Best Albums of 2008

After longer than I planned, as always, here are my top 30 albums of 2008. There's a ton of stuff I still haven't listened to, and a few albums I've listened to in the last couple weeks that might've made the list had I listened to them more, but I figured I would just post my current top 30 or else this would never get done. In lieu of writing reviews for these things, I've decided to give each album an award or three. Most awards will be entirely arbitrary.



30. Hercules and Love Affair
Hercules and Love Affair
-Award for Somehow Making Antony Hegarty's Vocals Work Over Disco/House Music


29. Santogold
Santogold
-The "You Know, She Sounds Less Like M.I.A. Than You Think" Award


28. Fuck Buttons
Street Horrrsing
-The "What the Hell Were They Thinking by Adding Heavily Distorted Vocals?" Award


27. Crystal Castles
Crystal Castles
-Award for Most Meaningless Lyrics



26. Alphabeat
This Is Alphabeat
-The "I Don't Care What You Think Right Now, By the End of This Song You Will Enjoy This Music as Much as I Do" Award


25. Ultra Vomit
Objectif: Thunes
-Award for Best French Grindcore/Speed Metal/Black Metal/Heavy Metal/Metalcore/Pop-Punk Album


24. Millionaires
Bling Bling Bling EP
-Award for the Album That Made Me Seriously Consider Never Listening to Another New Album for Fear That My Taste in Music Would Continue to Get Shittier and Shittier


23. Shearwater
Rook
-The "I'm Glad My Roomate Forced Me to Listen to This Whole Album While I Was Still Working On This List" Award


22. Sean Smith
Eternal
-Award for Best Impulse Buy (Maybe Ever)
-The "I Can't Find My CD Copy, and I'm Too Lazy to Rip the LP Right Now" Award


21. Noah and the Whale
Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down
-Award for Somehow Combining the Vocal Styles of Josh Ritter, Aaron Weiss, and a Little Conor Oberst
-Award for Other Most Upbeat Album About Heartbreak


20. Baby Guts
The Kissing Disease
-The "Yes, I Absolutely Have a Thing for Punk Rock Girls" Award


19. Atmosphere
When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold
-The "Ant Finally Turned the Snare Down" Award
-Award for Other Best Album Title


18. Fleet Foxes
Sun Giant EP/Fleet Foxes
-Award for Best Liner Notes (both)
-Award for Best Album Cover (Fleet Foxes)


17. Marnie Stern
This Is It & I Am It & You Are It & So Is That & He Is It & She Is It & It Is It & That Is That
-The "Don't Turn This Off During the First Track" Award
-The "I Wonder What it Would Sound Like if Buckethead and Regina Spektor Somehow Merged Into One Person - Oh Wait, Probably Like This" Award


16. Be Your Own Pet
Get Awkward (UK Version with Full Tracklist)
-The "Fuck Universal Records" Award


15. Okkervil River
The Stand-Ins
-The "So Good I'm Only a Little Disappointed It's Just Eight Songs" Award


14. Jeremy Messersmith
The Silver City
-Award for Best Album from a Minneapolis Artist


13. The Dodos
Visiter
-Award for "Heaviest" Folk Album


12. Right Away, Great Captain!
The Eventually Home
-Award for Most Growth Between Albums


11. Torche
Meanderthal
-The "What the Hell, Pitchfork Turned Me On to a Metal Band?" Award


10. Frightened Rabbit
The Midnight Organ Fight
-Award for Most Upbeat Album About Heartbreak


9. Girl Talk
Feed the Animals
-Award for Best Party Album
-Award for Best Free Album
(download goes to free download on Girl Talk's official site)


8. Langhorne Slim
Langhorne Slim (and the War Eagles)
-Award for Album I Somehow Kept Forgetting About


7. Fucked Up
The Chemistry of Common Life
-Award for Best Vocalist
-Award for Giving People an Idea What It Would Sound Like if Andrew WK Dropped Acid Instead of Drank Alcohol


