KEY POINTS:
Drum roll (and guitar and bass) please, it's TimeOut's top albums of 2008
1 FLEET FOXES
Fleet Foxes
(Sub-pop)
There's still nowt stranger than folk. Well folk-rock the way this bunch of beardy Seattle 20-somethings delivered it on this, their utterly beguiling and largely home-recorded debut.
It was a record which created its own beautifully rugged landscape while sometimes sounding like a freaked-out backwoods Beach Boys with their four-part harmonies and lilting tunes.
They sang songs suggesting they might be outdoors types - tracks with
titles like White Winter, Ragged Wood, Blue Ridge Mountains - but the lyrics hinted at an unease about what might be out there, especially on the chilling Oliver James.
Fleet Foxes might have evoked a musical past which ties together ye olde
English pastoralism with the West Coast sweetness of Crosby, Still Nash and Young. But this was an album that didn't sound like a throwback, just a timeless and ready-made classic. They play here early next month, too. (RB)
2 TV ON THE RADIO
Dear Science
(4AD)
Third album Dear Science may have been the New York quintet's most cohesive and sane record yet, but it was still eccentric in the extreme as it moved from the churning intensity of Halfway Home, to the politically-charged Funkadelic-meets-Prince of Golden Age, to the beauty of Family Tree. This oddball collective will be worth checking out at the Big Day Out next month to see how they recreate their sound live. (SK)
3 BON IVER
For Emma, Forever Ago
(Jagjaguwar)
The second great backwoods record of the year was this spare bleak
beauty of an album by nu-folkie Bon Iver - aka Justin Vernon - who recorded the heart-bruised ethereal songs in a Wisconsin cabin in between hunting trips. Yet more proof that it's the quiet ones you have to watch and no, no relation to Bon Jovi. (RB)
4 DUFFY
Rockferry
(Rough Trade)
Welsh singer Duffy was painted as the next Amy Winehouse, or the new
Dusty Springfield. Surprisingly, she lived up to the hype, delivering a
captivating collection of smooth 60s-inspired soul. The record was full of soaring strings and Motown brass but the highlight was Duffy's pure, yet sultry, voice. (JH)
5 PAUL WELLER
22 Dreams
(Shock)
Having fallen into a rut in past years, Britrock's modfather confounded
expectations with this magical mystery tour of a record. Despite its double-album embracing more musical styles than the chameleonic Weller had managed in his entire career, it still delivered some of his strongest songs since his Jam days among its urges to rip up his own
rulebook. (RB)
6 OPETH
Watershed
(Roadrunner)
More than just a metal masterpiece. Watershed was more akin to a work of art in seven movements played by five, flailing, long-haired Swedes. In their 18-year reign Opeth have constantly pushed forward metal, and music as a whole, with equal doses of flamboyance and brutality.
From the sweet and soppy serenades of opener Coil, to the demented harpsichord on The Lotus Eater, to the vicious death metal of Heir Apparent, Watershed lived up to its name. (SK)
7 NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS
Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
(Mute)
On Grinderman, Nick Cave's torrid 2007 side project, music's high-kicking storyteller got a lot of venom out of his system. As a result, the Bad Seeds' 14th album made for a - mostly - rollicking good time as it moved from the catchy chain-gang singalong of the title track, to the beauty and dark tranquillity of Night of the Lotus Eaters, to the lustful Hold Onto Yourself. Perhaps Cave summed up the album best on Today's Lesson as he sang: "We're going to have a real cool time ... tonight." (SK)
8 ERYKAH BADU
New Amerykah: Part One (World War 4)
(Universal)
Dallas-born Badu is not the most prolific of artists but on New Amerykah she fired up her creativity and ventured away from her trademark hip-hop soul style to tackle something more adventurous and imposing. While the gorgeous and bitterly honest Me showed she could still be a soul sister, it's the sinister moments of The Cell and the spooky and hypnotic mantra of The Healer, which gave this album clout and power. (SK)
