Top 10 Albums of 2008

I did it in 2004

2005

2006???

2007

It’s that time of the year again.

My Top 5 10 Albums of 2008!

I have decided that picking 5 this year was just too hard, so here’s 10 of my fav’s!

It’s been another great year of music. From the Electronic goodness of Cut Copy and MGMT to the Rockelicious  licks of The Living End and Cog, I feel that 2008 is probably going to be remembered for the domination of a little Sydney duo called The Presets.

They played in Washington DC a couple of times when I was over there and I didn’t ever catch them. I am regretting that now as they have become one of the biggest Aussie bands in ages.

2008 will probably also go down as the year that the ‘new’ Guns ‘n Roses album Chinese Democracy somehow finally got made, and then Axl Rose went missing. (Yes I bought it. How could I not??)

As far as touring bands went, my favourite gig of the year would have had to be seeing Rage Against the Machine at the Big Day Out in January. Just amazing to finally see them live after falling for them in my impressionable teens, and getting a potty mouth in the process.

So here it is, my 10 favourite albums of the year and why!

10. Gyroscope – Breed Obsession
This 11 year old Perth band blasted through the gates at the beginning of this year with Snakeskin which was actually in last years Hottest 100. I love their live show, which I have seen twice this year. My favourite on the album has to be All In On One which has a great hook and made me listen to the rest of their album. Unfortunately I have a feeling this album will be hard to top after it’s taken them a few tries to get this far, but here’s hoping they can stick around a while yet. I think they just have to stop taking themselves quite so serious as well. Lighten up fella’s!

9. Metallica – Death Magnetic
New albums from Metallica and Guns n’ Roses in the same year? What, are we back in 1991? Anticipation for the new Metallica release was probably just as big as the gunners hype, but the end result was worth the wait for these ageing rockers. The Day That Never Comes was the fist single I heard of this album and it’s 8 minute running time was enough to make me relax. Metallica are back. Let’s just delete Load, Reload and St. Anger from the annels of time and we have our Metallica back. There’s enough old school Metallica on this album to keep you going including All Nightmare Long, My Apocalpyse and Judas Kiss. The only song you really need to skip is Unforgiven III. What were they thinking?

8. Weezer – The Red Album
They are back! Not that they really went anywhere. Weezer just seem to pop up every year or 2 with another catchy, fun, rocking album. Troublemaker starts this album in tradition Weezer fashion. Would you call it Pop-Rock? Alt-Rock? Grunge-Rock? They have never really departed from their grungey early 90’s roots. Their roots are even documented in the cute little tune, Heart Songs.
“Back in 1991/I wasn’t havin’ any fun/Till my roommate said/Come on and put a brand new record on/Had a baby on it/He was naked on it/Then I heard the chords/That broke the chains/I had upon me”
Pork & Beans, Everybody get Dangerous. 2 more songs that really put this song in my favs of the year. Check it out. Tell me you don’t smile!

7. The Herd – Summerland
As soon as Howard and his reign of terror ended in this country I eagerly awaited the next ‘Herd’ album. Being the political beast that they are I expected something punishing and we got it with The King is Dead. That song is probably in my Top 10 of the year, but it’s not just the parochial soap-box songs (ie. 20/20) that make an impression on this album. I loved Zug Zug and Toorali. The premier Hip Hop troupe in this country keep plugging on and with the inclusion of Jane Tyrrell on vocals makes them all the stronger in my opinion.

6. Jack Johnson – Sleep Through the Static
Have you ever been lying by a pool in Mexico soaking in the ozone covered rays intoxicated with beer, tequila and sunburn whilst listening to Jack Johnson on your iPod? Well, my friend, you are missing out. There is NO better sun soaking, beer drinking, chillaxing music than our Hawaiian friend Jack Johnson and this album is no different. I love the title track, and even though a lot of his songs seem to blur into one after a while, there is a distinct feeling that this man just doesn’t give a crap. He’ll be happy to keep doing what he’s doing whilst surfing and living it up with his bucket of money in Hawaii. I mean, damn, I would.

5. Cog – Sharing  Space
When I was invited to see Cog live earlier this year I wasn’t expecting a whole heap. I didn’t really know their first album that well, and I had never really thought about seeing them before. I went along not expecting too much, but I was BLOWN AWAY. I immediately got their first album, played it to death and then yearned for the new stuff. Their 2008 effort just blows their debut out of the water in my opinion, but that’s not saying their first effort wasn’t great as well.  Get this. The opening song, No Other Way,  goes for 10 minutes, but not once are you hoping for it to end. Then you get pelted with Are You Interested?, What If and Bird of Feather before you even get to take a breath. Man it’s good, and seriously, see them live if you can. I just hope they don’t wait another 3 years for the next one.

