musicOMH's Top 50 Best Albums of 2008

musicOMH's Top 50 Best Albums of 2008

Original Source →

50.

June 17, 2008
Critic Score
80
21 reviews

Lookout Sea paradoxically Silver Jews' most complex and most accessible work to date. Better yet, it improves with each listen, as more and more nuances and links are revealed.

49.

Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Sunday at Devil Dirt
November 18, 2008
Critic Score
72
20 reviews
Where Campbell and Lanegan’s first album of dusty duets was an unexpected treat, this is less of a surprise but builds on that record’s success, exploring the musical chemistry between the two still further.

48.

Thomas Tantrum - Thomas Tantrum
September 1, 2008
Critic Score
67
3 reviews
Here is a band who make writing perfect pop songs sound like the easiest thing in the world. Thomas Tantrum are like a rambunctious toddler, pompously beating its own chest with bravado and childish naivety, demanding attention from its elders.

47.

April 8, 2008
Critic Score
78
19 reviews

In Ghost Colours finds the band brimming with confidence, delivering their catchy choruses and synthesizer hooks with a conviction that's difficult to resist, staying true throughout to a groove that fits in with early house music.

46.

February 22, 2008
Critic Score
78
23 reviews
Their debut album is a riotous cacophony of perfectly sculpted indie boisterousness.

45.

Weezer - Weezer (Red Album)
June 3, 2008
Critic Score
60
24 reviews

The Red Album brings forward everything they do best, with hooks aplenty, emotive and funny lyrics, all washed down with the odd frisson of self doubt.

44.

September 9, 2008
Critic Score
79
22 reviews

Though it stands up well enough on its own The Stand Ins does feel like a follow-up, rather than something completely new and fresh and forward looking, and it is not as instantly gripping as The Stage Names, it takes longer to wind your way into your mind.

43.

Girls Aloud - Out of Control
November 3, 2008
Critic Score
66
10 reviews

Out Of Control is, generally, yet another excellent album from a group who may have risen from a lot of people’s ‘guilty pleasure’ to becoming full-on national treasures.

42.

Grace Jones - Hurricane
November 3, 2008
Critic Score
72
16 reviews
It is, without a doubt, the work of a superstar returning from the shadows.

41.

The Acorn - Glory Hope Mountain
September 25, 2007
Critic Score
74
10 reviews
The acoustic simplicity of Flood, Pt. 2 and Lullaby (Mountain), the latter featuring a vocal from Ohbijou Casey Mecija, brings this highly impressive debut to a close on a devotional note that is entirely in keeping with its theme of triumph over adversity.

40.

April 15, 2008
Critic Score
67
9 reviews
BRS may be simple, a touch on the repetitive side, and quite possibly bad for you. But they’re also wonderfully exuberant, dark, grimy, fun. Don’t take them too seriously – and enjoy them with a drink. It’s probably what they’d want anyway.

39.

November 17, 2008
Critic Score
83
18 reviews

Big production bombast in the latter half of the record--especially on 'Africa,' the English-language 'I Follow You' and the title track--could happily be skipped over, but there's at least half a record here that's as indispensible as it is likeable.

38.

The Matthew Herbert Big Band - There's Me And There's You
October 28, 2008
Critic Score
60
11 reviews
If you've approached Herbert's music before you'll already know to expect the unexpected. If it's your first time, use all the surround sound you have and revel in the power of free musical speech and a fantastic update of timeless jazz styles.

37.

May 26, 2008
Critic Score
81
24 reviews

Some may listen to Songs From A&E and dub Jason Pierce a one-trick pony. Which may be true, but what a trick he's managed to perfect.

36.

March 18, 2008
Critic Score
75
20 reviews

Thanks, in no small part to Spank Rock producer Armani XXXchange, Midnight Boom also possesses of this air of modernity and experimentation which is never less than startling.

35.

February 26, 2008
Critic Score
75
30 reviews
After a couple of listens it reveals itself as Goldfrapp's most subtle, affecting and rewarding album to date.

34.

June 23, 2008
Critic Score
75
11 reviews
Sure it's self-indulgent, but sometimes indulgence is no bad thing, and that is certainly the case here.

33.

Simon Bookish - Everything/Everything
October 21, 2008
Critic Score
72
9 reviews
This is an album of immense variety and ambition, backed up by the talent and creativity to pull off the whole enterprise with aplomb.

32.

June 24, 2008
Critic Score
84
24 reviews
Brooklyn scenester, classics polymath, DJ and producer Andrew Butler is on a one-man mission to raise up disco.

31.

March 24, 2008
Critic Score
77
14 reviews

Twenty One is an excellent album replete with brilliant, clean, original production and instantly memorable songs.

30.

August 19, 2008
Critic Score
74
23 reviews
As things stand, a lot of people are going to fall in love with this new young talent, and her ambitious and creative debut. But Lykke Li is likely to stay a cult curiosity for now.

29.

Martha Wainwright - I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too
June 10, 2008
Critic Score
74
16 reviews

By the time the final notes of the acoustic closer I Wish I Were Here have faded away, then you're more than convinced that this is yet another triumph for the Wainwright family.

28.

January 14, 2008
Critic Score
82
28 reviews

You can almost feel the wind and rain outside, and this adds to the mixture of melancholia and euphoria throughout, the latter realised most obviously on Waving Flags. And that's the spirit that runs through this fine album, staying with the listener long after the final stanzas of We Close Our Eyes bring it full circle.

27.

