What we liked in 2008: CHRIS's Lists

Top 10 records for the year:

1. Blank Dogs - On Two Sides
2. Crystal Stilts - A Light of Night
3. Factums - Sistrum
4. Los Llamarada - Take The Sky
5. Abe Vigoda - Skeleton
6. Der Teenage Panzerkorps - Games For Slaves
7. Black Time - Double Negative
8. Sic alps - us ez
9. Childrens Hospital - Alone Together
10. Blank Dogs - Fields

Honorable Mentions:

1. No Age - Nouns
2. Deerhoof - Offend Maggie
3. Nothing People - Anonymous
4. Times New Viking - Rip It Off
5. Gentleman Jesse - Gentleman Jesse
6. Beach house - Devotion
7. Thee Oh Sees - The Masters Bedroom is Worth Spending the Night in
8. Vivian Girls - ST
9. High Places - High Places
10. Times New Viking - Rip it off

Worst albums that I actually heard:

1. Deerhunter - Microcastle / Weird Era Cont
2. Hercules and Love Affair - Hercules and Love Affair
3. Juno - OST
4. Santogold - Santogold
5. Dragonforce - Ultra Beatdown
6. Beck - Modern Guilt
7. guns and roses - Chinese democracy
8. Manchester Orchestra - Let My Pride etc
9. Jessie Malin - On Your Sleeve
10. Black Kids - Partie Traumatic

What we liked in 2008: JAMES's Lists

Top 10 Comic Book Issues To Poop To

1. Invincible #49
2. Miriam #1
3. Wasteland #15
4. Sword #11
5. Air #4
6. Rasl #2
7. Spawn #14
8. Wolverine #67
9. X-Men #500
10. Greatest Hits #1

Top 10 Graphic Novels To Read Entirely On The Toilet

1. Watchmen
2. Marvel Zombies
3. The Pro
4. Fables 1001 Nights of Snowfall
5. Stagger Lee
6. Runaways Vol 3
7. Fluffy
8. Black Hole
9. American Way
10. Dark Knight Returns

What we liked in 2008: PATRICK's Lists

Favorite Albums:

• The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust
• Dead Meadow - Old Growth
• Black Mountain - In The Future
• Deerhoof - Offend Maggie
• Noot d'Noot - Goofer Dust
• The Kills - Midnight Boom
• Atlas Sound - Let the Blind Lead...
• Elvis Costello - Momufuku
• Anna Kramer & The Lost Cause - The Rustic Contemporary Sounds of...
• Bauhaus - Go Away White
• Magnetic Fields - Distortion

Collections / Reissues / Live / Unreleased:

• Rodriguez - Cold Fact
• Danielson - Trying Hartz
• Bob Dylan - Tell Tale Signs
• Fiery Furnaces - Remember

Favorite DVDs:

• Futurama - Bender's Game
• Futurama - The Beast With a Billion Backs
• Cartoon Central's TV Funhouse from the genius mind of Robert Smigel
• Zodiac The Director's Cut directed by David Fincher
• The Furies directed by Anthony Mann (Criterion)
• La Chinoise directed by Jean-Luc Godard
• Le Gai Savoir directed by Jean-Luc Godard
• The Delirious Fictions of William Klein (Criterion/Eclipse)
• Europa (also known as Zentropa directed by Lars Von Trier (Criterion)
• Roman Polanski Wanted & Desired
• Encounters at the End of the World directed by Werner Herzog

Favorite Used LPs:

• Rosemary's Baby Soundtrack, Krzysztof Komeda
• Capricorn One Soundtrack, Jerry Goldsmith
• The Swarm Soundtrack, J. Goldsmith
• Star Trek The Motion Picture Soundtrack, J. Goldsmith
• Alien Soundtrack, J. Goldsmith
• Outland Soundtrack, J. Goldsmith (I like Jerry)
• Obsession Soundtrack, Bernard Herrmann
• The Fury Soundtrack, John Williams
• Happy Mondays - Bummed
• The Yachts - S.O.S.

