Sunday, January 11, 2009

'08 favorites.

As a spin off of Carey's upcoming top albums of 2008 list, I'm going to muster together a list of my own. Maybe not necessarily a top albums list, but a list of albums I have really enjoyed this past year (in no particular order).

1. Only By the Night -Kings of Leon.
This one had to make the list. Fantastic band, great alt-southern-rock sound. My favorite songs from the album would have to be "Sex On Fire," and "Cold Desert." But I would definitely say that every song is worth listening to.

2. Re-Arrange Us -Mates of State.
If you read this blog at all, you already know I'm a huge MOS fan. I guess they are considered to be in the indie-genre. Sometimes it seems like a lot of indie music sounds the same as other indie music and it just kind of gets old. But with the genius combination of an organ and drums, along with unique vocal harmonies that fit together perfectly, this band never disappoints. If you're into Jackson Browne at all, I highly recommend the MOS cover of "These Days." (You can find it on the soundtrack for the movie Wicker Park.)

3. Three Flights from Alto Nido -Greg Laswell.
Greg Laswell has to be one of my favorite new-ish artists. I mean he certainly isn't brand new, but fairly new. New to me at least. Moving on. I was hooked from the first line of his piano cover of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." Another one of those I-love-every-song albums.

4. Day & Age -The Killers.
Can't go wrong with this band. This album is equally as awesome as Sam's Town, but equally just as distinct. I'm always a big fan of their lyrics/songwriting. A sample from the song "A Dustland Fairytale":
and the decades disappear like sinking ships but we persever
God gives us hope
but we still fear what we don't know
the mind is poison


5. One of the Boys -Katy Perry
Not sure this qualifies as a top-favorite album overall, but if I was doing a "top pop albums of 2008" list, this would be on it. She's one of my fave new pop artists. "Ur so gay and you don't even like boys" has to qualify as lyrical genius. In all seriousness, I really do like her voice and I think she kind of spiced things up in the pop world for 2008.

I think this list is to be continued. It's late, and I'm running out of steam. In a short update as to what I'm currently spinning...that would be Kanye's 808's & Heartbreak. "RoboCop" is pretty much my favorite song so that's really all I'm listening to, but I expect I'll grow to like the rest of the album too. When he comes back to Charlotte, I'm buying tickets for sure.

Happy 2009! :)