4. Cut Copy – In Ghost Colours
Electronic music was something that infiltrated my iPod a lot this year. Cut Copy is something that slithered into my head more and more as the year went on, culminating with seeing their show at Trackside last month. Heart on Fire woke me up to this album, but there are so many more great tunes that gnaw away into your head the more you listen to it. When I saw them live, I saw people with their hands up dancing away that I never thought would dance. They just get you moving like that. Unfortunately for Cut Copy, they have been in the shadow of The Presets for much of 2008, but they have combined to make this year a great one for nerdy electronic keyboardists.

3. The Living End – White Noise
The Australian music scene would have mourned the passing of this great band if they’d gone through with their splitting up before producing this album. Don’t get me wrong, I have loved every Living End album that has been made, but this one stands out above the last couple as a Rock n’ Roll masterpiece. They still have the ability to rock out with every song they write. Solid writing, amazing musicianship (Chris Cheney has been voted Australia’s best axe-man) and never taking themselves too seriously make The Living End endearing to the Australian public. White Noise has been their flagship song of 2008, but seriously Raise the Alarm and Moment in the Sun are superior songs and are probably up there with some of their debut album stuff. You’ll even hear a Billy Joel-esque ranting tune (a’la We Didn’t Start the Fire) in 21st Century. Top stuff!

2. The Presets – Apocalypso
What can be said about 2008 for The Presets. They smashed through the commercial radio and tv barrier with My People which was nowhere near their greatest song on this album. They probably even got under people’s skin with that song, but you just had to listen to This Boy’s in Love and Yippyo-ay to discover how good these guys yet. I didn’t even believe the DJ’s on JJJ when they were sucking the cocks of Julian and Kim earlier in the year, but once you put this album on repeat for a week or so you’ll figure it out. I even got my daughter singing along to them after 10 minutes in the car!

1. MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
I already went on about these guys earlier in the year, but they were worthy of it. For me, 2008 was the year of MGMT. Don’t get me started on the fact I couldn’t get tickets to see them TONIGHT. *Sigh*. If you don’t know who they are, they are from New York, they fiddle on keyboards but play with a full band in concert. They have a distinctive sound that may turn you off at first, but just listen a little more. Listen to the layers and the sounds that they mix together. Listen to Time to Pretend and tell me it’s not a great song. Listen to the piercing keyboards on Kids and tell me you don’t hum that tune in your head all day. Then there’s Electric Feel which is best played in a dark room very very loud. Dang. Why didn’t I pay $150 for an ebay ticket tonight??

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There you have it, my top 10 albums of 2008. Honourary mentions have to go to Josh Pyke for his new opus Chimney’s Afire,  The Raconteurs (Saboteurs in Australia) for Consolers of the Lonely, The Ting Tings for We Started Nothing, The Grates for Hearts Lost, Teeth Won and the Kings of Leon for Only By the Night.

Unfortunately Chinese Democracy just misses out.

Maybe next time Axl….

My Top 5 Albums of 2007

I did it in 2004.

I did it in 2005.

What happened to 2006? I was so slack.

Not to worry. It’s time for Micks’ Top 5 Albums of 2007!

I have relished being back in the country and listening to all of the new stuff that has come out this year.

So many good song, artists and albums, proven by the list of nominations for the J Award post.

But there can be only 5, so with no further ado and in no particular order, here are Mick’s Top 5 Albums of 2007:

Regurgitator – Love & Paranoia
I am unable to hide my love for this band. Any new album they release become an instant favourite and this one was no different. They push the boundaries, they make it fun and they make you dance like no other. The inclusion of a female voice (and keyboardist) on this album gave it that something extra that made it even more refreshing to see The Gurge kicking on in 2007

Foo Fighters – Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace
It’s rare for a band to produce hit after hit after hit, but the Fooeys can do just that. I seriously can not think of one Foo Fighters song that I dislike. This album seriously blows any other Rock album out of the water. ‘The Pretender’ is easily one of my songs of the year and the texture of the album works from start to finish. Can’t wait to see them perform this live in May and already can’t wait for their next release.

Midnight Juggernauts – Dystopia
The ‘Juggers’ have taken Australia by storm and soon, the world. I like to call it ‘Cosmic Dance’. They have a great feel to their music as it is melodic, rhythmic but also able to put you in a trance. I forget that they are Australian sometimes because it sounds like something you’d hear from The Chemical Brothers or Mody. They are ours and deserve all the international accolades they get.

Klaxons – Myths of the Near Future
When Triple J started playing Golden Skans earlier this year I thought, “Who the Hell are Klaxons?”. I’m sure lots of others thought the same thing. They have produced this cracker of a little album, that not only scored them the coveted Mercury Music Prize in the UK, but also a sell out tour of Australia, (plus a broken leg for the lead singer). Here’s hoping they manage to follow-up this album with something equally as fun, but I can tell you first hand they are a talented bunch when they put themselves to it and well worth listening to.

