As a whole, what are your thoughts on the year in music?

Surprises
Disappointments
Comparisons in strength, depth of good, great, amazing albums to past years, etc.

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I'd say 2008 was a good year, filled with many solid and interesting debuts, however, it lacked many "big" albums from artists such as Radiohead, Animal Collective, etc.

Drowned in Sound summed up the year pretty well, I thought.
http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4135939

Might as well ask what your predictions for 2009 will be. More in the vein of 2008, or 2007, etc.?

By itself, 2008 was a great year. Particularly for folk and British-alternative music. People will say that this year sucked compared to 2007 because there was no In Rainbows, Boxer, Person Pitch, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, etc.

And it's true, the tried-and-true musicians released a fair share of duds compared to their previous work (Wolf Parade, MMJ, Kings of Leon). But there were a TON of fantastic debuts this year and an initiated music fan that was willing to spend time and dig around would find a lot of gems that didn't get a lot of notice compared to the heavyweights who seemed to get all of the critical praise (Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, Portishead, TVOTR, Coldplay).

As for 2009, who knows? I just want a freakin' Doves record.

I think 2008 was a great year because of its depth. There wasn't a "Boxer" or "Funeral" that everyone liked, but there were a lot of very good albums especially in the folk and Americana genres.

As for surprises and disappointments. I guess all the new bands that made my top ten albums were the most surprising, but I must say the two biggest surprises were Laura Marling and The Burning Hell. Marling honestly looks like a twelve-year-old, yet her lyrics are incredibly deep and her voice is pure. She is also pretty damn good live. The Burning Hell managed to make an album with absolutely no unifying theme that was completely awesome. I mean any album with two songs that remind me of the "Monster Mash" should suck, but the way Mattias Kom organizes music and writes lyrics makes even the silliest ideas seem cool. Oh the album is called "Happy Birthday" by the way...

As for disappointments, Grampall Jookabox's "Ropechain" didn't build off of their awesome 2007 release "Scientific Cricket" like I hoped it would. I didn't love the new Antony and the Johnsons EP like I hoped to, though the song "Shake That Devil" is pretty good. I guess I also didn't fall in love with any of the critically acclaimed albums this year with the exception of The Dodos and Fleet Foxes which is ok, but it is kind of lame reading all the blogger list and only seeing two albums that you cared for.

I agree that 2008 was a pretty good year for the depth of the music pool. I truly love every album in my top 60, each of which I believe deserves a spot in the top 20.

But, I don't agree that there were no giants in 2008. I would hold The Midnight Organ Fight up against Boxer, The '59 Sound up against GaGaGaGaGa, and Dear Science up against In Rainbows any day. (I know that the last one might be considered sacrilege by many on the boards). Not to mention the out-of-nowhere success of the unsigned The Rural Alberta Advantage. Or Stay Positive. And, they are all much better than the wasted opportunity that was Person Pitch. These albums may not have built up a consensus the way that their 2007 counterparts did, but I think that's a produce of the breadth of this year. No consensus could be built because there was so much good music out there. Each of these albums is every bit as good as their 2007 counterparts.

2007 was a very good year. I think 2008 was just as good, but deeper.

Every year is an excellent year in music. I find it impossible for there to be a bad year. Bad and unhappy circumstances can lead to not hearing, finding or enjoying new & older music in any given time but there's always great music waiting to be discovered & re-discovered. Music knows no years, just your ears.

2008 for me was no different than 2007 in terms of quality of music; the biggest difference was, I listened to about 3 times as much music as I did in 2007.

The only difference I've noticed, looking at my two smart playlists of music in 2007 and 2008, is that my 2007 list has a LOT more plays...that's likely due to the fact that I've been listening to it for more than a year now, and I have a lot more music from 2008 to listen to, dividing my time between albums.

I agree, though, that 2008 can stand up to 2007 solidly. Dear Science is nearly as good as In Rainbows (if not better only because Lover's Day kicks Videotape's ass as a closing number), Stay Positive and The '69 Sound are both killer compared to Magic, The Stand Ins is just as good as The Stage Names, and the list goes on and on. The music is just as good, I just seem to have found more of it in 2008 because I dedicated more time to the search. And thank GOD for this forum...without you guys, I would have never found some of my favorite records this year, like Laura Marling and Rural Alberta Advantage.

2009 is gonna kick ass, btw.

Springsteen, Jay-Z, and Animal Collective all in the opening months? Shiiiiiiiiit.