6. Dear and the Headlights
Drunk Like Bible Times
-Award for Best Album Title
-Award for Best Lyrics


5. Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend
-The "Fuck Pre-Album Hipster Backlash" Award


4. Man Man
Rabbit Habits
-Award for Best Carnival-Hobo-Vaudeville Rock Album


3. Why?
Alopecia
-Award for Most Disconcertingly Honest Lyrics


2. Children 18:3
Children 18:3
-Award for Most Attractive Bassist
-The "I'm Glad They Finally Got Signed (even if it was to Tooth & Nail)" Award


1. of Montreal
Skeletal Lamping
-Stupidly Good Award
-Award for Best Alter Ego Since Ziggy Stardust
-Award for Most Ridiculously Awesome Packaging

Top 40 of 2008

Rather than list my favorite EPs and comedy albums first like I did last year, I decided to instead make my own Top 40 playlist for 2008... mostly because there weren't that many solid EPs put out, and there were only three really great comedy releases this year (Louis CK, Mitch Hedberg, and George Carlin). The rest ranged from slightly above mediocre to downright hacky crap. This ended up being a lot more work than what I did last year, but I think it paid off. All of these songs are great, and this list will also give you a broader overview of what came out this year, since only 18 of the songs come from my top 30 albums. Until then, here are my top 40 songs of 2008. Download link is after the list.

40. "Teen Creeps" - No Age (Nouns)
39. "Black Teeth" - Nurse With Wound (Huffin' Rag Blues)
38. "Our Definition of a Breakdown (feat. Ed DMX)" - Osborne (Osborne)
37. "Negative Thinking" - The Death Set (Worldwide)
36. "Young Marks" - The Mae Shi (HLLLYH)
35. "Highly Suspicious" - My Morning Jacket (Evil Urges)
34. "Got Money (feat. T-Pain)" - Lil Wayne (Tha Carter III)
33. "Walking" - The Dodos (Visiter)
32. "Black Panther" - Crystal Castles (Crystal Castles)
31. "Any Way You Choose To Give It" - The Black Ghosts (The Black Ghosts)
30. "I Will Possess Your Heart" - Death Cab for Cutie (Narrow Stairs)
29. "We Are Rockstars" - Does It Offend You, Yeah? (You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into)
28. "Hook and Line" - The Kills (Midnight Boom)
27. "Pray for Darkness" - Cancer Bats (Hail Destroyer)
26. "Blind" - Hercules and Love Affair (Hercules and Love Affair)
25. "Look At Me (When I Rock Wichoo)" - Black Kids (Partie Traumatic)
24. "Eye" - Witch (Paralyzed)
23. "Angry (feat. Tippa Irie)" - The Bug (London Zoo)
22. "Midnight Madness" - The Chemical Brothers (Brotherhood: The Definitive Singles Collection)
21. "Soul On Fire" - Spiritualized (Songs in A&E)
20. "Nothing Ever Happened" - Deerhunter (Microcastle)
19. "Mykonos" - Fleet Foxes (Sun Giant EP)
18. "Good Lies" - The Notwist (The Devil, You + Me)
17. "Fascination" - Alphabeat (This Is Alphabeat)
16. "Becky" - Be Your Own Pet (Get Awkward [UK]/Get Damaged EP [US])
15. "Topeka" - Ludo (You're Awful, I Love You)
14. "Singer Songwriter" - Okkervil River (The Stand-Ins)
13. "Black Albino Bones" - Fucked Up (The Chemistry of Common Life)
12. "Fat Waves" - Torche (Meanderthal)
11. "I Kissed a Girl" - Katy Perry (One of the Boys)
10. "Shoulda Known" - Atmosphere (When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold)
9. "L.E.S. Artistes" - Santogold (Santogold)
8. "When They Come To Murder Me" - Black Francis (Svn Fngrs)
7. "Talk About" - Dear and the Headlights (Drunk Like Bible Times)
6. "Homemade Valentine" - Children 18:3 (Children 18:3)
5. "Walcott" - Vampire Weekend (Vampire Weekend)
4. "Restless" - Langhorne Slim (Langhorne Slim & The War Eagles)
3. "The Hollows" - Why? (Alopecia)
2. "Keep Yourself Warm" - Frightened Rabbit (The Midnight Organ Fight)
1. "I Can Feel a Hot One" - Manchester Orchestra (Let My Pride Be What's Left Behind EP)

Download here. I can upload all the tracks individually if anyone would rather have that. Also, if you want to burn this to CD, it worked out so that the first 20 tracks and the last 20 tracks each fit nicely on a disc.

