2008 so far.

[Jan]

Lone - Lemurian

Don't let the abysmal cover art deceive you, that album is actually very, very good.

[mmm skyscraper]

Originally Posted by Jan

Lone - Lemurian

Don't let the abysmal cover art deceive you, that album is actually very, very good.

http://www.myspace.com/lonemusic

Check out 'Rainbow Jumper'

Lone has been active in this thread on the twoism board: http://www.twoism.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2511

[joethelion]

Originally Posted by matt

if you like this album make you sure you also check out other modular acts cut copy and midnight juggernauts as both have also released great albums this year (and are not a million miles away from the presets in sound)

ha! I actually originally started to write about the Midnight Juggernauts' album but then I wasn't sure if it came out this year, or late last year... and my review was pretty much "they sound like the Presets"

I dug Cut Copy's album at first... but it really hasn't gotten many plays after that first 2 week period (save for "Lights & Music")

[matt]

some albums since my first post that will probably be making my top 10 come the end of the year:

fantasy black channel late of the pier

brilliant debut album that picks up the baton from the klaxons and takes it to a whole 'nother level. erol alkan on production duties seems to have got the best out of this youthful lot and tracks like space & the woods, heartbeat and bathroom gurgle will be staying in my playlists for many years to come


dear science tv on the radio

seen a little bit of backlash against this because they didn't push things forwards enough, but who cares when the results sound this good. easily their most accessible work to date and should be the one that catapults them into the consciousness of the general public and i imagine it will be close to the top of most critics end of year lists


the holy pictures david holmes

i'm definitely a holmes fan boy as i've loved everything he's ever done since first hearing de niro and his jaw dropping remix of sabres of paradise's smokebelch ii all those years ago but this, his first solo album in eight long years, has been picking up pretty much rave reviews from most quarters. a bit of a departure for the belfast boy as this time he takes on vocal duties himself and it's a lot more chilled than previous efforts but still one of the best albums you'll hear this year


glasvegas glasvegas

don't let all the hype and alan mcgee put you off, this is actually a rather very good debut album and one that should be praised for trying something different in a world of indie clones clogging up the charts


motion to rejoin brightblack morning light

hadn't come across this lot before but i can definitely see why they get the spacemen 3 and early spiritualized comparisons. beautiful stoned bluesy space rock

[Jafs]

Originally Posted by matt

dear science tv on the radio

seen a little bit of backlash against this because they didn't push things forwards enough, but who cares when the results sound this good. easily their most accessible work to date and should be the one that catapults them into the consciousness of the general public and i imagine it will be close to the top of most critics end of year lists

Their 2 previous albums were certainly more specific, but also unequal and often sounding artificial (too much drugs in the studio ?).

But Dear Science is so groovy (new kind of fusionnal funk rock, I don't know how to descibe it), and not unequal anymore. Step forward

Very pleasant surprise.

[dubman]

Originally Posted by BrotherLovesDub

Luomo - Convival

easily top 5 for 2008 and i've only heard it 3 times.

heard this too and it strikes me like the loco dice album
as in, i'm going to need a bit to get in its skin and feel it properly before i completely love it.

for now it's just... pretty okay

[dubman]

the thing is that i've never been a huge fan of luomo, but i've had a feeling that he'd make something someday that i would really like, and they usually happen when a band or an artist have 'arrived' somewhere. if i already liked them then this album would make me love them. if i was indifferent to them then i'd see them in a new light that i liked. i feel like this is one of those albums, but that it's just going to take a bit to really unfold.

other stuff i've been listening to

Johann Johannsson - Fordlandia
i've also had kind of a soft spot for johannsson in the same way. i'd like his methods but there wasnt much i wanted to listen to over and over again, when he settled into doing more classical things it wasnt very interesting and when he used his computers it felt too distracted. this one is more classical yet feels pretty good though. not stellar, but def. a step in the right direction to me.

Ø - Olvera.
if you like pan sonic, you will also like this, because it is indistinguishable, really. i know it's a side project from one of them but honestly, if you're going to sound exactly like what you splintred from then whats the point? oh well. it's a solid album, wish there were more highlights and grooves and less of the plodding filler. more noise please.

Shugo Tokumaru - Exit
i heard this came out awhile ago. and that there are many many fans. it's all new to me right now, sounds like a less sugar-induced cornelius, making simple-ish folky pop songs that are friendly and spry and nice. i keep going back to it but i'm not really as hooked as most are.

TVotR update - i realized part of the reason why i was less than thrilled with the new album is because i'd listen to it alla t once, and the three song run of dancing choose-stork and owl-golden age is so completly boring and aggravating that it clouds the fact that everything afterwards is actually really damn good. so i like this album, though i think their production is still the biggest tripping point. i liked the noise and wash and flailing of return to cookie mountain, and it's heartening that they never want to repeat the same album twice.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by BrotherLovesDub

vocalcity is his best by miles. he'll never approach that level of subtle beauty again and i don't think he wants to. his luomo side seems hellbent on producing madonna or britney but i like this round of simple pop tunes.

Funny how I run into this discussion, as I've just discovered Vladislav Delay, so I'm going to check Vocalcity out.

[GforGroove]

Originally Posted by mmm skyscraper

Heartbreak - Lies

http://www.myspace.com/heartbreak1

If you like Italo, this is great stuff.

I loved this!!. Thanks for recommend it.

[GforGroove]

I think i have my favorites of this year:
new Fennesz-Black Sea and one of the truly most beautiful albums ever and BEST of the year for me: GROUPER- Dragging a Dead Dear Up a Hill