Made Milwaukee Famous’s second release is diverse. The influences are classic and modern, ranging from Led Zeppelin to The White Stripes to The Beatles to Spoon, to name only a few. The handful of opening and closing tracks are the best on this album.