What we liked in 2008: POTEAT's List

Of course in no particular order... [but he numbered his list anyway - Ed.]
1. Watching my son trick or treat for the first time
2. Gutter Twins - Adorata
3. UFO - Remastered reissues of their classic 70's records
4. Graveyard (Satan's finest! Thanks Adam & Shannon.)
5. The extended director's cut of Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
6. The Electro-Harmonix Bass Big Muff Pi
7. Me & Katie's trip to NYC for her 40th B-day
8. That Obama fella
9. Getting to interview my idol Glenn Hughes for criminal.com
10. Not having to sit at a shelf anymore.

What we liked in 2008: ERIC's List

Short and sweet...
1. Anna Kramer & The Lost Cause - Rustic Contemporary Sounds of…
2. Augustus Pablo - The Rockers Story
3. Bauhaus - Go Away White
4. Earth, Roots & Water - Innocent Youths
5. Erykah Badu - New Amerykah (Part One)
6. Gentlemen Jesse & His Men - S/T
7. Lady Dottie & The Diamonds - S/T
8. Noot D'Noot - Goofer Dust
9. Rodriguez - Cold Fact
10. Warren Zevon - S/T (deluxe reissue)

What we liked in 2008: KERRI's List

Since I'm ADD with albums, I decided to make my top 20 playlist for 2008. The songs aren't necessarily from 2008 or in any specific order, but that's how I roll.
1. Amanda Blank "I'm a Lady" featuring Santogold (Diplo Remix)
2. Kid Sister "Girlie Rock"
3. Kid Cudi "Day 'n' Nite"
4. Pase Rock "Lindsay Lohan's Revenge"
5. Walter Meego "Forever"
6. Lil Wayne "A Milli"
7. T.I. "Whatever You Like"
8. Lykke Li "Tonight"
9. Lushus "Ho Fo Sho"
10. Tender Forever "How Many"
11. Animal Collective "Derek"
12. Electrelane "To the East"
13. Alias and Tarsier "Dr. C"
14. Mapei "Daterape"
15. The Blow "Parentheses"
17. Flosstradamus "Overnight Star"
18. Muscles "Ice Cream"
19. Cool Kids "Bassment Party"
20. Andrew Thompson "We're in Business"

What we liked in 2008: MEL's List

OK, here is my list of my 10 favorites for 2008 in no particular order (except maybe the first one). This is a faves rather than a "top 10" list and consist mostly of live shows.

• 7/16/08: Alejandro Escovedo at the Variety Playhouse -- My fave "show of the year"!
• 4/14/08: Meeting and having my picture taken with Mick Jones and Tony James of Carbon Silicon, then catching their show later that night at the Loft and watching them have so much fun on stage.
• 1/31/08: The Forty Fives at the Star Bar (they were still on stage when 2008 began!) and 8/1/08: The Forty Fives show at Fringe Binge (did not see their show at Drive Invasion). -- I plan to encourage Adam to play more reunion shows!
• 10/15/08: Used Vinyl at Criminal Records.
• 4/29/08: X at the Variety -- Second fave show behind Alejandro.
• 4/24/08: Elvis Costello at the Ryman and sitting right in front of John Prine. Of course, being the nerd that I am, I said “Hello John”, as if he would know who I was.
• 9/22/08: Sacred Harp Singers in-store at Criminal Records -- Make a Joyful Noise!
• 4/10/08: Big Sandy and the Flyrite Boys at the Earl.
• 8/5/08: Richard Lloyd’s eccentric (I’m being nice) behavior at Criminal Records for his meet and greet, then tearing it up at Smith’s Olde Bar.
• 1/19/08: Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings at the Variety Playhouse.
• 4/19/08: Record Store Day at Criminal Records. -- Bands, Beer and the Best record store staff in the USA!

Honorable Mentions:

• 4 great new Records by local bands -- Anna Kramer, Noot d’ Noot, Gentlemen Jesse and His Men, and the Selmanaires.
• 1/26/08: Anna Kramer and the Lost Cause at the Earl International Hits Night with special guests
• 7/11/08: Judy Chicago and Noot d’Noot at the Earl (record release party for Noot d’Noot).
• April 2008, where I saw Levon Helm and Big Sandy on back to back nights, caught Shelby Lynne on a Saturday, then met Mick Jones the following Monday, was a part of the first Record Store Day, saw Elvis at the Ryman and finished the month with X! What a great month of live music!

