The Light at the End of the Tunnel: Top 25 Albums of 2008

Photo "Entry in the Wall of the Kremlin." by Rostov Velikii from the Prokudin-Gorskii Collection, 1911

It's that time of year - December is the time to count down the the top [insert number] [insert category] of [insert year]. Like, for instance, the Top 25 Albums of 2008. This wouldn't be a proper music blog if I didn't spend an entire month reviewing the best stuff I found this year with some kind of faux authority that comes with having the time and meager HTML skills necessary to publish this list. So I think we can assume that this list will be the final word on the subject of 2008's musical releases. In spite of the fact that I didn't hear most of the big releases of 2008 (sorry, Lil Wayne), and most of what I did hear actually fits into a Top 25 list. With a few exceptions that were so unremarkable that I don't want to write about them at all (sorry, Centro-matic and South San Gabriel and Futureheads). I'll summarize numbers 21-25 today and then each of the Top 20 releases will get an entry of their own. Here we go...

25. Robert Pollard Is Off to Business by Robert Pollard (Guided by Voices Inc.)
It's no secret that I'm a devotee of Guided by Voices - I have almost everything they ever released, as well as almost everything that their frontman Robert Pollard has released since he put his band to bed in 2004. So how does this album barely scrape it into my Top 25? For one thing, Pollard's solo albums lately have settled into a comfortable groove, so some of the thrill is gone. Pollard has friends that are willing to do 90% of the work on his solo albums, so all he has to do is send a demo of the song to his producer and collaborator Tim Tobias, who records all the instrumental tracks and brings Bob in to record the vocals at the end of the process. The result is a weird distance that you don't hear in Pollard's earlier works, when he was really in control of the project. Of the three new albums Pollard released this year under various guises, this one is not my favorite, so I'll write more about his superior 2008 release later this month.

24. Consolers of the Lonely by the Raconteurs (Warner Bros.)
The Raconteurs' second record is a fine release, showcasing their considerable blues-rock chops and pop songwriting. The White Stripes' Jack White and power-pop singer Brendan Benson collaborate here more seamlessly than on the first Raconteurs record, coming up with a sound that is more than the sum of its parts. Having said that, though, the album never really made much of an impression on me. It says something that the most memorable song on the album for me is a cover of Terry Reid's "Rich Kid Blues".

23. Mountain Battles by the Breeders (4AD)
I've been a fan of Kim Deal since her time with the Pixies, and I've enjoyed all the releases that her Breeders have put out since back when it was a side project with Belly's Tanya Donnelly. This album was a bit of a surprise to me, though. It has the weird sonics and great Deal sisters' vocals that you'd expect from a Breeders album, but it is an oddly moody set of compositions, and songs like "German Studies", "Istanbul", and "Regalame Esta Noche" come across as unsatisfying genre experiments with extraneous non-English lyrics. Maybe it's a set of songs meant to create a sense of restlessness, melancholy, and movement, but it adds up to an unfulfilling, too-disjointed listen.

22. Re-Arrange Us by Mates of State (Barsuk Records)
I admit that I bristle at reviews that say that the Mates of State have gotten boring. I know they the couple that makes up the Mates of State have a baby now and are in a more domestic headspace, but that shouldn't change their ability to make energetic, quirky pop songs. In 2003, The Mates of State released Team Boo, and I was surprised that it was not recognized as one of the best releases of that year, brimming with creative songwriting and pop hooks. Every song seemed to be three pop choruses crammed together without any discernible method, but this was what made the sound so refreshing. The truth is that the Mates' new record is too conventional - the melodies are still there, but the composition process has become too orderly, making for a record with eight good ideas in ten songs, where Team Boo had thirty-six good ideas in twelve songs. It's still a fine pop record, though, and I can't explain why I haven't given it more listens.

21. Parallel Play by Sloan (Yep Roc)
I really wanted to find a spot in the Top 20 for Parallel Play, but it got edged out at the last minute. Sloan is a classic power-pop band like the greats of the early '70s (Badfinger, Big Star, etc.) that all had more than one talented songwriter. Where most power-pop bands you see these days have a single figure shaping the band's sound, Sloan democratically shares writing duties across its four members. And there are some great tunes on this record, but drummer Andrew Scott's contributions don't come anywhere near his great songs from past albums. All four of his songs sound like failed genre experiments, particularly the cod-reggae sound of "Too Many", my least favorite album closer of the year. It's a solid album overall, but it's a disappointment after last year's revelatory Never Hear the End of It. Here's "Witch's Wand", a song that deserves to be on a Top-20-worthy album - sorry little pop song. You came really close.

"Witch's Wand" by Sloan