Rock of '08

I could hem and haw over assembling my top ten 2008 albums list because there's something unheard I want to hear or something I would like to listen to again to determine slotting, but no one's paying that close attention. Just throw an order together and be done with it. After all, I expect this entry will be more useful to me than those reading it.

In 2008 I kept up with new music, particularly the highly buzzed about stuff, better than I did in other recent years. Part of it is attributable to the amazing access the internet provides to hearing the otherwise unfamiliar. As for the other reasons, who knows?

What I find interesting about this list is the preponderance of bands working in the classic rock motif. It could be Guitar Hero III's influence. Playing the video game may have reignited an interest in listening to the music that I got burned out on. Innovation can be exciting, but there's also something to be said for workmanlike excellence in established forms. I can have an ear for more adventurous music. In the end I'm probably drawn to what is based in and builds on tradition.

I was going to embed select tracks from each album, but I couldn't figure out how to format the player without the extra search and advertising add-ons. Instead, I've provided links.

1. Fleet Foxes Sun Giant EP and Fleet Foxes

Fleet Foxes' debut EP and album are pretty much inseparable in my mind. The exquisite harmonies and musicianship are thrilling. (Track: "White Winter Hymnal")

2. The Hold Steady Stay Positive

I'm finding that I'm more about the music than the lyrics. That's not what I used to think. In the case of The Hold Steady, though, the storytelling is a big part of the appeal. Set to swaggering, stomping rock, the lyrics are sad, funny, and as dense as literature. (Track: "Sequestered in Memphis")

3. Los Campesinos! Hold On Now, Youngster

Bratty seven-piece band spits out energetic bursts. Should be fun to see them live in about a month. (Track: "Death to Los Campesinos!")

4. My Morning Jacket Evil Urges

I'm not sure how My Morning Jacket escaped my attention until this year, but consider me a big fan now that I've caught up to them. One of the fun things about finding bands with a decent-sized discography is the joy of digging into their body of work. From what I've read online their latest is viewed as a disappointment compared to the staggering achievements of It Still Moves and Z, but listening to Evil Urges again, I'm reminded of how solid it is. The length may be daunting and the diversions into funk and AM Gold confusing, but it's an ambitious, familiar, and pleasurable listen. (Track: "Thank You Too!")

5. Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend

Fun, baroque pop with an Afro influence. Fine, they are just building off of Paul Simon, but innovation can be overvalued. (Track: "Campus")

6. TV on the Radio Dear Science

Going by most year-end lists, this is the trendy pick for album of the year. (Track: "Golden Age")

7. Kanye West 808s & Heartbreak

The music blogs would call this my obligatory hip hop album. I won't pretend that I keep up with that scene. (The only other new album I listened to this year that might qualify for that genre designation is Gnarls Barkley's The Odd Couple.) I'm a fan of Kanye, and this introspective album is an interesting shift from his outsized previous work. (The lack of slurs and swearing is also practically unheard of in hip hop.) I won't deny that there may be some nostalgia at work here, as the record has the sonic texture of 80s pop/R&B that I remember listening to at night when I probably should have been sleeping, but on its own merits 808s & Heartbreak is a fine contemporary pop album. (Track: "Paranoid")

8. The Raconteurs Consolers of the Lonely

The traditional blend of rock, blues, and country into one big, greasy mess won't be going anywhere as long as Jack White is around. (Track: "Many Shades of Black")

9. R.E.M. Accelerate

R.E.M. is one of my favorite bands of all-time, and I anticipated hearing their so-called return to form. After buying Accelerate I gave it a few spins, liked it in general, but sort of felt that there was a sameness through it that has also been on their more recently maligned albums. Later on I revisited it with fresh ears and ear buds. Listening to it more closely (rather than through a car sound system that isn't very good) revealed the melodies that drew me to them in the first place. (Track: "Supernatural Superserious")

10. Coldplay Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends

Sometimes big and popular is that way for a good reason. (Track: "Viva La Vida")

Since it was a robust concert-attending year for me, I figured I'd go ahead and rank the shows I saw. Placement at the lower end isn't necessarily indicative of quality. Someone has to be last.

I wrote at least a little about all of these concerts except for November's Marnie Stern gig at The Summit. For one thing, it started late, late, late at what looked like a hole in the wall near the Ohio State campus. (Only the street number identified the place.) Most of the concerts I went to were small--500 or fewer, with Radiohead and The Police obvious exceptions--but this was tiny, as in maybe 50 people. The opening acts played avant-garde stuff--knob-twiddling, atonal sound manipulation--that seemed fitting considering the setting. This was the sort of difficult music you might hear playing over the speakers at a trendy record store. It's not really my thing, but it did set an atmosphere. Stern's music is more melodic while still somewhat challenging. A half-hour blast of her finger-tapping guitar heroine skills was worth the low cover charge.

Concerts attended in 2008
1. Radiohead (opening act: Grizzly Bear) at Blossom Music Center
2. My Morning Jacket at The Lifestyle Communities Pavilion
3. Fleet Foxes at Mershon Auditorium-Black Box
4. St. Vincent at Mershon Auditorium-Black Box
5. Jens Lekman at Mershon Auditorium-Black Box
6. The Arcade Fire at Stuart's Opera House
7. Vampire Weekend at Mershon Auditorium-Black Box
8. The New Pornographers (opening act: Okkervil River) at Newport Music Hall
9. The Police (opening act: Elvis Costello) at Nationwide Arena
10. Ryan Adams and The Cardinals at The Palace Theatre
11. Marnie Stern at The Summit
12. Gnarls Barkley at Newport Music Hall