Distractions' Best Albums of 2008

What a weird year in rock. Guns N Roses, or I should say Axel Rose, finally releases Chinese Democracy and nobody really cares. And those aging weirdos in AC/DC (come on Angus, it's time to lose that school boy uniform, it's getting pretty creepy) release an album that's only available in Wal-Mart.

But beneath the surface, there was a lot of good music being created. I spent the last few weeks trying to figure out my Top 10 list. It wasn't easy. But here we go ...

1. Conor Oberst. Conor Oberst.
Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis recently told Blender that The Mystic Valley Band is the "sh-t." She's right. But so is the main man. Oberst sheds his Bright Eyes moniker and delivers a third straight masterpiece.
Highlights: Danny Callahan, Souled Out!, Get Well Card
Original review

2. Fate. Dr. Dog.
For the second year in a row, the Dog lands in Distractions' number two spot. These guys do their thing incredibly well. They are The Band of indie rock.
Highlights: The Breeze, The Ark
Original review

3. Wagonwheel Blues. The War on Drugs.
Bob Dylan meets Arcade Fire with a wall of guitars. This Philly band creates a unique, dramatic sound. Keep an eye on them.
Highlights: Arms Like Boulders, Taking the Farm
Original review

4. Victory Shorts. Absentee.
This group dropped their alt-country leanings and released a rocking set of love songs filled with singer Dan Michaelson's deep voice and sense of humor.
Highlights: Bitchstealer, We Smash Plates
Original review

5. The Stand-ins. Okkervil River
This companion piece to last year's Stage Names stands on its own. Lead singer Will Sheff lampoons the pretensions of the music industry.
Highlights: Pop Lie, Singer Songwriter
Original review

6. Dual Hawks. Centro-Matic/South San Gabriel.
Another great set of intelligent, mid-tempo rootsy rockers from Will Johnson, who unleashes a double disc -- each side done by one of his two bands. Give it time. If you love Neil Young and Iron and Wine, this one will grow on you.
Highlights: Twenty-four, All Your Farewells
Original review

7. Fleet Foxes/Sun Giant EP. Fleet Foxes
With its choir-like vocals and 70s folk-rock sound, the EP and debut are the two most beautiful releases this year.
Highlights:White Winter Hymnal, Your Protector
Original review for Fleet Foxes
Original review for Sun Giant

8. We Brave Bee Stings and All. Thao
Great sophomore effort by the young indie-folkie with a wispy Chan Marshall-like voice, great lyrics, and playful arrangements.
Highlights: Swimming Pools, Geography
Original review

9. Furr. Blitzen Trapper
Woodsy rock with guitars and jams breaking out all over the place. Wilco fans, take a chance on this band.
Highlights: Furr, War on Machines
Original review

Tie. 10. Real Emotional Trash. Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks.
The former Pavement leader lets loose and shreds all over the place.
Highlights: Dragonfly Pie, Real Emotional Trash, Baltimore
Original review

Tie. 10. Parc Avenue. Plants and Animals
They're a trio from Canada. They're an indie band. But they sometimes sound like a jam band. And they're awesome.
Highlights: Mercy, Good Friend
Original review


Honorable Mentions
Getting to the Point is Beside It. I Love Math
Volume 1. She & Him
Evil Urges. My Morning Jacket
In the Future. Black Mountain
Auditorium. Radar Bros

I Don't Get It -- Joe the Reader

Yes, it's that time of the year where newspapers, magazines, blogs, etc. do their end-of-year book lists. You can expect to see a book list from just about everyone.

But Joe the Plumber?

Yep. And the list by Joe, aka Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, wasn't in Pump and Plungers Monthly, it was in The Economist. Not surprising, Joe's reading list leans toward the loo. His top three are Temples of Convenience—and Chambers of Delight by Lucinda Lambton, Flushed with Pride: The Story of Thomas Crapper by Wallace Reyburn, and that indispensable Howard C. Massey classic The Plumber's Handbook.

