The Pelican’s Perch

Well, this is it.  The ten albums that represent the cream of the crop for my 2008.  I think it’s hilarious that it’s March and I’m finally to my top 10, but better late than never I guess.  Enjoy the final installment of my list!
10.  Why? – Alopecia

Why? have always been a strange band.  Never conforming to any set genre, at times sounding hip hop, and other times sounding purely experimental.  It seemed no matter what they would release, I would almost always enjoy it, but definitely always be left intrigued.  And it’s no different with their new one, Alopecia.  Songs like “The Vowels Pt. 2″, “The Hollows”, and “Fatalist Palmistry” all sound unlike anything you’ve heard, yet are still catchy and feel oddly familiar.  It’s fun to follow Yoni’s stream of consciousness lyrics, where he just states lyrics like “I’ve only played chess once in my life, and I lost”, only to burst back into the chorus.  It’s a strange, yet catchy album from a strange band and one I suggest you give a chance.  Plus, how can you pass up an album called Alopecia, which is the medical term for hair loss.

A Sky For Shoeing Horses Under [mp3]

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9.  Owl City – Maybe I’m Dreaming

Winner for guilty pleasure of the year for sure, Owl City’s latest was an album I just couldn’t get enough of.  Mae meets Postal Service was the description I always gave, and the reactions were usually on one extreme end of the spectrum or the other.  Fans of Postal Service and Mae loved the idea of combining the two, and ended up loving this album even more.  Others simply gave me the, “eh, it’s got the Postal Service sound, if they were more emo”.  Either way, I fall in the former category and I’m sure many of you will like this album as well.  Whether you want to tell your friends about it or not.

On the Wing [mp3]

Saltwater Room [mp3]

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8.  Phantom Planet – Raise the Dead

What a surprise this album ended up being.  I’ve always been a big fan of Phantom Planet, but their last album, while still really good, seemed to slightly let me down.  It grew on me over time, but I didn’t like it initially because of the whole “we’re bad ass rock stars” attitude I got from some of the songs.  In other words, less pop more rock doesn’t work for me when it comes to Phantom Planet.  Luckily, Raise the Dead came out of nowhere and returned Phantom Planet to their rightful sound.  You can’t beat the background vocals from a bunch of kids on “Leader”, the return of a fan favorite and secret live track from The Guest in “Do the Panic”, and the amazingly fun to sing verses of “Dropped”.  I was getting a little worried about Phantom Planet, but Raise the Dead took care of those worries in a big way.

Leader [mp3]

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7.  Annuals – Such Fun

I didn’t know what to expect from this follow up album from Annuals.  Their last album was numero uno on my list in 2006, so there were obvious high expectations when I got this one in the mail.  I’d been listening to Kenny Florence’s side project Sunfold, which is basically Annuals under a different name, and was scared his side project may eclipse his main band’s follow-up, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but after my first listen to Such Fun, I not only enjoyed it even more than Sunfold, I simply couldn’t stop listening to it.  It felt bigger than Be He Me, and seemed like a much more complete album through and through.  If you haven’t heard Annuals, and better yet if you haven’t seen them live, then get to it.  They’re one of the most fun and unique bands around, and after this album, one of my favorites as well.

Springtime [mp3]

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6.  Honey Claws – Honey Claws

There’s really no denying how much I enjoy this album.  I’ve probably shared this Honey Claws album more than any other album in ‘08.  Of course, it’s so weird, I only had about a 40% success rate, but that’s fine with me.  If you don’t remember me talking about them, they’re basically a hip hop version of Animal Collective.  Some of the songs are pure Animal Collective, but most feel like Animal Collective does hip hop.  It’s one of the most interesting albums this year, and even if it’s not your cup of tea, everyone has to listen to this album at least once.

Shout Out [mp3]

Ambulance [mp3]

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5.  Ra Ra Riot – The Rhumb Line

The main reason I looked further into Ra Ra Riot was because of their backstory.  They lost their drummer in a freak drowning accident after a show and finished the album in his honor, with a lot of the songs being written originally by the drummer.  That alone had me thinking, hopefully I’ll like the music, but I like these guys already regardless.  Well, Welcome Wagon may have featured Sufjan, but I think Ra Ra Riot became my Sufjan for 2008.  No, they really don’t sound anything like him, but it’s fun, upbeat, orchestra rock that I loved for obvious reasons.  Top notch drums, good lyrics, Arcade Fire sounding guitar, and two string players.  That’s a band recipe you know I’m all about.  And I’m guessing most of you that heard The Rhumb Line in ‘08, feel the same as me.

