Am I the only one who never gets a chance to listen to the all of the albums on my "to Listen to" list? Here's the albums that I probably would've at least enjoyed, if not loved, if I had a chance to listen to them before 2008 ended:

1.) Love Is All - A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night*
2.) DJ/Rupture - Uproot
3.) Ponytail - Ice Cream Spiritual*
4.) Beach House - Devotion
5.) F*ck Buttons - Street Horrsing*
6.) Windy & Carl - Songs for the Broken Hearted*
7.) Sons And Daughters - This Gift*
8.) Loumo - Convivial*
9.) Brightblack Morning Light - Motion to Rejoin*
10.) F*cked Up - The Chemistry of Common Life*
11.) Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
12.) Crystal Stilts - Alight Of Night*
13.) Marnie Stern - This Is It...
14.) Flying Lotus - Los Angeles
15.) Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna*
16.) Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping*

I'll stop at sixteen even though I could probably list more if I were to search out others "best of" lists. These are the albums I targeted throughout the year and just didn't get a chance to listen to. Maybe "best of" deadlines should be in March

* Shit I own, but still haven't had a chance to listen to.

Oh, and of course, Metacritic's own Royal Alberta Advantage! Never had a chance to listen to that one either. I can already sense regret.

The day after I posted my final list I had five new entries to my top 50 (and three to my top 30). Two of them (Black Milk :-: Tronic and Youth Novels :-: Lykke Li) I had heard once before. The rest:

1. New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) :-: Erykah Badu (23)
2. Alpinisms :-: School of Seven Bells (25)
3. High Places :-: High Places (43)

There were a few that I didn't get a chance to listen to. I buy 98% of my music from eMusic but if there is a band that everyone is talking about that I can't get there, I will go buy it elsewhere (Fleet Foxes).

That being said, the ones I didn't get a chance to hear and regret are:

Portishead - Third
M83 - Saturdays = Youth
Hercules and Love Affair - s/t
Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid

The only thing I was really excited about, and think I will really like, but still haven't been able to get my hands on is Anathalo's Canopy Glow.

It will just have to wait around doomed to be forgotten on my wish list as 2009 albums start to pile up on top of it.

The first list reminded me that I never bought that Ponytail album. I was really planning on doing that before final list time, now I feel sad.

I also never heard Skeletal Lamping. I'm not sure if I am that interested in hearing it, but if it turns up used at the record store, I'll probably pick it up.

I just recently started listening to these:

Fennesz - Black Sea
Frightened Rabbit - Midnight Organ Fight
Fucked Up - Chemistry of Common Life

man, if I had only listened to these earlier. Still, great albums.

I missed Blitzen Trapper - "Furr" which is a really good album. I really like the Americana sounding tracks on the album and hope they continue in that direction, as I thought "Wild Mountain Nation" had some good ideas but was way too jumbled.

A few hip hop albums I missed in '08:

The Mixtape About Nothing - Wale
Fear And Loathing In Hunts Vegas - Paper Route Gangstaz
A Kid Named Cudi - Kid Cudi
Tronic - Black Milk

I feel really really shitty about missing out on Wale and Black Milk because I'm confident they'd of made my year end list. Wale maybe even being top ten.

Other stuff:

01011001 - Ayreon
The Way Of All Flesh - Gojira
Where You Go I Go Too - Lindstrøm

All good stuff I missed out on in '08 that are getting a lot of plays from me now. I especially love the Lindstrøm album, its a crime that it got overlooked.

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

royal alberta, gaslight althem, and some others that i just cant think of....I got botrh lindstrom and fucked up because they were reccomeded, and do not like either, based upon 2 listens. idk if i should listen more, but lindstrom is EXTREEMELY boring, while fucked up is just no good

quote:

Originally posted by cuneyt81:
I just recently started listening to these:

....
Frightened Rabbit - Midnight Organ Fight
....

man, if I had only listened to these earlier. Still, great albums.

