Brian’s Top Some Number Of Music Related Things In The Year 2008

I’m going to go ahead right here and now and say that Mike’s list is much more unique, and, therefore, a lot more impressive than my list of favorite albums for 2008.  I’m a little jealous but mostly just pissed at myself for not being as adventurous this year as I should have been/have been in the past.  I know that I listened to at last 20 albums that were made in the year 2008, but in no way shape or form were there 20 releases I feel like designating the best of the year.  2008 was an off year all around for me, and for music as well, but here are a few things that made this year a little more enjoyable for me.  So how about 1o albums, a few memories, and one trip to Radioshack as my year in music 2008.

First, the records.

Mike’s Top 20 of 2008

After some time away from WPC, it’s nice to fire up the editor and compose some thoughts again. 2008 was a fun music year for me – I discovered dubstep, really got into the “modern classical” genre, and overall listened to a lot more new stuff than I had in previous years. So, without further ado, here’s my top twenty.

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#20. Nicola Ratti – From the Desert Came Saltwater (Anticipate Recordings).
Listen: Beneath

This is a really solid piece of experimental guitar music. It’s definitely not pop, but the breathy, buried vocals and peaceful arrangements make it eminently listenable. Overall, it sounds to me like a less technical, quieter Six Organs of Admittance.

#19. The Sight Below – Glider (Ghostly International).
Listen: Without Motion

Humming, buzzing, pulsing, looping. Approaching the structure of dance music without ever really touching it. To me, Glider is what I wished Gas’ output would sound like – it’s an engaging, mesmerizing listen.

#18. Fat Jon – Repaint Tomorrow (P-Vine Records).
Listen: Soundgirl Personal

This album is a collection of instrumental hip-hop tracks that really stand out, even among the rest of Fat Jon’s very impressive output. On Repaint Tomorrow, he collaborates with some string players for a sound that is pretty refreshing in the beatmaking sphere.

#17. Televise – Secret Valentine (Distant Noise).
Listen: Suun

Now this is a great piece of restrained post-rock. Lots of feedback, crackle, effects, and layers to please even the most discerning shoegazer!

#16. Byetone – Death of a Typographer (Raster-Noton).
Listen: Capture This (II)

This disc is a bit of a departure for R-N. You can hear the signature sounds of electricity here, but they’re unusually warm and inviting. You can also detect the label’s trademark mathematical rhythmic precision, but Byetone sculpts it with a more song-structured approach that is quite welcome. Because of these shifts, Death of a Typographer functions just as well in a comfy armchair as it would in a museum installation.

#15. Grouper – Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill (Type Records).
Listen: Invisible

Maybe it’s the way the instruments are a little bit raspy, or how the vocals are buried so deeply, but this seems to me to be a very personal piece of music. Grouper is definitely not your run-of-the-mill singer/songwriter; this is an intense album, even claustrophobic at times. But I think it’s a rewarding listen for sure, especially for fellow lovers of melancholia.

A Band For All Seasons

In many aspects of life I am a basket case, however deep and affecting any of my pseudo or real neuroses may be I can say for sure the way I listen to music is NOT intrinsically linked to the weather on a day to day basis. Now, with that being said I will admit to the fact that my taste in music is most definitely influenced by the seasons, for some reasons there are certain records that sound amazing to me in the fall but I can’t even get all the way through in the summer.  I don’t know this happens, I don’t know why I’m more prone to listen to certain albums when there is snow on the ground and others when its hitting 100 and the air shimmers into blurred pixels over the pavement.   It could have something to do with when I discovered a band, it could even be that I’m using the music as some kind of retrofitted soundtrack to all of the memories I’ve accumulated within a given season.   Dissection is boring, acceptance and presentation is the new existentialism. 

Self-Analysis: Time Out

I often wonder what caused my musical taste to veer so far off the mainstream track. Why am I fascinated by the chaos and complexity of experimental music when so many others find it unlistenable? Why do I find minimalism to be compelling when so many others find it boring? These questions are certainly elements of a larger inquiry on how an individual forms their aesthetic preferences, but for me they’re also linked to a relatively simple theme: How did I get this way?

