!..."THE BEST ALBUMS OF 2008 – #2 – #3 – #4
Holy Shit. This record is wonderful. The Ruby Suns, hailing from the ever-hip, long time coveted New Zealand have successfully produced the perfect synthesis of indie love-pop and world beats on this glorious record. The sound of The Ruby Suns is hard to describe, but I will try, and in my description hopefully you can understand why ‘Sea Lion’ earned nearly the highest ranking this year. The vocals are reminiscent of late Beach Boys, complete with lush harmonies and a healthy dose of reverb. The rhythm section sounds like is was sampled from sub-saharan Africa at times and, at other times, like it was ripped off and 80′s synth track. The song writing is thorough and solid, often times chanted versus will carry listeners to the hook. I fell in love with the Ruby Suns from the moment I heard ‘Tane Mahuta’; this record is seriously not to be over-looked.
Alegranza came along at a perfect time. I spent last winter drenched in the sweet psychedelic sweat that had been left behind by the forerunners of the Tropicalia movement of 1970′s Brazil. When spring came around I had begun to move on. That’s when Alegranza came out. It picked up flawlessly where my listening career had left off. Imagine this: Animal Collective’s chanty, chaotic, experimental worldiness, meets Os Mutantes’ sweet trip and rolls together into something most of us never imagined. With ethnic polyrythems at the core and tripped-out, repetitive, sampladelic grooves making up the tunes, El Guincho has come up with something truly unique and beautiful. This record is smart, catchy, danceable, and fits flawlessly into what’s going on in neo-psychedelia.
This album contains the most beautiful music I’ve heard in years. I’ve been a casual Sigur Rós fan for a long time but this album, in particular, just boosted me into full-fledged infatuation. The record opens with a few surprisingly upbeat tracks, different from anything else we’ve heard from Sigur Rós to date. They are a jubilant few witch may inspire jumping, cheering, or crying after a solid listen. Soon after, the album slows into a much welcomed lullaby. During the downtime, Jónsi Birgisson’s vocals sound like they are being channeled from God; unimaginably precious melodies float out like the sound of one thousand unicorns dying. This album is so awe-striking it calls for multiple back to back listens, preferably while naked with the one you love.