My 2008 Album Of The Year

In recent past years I had no trouble at all determining what album was my favorite.  Not so this year, and not so because everything was great.  I sort of found this year the year of just ok albums.  Nothing really absolutely blew my mind and I'm not sure there is one that will be a longtime listener.

However, maybe I've just been in a bad mood this year.

Austin's 2008 Album Of The Year

Lambchop Oh (Ohio) → I've always been a nutty fan of Lambchop , but for some reason everything since Nixon sort of left me a little cold.  Oh (Ohio) brought me back in.  I love Kurt Wagner 's voice and his lyrics.  Since this year was a year where no one album just jumped at me, this album becoming my pick can really be attributed to a single song.  Track #6 Sharing A Gibson With Martin Luther King Jr continues to haunt my ears.





Honorable Mentions (in no particular order)

• Beck - Modern Guilt
• The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
• Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
• The Roots - Rising Down
• Sun Kil Moon - April
• The Sea and Cake - Car Alarm
• The Walkmen - You & Me
• Black Francis - Svn Fngrs
• Q-Tip - The Renaissance

Austin's 2008 Anti Awards

Big Flame out

Vampire Weekend → This is an album that (like most everyone else) caught me like a fish hook and reeled me in hard.  Soon enough I was asking myself "Why am I listening to this?"  I burned it to a disc and threw it in a drawer somewhere just in case.  But I doubt is going to find its way out anytime soon.









Most Overrated



My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges → Again My Morning Jacket put an album out and again I tried to like My Morning Jacket.  I just cannot no matter how hard I try.  A lot of those I talk music with just loved Evil Urges, but to me it is just another My Morning Jacket album that I listed to several times in an attempt to see the point.

Biggest Disappointment

Calexico - Carried to Dust → Just how good was the output of Calexico from Feast of Wire backwards?  So good that they are still my most listened to artist according to Last.fm even though I can't stand their last two albums.  The Black Light continues to delight me and it is 10 years old now.  And while Carried To Dust is more enjoyable than Garden Ruin but it still just doesn't get me.







Fun Fact: According to last.fm the album released in 2008 that I listed to the most in the past 12 months has been Beck's Modern Guilt.