Very weak year following the monster 2007. Some of my most anticipated releases ended up being enormous disappointments (MMJ, Tapes n Tapes, BYOP, Bloc Party, CWK). Even albums I really enjoyed were a step down from the band's previous release (Wolf Parade, TVoTR, Islands, Of Montreal, Love is All).

Also, this year featured a slew of debut records preceded by hugely hyped EPs (Tokyo Police Club, Los Campesinos!, Black Kids, White Denim). While I found all of these enjoyable, none of them emerged as major artists, in my opinion.

Yes, I enjoyed a lot of music this year. Santogold, The Dodos, The Tallest Man on Earth, Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes all emerged. Deerhunter, Blitzen Trapper and Shearwater all improved. Two of my favorite EPs of the decade were released by Passion Pit and Crystal Antlers.

Still, overall, I'm ready for 2009.

2008 was an alright year. It was what I would expect the year after a monster year like 2007 to be like. 2007 was, at least to me only comparable to 2000 in terms of the quality of stuff that dropped.

2008 is the Rich Rodriguez to 2007's Lloyd Carr.

2009 will be pretty spectacular though, with Animal Collective, Jay-Z, Mastodon, Clipse, Neko Case, Outkast, Andrew Bird, Franz Ferdiand, AND The Decemberists all set to drop a new album next year.

quote:

Originally posted by crazed:
Every year is an excellent year in music. I find it impossible for there to be a bad year. Bad and unhappy circumstances can lead to not hearing, finding or enjoying new & older music in any given time but there's always great music waiting to be discovered & re-discovered. Music knows no years, just your ears.

I must say that with all of the old music that I discovered this year, the year 2008 in general was absolutely phenomenal in terms of listening to music, just not necessarily brand-spanking-new music.

quote:

Originally posted by Lawrence_Of_Suburbia:

2009 will be pretty spectacular though, with Animal Collective, Jay-Z, Mastodon, Clipse, Neko Case, Outkast, Andrew Bird, Franz Ferdiand, AND The Decemberists all set to drop a new album next year.

The list of artists to scheduled to release albums next year is impressive. In addition to what you have listed, the following more mainstream artists are slated to release albums:

The New Pornographers
The Dave Matthews Band
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Wilco
Peter Gabriel
Muse (maybe)
Pearl Jam
Pet Shop Boys
Tori Amos
Depeche Mode
U2

Not a bad line-up.

Many old favorites struck gold in 2008 (TVotR, Of Montreal, Coldplay, Deerhunter) while very few break out artists emerged in a big way (with one hopefully-not-so "fleeting" exception). A solid year, for sure. There were no albums that will eventually become "classics," but enough came close enough to that magical point to make this a respectable year in the world of music.

2009? The Decemberists = a scrumtralescent and phantasmical year in music. Hopefully Bono's pretentious moaning doesn't suck the wind out of their sails.

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

I'm definitely of the opinion that 2008 didn't have that one jaw-dropping album. 2007 had Person Pitch, as well as In Rainbows. But 2008 had some great albums, especially from Canadian artists (Chad VanGaalen, Said the Whale, Mother Mother, Black Mountain, Hey Ocean!, the Rural Alberta Advantage, Plants & Animals...).

There are two disappointments that stand out. First, My Morning Jacket: some people seem to suggest this is a wild, experimental album. I find it mind-numbingly boring. The whole middle section is bland country soft-rock. What is possibly appealing about vanilla crap like Sec Walkin or Thank You Too?

Also disappointing was Arm's Way by Islands. It takes a peculiar kind of talent to make ridiculous songs about abominable snowmen sound overblown and pretentious.

2009 has AC Newman, so that's a start!

2008 was jam packed with incredible stuff, as is every year, cause a year is an artificial line anyway.
Great music is released every week of every year, but as the clocks tick, tick, tick without a new Lightning Bolt record...my nerves become more and more frayed.
At least I got the wonderful Vampire Weekend.

quote:

Posted by Troy
The New Pornographers
The Dave Matthews Band
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Wilco
Peter Gabriel
Muse (maybe)
Pearl Jam
Pet Shop Boys
Tori Amos
Depeche Mode
U2

Apart from Bruce and Wilco, and perhaps ol' Petey G, there ain't nothing there worth waiting for.

I used to think that this year was a bad year in music, but I'm not sure it's that anymore. It just feels like there are a lot more divisive opinions this year over what albums are good and what are not - more than last year. Not just on the forums, but in music magazines, web zines, etc.

