I discovered Vampire Weekend's self titled release a little late but it's ridiculously good and is well worth mentioning as the year in music winds to a close. I usually browse "The Best Of..." lists at the year's conclusion to acquaint myself with music that may have flown under my radar during the year and Vampire Weekend was one of them. It was released January of 2008 but I didn't give it a thorough listen until the other night. Like The Walkmen's You & Me, it boasts an album's worth of strong cuts, all catchy, all well-produced.The pleasure in listening to this album is that it's hard to nail down a favorite, but here's a couple to goodies worth throwing out there.
"Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"
"Mansard Roof"
...and Beach House's "Gila" is such a mesmerizer...
Fleet Foxes' self-titled debut is another album I just discovered. "Blue Ridge Mountains" is amazing. Very sublime, as is the rest of their solid debut.
And I can't begin to tell you how indispensible Soul Sides has been in introducing me to such an amazing catalog of the most soulful of soul classics. You know, the soul music variety that simply absorbs you...like these...
The Impressions: "I'm Loving Nothing"
Candi Staton: "Too Hurt To Cry"
The video is terrible and this song came out last year but I haven't been able to get enough of it. From it's quiet and unassuming introductory 2.5 minutes to the unravelling of it's 1.5 minute conclusion that you want to sing from the rafters-The Shins' "Sleeping Lessons" from 2007's Wincing The Night Away is a sonic nova.
Junichi and Oliver over at Poplicks have rounded out their usual year-end lists.
Junichi's "Best Quotes of 2008" is a must read.