What we liked in 2008: ADAM's Lists

The Good List:

• AWESOME COLOR - ELECTRIC ABORIGINES
  A little Stooges, a little garagey, some kick-ass guitar freakouts and a little Farfisa - what's not to like?
• WITCH - PARALYZED
  Totally rocking from start to finish - strangely thin sounding and not what I would really call metal. It has moments of weirdness too. Awesome - plain and simple.
• BORIS - SMILE
  See above - except it's all that and more. The scope of this band is so big, it's short-sighted to just call them "heavy" or "metal". They have almost become a genre unto themselves and (like a fine wine) get better as time goes on.
• MOST LITERATE ROCK ALBUM:
  NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS - DIG, LAZARUS, DIG
  This was also the best live show I saw all year (at Madison Square Garden, no less). It's so rare that a band that's been around as long as they have can continue to improve and get genuinely more bizzare in the process. Mustaches for everyone!
• BEST 70'S ROCK ALBUM:
  MELVINS - NUDE WITH BOOTS
  The same thing goes for the Melvins (one of the other great live shows of '08). You never know what to expect from this band. The fact that they just released one of the finest albums in their 25-year career is a testament to their originality and moxie. And it sounds like Led Zeppelin III.
• BEST NON-MELVINS ALBUM:
  HARVEY MILK - LIFE.. THE BEST GAME IN TOWN
  Athens is lucky to be able to claim such a band. Lord knows they don't have much else going for them. Athens is like Superman and Harvey Milk is like General Zod (in Superman II). The city should kneel before them (son of Jor-El).
• BEST BOX SET:
  THE MOVE - ANTHOLOGY 1966-1972
  Everybody is sick of hearing about the Beatles and the Stones. This is one of the best mid-60's English bands, hands down. Maybe some day they'll finally get their comeuppance. Besides, Ace Kefford is the shit.
• NO AGE - NOUNS
  This album really grew on me. I know it's a very hipster thing to like, but the hell with it. I think it's a cool record which shows off the band's abilitiy to control chaos (and noise) and have a catchy song rise above the din.
• BLACK MOUNTAIN - IN THE FUTURE
  Sabbath meets Deep Purple meets prog rock meets a "water saxaphone" - too heavy to be "indie", too indie to be "heavy". Plus, it made me want to grow a beard.
• DEAD MEADOW - OLD GROWTH
  It took a handful of listens before I fully got into Old Growth, but then I really took to it. It might be their best. It's almost like they made an americana stoner rock record. Hmmm.
• MUDHONEY - THE LUCKY ONES
  See earlier listings for Nick Cave and the Melvins. Something's going on with bands that have been around for 20+ years. Some of them are doing their best work now. I saw Mudhoney twice this year and I think they were the best I've ever seen or heard them. There's a reason why they've outlasted their contemporaries. "The Lucky Ones" might very well be the middle-aged anthem to the Grunge generation. Also, "Tales of Terror" is one of the best songs of the year and makes me want to raise my fist in the air every time I hear it.
• BEST BLACK FLAG SOUND-A-LIKE ALBUM:
  ANNIHILATION TIME - TALES OF THE ANCIENT AGE
  This record is equal parts Black Flag and Thin Lizzy and I think that's a combination who's time has come. You can be dumb and drunk and punk rock but also have melodic, dualing lead guitar solos - cool!
• BEST JESUS AND MARY CHAIN SOUND-A-LIKE MAKEOUT ALBUM:
  RAVEONETTES - LUST, LUST, LUST
  BEST RUNNER-UP MAKEOUT ALBUM:
  THE KILLS - MIDNIGHT BOOM
  These two bands released their finest albums to date this year. They're both a little noisy and a little sultry.
• BEST CLINIC ALBUM:
  CLINIC - DO IT
  This band has a sound all unto themselves and that's pretty hard claim to make these days. Their records can seem like a variation on a theme, but I dig 'em.
• BEST ALBUM TO MAKE YOU WANT TO GET RELIGION:
  VARIOUS/SOUNDTRACK - AWAKE MY SOUL
  The in-store performance of the these Sacred Harp singers was the coolest I've ever seen in the history of Criminal Records. Every person who was working got goosebumps. I'm pretty sure Chris Daresta was inadvertantly saved. Wow!
• GENTLEMAN JESSE AND HIS MEN - INTRODUCING...
  It was the soundtrack to the summer - super catchy and great songwriting. Not since the Jam has a Rickenbacker rocked this hard.
• BEST CD RE-ISSUE:
  MUDHONEY - SUPERFUZZ BIGMUFF
  Some people may not need 3 versions of "Mud Ride", but I thought every one of them kicked ass. This re-issue was a long time coming and should have reminded everybody why this was the best band to come out of Seattle. Put a gun in your mouth or be eaten by your cat, it's your choice.
• PORTISHEAD - THIRD
  Guns N Roses took 17 years to put out a proper studio record and it was a bloated, lifeless corpse. Portishead took 11 and it was a fascinating, experimental, inventive piece that seemed to transcend genres. I'm no mathematician, but Guns N Roses always sucked. Anybody? Anybody?
• BLACK KEYS - ATTACK AND RELEASE
  It took me a long time to warm up to this band, but Attack and Release is the best they've ever done. It seemed that having Danger Mouse on board allowed them to fully realize their potential.
• MOST SURPRISINGLY ROCKING SONG:
  THE FIREMAN - NOTHING TOO MUCH JUST OUT OF SIGHT
  Paul McCartney is 66 years old and he hasn't wailed like this in 30 years. Maybe that awful, one-legged goldbricker was good for something.
• BEST VINYL RE-ISSUE:
  HARVEY MILK - THE PLEASER
  In case anyone needed to be reminded that the "Mach II" version of this band rocked harder than Zeppelin, the proof is in the pudding. And the pudding is two lp's worth of ass-kicking swirled vinyl.