Teddy Thompson - A Piece Of What You Need
June 17, 2008
Critic Score
80
7 reviews

Richly melodic and beautifully performed, A Piece Of What You Need deserves to be a big commercial hit.

26.

June 3, 2008
Critic Score
79
16 reviews

Rook is a hugely self-assured and often compelling album, which looks outside of the world of modern man for inspiration, and in most cases, finds it in spades.

25.

October 21, 2008
Critic Score
72
28 reviews
Skeletal Lamping flicks across channels like a man with an itchy trigger finger who trigger finger is actually itchy, but it excels in making a brilliant kind of sense.

24.

July 14, 2008
Critic Score
82
27 reviews

If you know what's good for you ... you'll drink the whole album in, because intelligently constructed and musically thrilling records like this are a rare, rare find.

23.

September 22, 2008
Critic Score
71
16 reviews
We'll settle for saying it's a great record. Full stop.

22.

March 18, 2008
Critic Score
80
20 reviews

As a document of its time, then, Stainless Style is remarkably successful. Taken on the base level of being an enjoyable pop album, it also triumphs handsomely.

21.

June 24, 2008
Critic Score
78
30 reviews

Overall ... this is another wondrous album from a band at the height of their considerable powers.

20.

June 10, 2008
Critic Score
77
18 reviews

Joan Wasser has shown herself to be an assured torch singer and original artist. To Survive is a challenge at times, but ultimately rewarding.

19.

January 6, 2009
Critic Score
72
25 reviews
It's another debut album laid low by ravages of hype.

18.

September 16, 2008
Critic Score
73
12 reviews
The album's not for everyone, but if her sound is to your taste, then it will prove a rewarding, delectable, necessary thing: one of this year's most consistently interesting albums.

17.

October 23, 2007
Critic Score
85
17 reviews
It's most surprising that this is a debut album. What could easily have been cack-handed conceptualism is forged into sheer quality: self-assured, fresh and utterly uncategorisable.

16.

September 23, 2008
Critic Score
73
26 reviews

The Hawk Is Howling is a record that shows Mogwai’s lips to be sealed, but speaks volumes about their depth and ingenuity. Whether simmering or reaching a rolling boil, the album proves that, after 10 years, the band continues to contribute admirably to the alternative rock dialogue.

15.

July 29, 2008
Critic Score
79
10 reviews
Less awkward than Patrick Wolf, less brow-beaten than Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly, more celebratory than Laura Marling and better in so many other ways than a host of less notable young acoustic troubadours, Johnny Flynn and The Sussex Wit raise the bar for young British songwriters.

14.

April 8, 2008
Critic Score
74
26 reviews
They do make thoroughly exciting music that becomes quickly airborne, able to move the listener to a different plane with disarming ease.

13.

September 23, 2008
Critic Score
65
26 reviews
This is an album which feels like it was made quickly, not because of artists reaching a terminal velocity of creativity, but to take maximum advantage of an audience who may not be there this time next year.

12.

April 29, 2008
Critic Score
74
22 reviews
The sounds are fresh, the hooks are often catchy, and collaborations include hot acts Spank Rock and Diplo. But ultimately the whole effort stands in the gargantuan shadow of M.I.A., despite White’s undeniable talent.

11.

August 19, 2008
Critic Score
83
34 reviews

The sounds on Microcastle form a lush landscape.

10.

March 18, 2008
Critic Score
78
15 reviews

While Street Horrrsing may never scratch the surface of the mainstream, it is going to make an indelible mark on all those interested in ground-breaking underground music.

9.

April 8, 2008
Critic Score
84
32 reviews

Nick Cave is a master storyteller, and DIG!!! LAZARUS DIG!!! continues his tradition of remarkable and provocative songwriting. It is a decadent, meaty opus worthy of slow digestion that emphasises the transient thrills and inevitable dissatisfaction inherent in life.

8.

February 11, 2008
Critic Score
72
14 reviews

Her songs are similarly sparse and fragile, with some astonishingly mature lyrics framed by beautifully pretty melodies.

7.

October 2, 2007
Critic Score
75
23 reviews
Hugely enjoyable and wonderfully disposable pop for the listener, who will turn round and return for more, no question. An auspicious debut.

6.

January 29, 2008
Critic Score
82
27 reviews
In places almost carnivalesque, this is a good times album that celebrates positive aspects of the world.

5.

April 28, 2008
Critic Score
85
33 reviews

This is a record substantially more alive than its eponymous predecessor. Portishead still sound like no-one else, but more importantly they aren’t just sounding like themselves, either: this is an album that occupies its own space, untethered to any of the musical trapping and quagmires of genre that snare so many other artists.

4.

June 3, 2008
Critic Score
87
28 reviews

This could be the closest this generation gets to its own Pet Sounds. A stunning debut then, and one that will make Fleet Foxes one of the most sought after bands of the year.

3.

July 8, 2007
Critic Score
85
23 reviews

Lyrically, Vernon is revealed as something of a poet. These are words that are destined to be poured over and analysed

2.

September 22, 2008
Critic Score
86
32 reviews

Deep Science should enhance TVOTR's reputation as one of the finest, forward-thinking bands around, along with fellow Brooklyn acts Animal Collective and Liars.

1.

March 17, 2008
Critic Score
82
24 reviews

The Seldom Seen Kid keeps the band on this upward trajectory.

Original Source: http://www.musicomh.com/features/lists/musicomhs-top-50-best-albums-of-2008-introduction
Comments
Sign in to comment
No one has said anything yet.
Connect with AOTY
Like Us
Follow Us

February Playlist