Complete Discography vol. 2

With the Complete Discography series I will examine how my favorite albums actually made their way into my life and the impact they had. 

Complete Discography Vol. 2 – The Fire Show’s Saint The Fire Show

I stumbled into love with it.  I first heard about it in a review of a completely different record (United States’ actually pretty good Retail Detail) and on a whim I went over to amazon to see if I could find it.  Someone was selling it for a whopping 27 cents so I went for it.  I wasn’t expecting much.  It had been a while since I’d bought an album sound unheard and I was looking forward to simply experiencing something for the first time by actually putting the CD into the player and letting it go. 

Welcome to College – Mike’s Next Step Music Primer

Let it never be said that we are insensitive to our legions of readers — you search for it, we’ll make a mix about it! Although in this case, we’re indulging ourselves a bit by treating “On The Way to College” as a concept rather than a simple road trip mix. And, I guess this isn’t really a mix as much as it is a conversation. Who cares about the details though! As always, Brian has all things guitar covered in the post just below, so I’m going to throw in my two cents for some other styles.

Welcome To College – Brian’s Next Step Music Primer

Here at Way Past College we’ve been noticing a alot  of hits being generated by the search engine phrase “music to listen to on the way to college” so Mike and I have decided to create a short primer in terms for those new freshman heading off to school for the first time, especially those looking to expand their musical horizons.  Think of this as a first step if you’re looking to break into the college radio scene on your campus or you’re just looking for some new tunes to spice things up a bit. 

If you’re into the Beatles now, try checking out The Velvet Underground.  The styles aren’t all that similar but just as the Beatles are the ground work for most “popular” guitar based music, VU really set the pace for the more avant garde sect, listening to their music will lead you towards other artists that you maybe wouldn’t have discovered if you just listened to Sgt. Pepper for the next four years. 

Gauntlet #1 – Brian’s Response

It didn’t really surprise me that Mike liked Double Nickels on the Dime, it’s a great album that maintains that very intangible quality all great albums regardless of genre posses: you just like it, it just sounds right.   Going into this challenge I was all but sure I was going to like Oval’s Ovalprocess a lot more than Mike was going to like Double Nickels on the Dime.  DNOTD lies pretty far outside of Mike’s normal scope of musical intake, its a far cry from anything minimal or electronic, I thought he’d give it the old ”I can see that it’s good but it’s not really for me” lip service and be done with it, but I’m glad to see I was wrong. 

Gauntlet #1 – Mike’s Response

I won’t lie. Double Nickels had me worried at first. When I read the wiki and allmusic pages and found out it was a double LP, 45 songs in 80 minutes, I was anticipating an ear-splitting, lo-fi punk assault in the vein of Minor Threat or something. “He’s really gonna make me work for this GAUNTLET thing,” I thought.

You & Me and an empty theatre in Mid-Missouri

When it comes to music, movies, well, all things popular culture, I have a tendency to greatly over exaggerate how popular something is or will be.  The best example of this I can think of is a show I went to with Lindsey about three years ago.  It was the summer of 2005 and I was working for a geotechnical consulting firm spending most of my time on construction sites in a pick up observing earth work and listening to KDHX.  For those who don’t know KDHX is a community radio station and so they often read news bulletins, community events calenders, etc, and for this particular week, I think it was July, everyone on air was talking about a show in the basement of the Red Sea on Delmar.  The band was The Love Experts, a St. Louis rock/lo-fi pop in the vein of late period Guided By Voices ensemble who were known for their live shows and were just now after several years of playing together releasing an album.  I’d heard all of the tracks on the record throughout the week and I was honestly pretty excited about the prospects of catching them live, and I knew from experience the Red Sea (Ethiopian restaurant on top, club down below) was tiny so I figured the place would be packed and actually told Linds the thing might actually sell out.  Well we got in and lets just say we had some elbow room.  There were about a dozen people there, ten of them seemed to know the band, and then there was Linds and I.  The music was good, in fact it actually lived up to the radio buzz, it was the best show I’d seen (at the time) by a local band.

So, how does this relate to the Walkmen?  Well I had a similar experinence a few months back while I was living in Columbia.