Courtesy men.style.com
Men.style.com’s week in style for last week is quite a doozy. But this photo of Jigga himself is a gem. As the writer noted, Shawn Carter looks more TV on the Radio than Rock-a-fella here. What’s most exciting though is this is Jay-Z’s chosen outfit to the Notorious premiere. Notorious–that movie about Notorious B.I.G., the king of east coast rap whose thrown Tha Carter inherited. Way to honor your predecessor, Jay.
Justin Vernon. Courtesy rcrdlbl.
A whole 17 days before the year ends, we did it. We summarized the best our favorite music of 2008 on our humble blog, and its name was Justin Vernon. The Jagjaguwar re-release of Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago, our favorite album of the year, made it into six of our nine lists, all in the top five (that was a lot of single-digit numbers, more coming). The lists had three mentions of “re:stacks,” two of “Skinny Love” and one of “Lump Sum.” Some other numbers after the jump.
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Justin Vernon. Courtesy New York Press.
10. Lil Wayne. Tha Carter III.
Tha Carter III makes a case for itself from virulent opener “3Peat” all the way to the amusing political piece “Don’t Get It.” The concept is simple: fill an entire album with songs that sound like singles, paired with worthwhile guest-appearances and Lil Wayne’s singular, codeine-laced style. The voice of hip-hop in 2008 was Weezy, not Ye. -Brian Contratto
9. Sun Kil Moon. April.
By now, Mark Kozelek fans know what to expect from his music. The Ohio-born musician makes the case for classic songwriting. April is stripped down, instrumentally sparse–just as, if not more, honest and powerful than anything else in 2008 and as good as anything from his past two decades of music-making. -Andrew Hibbard
8. Vampire Weekend. Vampire Weekend.
Had Jack Kennedy skipped out on politics and moved to Africa, this could be the soundtrack to his life. Vampire Weekend is marked by its catchy vocals, catchy guitar, catchy drums—hell, even the album cover is catchy. Don’t believe the hype and don’t listen to the backlash; these four gentlemen deserve an honest listen. -Kevin Lincoln
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Kanye West. Courtesy morethings.com
For more of the Top 10 Tracks of 2008, click here.
10. Bloc Party. “One Month Off.” So Intimacy wasn’t exactly A Weekend In the City, which wasn’t exactly Silent Alarm. But on “One Month Off,” Bloc Party reminds us all that they’ve still got it. Put simply, any song I play so loud on my computer that my speakers break deserves some recognition.
9. TV on the Radio. “Love Dog.” Making a Top 10 songs list without some Dear Science, track is a lot like making it through middle school without having a really awkward encounter at a school dance: it’s possible but not actually believable. There were at least five different Science, songs that could have made it on this list, but I went with the album’s most abstract track and elusive. I would call it “haunting,” but I hate that word. Let’s go with “gripping” instead.
8. The Kooks. “See the Sun.” I am not winning a lot of cool points with this track from what many have described as a formulaic album from a mediocre band. Nonetheless, “See the Sun” is an excellent track that blends together a variety of tempos and conflicting sentiments. Somehow, “See the Sun” shows us that even break-ups have the potential to be pretty good times. (more…)
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.
