Best Albums of 2008

It's just occured to me that, despite the fact that another year has passed, we have not had any 'best of 2008' threads. To be honest I don't think it has been a particularly exciting year for music (feel free to disagree) and in fact 2008 was perhaps the year for games over anything else (I'm sure video game developers' bank balances must agree with this!) but I thought I would mention a few albums (not going to do a list though) that I've rather enjoyed that came out in the year 2008.

British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?

Their first album was a noisy almost unimpenetrable mess; obviously it is one of my favourite albums of all time, capturing what I love about early Pixies yet being quite wonderfully British about it all. Their second album was more Bossanova-era Pixies: slices of perfect indie pop, much more accessible but nonetheless losing some of the spark that their debut had. The third album however manages to juggle both these elements, and is all the better for it, even if they now sound like a British version of The Arcade Fire.

Songs to download: Lights Out For Darker Skies (hell yes); Waving Flags

The Fall - Imperial Wax Solvent

When you listen to The Fall, you will have one of two reactions: you will either think 'what the hell?????' or you will think 'what the hell??? (but this is brilliant). It's really a rather difficult task to try and describe their sound, beause their ringleader Mark E. Smith, a disgruntled character from Salford whom I would least like to meet in a dark alleyway, has made a career out of being different and managing to upset everyone from gormless 4music presenters to the RSPCA. Imperial Wax Solvent opens with 'Alton Towers', a carnival-esque aural freakshow about...something, and it can only get better from there. Perhaps not the best Fall album to listen to as a first choice (I would recommend their post-punk 70s debut Live at the Witch Trials or 2005's downright catchy and partially sane Fall Heads Roll) but for the brave of heart it's definitely worth a shot and is one of the few albums that came out in 2008 that I'm still playing.

Songs to download: Wolf Kidult Man; Strange Town; Can Can Summer

Fleet Foxes - Sun Giant EP / Fleet Foxes

More or less inevitable; this and their self-titled LP are my 'album of the year' without question. Dreamy folky pop with incredible guitar playing, incredible songwriting and some dreamy, dreamy vocal harmonies. Brian Wilson, who's he??? Forced to choose between the two I would personally go for the EP, as I think the songs are stronger but there are some absolute crackers on the LP too. Not very 'rock and roll' (I think the only similarity between these guys and The Fall is that they both have an 'F' in their names) but for someone who doesn't need their music to be an aural equivalent of a smack in the face these guys are well worth checking out.

Songs to download: Drops In The River; Mykonos / White Winter Hymnal; He Doesn't Know Why

Honourable Mentions:
Antony and the Johnsons - Another World EP: if you thought Antony needed to cheer up, this EP is proof that he was just having you on, pessimist that you are; bodes extremely well for the album out later this month.
Imelda May - Love Tattoo: everybody loves rockabilly right? Stunning voice and some very classy tracks--the opener 'Johnny Got A Boom Boom' is one of my favourite tracks from this year. A little uneven to recomend wholeheartedly, but if you're a sucker for a pretty girl with a voice to match as I am then you could do much worse.
Martha Wainwright - I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too: best album title of 2008 hands down. As above, fantastic voice though much of this doesn't do very much for me; I prefer foul-mouthed laying her soul bare Martha of the debut album. When this album is good though, it's very good.

Controversial Honourable Mentions:
Metallica - Death Magnetic: if you hate them you'll hate this. However on its own terms it's a bloody good heavy metal album, one of the few albums that clocks in at over 70 minutes that flashes by in what seems like 40.
Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy: I just put this in for a laugh.
Adele - 19: Very controversial this one I guess. To my ears a case of talented young singer-songwriter gets moulded into pop superstar and sounds rather uncomfortable. Singles are horrible (Chasing Pavements, Cold Shoulder) but when it's just her and her acoustic (or piano on the rather lovely Bob Dylan cover 'Make You Feel My Love') she shines.