As Jim Anchower often begins: Hola, amigos. It’s been a while. The bitter cold has left me disinterested in writing but seeing as it’s near the end of 2008 I thought I’d compile my top ten albums of 2008. After much deliberation and hand-wringing, here they are:

1. The Walkmen: You and Me

Ever since first hearing The Walkmen perform “The Blue Route” at Schubas way back in January I’ve been waiting for this album to arrive.  Needless to say it lived up to my expectations and would have to be my favorite of theirs to date.  I’ve seen these guys play a number of times and highly recommend checking them out.

Top Tracks:

The Blue Route, In The New Year, New Country & I Lost You

2. Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago

The next few are really hard to put in a specific order.  For Emma has some stunning vocal phrasing and beautiful layering in it. Justin Vernon’s voice pleasantly reminds me of Chad VanGaalen minus some of the quirkiness or a Sam Beam with noticeably more range. Also, I always gotta give props to an album cut in the Northwoods of Wisconsin.

Top Tracks:

Re: Stacks, Flume, For Emma, Lump Sum… damn, just about everything on it.

3. Vetiver: Thing of the Past

Andy Cabic and Vetiver really pulled out some hidden gems from a number of artists I’d never heard of.  Not to mention a few songs from some of my faves like Loudon Wainwright and Ronnie Lane.  Should be noted that Vetiver also released a short EP follow-up titled More of the Past that’s only 5 songs but definitely worth checking out as well.

Top Tracks:

Roll on Babe, Swimming Song, Houses, To Baby

4. Pete and Pirates: Little Death

This is my “Say Who?” choice for 2008.  Pete and Pirates are an English band based in Reading and this was their first full-length release.  The lead singer also has another band called Tap Tap which released a noteworthy album in 2006.

Top Tracks:

Ill Love, Come on Feet, Knots, Bears

5. David Byrne and Brian Eno: Everything That Happens Will Happen Today

Always great to get new material from David Byrne… his first album since 2004.

Top Tracks:

My Big Nurse, Strange Overtones, One Fine Day

6. Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes

A slight bit over-hyped but damn good all the same. Seeing as lead singer Robin Pecknold was only 21 when this was released we’ll have plenty of time to see if they live up to the hype.

Top Tracks:

White Winter Hymnal, Quiet Houses, Oliver James

7. Beach House: Devotion

I might be alone on this one but LOVE Beach House’s sound.

Top Tracks:

Wedding Bell, D.A.R.L.I.N.G., Home Again

8. Jason Collett: Here’s to Being Here

This could go higher… another solid effort from a member of the Broken Social Scene fam.

Top Tracks:

No Redemption Song, Nothing to Lose, Roll on Oblivion

9. Frightened Rabbit: Midnight Organ Fight

No sophmore slump for Frightened Rabbit. A solid step up in song craft.

Top Tracks:

Old Old Fashioned, The Twise, Poke

10. She & Him: Volume One

Nice pairing of M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel.

Top Tracks:

This Is Not a Test, Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?, Sentimental Heart

Got a chance to see Bon Iver perform a sold-out show at the Lakeshore Theater on Thursday night. Collections of Colonies of Bees opened the show and while they were enjoyable I felt like every song they played seemed like an extended intro to a song instead of a song itself. This may have been in part due to the fact that they don’t employ vocals.

Collections of Colonies of Bees

Bon Iver was really impressive, achieving much of the same sound on their album – For Emma, Forever Ago – with just three musicians on stage. Justin Vernon’s voice sounded great and the Lakeshore was a perfect venue for their lo-fi musical stylings. Vernon was also a very genuine individual – even going out of his way to thank the soundboard engineer by name, which was a first. If you haven’t gotten to chance to check out their album I highly recommend it.

Justin Vernon of Bon Iver

Bon Iver