Actually, I was quite surprise that his list went past #1 and #2.

But here's the bigger shocker. His other favorite book is The Theory of Money and Credit by Ludwig von Mises. Plumber Joe told The Economist : "It brought monetary theory into the mainstream of economic analysis. It is important reading for these troubled times."

Nothing against my plumber friends, but either Joe is pulling this out of his exposed butt crack or he's been fooling us the whole time. Is it possible that Joe wasn't really a plumber looking to start his own small business, but a front for a desperate Republican machine?

Could be. Or, as one commenter on the story wrote, he could have just confused von Mises' book with Everybody Poops.

Whatever you do, please don't buy Joe's book. Let's make sure his 15 minutes of fame are up.

Weight of the World

(Tuesday Treasure is a weekly song that is unheralded, long-lost, or buried somewhere deep on an album, yet deserves another listen.)

The Decemberists are back. Their Always a Bridesmaid EP collects a group of singles they released on vinyl earlier this year. And their next full-length due out next year, according to lead singer Colin Meloy, will be a rock opera about a shape-shifting animal.

Or a woman named Maria.

Or both.

A couple years back, Kill Rock Stars released a double disc of Meloy's pre-Decemberist band Tarkio. Omnibus was trademark Meloy -- several catchy, witty songs. Weight of the World, in particular, stands out. It's hard to forget lines like ... the Homeless Philharmonic singing all of Charlies Angels to their heavingly convergence in the sky.

Weight Of The World - Tarkio

Playlist FAIL!

I Can Has Cheezburger is a group that puts together several Web sites. My favorite is the FAIL Blog, a site that illustrates failure and human stupidity through pictures and videos. Check it out. It's laugh-out loud funny. And read more about the Burger empire in this cnet news feature.

Here's the rest of this week's creepy playlist:

Cold Fact. Rodriguez.
This lost psychedelic/folk-rock classic was reissued earlier this year. Cold Fact sank quickly after its release and Rodriguez left the music business. But the album became a big hit in places like South Africa and Australia. The 1970 album featured street-wise stream-of-consciousness lyrics set over interesting orchestration. If you're a fan of early Dylan and psych-rocker Arthur Lee, you should really check this out.

Giant Sand. Provisions
This boozy, meandering, Americana band is not for everyone. In fact, I gave several listens to their live 1996 release Backyard Barbecue before giving up. Something must have changed with me, because Howe Gelb and his band are still playing the same kind of raw, off-beat country rock. And I've bought into it. This is great music for those late Sunday mornings when you've got nowhere to go.

For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder That Shocked Chicago. Simon Baatz
One of the first crimes of the century truly did shock Chicago and the world. Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb kidnapped and killed a little boy in an effort to commit the perfect crime. It's a fascinating story with a lot of major players, including Clarence Darrow, who represented the defendants less than a year before taking on the Scopes trial. The book is interesting, but way too long, especially when Baatz goes into laborious detail, particularly when setting up the legal battle.

Darkly Dreaming Dexter. Jeff Lindsay.
It's creepy and it's kooky. For those who haven't seen the show (that includes me) or read the book, Lindsay's Dexter is a serial killer with no emotions. But he only kills bad people. It's weird having a likable lead character who talks so passionately about things like cut body parts and drained blood. An easy, quick and fun read.

John Walker's Blues

(Tuesday Treasure is a weekly song that is unheralded, long-lost, or buried somewhere deep on an album, yet deserves another listen.)

Well, the horror called the Bush Administration is coming to a close. And with the end of any administration, the president has already started receiving requests for pardons. The current president has given out fewer pardons than the previous two-termers Clinton and Reagan. And most experts don't expect him to change his ways.

And I don't expect him to consider a pardon of John Walker Lindh. The young man known as the American Taliban is asking for a shorter sentence. And he deserves it. Lindh was a peaceful young man on a spiritual quest who ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was also a victim of the Bushies' bloodthirsty jingoism in leading up to the Iraq War.