Tracks are tagged in reverse order (ie, "Teen Creeps" is track 1 and "I Can Feel a Hot One" is track 40). The reason for this should be obvious. I should have my top 30 albums uploaded sometime in the next week.

BACK FROM THE DEAD!

So, I finally decided to change the template and make this thing viewable again. Yes, it's pink. I don't know if that will change or not.

I have a metric fuckton of random shit that I uploaded for different people, so I'm just going to post links to some open directories on my webspace. It's mostly old Tooth & Nail stuff and other obscure, out of print Christian punk/metal albums. That should tide you over until I figure out what to post next. I think I might start a separate comedy blog now that I know none of the stuff I upload will get deleted. The internet needs more comedy blogs. If I decide to start a comedy blog, my next post on here might not be until January when I do my best of 2008 post, unless I get some requests for music. I don't know, maybe I'll post random obscure shit from time to time. Anyway, links to the open directories:

http://lilithwormwood.com/mp3 (falp.zip is the vinyl version of F#A#∞ by Godspeed You! Black Emperor, which I think is superior to the CD version - fans of the band should definitely get it. I also highly suggest the Slapp Happy/Henry Cow album in there.)

http://lilithwormwood.com/rockbander/ (more random stuff - I'll do a list of what's in each zip file if someone posts a comment requesting it)


I also uploaded almost all of Showbread's pre-Solid State material. I'm waiting on Josh Dies to get me the first album, The Dissonance of Discontent, and then that directory will have all of their old stuff. He's also going to upload the master tracks for "Does This Inspire You" by his solo project DIES for remixing, so I'll post something whenever he gets around to that. Here's the directory:
http://lilithwormwood.com/showbread/

Here's a directory full of Neutral Milk Hotel bootlegs/demos/etc:
http://lilithwormwood.com/nmh/

And finally, a few Trojan Records box sets (Beatles Tribute, Dub, Dub Vol. 2, Dub Rarities, and Ganja Reggae, all 3-disc sets) as well as Laika Come Home: Gorillaz vs. Spacemonkeyz, which is a dub re-working of the first Gorillaz album and is definitely their best release:
http://lilithwormwood.com/trojan/

Patton Oswalt - Frankensteins and Gumdrops

This finally got into the hands of the people who ordered it, then found its way on to the internet. Now I share it with all of you. Unfortunately, it's only two tracks (and one of those was on the Alabama bootleg from last year), but it's still worth downloading and listening to, of course. I know nothing has been happening here for a while, but I'm working on stuff. Hold out a little longer.


Patton Oswalt - Frankensteins and Gumdrops

Alive Blog Is Alive

So... um... yeah. Sorry about not updating for two months. I neglected this blog for a bit, and then bought a new computer, so I've been moving everything off my old computer onto this one. In the meantime I bought some webspace, which means everything will be hosted there from now on instead of Mediafire. This is good for everyone, I think, because it means faster, easier uploads for me, and faster, easier downloads for you. I've uploaded a bunch of stuff, including an entire repost of the Neutral Milk Hotel bootlegs/rarities I uploaded before, so I'll post all of that. Then... I don't know. I'll take some requests, and probably post some local stuff since I've gotten a bunch recently. I'm also thinking about opening a comedy megasite, where I'll dump the few hundred comedy albums I have and keep it all nice and organized for everyone. Anyway, on with the downloads:

