ThaBombShelter's Top Fifteen Songs of Two Thousand Eight

Here we are again, this time with a list of the fifteen best songs released in 2008. Enjoy!

#1- "Freeze and Explode" Cassettes Won't Listen

I discovered this band via Subterranean a few months ago. I immediately downloaded the EP and have been in love ever since. This song is like an icier Postal Service, and given the dormant status of that band, this is an incredible substitute. So good, so beautiful.

Official MySpace Buy

#2- "Undone" Devotchka

The album, "A Mad and Faithful Telling" was more of the same for Devotchka, but that is very far from a bad thing. It was as solid as any other albums they've released, and this song was an early favorite of mine. The album itself was in the running for the Top Eleven list, but it was narrowly squeaked out. This particular song is a fantastic example of Devotchka's deft touch with lush instrumentation and heartbreaking woe.

Official MySpace Buy

#3- "Broadripple is Burning" Margot and the Nuclear So and So's

There are a few songs I hear every year that stand out for one line, or even one word. This song was the highlight of the double-disc effort by Margot and the Nuclear So and So's, "Animal/Not Animal". The line that gets me every fucking time, every. single. time, is, "And when a woman that you love is gone/she was bombing east Japan/and don't fucking move/cuz everything you though you have will go to shit." Just the way he says, "fucking" it sounds weird, but it's incredible, trust me.

Official MySpace Buy

#4- "Sex on Fire" Kings of Leon

This album is terrible. I mean, just god awful. I don't know why I keep coming back to Kings of Leon, but I do. They went and cut their hair, and we all know how bad that is for bands...But this song is just great. Much like "Fans" last year, I can't help but enjoy this song. It's almost like the song is great if you forget it's Kings of Leon, but once you remember how raw and rootsy they can be, you realize that this is an odd departure indeed.

Official MySpace
Buy (although, you probably shouldn't...it's terrible)

#5- "Papa Echo" The Bees

I will probably always love the Bees. They're phenomenal. But in a year when the only album they released was a compilation curated by the band in "The Sound Selection", I was grateful for this limited edition split 7" with The Mother Hips. I have the vinyl sitting in my record collection, but the band were generous enough to offer a download code for anyone that purchased the disc. The song is ethnic and fun, sunny and dusty and Iberian. Fantastic.

Official MySpace Buy

#6- "Lights Out for Darker Skies" British Sea Power

Probably my favorite track from one of my favorite albums of the year. I just love the point in the song where it all drops to nothing and it sounds like the song is almost over, but then it all comes back with that epic slow build that ends in an incredibly cacophanous crash.

Official MySpace Buy

#7- "Mirrorball" Elbow

Here's another one of those songs that just has a line that sends chills up my spine, "When we make the moon our mirrorball/The street's an empty stage/The city siren's violins/Everything has changed". Combine that line with some of the most loving and touching lyrics of the year, just beautiful.

Official MySpace Buy

#8- "Bottom of the Lake" The Builders and the Butchers

This song is raucus, crazy, and pretty much off the hinges. This band is absolutely phenomenal and this song is a highlight on their great album.

Official MySpace Buy

#9- "Old Five and Dimers Like Me" Emmylou Harris

As I mentioned in the Top Eleven entry for Ms. Harris, this was the song that hooked me on this album. It was probably that switch when the awesomely old Billy Joe Shaver comes in for the duet that I was sucked in. Great.

Official Wiki Buy

#10- "Effington" Ben Folds

As I said in my review of the album, "Way to Normal", I have a special spot in my heart for this song. To hear the name of your new town dropped in a Ben Folds song is pretty fucking rad. And it still makes me happy whenever I hear that line, "Making my way to Normal, Illinois." I just can't help it.

Official MySpace Buy

#11- "Carolina Drama" The Raconteurs

I knew that this was my favorite track from the new Raconteurs album as soon as I heard it. Since that moment, I've spent far more time than is healthy dissecting the narrative and trying to piece together the arc of the tale. I'm awfully close, I think, but I keep telling myself that the next time I listen I'll get another bit.

Official MySpace Buy

#12- "Holland, 1945" Canoe

It might seem cheap to have a cover on the best songs list, but this is the song that initially blew my mind and spearheaded, "Places" charge to the top spot in the Top Eleven Albums list.

Official MySpace Facebook Buy

#13- "Easy Does It" Bonnie "Prince" Billy

The lead track from "Lie Down in the Light" is one of the most fun tracks I've ever heard from Mr. Oldham. It's got a lightness that just lifts you up the instant you hear the guitar and fiddle.