That being said, for a guy like me who somewhat relies on this forum and this site to find interesting music, I find a lot of the highly rated music to not be up my alley this year, unlike last year. Why this is, I'm not sure.

The best-of lists kind of help, but they also kind of confuse. How does Kings of Leon's new album make the top 10 in a bunch of publications, yet still have their lowest MC score?

Every year, though, I discover some "new-to-me" bands and that's always a blast. Dinosaur Jr. and 16 Horsepower were two of my faves this year.

Mostly, I'm just looking forward to 2009 for a fresh start all around, music or otherwise. Oh, and if Peter Gabriel drops a new album in 2009, I'll be surprised.

It was a good year, but next year should be better. In fact, I think 2009 will go down as one of the best: albums by U2, The Decemberists, Bruce Springsteen, The Love Willows, Kelly Clarkson, The New Pornographers, Tori Amos, Pearl Jam, Wilco, Neko Case, Michelle Branch, Franz Ferdinand, Duncan Sheik, Courtney Love, Robyn Hitchcock, Garbage, Indigo Girls, The Like, Stars, Amy Winehouse, The Wrens, and more.

Some disappointments from 2008 for me included Santogold, Bon Iver, All American Rejects, Dido (still good, but her worst,) Kings Of Leon, Adele, MGMT, Robyn, Portishead, Deerhunter, The Bug, Marnie Stern, etc.

quote:

Originally posted by MattD:

Some disappointments from 2008 for me included Santogold, Bon Iver, All American Rejects, Dido (still good, but her worst,) Kings Of Leon, Adele, MGMT, Robyn, Portishead, Deerhunter, The Bug, Marnie Stern, etc.

Mind elaborating why some of those disappointed you? Especially Bon Iver and Portishead?

Bon Iver - I couldn't stand his voice. The music wasn't so interesting either IMO.

Portishead - weird doesn't equal good. Thought their earlier alternative rock was better.

Why I personally thought these other artists' albums were disappointing (remember, this is subjective) -

Santogold - sounds too much like M.I.A.'s latest stuff, which I don't like

Dido - too many songs were missing those soaring melodies

All American Rejects - just not as many stand out songs as Move Along

Kings Of Leon - too slow and cheesy in a bad way

Adele - was missing the personality that Amy Winehouse and Duffy have

MGMT - saw on best-of lists; just not my kind of music

Robyn - she can be good, but this album is inconsistent

Deerhunter - many indie acts do this sound better

The Bug - saw on best-of-lists; not my kind of music

Marnie Stern - again, weird doesn't equal good

i can't decide whether its been a bad year or not in music. but i will say that the year has belonged to young bands/artists (1 or 2 LP's). going through my own top 10, 7 of them are "young". besides from them u have MGMT,Bon Iver, Vampire Weekend. Santogold and Last Shadow Puppets all making a big impact in 08. in terms of the more seasoned acts ( 3 or 4 albums) the likes of Coldplay, The Killers and Kaiser Chiefs were relative dissapointments only Bloc Party pulled it off well for their 3rd record.

next year will surely belong to the big names. White Stripes, Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys, Pearl Jam , U2, Franz Ferdinand, and Muse all tipped to be releasing something in 2009. the two biggest selling bands of the 00s ie Coldplay and Linkin Park will be aiming to bring out another album before the decade closes out. lets hope they dont dissapoint.

quote:

Originally posted by sarcasm_mister:
i can't decide whether its been a bad year or not in music. but i will say that the year has belonged to young bands/artists (1 or 2 LP's). going through my own top 10, 7 of them are "young". besides from them u have MGMT,Bon Iver, Vampire Weekend. Santogold and Last Shadow Puppets all making a big impact in 08. in terms of the more seasoned acts ( 3 or 4 albums) the likes of Coldplay, The Killers and Kaiser Chiefs were relative dissapointments only Bloc Party pulled it off well for their 3rd record.

next year will surely belong to the big names. White Stripes, Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys, Pearl Jam , U2, Franz Ferdinand, and Muse all tipped to be releasing something in 2009. the two biggest selling bands of the 00s ie Coldplay and Linkin Park will be aiming to bring out another album before the decade closes out. lets hope they dont dissapoint.

Personally, I thought the Coldplay and Killers albums were nice comebacks, clearly better than their previous CDs (Sam's Town and X&Y.)