Just a little advice the next time you replace or upgrade to a new iPod – get your name and number engraved on it.
I know you might be thinking of something clever since engraving is free, but here’s my advice – keep it simple. Your name and your number is all you need.
While traveling on vacation this past week, I had my “lost” iPod returned to me on the plane before I even knew it was lost. Apparently, while waiting for my flight at the gate, I either left it on the seat or dropped it while walking to board the plane.
An airline employee returned it to me on the plane as we were all boarding. And thank goodness! It was a four hour flight and they were showing “Marley and Me”, which I had seen on a previous flight 1 month earlier.
Oh, and that movie sucked.
I know I’m probably stating the obvious here, but now you have me as a living example. Besides, what else would you put there – “I Wanna Rock”, “Hang Loose”, “Keep on Truckin”, “It’s 4:20 Somewhere on the Planet” or “I Love Mom”?
Lame…
With just 1 day left in the year, I ask you – Is there a better time to spotlight some great music that came out of 2008? I think not! So, I’m just going to run down a list of music that I thought really stood out in 2008.
Now, I know I can’t sit here and say that this list is as valid as a list from Rolling Stone or your “Precious Cream Magazines” (cryptic Kids in the Hall reference there), but I think you might be pleasantly surprised by some of this stuff I’m going to recommend. Also note that this post will focus more on Rock – Indy, Alternative, and Hard Rock. I’m not knocking on Country, R&B, Hip Hop or Pop, but I don’t really listen to much from those genres, and they certainly don’t need any more exposure from me.
So without further ado, here it goes…
Great New Artists of 2008 (in no particular order)
- Duffy, Rockferry - Is it me, or does Duffy do a wonderful job of taking a classic sound and moving it forward? Her voice has a hint of Ronnie Spector, and all the soul and emotion to match. I really enjoyed Duffy’s first effort, and this is as close to Top 40 as my list gets. She was also excellent live.
- King Khan and the Shrines, What is?! – A great German based band producing straight forward garage rock that is inspired by bands like the Troggs, MC5 and the Stooges.
- A Fine Frenzy, One Cell in the Sea – Very Sarah McLachlan inspired set complete with nice piano arrangements and soothing vocals. Don’t be looking for a fun night out after listening to this one.
- De Novo Sahl, Move Every Muscle, Make Every Sound – Take punk, mix in some pop rock influences Like Marshall Crenshaw, new wave influences from Elvis Costello, and retro psychedelic styles ala Supergrass, Kula Shaker and Oasis. Though this is not their first album, “Move Every…” is pretty much their first recognized effort.
- TOBACCO, Fucked Up Friends – This just might be my favorite album of the year. This is a trippy, synth soaked dance record that is just amazing. The gratuitous use of synth reminds me of the Art of Noise. A lot of fun to listen to.
Great 2008 Albums from Established Artists (in no particular order)
- M83, Saturdays = Youth – While writing this up, I really thought this was a new band, but it turns out they have 5 Albums and have been around for awhile. M83′s sound is straight out of the 80′s, using heavy synth that will remind you of bands like the Flock of Seagulls, Missing Persons, Modern English and til Tuesday.
- Beck, Modern Guilt – Beck once again delivers a solid record. On this effort, Beck follows the same path as “the Information” by taking elements from previous albums and applying those elements in each song. A really nice compilation of sounds and grooves.
- Radiohead, In Rainbows – Just a good all around album from Radiohead. If I have just one criticism, it might be a little over use of electronics, but still, they do a great job of staying current, and made a great album. Especially since it was FREE.
- Nine Inch Nails, The Slip – A great, angry album, pretty much summing up the disasters of the past 8 years in music. If your sick and tired of it, and your not going to be taking it anymore, this is the record playing in the background as you throw shit out your window, or storm the halls of a government building! By the way, this album was FREE, too.
- Eric Avery, Help Wanted – Founding Bassist for Jane’s Addiction puts out the best solo effort of any Jane’s Member. After disappointing deliveries from Perry Farrell’s “Satellite Party” and Dave Navarro’s “Panic Channel”, Eric steps in to show other band mates why they cannot call it a comeback without him. An awesome set, heavily influenced by Joy Division/New Order, with some “help given” by Flea (on trumpet) and Shirley Manson from Garbage. Great stuff here.
- The Duke Spirit, Neptune – Neptune is the Duke’s sophomore effort, but delivers just as well as their 1st album “Cuts Across the Land“. You can’t help notice lead singer Leila Moss’s similarities to Grace Slick’s sound in early Jefferson Airplane, and you won’t be disappointed by that especially with the tremendous dark and grungy sound of the band itself. The Duke Spirit are threatening to be my new favorite band, because I just can’t believe how good they are.
- The Raconteurs, Consolers of the Lonely – I once said to a friend that if the Beatles were still around today, this is what they would sound like. The Raconteurs, thanks to the combination of both Brendan Benson and Jack White, deliver a pop rock sound that has never been successfully harnessed since the digital age began. And while this decade saw some great (and not so great) homages to the synth sounds of the 80′s, straight forward late 60′s bred garage rock never got it’s due until this band formed. Amen.
- TV on the Radio, Dear Science, – Apparently, no “Best of ’08″ list is complete without it, but honestly, it is a great record. Hints of Prince, hints of U2, and hints of Beck. Just fun stuff.
