This discussion should serve as a companion to the "Under-Hyped" thread and is not to be confused with the "Specialty Lists" thread.

This is for posting lists of the best albums from 2008 that did not end up making our users list or Metacritic's "30 Best-Reviewed Albums of the Year". The purpose here is reveal overlooked albums or albums that appealled to smaller groups but are highly-regarded.

Here's a tentative ordering of my favorite undervalued albums from '08. Putting this list together, I was surprised that some of these qualified.

01 - AGF - Dance Floor Drachen
02 - Jamie Lidell - Jim
03 - High Places - High Places
04 - Sic Alps - US EZ
05 - Fall, The - Imperial Wax Solvent
06 - Grand Salvo, The - Death
07 - DJ Scotch Egg - Drumized
08 - Dan Friel - Ghost Town
09 - Amanda Palmer - Who Killed Amanda Palmer?
10 - Gentleman Jesse & His Men - Introducing Gentleman Jesse
11 - Fredrik - Na Na Ni
12 - French Quarter - French Quarter
13 - Lykke Li - Youth Novels
14 - Kurt Vile - Constant Hitmaker
15 - Pop Project, The - Stars of Stage and Screen
16 - Daedelus - Love To Make Music To
17 - Kurt Weisman - Spiritual Sci-Fi
18 - Evangelista - Hello, Voyager
19 - YMCK - FAMILY GENESIS
20 - Portico Quartet, The - Knee-Deep In The North Sea
21 - PSY/Opsogist - Suffused With Static

This message has been edited. Last edited by: goathouse,

Ok, so this is a top 50 excluding:
The Notwist, Why?, Shearwater, Chad VanGaalen, Sigur Ros, Paavorharju, Elbow & Department Of Eagles
(Paavorharju ranked relatively highly of metacritic's list, but not the forum's. & The Notwist and ChadVanGaalen were outside the forum's top 50, but in the top 100)
(too lazy to re-number them all though!)


1. Breathe Owl Breathe- Ghost Glacier
2. Hjaltalín- Sleepdrunk Seasons
3. Get Well Soon- Rest Now, Weary Head, You Will Get Well Soon
4.5.6. 7.
8. Angil + Hddntracks- Oulipo Saliva
9. Dark Dark Dark- The Snow Magic
10. Choir Of Young Believers- This Is For The White In Your Eyes
11. The Ruby Suns- Sea Lion
12. Bodies Of Water- A Certain Feeling
13. Okay- Huggable Dust
14. Shoreline- Time Well Spent
15. A Weather- Cove
16. Au- Verbs
17.
18. Jong Pang- Bright White Light
19. The Acorn- Glory Hope Mountain
20. Lost In The Trees- All Alone In An Empty House
21. The Nurses- Apple's Acre
22. Finn.- The Best Low-Priced Heartbreakers You Can Own
23. The Accidental- There Were Wolves
24.
25. Port O'Brien- All We Could Do Was Sing
26. Cloud Cult- Feel Good Ghosts
27.
28. Simon Bookish- Everything/Everything
29. Anni Rossi- Afton
30. Sons Of Noel And Adrian- Sons Of Noel And Adrian
31. I'm From Barcelona- Who Killed Harry Houdini?
32. Johann Johannsson- Fordlandia
33. dEUS- Vantage Point
34. Adrian Crowley- Long Distance Swimmer
35. Between The Pine- Friends, Foes, Kith and Kin
36. Trouble Books- The United Colours Of Trouble Books
37. Roommate- We Were Enchanted
38. The Miserable Rich- Twelve Ways To Count
39. Throw Me The Statue- Moonbeams
40. Psapp- The Camel's Back
41. Benni Hemm Hemm- Murta St. Calunga
42. Welcome Wagon- Welcome To The Welcome Wagon
43. Detektivbyrån- Wermland
44. Stars And Sons- The Goat Show
45. Laish Quartet- Laish Quartet
46. Chris T-T- Capital
47. Jacaszek -Treny
49.
50. Boduf Songs- How Shadows Chase The Balance
51. Misophone- Be Glad You Are Only Human
52. Syd Matters- Ghost Days
53. Erik Enocksson- With Its Dark Tail Curled 'Round The Garage
54. Eleanoora Rosenholm- Älä kysy kuolleilta, he sanoivat
55. Adem- Takes
56. Francois Virot- Yes Or No
57. Pattern Is Movement- All Together
58. Mechanical Bride- Part II - Eps

Fucking. Awesome.

Thanks airboy, ya nutjob.

Some of these may be in the top 50 or 100, but fuck it.

