Pitchfork called on some of the most notorious artists in music to assemble their own top 10 lists for 2008. The lists are varied, with some surprising picks. Justin Vernon, an ex-pat of the Triangle, included Raleigh bands Bowerbirds and the Rosebuds plus Vernon’s former DeYarmond Edison bandmates now know as Megafaun from Durham.
But by far the best list comes from Destroyer‘s Dan Bejar. It’s probably better to call the list top 10 Dan Bejar probably liked:
5. Cat Power: Jukebox (The band is really really good, the production super-classy, and I’m really starting to get into her singing, the way she throws her voice around, you know, like Bob Dylan…people say this is too adult contemporary or something, but to me that’s just code word for “70s”…don’t really like a lot of the songs, but whatever…)
6. Sun Kil Moon: April
Haven’t heard it, but I generally enjoy this man’s work.
A well researched list indeed. As a side note, in the four pages of lists, not a single artist mentioned Bejar’s Trouble in Dreams from 2008.
The increasingly desperate Rolling Stone just released its top 50 albums of 2008. Bon Iver barely cracked the top 30, and TV on the Radio took the top spot, followed by Bob Dylan, Lil Wayne, My Morning Jacket and John Mellencamp. Yes. John Cougar Mellencamp.
Bon Iver barely cracked the top 30, a clear sign that Rolling Stone’s critics have no taste in music. For better more Justin Vernon-loving year end lists, check the recess top 10 lists.
For more of the Top 10 Tracks of 2008, click here.
10. T.I. ft. Rihanna. “Live Your Life.” Admittedly I’m not crazy about T.I.’s verses, but if you didn’t sing along with Rihanna’s angelic chorus at some point this year, you missed out.
9. Yael Naim. “New Soul.” Sure, it makes for a catchy Mac ad. But Naim’s girl-in-the-Big-City/Garden-of-Eden story of a new soul entering this strange world and her slightly choked confession of “making every possible mistake” (specifically the one following the bridge) are as real as it gets.
8. Vampire Weekend. “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa.” Any song from this groundbreaking album could be on here; however, “Cape Cod’s” minimalist lyrics paint an iconic picture of sweaters, linens and Louis Vuitton that makes this album worthy of its hype. (more…)
An infant in the world of movie studios, two-year-old Overture Films does not want to be considered a lightweight. The Visitor from writer/director Tom McCarthy (The Station Agent) and Dustin Hoffman’s Last Chance Harvey are two contenders for Oscar glory in 2009 from the studio. The screenplays for both films were just put online over at Overture’s website. To read them, click here.
I don’t have anything against Coldplay really; I just mostly agree with the New York Times’ Jon Pareles that they are the most insufferable band of the decade. I guess they’re pleasant enough. Now, however, I might actually have something to hold against them.
This item ran in the NYT last week, right about the time the bland Englishmen picked up seven Grammy nominations. Here’s the deal: the rather boring, shred-obsessed, nerdy prog-hero Joe Satriani was suing the band for lifting part of one of their songs.
He filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the British rock quartet Coldplay, contending that the Coldplay song “Viva la Vida” makes use of “substantial original portions” of his composition “If I Could Fly,” an instrumental track.
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