Underoath - Act of Depression
The LSD Report (70's docu-vinyl on LSD - nifty stuff)
Hercules and Love Affair - Hercules and Love Affair (House/disco-revival, featuring Antony Hegarty of Antony and the Johnsons on vocals)
He Is Legend - 2008 Album Demos (4 demos for their upcoming album - ripped off myspace, which explains the shitty quality)
Showbread - Goodbye is Forever
Showbread - Goodnight Sweetheart the Stitches Are Coming Apart
Showbread - Human Beings Are Too Shallow To Fall In Love
Showbread - 2001 Battle of the Bands
Showbread - Life, Kisses, and Other Wasted Efforts
Showbread - Raw Rock Militia Tracks (Demos/Head Like a Hole Cover/etc. posted by Showbread last year)

Neutral Milk Hotel

Demos/Rarities:
1991 - Invent Yourself a Shortcake
1992 - Beauty
1993 - Hype City Soundtrack
1998 - Holland, 1945/Engine 7"
???? - The Unknown Demo
???? - The Other Unknown Demo
???? - Shannon's Monroe House Demos
???? - Misc. Rarities

Live Bootlegs:
Live at Aquarius Records, San Francisco, CA 7/4/96
Live at Cat's Cradle, Chapel Hill, NC 3/4/98
Live at Chris Bilheimer's Birthday Party, Athens, GA 12/5/98
Live at King's Arms, Auckland, New Zealand 2/4/01
Live at Seven South, Denver, CO 8/9/97
Live at Sudsy Malone's, Cincinnati, OH 7/23/96
Live at the 40 Watt Club, Athens, GA 12/31/98
Live at the 400 Bar, Minneapolis, MN 4/24/98
Live at the Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco, CA 4/12/98
Live at the Broad River Outpost, Danielsville, GA 9/14/97
Live at the Bug Jar, Rochester, NY 7/30/1998
Live at the Crocodile Cafe, Seattle, WA 4/14/98
Live at The Garage, London, England 8/18/98
Live at the Knitting Factory, New York, NY 7/17/96
Live at the Mermaid Lounge, New Orleans, LA 4/3/98
Live at the Red Light Cafe, Atlanta, GA 11/22/97
Live at the Side Door, St. Louis, MO 5/5/97
Live at the Terrastock II Festival, San Francisco, CA 4/15/98
Live at Tokyo Rose, Charlottesville, VA 4/23/97
Live at UK Radio Show, May 1998
Live at University MDH, Manchester, England 10/10/1998
XFM Radio Session, London, England, 8/18/98

Super Comedy Sunday, Part V: A New Beginning

I figure it's high time I revive Super Comedy Sunday. To celebrate its return, I thought I'd try something different and upload a few interviews with comedians in addition to regular comedy albums. If it goes over well, I might upload more interviews next time.


Bill Hicks - CapZeyeZ Interview


Brett Erickson - Exile on Pain Street


Brian Regan - Unmasked (Interview)


Dave Attell - Captain Miserable (Audio Rip)


David Cross - It's Not Funny


Greg Proops - Houston, We Have a Problem


Jen Kirkman - Self Help


Jim Norton - Monster Rain (Audio Rip)


Katt Williams - The Pimp Chronicles Part 1 (Audio Rip)


Louis CK - Live at the Comedy Death Ray 9/19/06


Michael Showalter - Sandwiches & Cats


Mike Birbiglia - My Secret Public Journal Live


Mitch Hedberg - Mitch All Together


Neil Hamburger - Hot February Night


Paul F. Tompkins - Impersonal

The Even More Complete Manchester Orchestra

The band requested that I remove all of the old stuff I recently posted, and to be on the safe side, I'm taking down all of the other stuff as well. If it turns out that it's okay for me to share some of it, I'll put that stuff back up, but for the moment there won't be anything. If you downloaded anything pre-Nobody Sings Anymore (so like, Andy's bands from high school and the stuff recorded in his basement), it'd be cool if you'd delete it as the band doesn't want that stuff circulated. If you won't delete it, at least have the decency not to pass it around.