Dying Is Fine [mp3]

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4.  Detektivbyran – Wermland

If I was ranking bands rather than albums, then Detektivbyran would be #1 for 2008.  I love these guys.  Anders was more than happy to answer my email interview questions, and they’ve continually kept in touch with me over the past few years.  Wermland is Detektivbyran at their best I’d say.  “E18″ is still my favorite song of theirs, but this one felt like their most complete album to date.  And add the fact that they experimented a bit with their sound this time around, with tracks like “Life/Universe”, which is Amelie meets Top Gun in all the best ways.  I’ll always be a fan of the guys in Detektivbyran and I’m really glad to hear their sound is only getting more and more polished as time passes.  Here’s looking forward to their next one.

Om Du Moter Varg [mp3]

Neonland [mp3]

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3.  Sigur Rós – Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust

Ah Sigur Rós.  What can I say anymore.  Anything they come out with I absolutely love.  This one in particular though came out with very little marketing and completely slipped past my record label running, blog writing, part time job having, busy self.  Which is admittedly a crime against good music, but I caught it about a week before it was supposed to come out and was listening to it half and hour after I even knew it existed.  Needless to say, the severe lack of preparation to hear this album left me almost numb to the first listen.  Like, well, that was new Sigur Ros.  Hmm.  But further listens found Sigur Ros being their most carefree and playful yet.  I soaked it in and loved it, some people I talked to later didn’t quite like it as much.  I’m more the overwhelmingly happy type, so an overwhelmingly happy Sigur Ros album doesn’t phase me.  This new album was a pleasant surprise and one you can listen to and know the band had a good time recording.  Nothing too serious, epic as usual, and still vintage Sigur Ros. 

Gobbledigook [stereogum link]

Inní mér syngur vitleysingur [mp3]

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2.  Somone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – Pershing

There’s obvious biases when it comes to Boris Yeltsin.  They’re from my current town of Springfield, MO.  I see them around town all the time.  Heck, anyone that gets coffee regularly see their lead singer working there.  Them signing to Polyvinyl basically just meant someone was putting their album out there and putting them on tour.  Nothing else about the guys from Boris Yeltsin changed in the least.  And that’s something I’ve come to truly admire.  Completely genuine guys that were even nice enough to hang out with me all night after one of their shows when I was living in Seattle.  So, I couldn’t wait to finally hear their new album, one that was full of songs us in Springfield had heard countless times, but never heard recorded, and one that they had been holed up for three months recording in a relative’s basement.  The anticipation killed me, but the final album that resulted was truly mind-blowing.  Not in any epic kind of way, just seeing how far our hometown band had come.  The songs were polished, and their unique form of unique, summer pop had reached another level on Pershing.  “Modern Mystery”, “Some Constellation”, and “Heers”, could all crack my top five songs of the year.  The album as a whole itself just flows from start to finish, which led to more listens throughout the year than I could count.  I couldn’t be prouder that my #2 album ended up being from a hometown band, and I know the minute I’d tell them where they were placed on my 2008 list, they’d all just laugh and tell me I was ridiculous.  Be humble all you want guys, but Pershing is one of the best releases of the year and they deserve all the praise that comes their way.

Some Constellation [mp3]

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1.  Cloud Cult – Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes)

It honestly was a toss up between this Cloud Cult album and Boris Yeltsin’s release.  Sigur Ros was really the only album to come even close to these two albums, so when making my list, I just put those two album on top, then went back and worked down my list from 50-3.  I put Cloud Cult at #1 over Pershing mainly because it was the first album of the year to truly impact me and just keep hanging around.  Most will give me the big “No way are they #1!” speech.  And some might give me the whole “it’s not their best” schtick.  But when making a list of top 50 albums that affected me most, this one kept topping the list, no matter how many times I changed the albums below it.  It’s all vintage Cloud Cult, from the subtle use of electronics over string landscapes to Minowa’s always interesting, if not sometimes downright weird, lyrics.  There’s no denying that this is a Cloud Cult album.  I still think Happy Hippo is their best album, and this one may have a skippable song (what Cloud Cult album hasn’t had at least one instrumental or weird song you just skip?), but with songs like “No One Said It Would Be Easy”, “Everybody Here Is A Cloud”, the amazingly lush string-filled “When Water Comes to Life”, and “Journey of the Featherless”, it really doesn’t matter if you skip a song.  The rest of the album is just as good as those four songs and each songs is so full of amazing orchestration that has become a staple of Cloud Cult’s sound.  Picking a #1 album for any year is a hard choice, because you know that’s the pick that most likely will be scrutinized the most, but most of my readers have read countless posts over the years that have me gushing over the newest Cloud Cult album, so it should come as no surprise to most of you.  I won’t know until after I post this if anyone else is on the Cloud Cult train with me, but at the least I hope that this album making #1 will pique peoples’ curiosity enough to check out this amazing album if they haven’t already.  It’s my favorite album of the year for good reason, and I can only imagine what their next album is going to sound like. 

Everybody Here is a Cloud [mp3]

When Water Comes to Life [mp3]

Hope you enjoyed the list!  It was a long, long time coming.  Regular posts continue next week.  See you back in a few.