9 SIGUR ROS
Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust
(EMI)
Not that anyone thought it was possible, Iceland's favourite sons sat down and wrote some tunes for their fifth album instead of trotting out more of those glacial slabs of beautiful noise they made their name
on. Gobbledigook proved the band's most tuneful and lively song yet. Elsewhere though it was more traditionally majestic moments like Festival, which ended in a blissful storm of percussion. (SK)
10 MGMT
Oracular Spectacular
(Columbia)
The Brooklyn electronic rock of Ben Goldwasser and Andrew Vanwyngarden
delivered a kaleidoscopic wonder of a debut which warped pop history to their own weird whims. It took in everything from Flaming Lips-ish psychedelia to the falsetto funk of breakthrough single Electric Feel and a lot more besides. (RB)
11 NE-YO
Year of the Gentleman
(Def Jam)
Taking time out from writing hits for Beyonce and Rihanna, Ne-Yo
delivered the R 'n' B album of the year with this collection of smooth club jams and subtle piano ballads. With cascading choruses and restrained string sections, Ne-Yo proved it's possible to slow things down without drowning in sap. (JH)
12 LUKE BUDA
Vesuvius
(Arch Hill)
With a dollop of classic but lost 60s pop, lashings of wry humour, 70s choruses and enjoyably lush production, this second solo album from the Phoenix Foundation member had an enjoyably uplifting quality rare in
local music. Shadows when you look for them, but mostly sunshine on a rainy day. (GR)
13 TEDDY THOMPSON
A Piece of What You Need
(Verve)
With a sexual languor and melodies that flowed with their own internal logic, this son of singer-songwriters Richard and Linda delivered open-
hearted pop, astute humour and intelligent lyrics which sat easily between Crowded House, alt-country and the Broadway stage. (GR)
14 BLACK KIDS
Partie Traumatic
(Almost Gold)
Blending indie rock with disco pop, industry newcomers Black Kids
burst onto the music scene with their silly lyrics and serious guitar
riffs. Produced by Suede's Bernard Butler, the record had a surprising
Bri-pop flavour for an American band. Full of fuzzy guitars and squelchy
keyboards, the delightfully chaotic record remained the party soundtrack of the year. (JH)
15 THE LAST SHADOW PUPPETS
The Age of Understatement
(Island)
Comprised of Arctic Monkey Alex Turner and The Rascals' Miles Kane,
The Last Shadow Puppets was an ambitious side project on which the
pair shared vocal duties, accompanied by a full, soaring orchestra.
Deliciously grandiose, the album's high-drama pop belonged on the big
screen, speeding alongside Bond in an Aston Martin. (JH)
16 LYKKE LI
Youth Novels
(LL Recordings)
Hailing from the land of Sigur Ros and El Perro del Mar, Lykke Li has emerged as the latest Scandinavian dreampop maestro. Built on simple piano melodies and guitar rhythms, her music relied on her unique voice
and bold, often peculiar, percussion to capture and captivate her audience. (JH)
17 ELI PAPERBOY REED AND THE TRUE LOVES
Roll With You
(Shock)
Carelessly dismissed by some as a copyist, this soulful R 'n' B and hard-hitting white-boy blues singer from Boston learned in black clubs and not only channelled the spirit of Wilson Pickett, Motown, Otis and the rest but brought something of his own to the table. This isn't
American Idol but the Real Thing. (GR)
18 SJD
Dayglo Spectres
(Round Trip Mars/ Universal)
Auckland electro-wiz songwriter Sean James Donnelly's fifth album delivered a funkier, punchier set than its acclaimed predecessors. On a record that is quite madly 80s around the edges, SJD deepened the grooves without losing his singular songcraft, best heard on the brilliant Baby You're Oh So which came on like the Beach Boys being set upon by Kraftwerk's robots. (RB)
19 THE TING TINGS
We Started Nothing
(Sony BMG)
Rising from obscurity, this British two-piece launched a non-stop pop assault on the world with their debut album of indelible pop. Combining stomping, hand-clapped rhythms with nonsensical lyrics and a touch of whimsy, The Ting Tings' quickly ensured everyone knew their name. (JH)
20 COLDPLAY
Viva La Vida
(EMI)
