Top Ten of 2008

Here they are, in no particular order, the Ferrets' top ten albums of 2008:

Belle & Sebastian - The BBC Sessions
Kelly says, "This allocation obviously stems from the fact that I am more dedicated to Belle & Sebastian fandom than I have been to anything since Kiss took their make-up off in the early 80s, but I will try to justify the choice. I have had some bad experiences with BBC sessions albums (the Led Zeppelin one feels like listening to two hours of a Zep cover band playing into a one-track tape recorder from 1978), but this one sounds great. The 'live in studio' disc includes four songs that have never been released in any form before, three of which are awesome, plus versions of some of B&S's best songs that are arguably better than the album versions, including a live acoustic version of "Lazy Line Painter Jane," one of my favourite songs of all time, that is every bit as good as the original in a completely different way. Then there is the second disc - a live show from 2001 in Dublin that dispells any notion for me that B&S are not capable of being a great live band. This was a treat, as the only previous live recording from them was a iTunes exclusive where they played the entire "If You're Feeling Sinister" album. It's good, but I was thrilled to get a live recording (yes, I like live recordings) that covered more of their widely varied catalogue."

My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
Kelly says, "Again, I love the band, and tend to like whatever they do. In my opinion, MMJ is becoming kind of like a straight-faced Ween - they seem to be able to play any genre and make it work. Highlights of this album, for me, were the geeklove balled "Librarian," the title track (which comes as close to a signature sound as you're going to get with MMJ), and the two-part freak out "Touch Me I'm Going to Scream." I love these guys because I have all of their albums, but I still never know what they're going to do next."

The Black Keys - Attack & Release
Kelly says, "I don't know much about these guys - Tyler told me I would like this, I loaded it up on my iPod, and I found that he was right. Just awesome, kick-ass, ball-rattling blues-rock. The White Stripes with higher fidelity and more instruments?"

Tyler says, "I first heard The Black Keys back in 2004. They played at Coachella when Buck and I went down. (Sidebar: Andrew always imagined that Duane and Jon were the Black Keys, and that even though they are musicians with instruments, Duane rocked the ones and twos in the band.) Anyhoo... Kelly assessment of The Black Keys as being the ballsy, bluesy cousins of The White Stripes is very accurate. I also made that connection back in the day. (I even made myself a split CD-R called The Big Come Up Behind Me Satan - a play on album titles by the two bands). Anyways, back to Attack & Release. This album is the album that got me listening to albums again. It's solid and interesting from start to finish, with each song feeling like it was supposed to come after the one before, and before the one after, if that makes any sense. This is a big bigger and more complex and more ethereal than their previous stuff, but it seems like a logical progression and it works well for them. Oh and Duane, it was produced by Danger Mouse. So there. Standouts: I Got Mine and Psychotic Girl."

Coldplay - Viva La Vida
Kelly says, "Certainly their best work since "A Rush of Blood to the Head," and perhaps their best album peroid. I know in ten years I will regard them with the same sort of "just go away" disdain that I do U2 now, but for the time being, I find them to be the most exciting mainstream band working in pop and rock. And yes, I know that's how you know that I'm gay."

Tyler says, "Damn you, Brian Eno. Before I'd heard anything other than Violet Hill and the title track, I accidentally read a review of this album and learned that stupid Brian Eno had his stupid U2 goggles on while producing this album. Thus when I downloaded the rest through iTunes, I couldn't help but hear that stupid Edge guitar sound. God, I hate that sound. Finger nails on a chalk board. Thankfully, after a dozen listens - Beck and I listened to it pretty much every morning for a month leading up to the show in Minneapolis - that faded to the background the brilliance of the record started to shine through (the show was frickin' great, by the way). Again, this is a little bit different than their previous ventures: it seems more theatrical, more bombastic...just bigger, I guess. And if you know me at all, you know I like the big sound - lots of instrumentation, complex orchestral arrangements, it's all good by me. Standouts: Lost (that Jay-Z remix or whatever you'd call it can die...in fact, everyone who was involved with putting that together can die...everyone) and Viva La Vida."

Flight of the Conchords - self-titled
Kelly says, "Their HBO show is fall-out-of-your-chair hilarious, and their songs are even better. You can't deny something this clever AND virtuosic (see: "Bowie" in which they duet with spot-on impressions of Bowie from different parts of his career, and seem to cover his entire ouevre, sonically, in a single song). This is the first time I have ever encountered a novelty band that I don't want to stop listening to, ever."