- Rodrigo y Gabriella, (Self Titled) – I first heard Rodrigo y Gabriella at the 2008 Virgin Mobile Festival, and I was hooked. Beautiful Iberian/Latin based acoustic guitar tracks that includes a cover of Metallica’s Instrumental “Orion” off of their “Master of Puppets” Album.
- Kings of Leon, Only by the Night – Well, I have to say this record is very different than what they’ve released in the past, and that’s a good thing. I remember everyone saying when this band first came out that they were a southern rock version of The Strokes, and their first record pretty much illustrated that. This 3rd album really leaves that perception in the dust. It’s a good rock album, daring to go in some different directions electronically, but nothing like the 80′s synth tributes we’ve seen this past decade.
- Deer Hoof, Offend Maggie – Really good art rock, reminding me of early Flaming Lips and Violent Femmes.
- Kaiser Chiefs, Off with their Heads – I know this band really digs their feet into that 80′s sound, but boy do they do it really well and balanced. While you can certainly hear the 80′s influences in their music, they play it really tight. Just a good sounding band that takes a cacophony of sounds and brings order to them.
- Blind Melon, For My Friends - No this is not a mistake, and yes, this is a great album. Unfortunately, it looks like they might already be losing their new lead singer, Travis Warren (it seems Travis is having very similar problems handling the road as his predecessor), but we will see what happens. I hope Travis can shape up and realize he’s blowing a huge opportunity. Anyway, check out this record. Blind Melon was and is a great band, and should not vanish from this Earth.
So this is SA’s list of great music from 2008. I know I hesitate in putting these in order, but if you said, “Hey SA, give me at least 3 records from above to check out”, I’d say Beck, The Duke Spirit, and TOBACCO. 3 very good and very different sounding records.
I hope my recommendations help you spend some quality time on eMusic, iTunes, Amazon or even a record store (if you still do that kind of thing). Of course, I’ll go look at my iPod tomorrow and realize I left some great band/record off this ’08 list and kick myself for it.
Happy New Year, and Happy Listening!
From a music perspective, I never was one to settle on the main stream. Right now, for the life of me, I can’t tell you who is in the top 40, and I can’t even tell you if I’ve recently heard anything from any artist in the top 40. And that pretty much goes back as far as I can remember. I never was a “top 40″ kind of guy. Maybe in grade school, I’d pretty much settle for anything on the radio or anything that popped up on that crazy channel, MTV (I’ll spare you the “when they used to play music” joke here).
This being said, it didn’t take MP3′s or the “Internets” to make me realize that maybe, just maybe, the best or most creative bands out there did not always end up on the radio or in the main stream of pop culture.
So, with that being said, we’re starting a new featured series of posts you can only get here, exclusively on GenXLS.com called ”The Greatest Things You’ve Never Heard“, where we will spotlight little known Albums or Bands that we thought were great, but never quite made the mainstream. So enough of the hype, let’s get to our first Album you never heard…
Band: The Darling Buds
Album: Erotica (1992, Epic Records)
Genre: Alternative, Indy
The Darling Buds were an alternative band out of the U.K., specifically Newport, Wales. There’s no hiding this band’s place of origin thanks to the lead vocal performance of Andrea Lewis, and the melodic yet simple guitar and bass driven sound we’ve so come to love from U.K. bands like the Beatles, Happy Mondays, Oasis, the Psychedelic Furs, etc.
Released in 1992, Erotica was the final album for the Darling Buds. The album was the perfect balance of music for the time – trippy bass grooves and rock steady beats filled with angst, passion and hope. Add to that passive aggressive vocals and lyrics of indifference, and Erotica pretty much sums up the early 90′s.
In my view, the whole album is worth a listen, assuming you like this genre of music. Even when listening to the simple and repetitive beats in songs like ”Off My Mind” and “Gently Fall“, perfectly timed tempo changes and masses of distortion kick in to pay homage to sounds first heard in the 1960′s garage rock scene. ”Please Yourself“, a fast paced yet melodic track laced with heavy bass grooves was one of the songs released as a single, and the video was played prominently on the early 1990′s MTV Alternative Music Show 120 Minutes. The album’s other single, “Long Day in the Universe” was featured in the movie/soundtrack for “So I Married an Axe Murder” starring Mike Meyers. Other must here songs: Angels Fallen, One Thing Leads to Another, Sure Thing, Wave, If
Erotica was the last album from the Darling Buds. Although they toured the U.S. in support of Erotica for a year, the Darling Buds packed it in, frustrated by the lack of commercial success. Back in 1992, this sound was still pretty much “underground”, and just couldn’t get mainstream airplay. To further throw salt in the wounds, Madonna released an album with the same name 2 weeks after The Buds’ version of Erotica was released.
Their influences: The Beatles, Iggy and the Stooges, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Modern English, The Psychedelic Furs, Joy Division, the Cure
Similar Artists on their scene: Happy Mondays, Smashing Pumpkins, Jellyfish, Medicine, Sundial, Jesus and Mary Chain, Oasis, Juliana Hatfield, SpaceHog, the Sneaker Pimps
Artists Influenced: The Duke Spirit, Paramore, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Sparklehorse, Republica, Elastica
When the police decided to shut down Rage Against the Machine’s protest at the RNC earlier this week, the band went acapella right in the crowd.
Check out the video of their acapella performance here.
Credit: www.above-thefold.com