Josh Pyke – Memories & Dust
It started with the cute, almost novelty like, ‘Middle of the Hill’ in 2006, but Josh Pyke is so much more than a novelty. This album is tender, exquisite, full of love and fun. It has easily had the most plays in my iTunes out of any album in 2007. That doesn’t mean it’s necessarily my favourite, but it means that I have been in the mood to listen to Josh more than any other band in this list. Why? Because he speaks to me and in the end that is one of the biggest talents a singer/songwriter can have.

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There we have it. It was a bloody hard choice, but these 5 definitely stand out for me this year. I thought about doing 10 this year. I have included The Editors, Kaiser Chiefs, John Butler Trio and The Shins. There were so many good albums!

What are yours?

Frivolous Friday – Top 25 Albums of the Last 25 years

I like that. Frivolous Friday. No-one wants to work on Fridays. We all know this.

So, thanks to LaLa, here’s a little SMH  music survey to wile away some time

My choices are:

1982 – Thriller, Michael Jackson (Well, it is still one of the best albums of ALL time)

1983 – 1999, Prince (Prince and Jacko were IT when I was 7)

1984 – Stoneage Romeos, Hoodoo Gurus (Amazing First Album from these classic Aussie Rockers. The Yanks still love it)

1985 – The Dream Of The Blue Turtles, Sting (First solo album. Lots of great hits. Good pedigree)

1986 – Raising Hell, Run DMC (It’s Tricky! I didn’t know what real rap was until I heard that)

1987 – Appetite For Destruction, Guns ‘n’ Roses (A no-brainer, although it’s a good year for albums. I loved Sign O’ The Times too)

1988 – It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back, Public Enemy (Pretty crap selection, but You gotta love the Flav!)

1989 – Straight Outta Compton, N.W.A. (Rap galore. It was tight between this and Paul’s Boutique. Fuck Da Police gets them over the lin)

1990 – The Good Son, Nick Cave (My First experience with Nick Cave. Many more to come)

1991 – Nevermind, Nirvana (Cliche it may be, but it’s an album that helped shape my life)

1992 – Automatic For The People, R.E.M. (I jumped on the R.E.M. bandwagon after this, along with the rest of the planet. ‘Drive’ is still my favourite R.E.M. song ever)

1993 – The Honeymoon Is Over, The Cruel Sea (Beasts of who? This was my first taste of Tex. I listened to this album a LOT)

1994 – Grace, Jeff Buckley (He may be a whiny and he may be dead, but I guess this album is good. I must admit, I have never been a big fan. I nearly voted for Portishead, but Grace has had more of an impact)

1995 – Hi Fi Way, You Am I (Screw Radiohead, this album is classic. Cathy’s Clown, Purple Sneakers, Jewels and Bullets. Love it)

1996 – Hourly Daily, You Am I (Double award for Tim Rogers! Mr Milk, Good Mornin’, Soldiers. Wow they have a lot of cool songs)

1997 – The Boatman’s Call, Nick Cave (Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Even though he’s hardly ever here. Such a beautiful album)

1998 – Moon Safari, Air (They French. They smooth. They sexy (boy). This music started getting me into more electronica stuff)

1999 – Play, Moby (An amazing album. Porcelain is still one of my favourite songs ever)

2000 – Odyssey Number 5, Powderfinger – (By this stage the Brissy boys were well on their way to Australian rock legend status. Awesome album)

2001 – Is This It?, The Strokes (These youngsters came out of nowhere to give us this bit of slap and tickle and introduce us to NY garage rock)

2002 – Strange Bird, Augie March (Before Moo, You Bloody Choir, we had this one. It’s good. Listen to it)

2003 – Speakerboxx/The Love Below, Outkast (Sometimes double albums work well. Sometimes they work amazingly. This one was outstanding. Best thing they will ever do)

2004 – Chutes Too Narrow, The Shins (They make some beautiful music these boys. Whoever picked these songs has a thing for soulful music. . . Not that there’s anything wrong with that)

2005 – Illinois, Sufjan Stevens (I listened to this a lot in the States. Not only is ‘Chicago’ a fantastic song, this whole album is perfect for a lazy Sunday, but it’s pretty strange in parts..)

2006 – Moo, You Bloody Choir, Augie March (Yeah! I totally missed this album when I was away last year, but picked it up when I got back. Good stuff!)

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Ok, so this guy’s taste is a little strange and not very mainstream, but hey, neither am I.

I think I’d rather go through and work out my own favourite albums from the last 25 years myself.

But that would take time….and effort, and is not very frivolous.

Enjoy your Friday 🙂