The Bad List: Biggest Disappointments & Over-hyped Drivel of 2008

• Fleet Foxes - s/t
  I never liked Crosby, Stills and Nash and it confounds me why indie tastemakers (and Mojo magazine) think this pablum is worth anyone's time or effort. Seriously, buy a Seals and Croft record already.
• Dr. Dog - Fate
  The first two records by this Philly band are great. This release is pedestrian at best. Boring and uninspired - what happened?
• Dungen - 4
  Ta Det Lugnt was one of the most rocking releases of the mid-2000's. Each release since then has been progressively watered-down and less interesting. Enough with the flutes! Where's Herbie Mann when you need him?
• Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely
  It's amazing that a band with so much raw talent can make such uninteresting music. Go back to your Detroit/working class roots and remember how to rock.
• TV on the Radio - Dear Science
  I'll take Weird Science (the song or movie) any day. I simply don't get the interest in this band.
• R.E.M. - Accelerate
  On behalf of music fans/musicians/people with ears: please stop making records. You had a brief, interesting period in the early 80's. Move on and do something else that has nothing to do with recording. The same goes for you, U2.
• Brian Wilson - That Lucky Old Sun
  Oh, how the mighty have fallen. I really thought that after the triumph that was Smile, the old boy was on a roll. As it turns out, he's essentially been propped up by the evil forces of muzak and forced to record elevator music.
• Vampire Weekend - s/t
  I have completely lost respect for NPR for running an exhausting piece on this band. Two years from now they'll all be wondering what happened and why they didn't just go to law school in the first place. If I've said it once, I've said it twice - you can't rock in a sweater vest.
• Beck - Modern Guilt
  He's never going to replicate Odelay (or even Midnight Vultures, for that matter). He should really just hang it up and go into business with Tom Cruise. It's devoid of soul, heart, and originality - perfect for the Scientologists!

