Top 5 Albums of the Year.

I think everyone knows that I really like listening to music. On such a musical quest, certain albums pop out at me more than others and there are some that I simply cannot stop listening to. Thus, in all my musical nerdiness, I present to you my top five albums of 2008.

5. Narrow Stairs - Death Cab for Cutie
To be honest, Transatlanticism deserves another chance while Plans never completely sold me. On the other hand, Bixby Canyon Bridge off Narrow Stairs slowly lulls the listener in before I will Possess your Heart captures the full attention of the listener. Death Cab finally shows on this track that they are quite strong instrumentally (an impression I had never gotten from them before) with a four minute instrumental piece before Ben Gibbard comes in vocally.
Songs: Cath..., Long Division, Grapevine Fires (my personal favorite)

4. Volume One - She & Him
Already possessing a strong acting career (see Elf and Yes Man among others), Zooey Deschanel turns to the music scene with the help of indie phenom M. Ward (hence She & Him). Simply put, I cannot get enough of the album these two have pieced together. Deschanel's incredible vocals alongside M. Ward's wonderful instrumentation make for quite the album. And while the album is quite upbeat instrumentally, some of the lyrics are quite the opposite (i.e. Change is Hard). Nowhere is this contrast between an upbeat song with heavy lyrics more evident than in their music video for Why do you let me stay here? As a side note, I recommend trying to leave their website. So informative yet clever.
Songs: Sweet Darlin', Take it Back, Black Hole

3. Seventh Tree - Goldfrapp
A truly good artist will show that their music cannot just fit one label. They will diversify their music as they stretch their musical limits. Goldfrapp has done just that in going from the electronically astounding Supernature to a more stripped down, acoustic album in Seventh Tree. The opening track, Clowns, displays the strange beauty of Allison Goldfrapp's voice among acoustic guitar picking. There is no one single track, such as Supernature's Ooh La La that can carry the whole album, but a medley of wonderful tracks creating a fantastic flow to a new sound from the Goldfrapp duo.
Songs: Clowns, A & E, Eat Yourself

2. This is the Life - Amy MacDonald
Since randomly purchasing This is the Life at the end of the summer, I have been continuously coming back to this album. Amy MacDonald's Scottish voice carries an album of fantastic, fun songs. At the same time, her lyrics are powerful, most of them criticizing a life of power and riches that remains unfulfilled. On the song Footballer's Wife (my personal favorite on the album) Amy sings "oh i don't believe in the selling of your glories before you leave this life there's so much more to see, i don't believe this is how the world should be." While in itself a rather lame music video, go watch This is the Life just to catch the drift of what is Amy MacDonald.
Songs: Mr. Rock & Roll, This is the Life, Footballer's Wife

1. Fire Songs - The Watson Twins
Hands down the best album of the year. Before this album, Chandra and Leigh Watson's main appearance was on Rabbit Fur Coat, the first signs of Jenny Lewis's break with Rilo Kiley. While Rabbit Fur Coat was a strong album, it was truly Jenny Lewis's project. On Fire Songs, The Watson Twins finally get a crack at showing the world what they're made of. And boy do they do that. The harmonies are simply incredible, the instrumentation quite catchy (try getting How am I to be? out of your head), and the lyrics very well-written. Everyone should seriously put this album in and just play it several times through.
Songs: Lady Love Me, Just Like Heaven (a cover of the Cure), Map to Where You are, Bar Woman Blues

Raw Country and the Discovery of Sera Cahoone

So lately, thanks largely to Sam, I have been into what I like to call "raw" country. To me, raw country is 1) NOT the pure pop country crap that is on the radio. Just as when raw rock takes the form of pop rock (a.k.a. James Blunt, Daniel Powter etc.) and makes you want to plug your ears for life, raw country takes a turn for the worse in the forms of pop country. So lately I've been into two "raw" country artists--Kathleen Edwards and Lucinda Williams. For one, you get the pure, beautiful instrumentation of electric guitars, organs, harmonicas, etc. meshing together to form one beautiful noise. At the same time, you get artists with beautiful voices who write powerful, and I mean uncomfortably powerful songs. If you want the perfect example of this, try listening to Alicia Ross by Kathleen Edwards. Written from the perspective of a young girl in Canada who is murdered by her neighbor, the song gives me chills every time I listen to it.

Recently, however, thanks to last.fm, I discovered Sera Cahoone and simply cannot get enough. Sera used to be the drummer for Band of Horses among other indie bands. On the two CD's she has out (one self-titled, the other called Only as the Day is Long), Sera delivers old-fashioned country at its finest. The album I have (Only as the Day is Long) is heavy with pedal-steal, acoustic guitar, and banjo arrangements (I love, love, love the sound of the pedal-steal). The songs, while quite simple, are incredible. "Happy When I'm Gone" gets me up and dancing around before I realize that the lyrics aren't that "happy." Other highlights include the title track, "Baker Lane," and "Runnin' Your Way. I highly recommend checking her out (as well as Kathleen and Lucinda).

By the way, Sam and I will be seeing Kathleen in February in Detroit and it will be amazing!