1. Angil+Hiddntracks- Oulipo Saliva
2. L’Enfance Rouge- Trapani - Halq Al Waady
3. The Fun Years- Baby It’s Cold Inside
4. Kemialliset Ystavat- Harmaa Laguuni
5. Bird Names- Open Relationship
7. Roedulis and Story- Inlandish
8. Deep Dark United- Look At/ Look Out
9. Ulaan Kohl- II
10. Fennesz- Black Sea

11. Evan Parker- Boustrophedon
12. Ralph White- Navasota Red Devil Squirrel
13. Singer- Unhistories
14. Valerio Cosi- Heavy Electronic Pacific Rock
15. Erykah Badu- New Amerykah (4th World War)
16. Heavy Winged- Alive In My Mouth
17. Extra Life- Secular Works
18. Invincible – Shapeshifters
20. Fig Leaves- Fig Leaves

21. Possessed By Paul James- Cold and Blind
22. PSY/OPSogist- Suffused With Static
23. Heaven And- Sweeter As the Years Go By
24. Magic Lantern- High Beams
25. Skeletons- Money
27. Crystal Antlers- S/T EP
28. Grampall Jookabox- Ropechain


31. {{{Sunset}}}- The Glowing City
34. Juana Molina- Un Dia
35. Elephant9- Doodoovoodoo
36. Leila- Blood, Looms and Blooms
38. Evangelista- Hello Voyager
40. Ulaan Kohl- I

41. Ryan Garbes- Freedom Now
42. Natural Snow Buildings- Sung to the North
43. Sun Araw- The Phynx
44. Datashock and Shivers- Vol. IV
45. War on Drugs- Wagonwheel Blues
46. Autistic Daughters- Uneasy Flowers
47. Vandermark 5- Beat Reader
48. Snowman- The Horse, The Rat, and the Swan
49. Yellow Swans- Deterioration
50. Warmer Milks- Soft Walks

51. Dan Friel- Ghost Town
52. The Oh Sees- The Master’s Bedroom is Worth Spending the Night In
53. Natural Snow Buildings- Laurie Bird
54. Abe Vigoda- Skeleton
55. The Magic I.D.- Till my Breath Gives Out
56. Dosh- Wolves and Wishes
58. Oneida- Preteen Weaponry
59. White Denim- Workout Holiday
60. Sic Alps- US EZ

61. Bersarin Quartett- S/T
62. Nat Baldwin- Most Valuable Player
63. Nine Inch Nails- Ghosts I-IV
67. James Jackson Toth- Waiting in Vain
68. Thank You- Terrible Two
69. Indian Jewelry- Free Gold!
70. Pocohaunted- Island Diamonds

71. Secret Cheifs 3- Xaphan: Book of Angels Vol. 3
73. Fuzz Against Junk- Netti Netti
74. Low Lows- Shining Violence

quote:

Originally posted by airboy paul:
11. The Ruby Suns- Sea Lion

Far underrated -,_ -.

Definitely. It took me to have a break from it before returning to it a couple of months later before I realised how great/consistant it was.

-Good call on The Ruby Suns.

UPDATE

01 - AGF - Dance Floor Drachen
02 - Jamie Lidell - Jim
03 - Lulu Rouge - Bless You
04 - High Places - High Places
05 - DJ Scotch Egg - Drumized
06 - Sic Alps - US EZ
07 - Fall, The - Imperial Wax Solvent
08 - Grand Salvo, The - Death
09 - Ross Johnson - Make It Stop! The Most of Ross Johnson
10 - Truckasauras - Tea Parties, Guns & Valor
11 - Azeda Booth - In Flesh Tones
12 - Dan Friel - Ghost Town
13 - Amanda Palmer - Who Killed Amanda Palmer?
14 - Gentleman Jesse & His Men - Introducing Gentleman Jesse
15 - High Places - 03_07 - 09_07
16 - Clutchy Hopkins - Walking Backwards
17 - Blue Sky Black Death - Jean Grae: The Evil Jeanius
18 - Fredrik - Na Na Ni
19 - Son Lux - At War With Walls and Mazes
20 - French Quarter - French Quarter
21 - Lykke Li - Youth Novels
22 - Kurt Vile - Constant Hitmaker
23 - PSY/Opsogist - Suffused With Static
24 - Daedelus - Love To Make Music To
25 - Kurt Weisman - Spiritual Sci-Fi
26 - Evangelista - Hello, Voyager
27 - YMCK - FAMILY GENESIS
28 - Portico Quartet, The - Knee-Deep In The North Sea
29 - Pop Project, The - Stars of Stage and Screen
30 - Clientele, The - That Night, A Forest Grew EP

--------------------------------------------

I believe these qualify as well, and I'm trying to fit them somewhere in my list.