Me too. Had the album for a few months and totally forgot about it. Definitely would have made my top 10 for sure.

There a lot of albums that would only appeal to a small minority, but I suspect that many people here missed out on -- and would probably find a veritable musical goldmine in -- the best instrumental hip-hop that came out last year.

If you missed them, I would hurry to check out:

Flying Lotus - Los Angeles
Blue Sky Black Death - Late Night Cinema
PSY/opsogist - Suffused With Static
Metaform - Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants

I ended up getting almost 200 albums in 2008, so I heard most of the very acclaimed ones, as well as a whole lot of the obscure ones lauded in this forum.

Here are the most acclaimed albums of 2008 I never listened to, according to the current spreadsheet downloadable at acclaimedmusic.net:

15. Kings Of Leon - Only By The Night
21. Foals - Antidotes
31. Late Of The Pier - Fantasy Black Channel
33. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
40. Flying Lotus - Los Angeles
43. The Kills - Midnight Boom
46. Duffy - Rockferry
47. Beach House - Devotion
59. Metronomy - Nights Out
60. Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul

Strangely on that list, Frightened Rabbit is all the way down at 76, and Blitzen Trapper isn't even in the top hundred.

quote:

Originally posted by Deku:
while fucked up is just no good

actually, it's quite good. I could understand if it's not your cup of tea, but that album's killer.

quote:

Originally posted by cuneyt81:

quote:

Originally posted by Deku:
while fucked up is just no good

actually, it's quite good. I could understand if it's not your cup of tea, but that album's killer.

Right. It is a killer album, but it's got a lo-fi facade thrown up mostly by the buried vocals aesthetic that is more subterfuge than substantive. Don't let it bother you, if that happens to be your qualm.

Sure:

Fleet Foxes
Bon Iver
Deerhunter
Nick Cave
Vampire Weekend

Out of the above, I've only heard a song from Bon Iver.

Just got that Rural Alberta Advantage album based on the plethora of people raving about it on the forum. It certainly lives up to the hype. Would have definitely made my top 10 for sure, likely the top 5.

I also picked up the new Q-Tip album after posting my list. Not sure if it would have made the top 20 (probably not), but it's a solid album. Glad the Native Tongues are still kicking...

quote:

Sure:

Fleet Foxes
Bon Iver
Deerhunter
Nick Cave
Vampire Weekend

Wow, those are some good ones.

I didn't hear Horse Feathers, The Tallest Man on Earth, The Acorn, The Twilight Sad, or Rural Alberta Advantage because they were too hard to find, although I finally bought Horse Feathers on New Year's Day at Good Music in Dallas. (I don't like to buy albums on-line unless I have to because the mailbox at my apartment is too small and the lines are out of control when I go to pick up the undeliverable parcel at my local post office.) I went to a record store with the intent to buy Bonnie "Prince" Billy several times, but I always ended up getting other ones instead. I wanted to get the Guillemots' album, but it was over $30 and it didn't get great reviews and then when I decided to buy it anyway I couldn't find it any longer.

quote:

Originally posted by Deku:
royal alberta, gaslight althem, and some others that i just cant think of....I got botrh lindstrom and fucked up because they were reccomeded, and do not like either, based upon 2 listens. idk if i should listen more, but lindstrom is EXTREEMELY boring, while fucked up is just no good

i felt the same way about the lindstrom album after one listen, but got it after the second. i think the key is to crank it up, close your eyes, and pretend your in a rave and/or spaceship. there's a lot going on in there if you pay close enough attention. i find that i normally start getting a good feel for an album after three spins.

Overall, I'm pretty proud of my list, but naturally there are a few I've missed.

I still haven't gone through all of my 08 music (and probably never will), but these albums have caught me off guard and would've made my list.

Chad VanGaalen - Soft Airplane: I KNEW I should have waited for the CokeMachineGlow list.

Thao - We Brave Bee Sting All: Holy fuck, this is good.