Best Albums of 2008
Finding new and exciting music should be getting easier now. The vast amount of digital sources means you don’t have to take a guess on a CD in order to even sample something. iTunes to name only one allows for 30 seconds bites and has launched the free Single of the Week program showcasing lesser known artists trying to emerge. This is how I found out about Neverending White Lights, for example. Still, it’s not always easy to get hooked with half a minute of music that is very rarely representative of what the artist is trying to give us. Plus, too much choice is not always a good thing, when one gets tired of finding the needle in the iStack.
I guess all this may explain why all three of my favorite albums this year come from bands that all more than 12 years old.
3. Portishead – Third
They’re back. Without warning, Portishead from Bristol reappears after 11 years without a studio offering. I don’t know about you, but I was counting them out. I was still watching and listening to the live Roseland album from time to time, tripping on Humming and looking at the smoke coming out of Beth’s cigarettes.
This album also took me by surprise. First, there is this first song that stops so abruptly, I couldn’t help but wonder if something was wrong with my copy. Then, the lack of of a real standout track in terms of melody (your mileage may vary here). The first two albums have quite an array of songs you can sing to, but this one is more geared towards the… mood. Yes, that’s it. But an ever changing mood. I was reminded of Love & Rockets’ 1989 eponymous album: rough and then smooth. Smooth and the rough. The music is better, the voice is better, the compositions are better. This is Portishead’s best work without a doubt.
2. The Verve – Forth
I guess 2008 was the year to surprise everyone with a comeback. Exactly like Portishead, The Verve’s last studio album was released in 1997. They had written terrific songs with Bittersweet Symphony and Drugs Don’t Work back then, but what the new album lacks in anthems, it more than makes up for it with carefully crafted pieces of music. Layered, textured, poignant. The first two songs are more single-material, but that’s just the start. Songs like Valium Skies or the closer Appalachian Springs are not only great, they’re inspiring. They make you want to yell to the world how much you feel alive. Powerful stuff. Oh and don’t forget to use Judas during the chill portion of your soirées. Perhaps my only minor gripe with this album lays with Ashcroft’s voice. It’s not the best I heard of him, and frankly I don’t care much for the nasal parts on the Pink Floyd-esque Numbness. Still, the emotion is there and it shows.
1. The Dears – Missiles
7 years ago, I was drawn to a small club for a gig. People were selling it to me by trying to liken the band to the ones I like. You know how it is I’m sure. My friend lent me the CD so I could give it a try and hear the songs before going. I was hooked on the first listen. How can a band from a town I dislike so much (Montreal sucks!) sound that good and that… british! Where people were hearing The Smiths, I was hearing a blend of Pulp and Blur. But with an edge. And this edge was later confirmed during the show. To this date, I still think The Dears put out the best damn gigs in the music industry. Someone once said their shows are ”…the sonic equivalent of seeing the face of God”. Well after being subject to a 30 minute rendition of Pinned Together, Falling Apart, normally a 6 minute song, you start to believe.
Just like the previous two albums I just reviewed, I did not know this new album was being released when someone alerted me to it. I then read that Murray Lightburn wanted to do a solo album, but it turned out he was really writing a Dears one. Well, I don’t know if that was the secret, because he finally wrote the perfect one. Yes, this album in a ten. No need to highlight a particular song, there is never a filler; only songs that reach you and are incredibly emotional. Lightburn’s singing has never been better or more mature and basically everything clicks together. And when the last song is over, you feel like you just witnessed something great.
Lightburn at a Dears show in Quebec City
