TOP 20 YEAR END LIST-O-RAMA!!!

The other day while showering (where I do my best thinking...) I had a novel idea: Since the end of 2008 is almost here, why not recap the year in music with a 'Best Of' list? Now, I'm pretty sure this is a %100 original WRR idea, but I think it's so good that you can probably expect to see other music sites quickly copying us (possibly even preemptively).

Our brand new staff of five engaged in an intricate voting process to bring you the TOP 20 ALBUMS OF 2008. This list is purely objective, authoritative and definitive. Without further ado...

20. Thao and The Get Down, Stay Down - We Brave Bee Stings and All
Debut album is full of whimsical songs that recall carefree summer days. A unique voice, plucky guitar playing and a romping band have a playfulness that make this album pure fun.

19. She & Him - Vol. 1
Adorable movie star and veteran rocker combine to make folksy/country/motowny throwback songs. Actress Zooey Deschanel runs the gamet from Patsy Cline to Diana Ross (and never sounds forced) while M. Ward provides just the right backdrop.

18. Deerhunter - Microcastle
If My Bloody Valentine attempted to cover Brian Wilson songs, it might sound like the first third of Deerhunter's unique new release. It navigates itself into an ambient hole, only to emerge on the other side with more energy and intensity than the band has ever displayed.

17. Estelle – Shine
British songstress delivered the summer hit 'American Boy,' but this album goes much deeper than that. She's not the new Lauryn Hill, but with lyrical skills and a voice to kill shes about as close as anybody can get.

16. Goldfrapp – Seventh Tree
Ephemeral and restrained songs replace the big sounds of their earlier releases. So warm and blissful it can't but help evoke a dazzling sunset over a golden field in the countryside. This album is a joy despite what some doosh bags may say.

15. Bloc Party – Intimacy
Post-punk Brit rockers are back, and this time they brought the horns. Intimate lyrics, indeed, along with pounding rhythms that will make you want to find your dancing shoes and hope that they fit.

14. The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead
The Portland, Oregon duo are hard to genre-fy, but let’s just say they fit in the Northwest sound many of us have come to know and love. The lyrical flow and layers of driving drums, guitar strums and keys to please will leave your eyes wide and wandering.

13. Q-Tip - The Renaissance
As a genre, rap artists have the shortest shelf life, but this old school rapper delivers a breath of fresh air. The Abstract kicks it with fresh lyrics and soulful production to make this the years best hip-hop album.

12. Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now, Youngster
Debut from these Welsh youngsters is filled with even more energy than the ! at the end of their name. Full of instrumentation, but led by jangly guitars and shared male/female vocals, these guys and gals have more hooks than Dustin Hoffman.

11. Black Keys - Attack and Release
Garage bluester/rockers head into the studio with Danger Mouse. A slight departure from their typical sound, but the lusty atmospherics here will make your mind drift away to some hot and humid place with Spanish moss dangling from trees.

10. Hot Chip - Made In The Dark
British electro-pop outfit return with their third and most fun album to date. Full of bouncy bassy beats and quirky computer chirps, this album will have you ready for the floor from start to finish.

9. Sigur Rós - Me_ su_ í eyrum vi_ spilum endalaust
Songs with English? Radio play? Underproduced? Acoustic Guitars!?! Don't fret long-time fans. Stripped down production and accessibility didn't compromise the typical haunting beauty, or the transcendence of your favorite Icelandic mood setters.

8. David Byrne and Brian Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
Talking Heads head and ambient genius reunite after a 27 year hiatus. It’s not surprising this dynamic duo made such a great record, but it is a shock to hear such optimism out of these chronicled old grumps.

7. TV on the Radio - Dear Science
Third album veers slightly towards the center with smoky grooves and catchy licks, but it's the emergence of Kyp Malone and Tunde Adebimpe's vocals that will make this album a fixture well into 2009.

6. Fleet Foxes - self titled
These youthful folksters have been compared to the Beach Boys for their multi-layered harmonies, but Crosby, Stills & Nash with a touch of Devandra Banhart would be a more apt description. Either way, these songs fly epic over sonic forests and fields, moors and mountains.

5. Vampire Weekend - self titled
Similar to Peter Gabriel and Paul Simon two decades ago, this foursome melded catchy rock with just enough African rhythms and melodies to avoid the "world music" label. The big question is did they catch lightening in a bottle or are they here to stay?

4. Lykke Li - Youth Novels
Aided by Bjorn Yttling of Peter, Bjorn and John, Lykki Li delivers the pop gem of the year. This album will make you want to do everything from Dance, Dance, Dance to hold your teddy bear while rocking back and forth.

3. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
Second album from the Australian foursome is full of steely, glittery dance music, but it's not as superficial as that sounds. There's a depth of song writing here that is immediately evident and hints at more good music to come. You'll want to save your best dance moves for these guys.

2. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
In case you hadn't heard, Justin Vernon (stage name Bon Iver) moved into a remote cabin in Wisconsin after breaking up with his band and girlfriend, where he spent three months recording this beautiful, haunting album. The music reflects that setting so strongly that you can almost see the stark winter landscape. Since there's inexplicably no video for this song, that's what I recommend you do right now.

1. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
Two young kids mix your parents (if they were hippies) psych, folk and prog with dance grooves and synths to create infectious hipster anthems. Just because it was released 11.5 months ago and you've heard it 800 times shouldn't diminish its greatness. Give it a few more months rest-- but don't deny that Oracular Spectacular occupied a good part of your '08.

There you have it. Disagree? Feel your favorite got snubbed? Well there's no accounting for poor taste... Kidding! Feel free to leave your accolades, snubs or own list in the comments section.

Also, be on the lookout next week for our Top 54 Songs of 2008 with some freebies!

Happy Holidays,

The folks at Weekly Record Review
(Sean, Andrew, Sarah, Gaurav & Jason)

A Rededication To Blogging

Hey folks. So we're back and as noted in the title, we are rededicated to bringing you the latest in already reviewed albums. Also, readers are encouraged to post comments, thoughts, rants, ideas, suggestions, etc in the comments section. Lastly, look out B-more, but Los Campesinos! are coming your way on January 15.

TV on the Radio - Dear Science
by Andrew C.

TVotR had 2 years to toy with my expectations about their follow-up to 2006’s Return To Cookie Mountain, a challenging and powerful rookie LP effort. Whatever I had prepared to hear on Dear Science, took about four tracks to evaporate out of my overloaded synapses.

The dense shoegaze is still in denizens, as is the genre-mashing rhythm section, but the finished product is polished ear candy. “Halfway Home” leads off the album, recalling “Wolf Like Me” only with more zenith drum power and post-punk doo-wop. The album really doesn’t come up for air until “Stork and Owl” disarms at track four with the sinister beauty of femme fatale. And then the bounce of “Golden Age”, the shimmer of “Family Tree”, the wah-wah horn funk of “Red Dress”. And on, and on and on.

One of the things that make this album more accessible than previous efforts are the vocal stylings of Kyp Malone and Tunde Adebimpe, both of whom belt out strong and versatile lyrics on every track. TVotR has proven that they lacerate your ears with sonic density—Dear Science seems to be their statement that they can soothe them just as equally with the same formula. There won’t be a better album all year.

Starter Tracks: “Golden Age”, “Halfway Home”, “Family Tree”, “Dancing Choose”, “Lovers Day”

Best Played With: Right after you get home from happy hour.

Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now, Youngster...
by Sean B.

Warning! Listening to this album while typing will result! in! extra exclamation points! everywhere!

After an eight second warm up, Los Campesinos! debut album “Hold On Now, Youngster…” leaps out of the gate with a power pop ferocity that rarely lets up of the course of the next forty three minutes. L.C! package plenty of the musical elements that I have a soft spot for, starting with the one-two punch of a rough around the edges sound smoothed out by catchy hooks. They bring another great combo in the forms of singers Aleksandra and Gareth Campesinos! (All seven members coincidentally share the same sur name!) And finally, most important and awesome of all, they are (sort of like me) Welsh!

Fans of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Architecture in Helsinki should buy right into Los Campesinos! Like those two, L.C! share an unpolished but poppy sound and an affinity for quirky instruments (Do you really get chicks in a band if you play the glockenspiel!?), but they also pack a little more punch. Lyrically, the two singer/shouters shift between clever, thoughtful and meaningless lines, and they’re probably not always aware of when those shifts take place.

The album has a youthful energy, stemming from the fast pace and the somewhat shouty vocals, but it’s not pure sugar and there’s definitely a streak of artfulness that runs throughout! While they don’t tread any new ground, they move expertly over well traveled territory!

Peter Bjorn & John – Seaside Rock
by Sean B.

Everyone’s favorite Swedes quietly return to follow up on their super popular Writer’s Block LP. This time they deliver a gem of a (mostly) instrumental album. “Inland Empire” kicks things off with a funkily serious and seriously funky high-hat ride that would have Isaac Hayes in tears. Ominous drums, acoustic guitars and horns all gradually kick in until tension rises so high that you’re sweating, hands clenched to your steering wheel (and you’re not even driving!). But that’s okay, because the song drops you off to be swept away by the pleasant steel drums of “Say Something (Mukiya)” Now you’re kicked back on a Caribbean beach, pina colada in hand and a smile on your face. “Where will the next song take me?” you must be asking. That ride is yours to take, my friends.

The album really loses itself when it switches to the three spoken word pieces, in Swedish one can only assume. Rhythm and melody take a back seat to what sound like crusty old fisherman telling fish tales. But overall, PB&J takes the listener on a thoroughly enjoyable journey.