2008 was a very strong year for my kind of music. at least 5 albums stand out as future "go to" albums for years to come. in addition to the albums listed below, which were released in 2008 proper, there were a number of artists i ocd'd on in 2008 that weren't eligible - EELS, bob schneider, jimmy eat world standing out the most - but they deserve mention because they shaped so much of my musical year. their inclusion indicates that 2008 was the year i allowed myself to ocd on the non-alt country band. also desrving mentions are local artists collin herring and doug burr, whose myspace sites i probably visited 100 times during work hours. so with all the qalifying out of the way, here are my top 10 albums of 2008:
1. conor oberst - self titled
folks, he is the new master. it's as simple as that. he gets a bad rap from snobs, but if you look at it objectively, he's writing songs as good as anyone these days. this record dances from folk to rock to folk rock to country. it's near perfect.
2. my morning jacket - evil urges
the luster was lost a bit as summer turned to fall, probably just because i had listened to it so much. but no record made me boogie as much as this one in 2008, and their sweaty concert in august was just epic.
3. hayes carll - trouble in mind
let's hear it for the redneck! hayes is a modern day south texas troubadour, which you would know just by listening to his voice. he doesn't hide it, either. great old-schol honky tonk with occassional rock undertones.
4. kathleen edwards - asking for flowers
mrs mol jr's #1 makes my top 4. the canadian chick writes like one of the boys, and probably drinks like one of them too. her obsession with tom petty is obvious, throw in a little pedal steel and you're ready to roll.
5. okkervil river - the stand ins
hyper-literate indie rockers from austin are as good at penning hooks as they are decemberist-esque story lyrics. they somehow channel 80s retro pop and 90's alt country not just on the same album, but sometimes on the same song.
6. counting crows - saturday nights and sunday mornings
their return to prominence. they ditched the awkward keyboard experiments for straight ahead rock with an occasional nod to 70s nashville soul, even though that doesn't exist.
7. Mudcrutch - self titled
petty's high school band reunites after 30 years. the breezy central florida/southern california country-rock is as easy to listen to as it probably was to make.
8. REM - accelerate
they amped up the distortion and michael stipe sounds pissed off. perfect.
9. old 97's - blame it on gravity
alt-country standards turned out an east dallas gem that doesn't deliver a "murder or a heart attack", but doesn't really ever go wrong, either.
10. ryan adams - cardinology
alt-country standard turns out a lower manhattan gem that doesn't deliever a "come pick me up", bt doesn't really ever go wrong, either.
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