Fresh Air: December 2008

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

1

The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age Of Understatement (Domino)

-- Because its you! --

CatPeople - Reel # 1 (Pias Records)

-- H Ανακάλυψη του 2008 έρχεται απο την Ισπανία. Οι CatPeople κυκλοφορούν ένα δίσκο πραγματικό διαμάντι, που θα μπορούσε να είναι μακράν στο Νο1 αν δεν το ανακάλυπτα πριν 2 μήνες. Το "Behind" θα είναι σίγουρα το αποχαιρετιστήριο κομμάτι που θα παιχτεί για το 2008. Ένα Εξαιρετικό Άλμπουμ! --

3

MGMT - Oracular Spectacular (Sony)

-- The Most Beautifully Chaotic Album of the Year... --

MGMT - Kids [New]

4

M83 - Saturday = Youth (Mute)

-- Like it or not, the 1980s are part of who we are and Gonzales' homage to the decade is the closest thing to perfect he's achieved --

5

Cloud Cult - Feel Good Ghosts (Rebel Group)

-- A Superb Follow-Up To THE MEANING OF 8--

6

Anathallo - Canopy Glow (Anticon)

-- "Earnest and joyful throughout, they don't make records like this anymore, so be glad Anathallo didn't listen and made one anyway" --

7

The Kills - Midnight Boom (Domino)

-- Lou Reed & PJ Harvey had a dirty, dirty daughter and her name is The Kills --

8

Portishead - Third (Mercury)

-- "I saw a savior, a savior come my way" --

Portishead - The Rip

9

Glasvegas - Glasvegas (BMG)

-- Twilight Sadder --

GLASVEGAS - Daddys Gone - LIVE

Monday, December 29, 2008

10

Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now,Youngster! (Arts & Crafts)

-- A glockenspiel in a guitar band? Freshens up the sound, they think. And they're right --

11

Kings Of Leon - Only By The Night (RCA)

-- "Kings of Leon needed to make a very specific sounding type of album in order to seize their moment, and that they have done, entirely successfully" --

Kings Of Leon - Use Somebody

12

Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires (Beggars XL)

-- 80s Dancing is cool again!!! --

13

Beach House - Devotion (Carpark Records)

-- Beach House's dark moods have more shades, and even a little bit of light, making them all the more compelling --

14

Little Joy - Little Joy (Rough Trade)

-- It's a sunny album with low aspirations, which in this case is a compliment --

15

Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles (Last Gang)

-- "It's clear that Kath and Glass are already looking for more ways to expand on this familiar-sounding, edgy, innocent, menacing, bold, nuanced, and altogether striking debut" --

16

The Gaslight Anthem - The 59' Sound (Side One Dummy Records)

-- This album is made of the songs you would hear the band play in some bar and get lost in the sway of the music with some other aimless soul or just get lost riding into the lonely nights with a pack of cigarettes and a half tank of gas --

17

Van She - V [Modular]

18

Love Is All - A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night (What's Your Rupture? Records)

-- "Taken together, they position Love Is All as one of the best post-punk revivalist groups, and arguably the equal of their influences. Whether you stand behind that statement or not, A Hundred Things Keep Me Up at Night is as good as indie rock gets in the late 2000s" --

19

The Raconteurs - Consolers Of The Lonely (Warner)

-- "The Raconteurs are singing, more often than not, about desperate characters. But that desperation only makes the crunch of the music more euphoric" --

20

Parts & Labor - Receivers (Jagjaguwar)

-- "An open-minded rock record that relies on a wide array of familiar signifiers but never once sounds like it could have been recorded or released any earlier than it was"--

21

Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours (Modular Interscope)

-- "The group's music is ghostly and ethereal, creating a sonic wall that is set against some of the lovelist, shimmering retro-electro-disco you've ever heard" --

22

Late Of The Pier - Fantasy Black Channel (Parlophone)

-- Melting Pot --

23

No Age - Nouns (Sub Pop)

-- warm happy ambience. NOT for instant satisfaction --

24

The Accidental - There Were Wolves (Thrill Jockey)

-- "You are part of everything
Find your voice and start to sing" --

25

Gutter Twins - Saturnalia (Sub Pop)

-- "Dulli and Lanegan, two of today's greatest underappreciated frontmen" --

26

Plants & Animals - Parc Avenue (Secret City Records)

-- and their journey just begun...one of the best debut albums for this year --

27

Atlas Sound - Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel (Kranky Records)

-- Richly textured, intensely personal fusion of dream and noise pop --

28

Metronomy - Nights Out (Because Records)

-- "It’s a sleeping giant of a dancefloor creeper that will be everyone’s favourite new electro album in approximately six months’ time" --

29

Okkervil River - The Stand Ins (Jagjaguwar Records)

-- "Remember those old days when everything was perfect, when you were happy and all was right in your world, The Stand Ins achieves this" --

30

Fujiya & Miyagi - Lightbulbs [Deaf,Dumb & Blind Records]

-- The New Neu! (?) --

31

Foals - Antidotes [Sub Pop]

-- ringing circling pop with convulsing violins, moody rock tunes, fast funky dance music, fast-moving spacey tunes with airy fantastical lyrics..oufff --

32

Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight [Fat Cat]

-- What would it sound like if Snow Patrol had a set of brass ones? --

33

Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid [Geffen]

-- "The achievement of The Seldom Seen Kid is that Elbow manage to be both incredibly consistent and perpetually improving" --