Kathleen Edwards - Asking For Flowers
Duane says, "While it's probably her worst album out of the three that she's put out, it still has good songs on it. It's mellower and more instrospective than her previous stuff, and there's not as much branching out in terms of using horns or other instrumentation on it. The best song is the one that I'm attaching here, I Make the Dough, You Get the Glory. How can you go wrong with a song that uses the lyric "You're the Great One and I'm Marty McSorley" in reference to a
comparison of lovers (which, if it wasn't sung by Ms. Edwards, would be kinda gay). So, it's a somewhat ambivalent recommendation for an Album of the Year, but I gots nuttin' else! Which is why you guys have to post some picks and send out songs..."

Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet - self-titled
Tyler says, "Beckie and I heard this for the first time in the car last March. We were listen to KICK FM. On Sunday mornings at 11, they have a show called E-town, which is a syndicated live folk/roots/bluegrass show based out of Colorado. We both just stopped talking and were completely captivated. First by Abigail's voice, so pure and sweet and with just enough twang to match the music, and then by the music itself, including the impossible banjo-picking of Mr. Bela Fleck. It was perfect and flawless. And that was live. The recording didn't quite have the same magic, but it was still pretty amazing. Standouts include A Fuller Wine, Captain, and Oh Me, Oh My. There are a couple or three song on the album too that are sung by Abigail in Mandarin Chinese. I mean, how cool is that. Contemporary, expansive bluegrass in Chinese. We also saw her and them at Folk Fest this year. Given that this was the worst Folk Fest for me in memory, their mainstage performance was far and away a highlight of the weekend."

The Very Best (Esau Mwamwaya & Radioclit) - self-titled
Tyler says, "I don't actually own this one yet, but I have all the songs as they've been released into blogland periodically for the last half of the year. Basically what you have here is this dude named Esau who is a rapper/singer from Malawi (now lives in London, UK) and a dude named Radioclit who is a producer/sampler from London. The first song I heard - which will likely be a standout track in my top ten of the past decade list - is called Get It Up and features samples from MIA and Santogold, and then Esau rapping and such in whatever language that is. There's something to be said for music that you can't understand. Plus, the fact that Radioclit really knows how to work with music that is already good! Anyways, this it just so interesting to me and it works so well, I can't get enough. Other standouts: Cape Kod Kwassa Kwassa (sampling Vampire Weekend) and Tengazako (sampling my favourite song of 2007 - MIA's Paper Planes) and Kamphopo (sampling Architecture In Helsinki)."

Novillero - A Little Tradition
Frank says, "The reason why this is one of my favourite releases of 2008 is right there in the album’s title. Novillero continues to create catchy melodies that are firmly rooted in 60s pop and soul traditions. What makes this album unique, though, is that unlike all of the current (mostly British) artists who have jumped on the 60s soul revival train, Novillero does not simply re-hash the old licks. They combine them with a thoroughly modern, indie-pop sensibility, proving that a little tradition, used tastefully, can go a long way.

Stand out tracks:

Track 2, A Little Tradition, has the strongest link to the Motown sound that infused “Aim Right for the Holes in Their Lives” in 2005. In spite of the absence of the great sax player used on The Hypothesist from that album (sorry, just had to get that in), A Little Tradition has terrific horn parts. The bridge section in particular has a horn line that takes you right back to the theme songs of any number of Quinn Martin cop shows from the 70s. This is a really addictive song.

Track 6, Daydreams and Distractions. Once again, Nathan’s Keri Latimer appears as a guest vocalist. Rod Slaughter clearly had her in mind for this song when he wrote it, and his outstanding lyric (life is depressing, think about something else) works perfectly with her voice. Like “Let’s Pull Over Here” from the last album, this tune has a really “60s French” feel to it. Don’t ask me what that means, I just know that when I hear Keri singing this song, I think of those black-and-white art films I used to watch on the French channel as a kid…the dialogue was lost on me, but the music stuck."

REM - Accelerate
Frank says, "I know what you’re thinking. I’m old, and the only reason I like REM is that I’ve been listening to them for 25 years and I’d like anything they did. You’re mostly right, but even I would admit that pretty much every REM release since “Monster” in the early 90s has been a major disappointment. That’s why I like Accelerate so much. It’s actually good! I would recommend this record to people who have never really listened to REM, and not worry that they might get the wrong impression. Stipe’s voice and lyrics are in top form throughout, and they have finally given Buck the green light to crank his amp back up and dust off his overdrive pedal.

Standout tracks:

Track 3, “Supernatural Superserious.” This is the closest thing to a radio-friendly pop song on the album. Great chorus.

Track 4, “Hollow Man.” Starts off all slow and piano-y, then cranks up the heat. Fantastic lyric, particularly for us middle-aged men trying to make ourselves relevant to somebody. Anybody.

Track 6, “Accelerate.” Just love that old school REM guitar-bass-drums groove."