England's biggest band touted this one as their blueprint-ripper-upper. But while it stopped short of being a revolutionary as their new dress code, it still held some surprises among Chris Martin's latest set of
mile-wide melodies on a set of largely epic songs showing big could still be beautiful. (RB)
21 THE RACONTEURS
Consolers of the Lonely
(XL)
When he wasn't doing this year's Bond theme or guesting in that Rolling
Stones concert movie, White Stripes mainman Jack White had time to deliver another highly enjoyable album with his other band, a rollicking rifferama of a record which offered large knowing nods to Led Zeppelin among other classic rock touchstones. (RB)
22 METALLICA
Death Magnetic
(Universal)
The best return-to-form record of the year. After the clangy mess of St Anger, Metallica went back to its 80s heyday, meaning Death Magnetic has everything from unbridled Kill Em All thrash to the prog-metal tendencies of ... And Justice For All, but with a modern-day polish. (SK)
23 COLLAPSING CITIES
Elixir Always
(Pastel Pistol)
The Auckland quartet's debut album conjures up rock 'n' roll you can dance to. With a devilish and dry sense of humour they spitted tacks at all those who are too cool for school. Odd, noisy, and ass-shakingly catchy, Elixir Always was the local indie rock album of the year. (SK)
24 LADI6
Time Is Not Much
(Question/Rhythmethod)
While another local lady, Pip Brown (aka Ladyhawke), scored some of
the year's catchiest singles, it was Ladi6 who produced the stand-out album. Four or so years in the making, this is the hip-hop soul diva's long-awaited solo outing, and at first it seems a little inoffensive. But songs like the loping Walk Right Up and steely Jacknife reveal it as one of those summer albums you will keep going back to. (SK)
25 SHIHAD
Beautiful Machine
(Warner)
The seventh Shihad album was the most accessible and, as a result, most successful album yet for New Zealand's premier rock band who turned 20
this year. They sure have come a long way from the industrial assault of early-90s debut Churn. But thankfully, not too far, because even though songs like Beautiful Machine had more of a gallop than a groove, and the synthesiser took a more central role, it still sounded and rocked like Shihad. (SK)
26 LIL WAYNE
Tha Carter III
(Cash Money/Universal)
While he's armed with an ego, Kanye West would be jealous of, the best thing about the southern rapper is he doesn't take himself too seriously and on his sixth album he had the lyrics, cheeky personality and ingenious beats to pull it off. So step inside Doctor Carter's surgery to be entertained by "the best rapper alive". (SK)
27 ROBERT FORSTER
The Evangelist
(EMI)
Happy-in-a-sad-kind-of-way song of the year? Probably It Ain't Easy, the poignant eulogy Forster offered to a melody his Go-Betweens songwriting partner Grant McLennan wrote before his passing. The rest of the album was just as captivating with the ever-
erudite Forster in fine form as he closes the book on his late, great, Australian indie band. (RB)
28 JENNY LEWIS
Acid Tongue
(Rough Trade)
The second solo album by the frontwoman of Rilo Kiley was no lonely singer-songwriter affair but a stylistically diverse set of songs - from chamber pop to White Stripes blues-rock to gothic country and back again - all centred on Lewis's scathingly bitter words and sweet voice. (RB)
29 THE BUG
London Zoo
(Ninja Tune/Border)
This year's dubstep kingpin and the scene's cross-over representative is Kevin Martin (aka The Bug). London Zoo delved into his menacing musical past, combining the sonic terror of his God and Techno Animal projects alongside the warped and wonderful futurism of dubstep. (SK)
30 BECK
Modern Guilt
(DGC)
Beck's eighth album was short, to the point, and had the most bounce the rogue music maker has had in years, which probably had a lot to do with co-producer, Gnarls Barkley mastermind, Dangermouse. While he's dealt with everything from the big guy in the sky to war, it was never heavy going because of the off-kilter beats, laid-back grooves, and cunning
instrumentation. (SK)
(SK) Scott Kara, (JH) Joanna Hunkin, (RB) Russell Baillie, Graham
Reid (GR)