eMusic Turns On Its Gaslight

Lucas Jensen | December 11, 2008 2:00 am

Indie digital music vendor eMusic has released its year-end list, and I gotta say…wow! This is the deepest and most balanced list I’ve seen so far, and it throws consensus out the window for a broad analysis of the year in music. Sure, there are a Santogold and Deerhunter and She & Him here and there, but I don’t recognize half the stuff on here, and that’s a good thing. There are tens of thousands of records released every year, so I find attempts to quantify the best of anything—and the ensuing “this list sucks” arguments—downright futile. Some might grouse about two reissues occupying two of the top five positions (Nigeria Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-sounds & Nigerian Blues 1970-76 at No. 4 and Rodriguez’s Cold Fact at No. 3), but I don’t see a problem with highlighting superior reissues, particularly from artists and themes that aren’t mainstream enough to feel like redundancies. Though the list is rank-ordered, it feels less like a competition and more of a celebration. It’s true that eMusic’s indie-swung catalog will necessarily make it more inventive than most, but still could have made Vampire Weekend No. 1 like everybody else. I guess I need to hear this Gaslight Anthem (their No. 1), huh?

THE GOOD: The list’s enthusiastic write-ups make me want to buy everything, which I guess is sorta their job, as they are a music store. Still, it doesn’t feel that way. The little summative taglines for each release are nice, too. I’m happy to see Swedes like Fredrik from The LK (No. 78) and Studio (No. 58) on there. Macca rolls in with his surprisingly good Fireman album at No. 52. THE BAD:Well, I guess some people think that Vampire Weekend sucks or that Titus Andronicus sucks or that She & Him sucks or whatever. I’ll leave that up to the commentariat to decide. Any list is gonna have some things on it I don’t like and you don’t like. If forced to say one, mine would have to be British Sea Power. At SXSW, their viola player was so out of tune it hurt me. I couldn’t believe the crowd didn’t hear it! I looked over at this one guy and he was plugging his ears, too, and he looked at me and mouthed “What the hell?” and pointed at the woman sawing away at the viola. He and I were like Roddy Piper and Keith David in They Live, the only ones in on the truth. I had to leave! This has nothing to do with that record. I haven’t heard it much. It was okay, kinda bland. I just wanted to tell y’all about that bad string player. THE WHAAAA? This is a good Whaaaa? There are actual classical and opera records and records made by actual non-white people and actual jazz and world records (Miles of India at No. 5!) and records made by actual women represented here. That’s not something I’m used to seeing! But why is the list only a top 88?

88 DJ/rupture, Uproot 87 Benoit Pioulard, Temper 86 Bobby Watson, From the Heart 85 Mr. Scruff, Ninja Tuna 84 Friendly Fires, Friendly Fires 83 The Avett Brothers, The Second Gleam 82 Zomby, Where Were U in ‘92? 81 Olof Arnalds, Vio og vio 80 Jenny Scheinman, Jenny Scheinman 79 The Mole, High As the Sky 78 Fredrik, Na Na Ni 77 Juana Molina, Un Dia 76 Various Artists, Nigeria 70 75 twi the humble feather, Music for Spaceships and Forests 74 Rainbow Arabia, The Basta 73 She and Him, Volume One 72 Bang on a Can All-Stars, Music for Airports Live 71 Otis Redding, Live in London & Paris 70 James Blackshaw, Litany of Echoes 69 Ladyhawke, Ladyhawke 68 Black Mountain, In the Future 67 Cut Off Your Hands, Happy As Can Be 66 Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson at Emmanuel 65 John Ellis, Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow 64 Boduf Songs, How Shadows Chase the Balance 63 Huun-Huur-Tu, Mother Earth! Father Sky! 62 Headlights, Some Racing, Some Stopping 61 Crystal Castles, Crystal Castles 60 Simone Dinnerstein, The Berlin Concert 59 Studio, Yearbook 2 58 Johnson & Johnson, Johnson & Johnson 57 Okkervil River, The Stand Ins 56 The Kills, Midnight Boom 55 Kurt Vile, Constant Hitmaker 54 2562, Aerial 53 Breathe Owl Breathe, Ghost Glacier EP 52 The Fireman, Electric Arguments 51 Titus Andronicus, The Airing of Grievances 50 Blacklisted, Heavier Than Heaven, Lonelier Than God 49 Eliza Carthy, Dreams of Breathing Underwater 48 Seun Kuti & Fela’s Egypt 80, S/T 47 Top Choice Clique, Reel Chemistry 46 Army Navy, Army Navy 45 Chris Knight, Heart of Stone 44 Paul Lewis, Beethoven Piano Sonatas Vol. 4 43 Elzhi, The Preface 42 Fuck Buttons, Street Horrrsing 41 Avishai Cohen Trio, Gently Disturbed 40 Esperanza Spalding, Esperanza 39 British Sea Power, Do You Like Rock Music 38 Kayhan Kalhor, Silent City 37 Liam Finn, I’ll Be Lightning 36 Marco Benevento, Invisible Baby 35 Horse Feathers, House With No Name 34 Crystal Stilts, Alight of Night 33 Valery Gergiev, Mahler Symphony No. 3 32 The Raveonettes, Lust Lust Lust 31 Richard Swift, Ground Trouble Jaw 30 She Keeps Bees, Nests 29 The Rural Alberta Advantage, Hometowns 28 Let’s Wrestle, In Loving Memory Of… 27 Atlas Sound, Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel 26 Beach House, Devotion 25 Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend 24 Pete and the Pirates, Little Death 23 Osmo Vanska, Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 2 and 7 22 Madvillain, Madvillainy 2: The Madlib Remix 21 Carl Craig, Sessions 20 High Places, 03/07 – 09/07 19 Hauschka, Ferndorf 18 Portico Quartet, Knee-Deep in the North Sea 17 Jay Reatard, Matador Singles ‘08 16 John Eliot Gardiner, Brahms Symphony No. 1 15 Siah & Yeshua dapoED, The Visualz Anthology 14 Santogold, Santogold 13 Deerhunter, Microcastle 12 Shearwater, Rook 11 Grouper, Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill 10 Thao, We Brave Bee Stings and All 09 Frightened Rabbit, The Midnight Organ Fight 08 The Walkmen, You and Me 07 Terakaft, Akh issudar 06 Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago 05 Various Artists, Miles From India 04 Various Artists, Nigeria Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-sounds & Nigerian Blues 1970-76 03 Rodriguez, Cold Fact 02 Deastro, Keeper’s 01 The Gaslight Anthem

The best albums of 2008 [eMusic]

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