Official MySpace Buy

#14- "Rebel in You" Supergrass

I was a little disappointed in "Diamond Hoo Ha Man", but then, it's hard for me given how much time I spent with "Life on Other Planets" back in college. It was one of those albums that helped lay the foundation for my current love of music. Given that, I've come to very much enjoy "Road to Rouen" and I imagine in time I'll come to enjoy this latest disc as well. In the meantime, however, this song is pretty damn good.

Official MySpace Buy

#15- "Leviathan, Bound" Shearwater

I was drawn into Shearwater's music slowly, but what a rewarding journey it's been. His songs are gorgeous soundscapes with an energy and a tension that I don't think I've heard in any other music, and "Leviathan, Bound" is a perfect example of that.

Official MySpace Buy

Well, there you have it. My favorite tracks of the year. Stay tuned for a few more lists before the end of the year, including Best Live Tracks and Best Concert Photos.

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ThaBombShelter's Top Eleven Albums of Two Thousand Eight

After several weeks and too many days on hiatus, I'm finally ready to unveil ThaBombShelter's Top Eleven Albums of Two Thousand Eight. And it's fitting that this marks my 500th Post here at ThaBombShelter. So, huzzah for that!

Now then, on with the show!

#1- "Places" Canoe

This is an album that hooked me immediately. I put it on in September and instantly fell in love. From track one to track seventeen, I just couldn't stop listening to it. When I heard the cover of "Holland 1945" in the car, I was blown away. This was a special CD and I knew immediately that it would be my number one. Over the last few weeks, re-listening to some other albums from the year, I've been waiting for another album to usurp this one, but every time those first notes from, "Places" and "Sweet Deyanira" come through my headphones, I'm reminded once more how great this album is.

"Holland, 1945" Canoe
"Journal" Canoe

***DISCLOSURE*** I recently discovered that the mp3 version of this album was released in Late 2007, but according to the CanoeMusic official site, the CD version was released in January 2008.

Official MySpace Facebook Buy

#2- "Alas I Cannot Swim", Laura Marling

This one came out of nowhere, much like Canoe. I first heard, "Ghosts" on Subterranean in late September and had to hear more. On first listen, "Alas I Cannot Swim" was good. On second, third, fifth, twelfth, twentieth, it was great. Marling has an incredible voice, and the songs are just so damn good! At times her singing reminds me of "Exile in Guyville" era Liz Phair in style and sound, if not really in content...and I love that album. I had this album deeper in the list when I first started, but after comparing it to the others, it quickly rose in the ranks.

"Crawled Out of the Sea (Interlude)" Laura Marling
"You're No God" Laura Marling

Official MySpace Buy

#3- "Canopy Glow", Anathallo

The follow up to, "Floating World," ThaBombShelter's #1 album of 2006, had a distinct advantage over some of other albums in the running this year. I had very high hopes for the disc before I even heard it, and after the preliminary taste we all got with, "Engine Glow", any doubts or reservations I may have had were immediately assuaged. With the final mix bumping the volume up and I'm sure making other changes (none of which I have immediately noticed), "Canopy Glow" fulfilled all of the expectations I may have had for this band. I love their sound and I cannot wait to see them live once more.

"The River" Anathallo
"Noni's Field" Anathallo

Official MySpace Buy

#4- "Do You Like Rock Music?", British Sea Power

Literally ten minutes ago, this album was not at number 4. But upon going over the track list once more, I was reminded just how many great great songs are on this album. I mean, jesus, the first three tracks are some of the best of the year, "Lights Out for Darker Skies," "No Lucifer," "Waving Flags," are fucking phenomenal. Then you get songs like "Down on the Ground," "The Great Skua," and "Atom" and this album is definitely one of the best. I was very surprised, too, given how much I didn't like the teaser EP, "Krankenhaus". When I heard those few songs, I was very worried. Would we have more of the "Open Season" BSP or would they return to the unbridled energy of "The Decline of British Sea Power". I'm glad that they went back to their roots, at least in part.

And all of this without mentioning their absolutely insane live show. Definitely one of the top concerts of the year, hands down.

"Waving Flags" British Sea Power
"The Great Skua" British Sea Power

Official MySpace Buy

#5- "House With No Name", Horse Feathers

This is the album that nearly bumped British Sea Power down, which should give you an indication of the quality of this record. I still want to listen to, "House With No Name" all the time, and it still satisfies. With it's spare arrangements, rich sound, and creaking character, it just hits me in all the right places.

