Look at records from a nuts-and-bolts perspective, as Rolling Stone magazine recently did, and you'll wind up with the latest from the Jonas Brothers on your list of the year's fave recordings.
No, thanks. I despise trend-chasing in order to seem cool, and refuse to hate a mainstream artist for the sport of it. My list of favourites from 2008 -- different than a recounting of the year's best -- reflects that. Only recordings that moved me in some way qualified, and while some of these might rumble under the microscope of a snooty hipster, to this day they rule my headphones.
1 Bob Dylan, Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8 (Columbia). Live albums don't qualify for traditional year-end lists, nor do catalogue reissues or best-of compilations. And while Dylan's catch-all collection of rarities from 1989 to 2006 has some previously issued songs (though not in this form), Tell Tale Signs most definitely qualifies. Boy, does it qualify. Dylan brought the hurt on this double-disc set, which pays dividends months after its release.
2 The Black Angels, Directions to See a Ghost (Light in the Attic). Headphones are a must when spinning Directions to See a Ghost, a dark and droning psych-rock masterpiece from this Texas five-piece. Layers of feedback, guitars and sitars, coolly affecting frontman Alex Maas, whose walk on the wild side channels Grace Slick, and a 16-minute closing track shouldn't work. Yet they do -- wonderfully.
3 Cat Power, Jukebox (Matador). Ex-members of the Dirty Three and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion put oomph in Chan Marshall's second covers-collection, but much of Jukebox's appeal comes from the singer's elastic vocal style, which adapts remarkably well to songs by Hank Williams, James Brown and Joni Mitchell. Jukebox has its flaws, but Marshall is a triumph.
4 TV on the Radio, Dear Science (Interscope). Discouragingly hip and almost Radiohead-like in their apparent desire to escape fame (while simultaneously courting it), Brooklyn's TV on the Radio owned nearly every rock and pop critic's year-end list. Despite the fact it sold diddly and hasn't even the slightest mainstream presence, there is good reason for all the TV love: Dear Science is a monster mash of soul, funk and indie rock by some of the hottest players of today.
5 The Raconteurs, Consolers of the Lonely (Warner Bros.) It's always a thrill to hear Jack White of Detroit duo the White Stripes with a full band behind him, and during Consolers of the Lonely he kicks with suitable gusto. The second outing from his other band is the best rock record of the year in the strictest sense. There is no prefix; it's just rock. Refreshing, no?
6 Kings of Leon, Only by the Night (RCA). Kings of Leon might never be kings of the heap, but it's a joy hearing them strive to get there. Fans of the group's earlier, rockier material disavowed Only by the Night almost immediately, feigning disgust with the group's emerging rock star ways and U2 aspirations. Haters can hate. Only by the Night is a beauty.
7 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! (Anti-). Sex. Death. Religion. The holy trinity of Nick Cave's world populates the black-as-night Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, a darkly funny fable whose title track imagines a new life for Biblical character Lazarus, now renamed Larry on this poetic garage rock maelstrom. It's on-par with anything in Cave's eclectic 35-year career.
8 Ra Ra Riot, The Rhumb Line (Barsuk). The debut from Syracuse indie rockers Ra Ra Riot is a pop-tastic gem that marries the snark of Ray Davies with the kitchen sink mechanics of Arcade Fire. There's a tragic backstory involving drummer John Ryan Pike -- who drowned last year following a gig -- but the music on The Rhumb Line is hopeful and buoyant.
9 Death Cab For Cutie, Narrow Stairs (Atlantic). When everyone expected the Seattle band to tread further into the mainstream, the quartet surprised most listeners with a recording whose best song, I Will Possess Your Heart, tops out at a very un-radio-like eight minutes. Most of it is drawn-out and unhurried, but moments of Built to Spill bliss keep the indie rock fires burning.
10 Raphael Saadiq, The Way I See It (Columbia). Very little in the back catalogue of neo-soul star Raphael Saadiq could prepare fans for The Way I See It, a convincing retro-soul recreation of Al Green, Sam Cooke and Marvin Gaye. Saadiq was rewarded with three Grammy nominations for his career-defining effort.
Honorable mentions: Girl Talk, Feed the Animals; Alejandro Escovedo, Real Animal; Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis: Two Men With the Blues; Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, Cardinology; Blitzen Trapper, Furr.
The best of the rest and worst of the bunch in 2008:
Best comeback: Metallica
Worst comeback: Stone Temple Pilots
Biggest surprise: Q-Tip
Biggest letdown: Beyoncé
Best single: Kid Rock, All Summer Long
Worst single: Katy Perry, I Kissed a Girl
Most overrated: Katy Perry
Most underrated: Jack's Mannequin
Download of the year: Nine Inch Nails, The Slip
Live album of the year: The Clash, Live at Shea Stadium
mdevin@tc.canwest.com