Ready Fire Aim - This Changes Nothing
Rafter - Sweaty Magic
Rachel Unthank & The Winterset - The Bairns
Photographic, The - Pictures Of A Changing World
Nico Muhly - Mothertongue
Naked On The Vague - The Blood Pressure Sessions
Miami Ice - Icy Demons
Lexie Mountain Boys, The - Sacred Vacation
Karl Hector & The Malcouns - Sahara Swing
Extra Life - Secular Works
Ellen Allien - Sool

Starkey - Ephemeral Exhibits (Planet Mu)

Why did Burial's Untrue absolutely blow up and this has stayed absolutely buried? Just as complex, soulful, and dark; absolutely beautifully crafted. Dubstep like you've never heard.

quote:

Starkey - Ephemeral Exhibits

Going to check it out right now. I'll come back with my impressions.

Get a chance to listen?

Good call on that Starkey album. Although Ephemeral Exhibits is the superior album, I think 2008's Aerial by 2562 also deserves some attention.

I like Burial and all, but it's sad that they get all the dubstep-centric attention...

Another stunner that I don't think got too much attention around here is Fantasma Parastasie by Tim Hecker and Aidan Baker

Don't burn me for this but... Coldplay's Viva La Vida is pretty damn good for a easily-digestible pop album.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: public access,

Sounds very good so far JGlass. Not at dark as Burial's album, which I like. I'm just getting my feet wet with it, but it really does sound just great so far. People should be checking this out.

quote:

Originally posted by public access:
Good call on that Starkey album. Although Ephemeral Exhibits is the superior album, I think 2008's Aerial by 2562 also deserves some attention.

I like Burial and all, but it's sad that they get all the dubstep-centric attention...

Another stunner that I don't think got too much attention around here is Fantasma Parastasie by Tim Hecker and Aidan Baker

Don't burn me for this but... Coldplay's Viva La Vida is pretty damn good for a easily-digestible pop album.

I'm not a fan of Burial at all... so I'd agree.

But yeah, I've got your back on Fantasma Parastasie... I heart Aidan Baker.

I'll have to check out Aerial.

Oddly enough, I was cruising a blog and saw this album. Remembered this thread and am now downloading it. I'll tell you what I think soon.

The Starkey album is excellent, thanks.

No problem. I've realized that Planet Mu is pretty much unstoppable.

Stuff I've been checking out lately:

Melody Gardot - Worrisome Heart

Might be a healthy substitute for Norah Jones... if you ever wanted one.

Ladytron - Velocifero

Pretty powerful. Pretty dark. Catchy, if you let it sink in.

Stainless Style - Neon Neon

This one is well known, but I never liked it. Suddenly I like it a lot.

School of Seven Bells - Alpinisms

An album that everyone should listen to. The woman who fronts the band is quite an armchair philosopher.

Thomas Function - Celebration

Get past the guy's voice and this is one of the smartest and best albums you'll cull from 2008.

The Bridges - Limits of the Sky

This band is just too young. But you might get sucked in.

Trifonic - Emergence

Very expertly crafted. If you give any album that one extra spin to see the light, you should give it to this one.

quote:

Melody Gardot - Worrisome Heart

Might be a healthy substitute for Norah Jones... if you ever wanted one.

This is good, but Ximena Sarinana's Mediocre and Rachael Yamagata's Elephants...Teeth Sinking Into Heart are both better substitutes for Norah Jones, at least for me. Both of these albums were slept on last year, but people should listen to them.

I'd like to attempt to draw some deserved attention to these albums from 2008, that cannot be separated via any reasonable critique from the albums that made it onto our and MC's aggregated-score list. They simply are at least as good as many of those.

High Places - High Places
High Places - 03/07 - 09/07
School of Language - Sea From Shore
The Fall - Imperial Wax Solvent
One More Grain - Isle of Grain
Amanda Palmer - Who Killed Amanda Palmer?
Thomas Function - Celebration
Max Tundra - Parallax Error Beheads You
Azeda Booth - In Flesh Tones
Deerhunter - Weird Era Cont. (Should not be bundled with Microcastle on lists)
Lulu Rouge - Bless You
Ross Johnson - Make It Stop!
Mono In VCF - Mono In VCF
Grand Salvo - Death
The Clientele - That Night, A Forest Grew EP (How this didn't make our EPs list is beyond me. Unbelievable.)

Some are more obvious than others. Imperial Wax Solvent is a no-brainer, and I've got a hole in my head from scratching it over the almost total dismissal of this great album from a very famous artist. Just, wow. The same of Amanda Palmer. The Clientele EP deserved as much credit as the AC EP and was at least as good as any other EPs in 2008 as well. Hmmmm. School of Language is only slightly inferior to The Week That Was which itself is handily one of the best albums from last year and probably stands as the most underrated effort by a wide margin.