"A Burden" Horse Feathers
"Curs in the Weeds" Horse Feathers

Official MySpace Buy

#6- "The Builders and the Butchers", The Builders and the Butchers

This album started a lot higher, and I still wish I could have a four way tie for number three, but I forced myself to avoid ties this year. This album is dark dark dark, but it doesn't feel depressing, for whatever reason. Maybe it's the junk-drawer assortment of instruments, or the urgency of the vocals, or maybe it's something else entirely. This disc is just fun and dark and great.

"Find Me In The Air" The Builders and the Butchers (probably the least dark song on the album!)

Official MySpace Buy

#7- "Lie Down in the Light", Bonnie "Prince" Billy

I knew this would be in my Top Eleven list back when I first heard the title track. It's stood the test of these last seven months or so, and even if it's not super high on the list, this album is solid and surprising and gets better with each listen, I promise. It may be difficult at times, but it's incredibly rewarding.

"Lie Down in the Light" Bonnie "Prince" Billy

Official MySpace Buy

#8- "All I Intended to Be", Emmylou Harris

I've always loved Emmylou Harris, at least as long as I've been familiar with her work. "Luxury Liner" was one of the first albums I ever purchased from iTunes, and it's been a great go-to record ever since. This album was another late comer, I didn't really discover it until about two months ago, and even then, I wasn't immediately hooked. But then, "Old Five and Dimers Like Me" came on while I was raking the leaves one afternoon and it just clicked. Such a beautiful, gentle, graceful album.

"Old Five and Dimers Like Me" Emmylou Harris

Official Wiki Buy

#9- "Seldom Seen Kid", Elbow

I don't think a more deserving band has ever won the Mercury Prize, and they are firmly in my Top Ten Artists ever, but a somewhat weak second half of the album brought this one down a few notches in my list.

"Mirrorball" Elbow

Official MySpace Buy

#10- "Neptune", The Duke Spirit

Much like "Baby 81" last year, this album rose in prominence after seeing the Duke Spirit in concert (coincidentally, opening for BRMC at Skullys), I was hooked on this album. It seems like I've been listening to it for ages, and I almost forgot that it had only come out in April!

"Neptune's Call" The Duke Spirit

Official MySpace Buy

#11- "Bury the Cynics", The Lovely Sparrows

I bought this album based on the fantastic video for "Year of the Dog" and their excellent name. I figured, if they make such a snazzy album and have such a snazzy name, how could they be bad? I was rewarded for my shrewd assessment with this fantastic disc.

"Department of Foreseeable Outcomes" The Lovely Sparrows

Official MySpace Buy

Well, there you have it. Another years worth of albums distilled into a handy list. I'm sure I missed a ton of stuff, but of the countless albums I heard this year, this represents the best of the best. Let me know if there is an album out there that you think I missed.

Also, check back soon for my list of the Top Songs of the year, as well as some miscellaneous lists that may or may not include a collection of the Best Album art of the year among others.

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"The Fatalist" Robbers on High Street

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SFA Test Post

To quote my good friend Bryan Hurt, "This is when they were fucking epic". I started listening to SFA with "Rings Around the World." I loved "Juxtaposed With U" and "(Drawing) Rings Around The World" (hell, I still love those songs). Bryan is the one that lent me "Radiator" and this song in particular is just that, Fucking Epic.

The Britpop label is insufficient to describe something as huge and expansive as Super Furry Animals. They've got a mythology and a mystery about them that is a difficult thing to come by in the 21st century. They released an album in Welsh ("Mwng" for those who are interested), their lead singer is named Gruff, and I don't think they can be contained in this mere blog.

"Hermann Loves Pauline" or more accurately, "Hermann (hearts) Pauline". The song is a battlefield for your eardrums. It's no man's land and mortar shells and grenades and gun fire. But it's also a love song and fireworks and the bass thumping and too many guitars and vocals just high enough to cut through the wall of sound. It's got hooks that would make a B.A.S.S. fisherman sell you his first born and they burrow deepdeepdeep into your brain. I can only imagine seeing, no feeling, this song live. The chest high stacks would vibrate everything in a square mile and the entire writhing mass of bodies would move as one to the Beach Boys "Ba-Ba-Baaaas" and the collective mind would swoon with the overwhelming sound.

Super Furry Animals Official Site
Super Furry Animals on MySpace
Buy "Radiator" on Amazon.com

"Hermann Loves Pauline" Super Furry Animals

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