Steve Earl's song John Walker's Blues got some press before it came out. Once out, it sank like a stone. Few stations dared play it. It's worth another listen. Check it out on Hear This on the right-hand side of the page. Or consider buying Earle's 2002 album Jerusalem.

Playlist: Don't Wear Furr -- Listen to It

This week's Playlist ...

Furr. Blitzen Trapper.
If there is anyone who has both James Taylor and Ween on his IPod (besides me, that is), it's probably Eric Early, leader of this Oregon-based indie band. With Furr, Blitzen Trapper made an album that's more diverse, yet more consistent that last year's surprising Wild Mountain Nation. There are tons of late 60s/early 70s grooves over the whole album. Those grooves turn to groovy on the disco-like Saturday Nite. And then there's the sadly sweet ballad Not Your Lover. But there's enough harmonica, acoustic guitar and pounding piano for Trapper to hold onto its alt-country label. Early told LAist that the album is about civilization and "the impossibility of returning to nature." One of the best albums I've heard this year.

Budding Prospects. TC Boyle.
This early Boyle novel (1984) is a great introduction to his work, marked by great character development and offbeat humor. Felix, who has quit everything from college to marriage, receives an offer from his friend Vogelsang to cultivate a pot farm out in the boonies. Vogelsang has bought the land. His colleague has the horticultural knowledge. All Felix, and two others, need to do is cultivate the plants. They'll even receive instructions. After a year, they'll walk away with enough money that they won't have to work again. The plan seems simple enough, but quickly goes awry. Nature, the town and a vindictive cop all seem to be against Felix. And this time when he really should quit, he doesn't.

Everything All the Time. Band of Horses.
I don't know how this band flew under my radar (thanks for the heads-up Tom), but I'm just awed by Everything, their 2006 debut. Like Blitzen Trapper, they hail from the Pacific Northwest, they're on the SubPop label and they have alt-country leanings. But the comparisons end there. Where Furr is all fits and stops, Everything shimmers throughout. And it has an epic feel. This band probably plays great in a small club, but you can see them rocking a big stadium. It's dreamy music with a kick, as illustrated by the album's first song, titled appropriately enough The First Song. Give it a couple listens and it will grow on you.

Eastern Sounds. Yusef Lateef.
I first heard of this classic 1961 recording on the Guest Playlist author Matthew Quick did for us. Lateef brought Middle Eastern music into traditional jazz and could be considered one of the pioneers of the World Music genre. But it's serious jazz. In fact, Lateef was an influence on John Coltrane who began experimenting with Indian modes around the same time as Eastern Sounds.

I Don't Get It -- Jive Tofurkey

Happy Thanksgiving Day everyone!

I hope your day is filled with fun, food and family. And now that I got that crap out of the way, I have to get something off my chest. And I'm going to say it politely. Please, please,PLEASE don't anyone else ask me ever again if I'm eating Tofurkey today.

I think I understand what it would be like to be the lone Jewish kid on the block at Christmas. I would love to go through one November without a Tofurky comment. Just because I don't eat turkey or any other kind of meat doesn't mean that I feel so excluded that I'd spend a ton of money on a blend of tofu and wheat carved into the shape of a bird with four drumsticks made of tempeh.

How many foods are served during a traditional Thanksgiving dinner? I can, and will, eat most of them, including all of the desserts. But I won't eat turkey. So what? Big deal. Look, it's not as if you really care what I'm eating. I can tell by the snicker that often accompanies the question. Is it because Tofurky is a funny word, kind of like Spam. I think so. So why don't you just get it out of your system now?

Tofurky.

Tofurky.

Tofurky.

Tofurky.

There, I feel better. Do you?

So go ahead, eat your turkey. But pass the mashed potatoes, string bean casserole, veggie stuffing and the pumpkin pie. And yes, I'll have another beer, or three.

*********

Besides Thanksgiving, it is also the first birthday for Distractions, which started last Thanksgiving with this initial post.