What we liked in 2008: SHANNON's Lists

Favorites, Part 1

1. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Dig Lazurus, Dig!!
   Hmmm....It's hard for me not to be too much of a pathetic fan boy here. But what the hell. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are fucking amazing!Again! A great record hot on the heels of last years best Grinderman side project, the Bad Seeds somehow seem to get better. Older, louder, meaner, funnier and with a campy streak that's not in the least repulsive Nick and the Seed's write and perform rock and roll for grown ups who find adult "Paste style" pap like Coldplay, Keane, Vampire Weekend and their ilk an embarrassment. Long live King Ink!!
2. Mudhoney - Lucky Ones
   I could almost substitute Nick Cave's name above and add Mudhoney's. With some of the best songs of their career contained on Lucky Ones Mudhoney prove once and for that THEY were and are the best Seattle ever produced. And, I might add, really genuine and nice guys.
3. Annihilation Time - III - Tales of the Ancient Age
   What do you get when combine classic Thin Lizzy dual guitar leads, "My War" Black Flag era vocals, a sophmoric, skater sense of humor and awesome thrashing (dude)? Annihilation Time that's what. Man what I wouldn't give to see Vampire Weekend open for Annihilation Time. Oh the fun we would have.
4. Prisonshake - Dirty Moons
   Maybe it's my fondness for Cleveland bands or maybe it's just my love of well written rock songs played with passion, humor and drunken energy that draws me to Prisonshake. This, their first record in 14 years, brought back the same feeling I got when I first heard The Replacements or discovered the Homestead label. Real, honest mid-western rock. It goes down like a cold Schaefer.
5. Boris - Smile
   There is a lead guitar break in the first 2 seconds of "Lazer Beam" that is the voice of God.That is if God is a 90 lb Japanese woman. Heavy and beautiful, Boris kills.
6. Portishead - Third
   You know I never really cottoned to the whole trip-hop thing, but Portishead always stood out. With "Third" things got darker, unsettling. "We Carry On" raised the hair on my arms. Really. Krautrock rehash? Who cares.
7. Black Mountain - In The Future
   Black Mountain up's the stoner quotient by adding some prog elements to their Sabbath riffs. It's so good I don't mind songs about ponies.
8. Howlin' Rain - Magnificent Fiend
   I recently overheard a neighborhood hipster get his skinny black jeans in a wad about this band. "What a bunch of hippie bullshit! They sound like something my dad would like" His buddy responded "Yeah their like the Faces or Allman Brothers. Fuck that".
9. Witch - Paralyzed
   I'm running out of things to say about heavy rock. This record makes me want to drive around in my friend Rob's canary yellow Honda Accord and drink scotch, vodka and Pepsi all out the same bottle just like we did in 10th grade. And then play pinball.
10. King Tuff - Was Dead
    I for one am happy Power Pop is cool these days. Please don't let Pitchfork ruin it.

Favorite Reissues and Compilations

1. Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue
2. Mudhoney - Superfuzz Bigmuff
   I wish they had included a bass and drum tracks only disc. "I'll be holding". Luuuuukin!!!
3. Rodriguez - Cold Fact
4. Harvey Milk - Pleaser/Live Pleaser
   Still the only Athens band in the last decade to matter.
5. African Scream Contest
   Damn! That's some raw shit!
6. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Live at the Fillmore East
   Neil Young - Sugar Mountain Live at Canterbury House
   Neil Young - Live at Massey Hall
   Essential reissues.

Live shows that kept me from quitting music for another year

• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - 9:30 Club Washington, DC
• Mudhoney - The Earl ATL and Sunset Tavern Seattle, WA
• Tom Waits - Fox Theatre ATL
• It's Casual - Criminal Records
• Golden Animals - Criminal Records

The "I hate to be negative, but I can't help it" list

• Fleet Foxes
  Really? This band managed to irritate off one of the gentlest people I know, my bandmate and close friend Anna Kramer. If you know Anna, you know she's a downright hippie sweetheart. Through their hair preening on stage to their pompous answer to the praise "Your harmonies are beautiful." (The response from a band member, the one with the beard and long hair, was, "Yeah, I hope we don't get overexposed." Wow.) And the record is boring.
• Brian Wilson - Lucky Old Sun
  Someone please call Dr. Landy
• Dungen - 4
  Whaaa Haaappend!?
• Garage rock
  Enough already.