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Unsung Forum » Your albums of the year |
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Popel Vooje 5373 posts |
Dec 16, 2008, 00:29
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Dog 3000 wrote: What's Fuck Buttons? Imagine Boards of Canada buggering Kraftwerk in an aircraft hanger, played through a knackered old fuzzbox and listened to with tinnitus. http://www.myspace.com/fuckbuttons
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Fitter Stoke 2614 posts |
Edited Dec 20, 2008, 15:14
Dec 20, 2008, 15:10
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For me, 2008 has been the year of Steve Winwood, the eternally-young genius providing my greatest musical thrills both live and on record. His 'Nine Lives' shows him doing what he does best: prime R&B (in the old, correct sense of that term) based songs itching with infectious licks and those perfect, perfect vocals. And he has a fabulous band backing him. I've also really enjoyed the latest Wedding Present album proper - 'El Rey' - and its sister mini-album 'How The West Was Won'. Okay, so those guitars might not blister as before, but they still deliver a punch and hey, David Gedge is pushing fifty. More importantly, there's an increased subtlety and hidden power to his songs these days that really slays me. Great stuff. Ian Gillan released a fine double live album this year in 'Live in Anaheim', a selection of mostly forgotten songs from his IGB, Gillan and Purple years performed by a superb scratch band occasionally augmented by esteemed guests like Jeff Healey (RIP), Ronnie Dio and Lars Ulrich. The man himself mightn't quite have the chops and range of his twenties (how could he?) but the enthusiasm, love and good humour evident in every track more than compensates. To be honest, I'd far rather this than the technically slick but often cold and soulless products that have come out under the Purple name in recent years. Another old rocker really did exactly what was said on the tin in 'Along Came A Spider', wherein Alice Cooper returned to the epic psycho-concept album format that helped make his name all those decades ago - and in style. There's an impressive array of musical styles and thrills on this record. Hope he tours it next year; Van der Graaf Generator made a very low-key (in the context of unpromoted) return with 'Trisector', a real slow-burner of an album with an impressively contemporary - even commercial (!) - edge, with short, punchy songs taking the place of the symphonic epics of yore. I was less than impressed at first, but every time I've returned to this record more of its charms have been revealed. Compilation wise, I love the new Kinks box as much for for educating me in the hidden joys of the band's unsung 70's and 80's output as the obvious genius of the 60's stuff, and really enjoyed Barclay James Harvest's 'After The Day' collection of Radio 1 sessions. Stand-out classical releases for me were Andrew Manze's refreshingly pointed and dynamic 'Eroica', John Eliot Gardiner's imaginative juxtaposition of Brahms first symphony with lesser known choral works by Brahms and Mendelssohn, and the finest recording of Brahms' lovely Horn Trio I've ever heard by Isabelle Faust, Teunis van der Zwart and Alexander Melnikov. All are available as cheap downloads from eMusic if you're curious. All told, not a bad year.
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Spaceship mark 1686 posts |
Dec 20, 2008, 15:12
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IanB wrote: Spaceship Mark - The Long Walk West (track) Oh! FANX!!!!! Glad I provided a highlight... :-)
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damienyouth 5 posts |
Dec 21, 2008, 02:34
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Let’s see ... what have I been digging on... Of coarse, JC's new LP is strange & mad fab as we've grown to expect. Others in no particular order. 1) Barry Adamson -- Back to the Cat! 2) Firewater-The Golden Hour 3) The Last Shadow Puppets-The Age Of The Understatement 4) Man Man-Rabbit Habits 5) Pete and the pirates -Little Death 6) XX Teens-Welcome To Goon Island 7) Bryan Scary-Flight Of The Knife 8) Vampire Weekend-Vampire Weekend (Does this make me a hipster?) 9) Matt Elliott- Howling Songs 10) Louis XIV- Slick Dogs And Ponies Honorable nods to: The Black And Whites-Directions To See A Ghost (Keeping the late 70’s Ramones sound genetics alive) Kelley Stoltz-Circular Sounds (Tapping into some Kinks Village Green goodness.) The Helio Sequence-Keep Your Eyes Ahead Half Man Half Biscuit-CSI: Ambleside (Yes, they’re still at it & quite good!) Dirty Pretty Things-Romance At Short Notice Clinic-Do It! (If you wanna know what it would sound like if Mickie Dolenz was strung out on heroin & being backed by the Velvets. . .This may quench that.) British Sea Power-Do You Like Rock Music? the Black Keys-Attack & Release This also seemed to be the year that so many old forgotten types put out new albums. Uriah Heep... Alice Cooper... Asia!!? Van der Graaf Generator.... (Great!) Sparks... .James... The Blow Monkeys... Who’s paying these people? I’ll add, for me, this really wasn’t a good year for albums. There were some fab songs. . . But not so many full albums.
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riverman 845 posts |
Dec 21, 2008, 10:32
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Grails - Doomsdayer's Holiday Grails - Take refuge in clean living Just ordered two other 2008 albums by members of Grails - there's s/t album by Zak Riles and a Holy Sons (Emil Amos) album. Not expecting them to be as good as Grails but we'll see... Julian Cope - Black Sheep Jex Thoth - Jex Thoth Boris - Smile Matt Baldwin - Paths of Ignition Half Man Half Biscuit - CSI Ambleside Two others I got this year but I think were released at the end of 2007: Nadja - Radiance of Shadows Six Organs - Shelter from the Ash
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Jasonaparkes 876 posts |
Dec 21, 2008, 11:30
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Nikinakinoo wrote: Flight of the Conchords (by Flight of the Conchords). I haven't seen the TV series but will definitely look out for it now. I missed the TV series on BBC4 (it was repeated recently), but got the DVD and have played season one to death...there are some great songs in there that aren't on the album, so a must have! Season 2 is approaching next year...
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Jasonaparkes 876 posts |
Dec 21, 2008, 11:40
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I was wondering if I was the only one to like that record! Folk like Alan McGee and Bobby Gillespie are going round big-upping RTX and feeding into this "Hagerty is shit now" vibe - which is at odds with Earth Junk, the first Weird War LP, and several other Howling Hex releases!!
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Saint Derek 108 posts |
Edited Dec 21, 2008, 11:56
Dec 21, 2008, 11:42
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My favourites from 2008..... James Yorkston - When the Haar Rolls In. White Denim - Workout Holiday. Julian C - Black Sheep. British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music? Aliens - Luna
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shanshee_allures 2563 posts |
Dec 21, 2008, 11:55
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Saint Derek wrote: My favourites from 2008..... James Yorkston - When the Haar Rolls In. Ah! Totally forgot to incldue that. Yes, love it. Really do like this dude alot. He and Alasdair Roberts, and Richard Youngs (they all plough a similar field, even though they're all utterly unique), who had one out this year too, but I never got round to listening. x
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brownieathome 35 posts |
Dec 21, 2008, 22:40
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The Damned - So Who's Paranoid The Levellers - Letters From The Underground Julian Cope - Black Sheep Fish - 13th Star
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