Disclaimer: The only tie this entry has to Sierra Leone is that I wrote it while in SL and the reality it reflects is a direct outcropping of personal ignorance that stems from my being in Sierra Leone. If you don't know me personally, you won't care about it at all - and even if you do, I make no promises.
Another Christmas has come and gone, and I can only assume your biggest regret is the knowledge that I've spent the last 2.5 months altruistically pummeling you with profound insights into a country you knew very little about, and you were left without recourse to show your appreciation. Well, never fear, my cherished readers - I got your back yet again.
Last year around this time, I was compulsively devouring music. In preparation for the wildly successful 2008 debut of The Victory Lap, the Radio Laurier show I co-hosted with Mr. Joseph Turcotte, I scoured best of '07 lists from myriad music sources with an eye to the albums that I thought could conceivably crack my own top 10, ultimately purchasing 33 of the year's best.
Combined with Joe's insights, we came up with a Top 20 of 2007 that made for a two-part show that ranked among my favourites from my foray into campus radio. But I still took greater pleasure in the process than the final product.
It was that process that helped me discover such artists as Brother Ali and Rilo Kiley, and made me see just how stellar albums like The White Stripes' Icky Thump and Kings of Leon's Because of the Times truly were. And it was a process that I vowed to myself I would repeat in coming years, a means of ensuring I remained connected to the latest and greatest in the world of modern music.
Well, life sometimes has a way of altering even the best laid plans, to say nothing of abstract promises to oneself. I'd like to think that, owing to a combination of my obsessive personality and the fact that I did spend much of 2008 on Canadian soil, I'm more well informed about the recent Western music scene than most of my Salone colleagues. But, at least by my own standards, my knowledge is nonetheless woefully insufficient.
That's where you come in. I'm not big on rigidity, so I won't hem you in with a format for suggestions - give me your top 10 lists, under-the-radar gems, or even critical flops ... all insights are welcome.
My cursory analysis of the year was that hip hop didn't bring its A-game in '08 and Canadian rock ratcheted things up a notch. The Stills, Matt Mays & El Torpedo, and Sam Roberts all put out excellent albums, though Kings of Leon again find themselves near the top of my list with Only By The Night.
And while I'm unaware of many of 2008's hip hop must-haves, a British dame with an attitude by the name of Estelle put forth a debut named Shine that did just that, instantly establishing her, at least in my mind, as one of the few good female hip hop artists out there, joining the illustrious ranks of ladies like Lauryn Hill and Jean Grae.
Still, I know one of my priorities upon my return home will be filling in gaps in my musical know-how and it is with that in mind that I turn to the scores of music aficionados I have the pleasure of calling friends to aid me in my quest.
After all, I was blunt from the very beginning that this blog's goals would be self-interested as often as they served the purpose of keeping my friends and family up-to-date on my experience abroad. We'll call this Exhibit A in the self-interest column.
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7 comments:
TV on the Radio - Dear Science
Portishead - Third
These are easily two of my favorite albums of 2008. I'll compose a more comprehensive list for you probably by tonight.
I'm loving the blog man. Keep up the great work and excellent writing. Take care.
Thanks bro! How does this TV On The Radio album compare to their last one (Return To Cookie Mountain, I think)? I bought and enjoyed that one, but also found it didn't stay in my heavy rotation for very long. Thoughts?
Honestly, I couldn't really tell you as I have only recently started to get into the band and look into their other material.
In general, TVOTR seems like the kind of band that takes a while to get into. As with most good albums, you can't judge "Dear Science" after a few listens; you need to let the album sink in before you can really appreciate its majesty.
Conversely, even after listening to it for a while, it may never resonate with you. The most widely disseminated critique of the band in general is, "I just don't get them."
If you liked 'Return to Cookie Mountain' I highly suggest you give this album a listen. No promises that it'll connect though.
Mike, one of my favourites this year was Wolf Parade's On Mount Zoomer - although you may have been around when that came out.
Didn't really catch much good hip-hop - this year was pretty weak, I agree.
Also, in terms of Canadian artists, Matt Good put out not only a good album but a good live disc as well. Yes, Matt Good, even though I'm still a little bitter at how half-assed he played O-Week a few years back.
Two comments in as many days, Hocking. Welcome to the dialogue, my friend.
I've never really been a Matt Good fan, personally, though I was one of about 50 people that stuck around for that mediocre O-Week effort in its entirety.
But yeah, hip hop was seriously lacking this year. Aside from Estelle, the only albums I can even say I want to look into further are Flobots' "Fight With Tools" and Atmosphere's "When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold". But I haven't heard much of anything off either.
And thanks for the Wolf Parade suggestion. Not familiar with it. It's not so much about whether I was around when the album was released; the end of the year is just generally the time when I catch up on the stuff that might have slipped under my radar in the whirlwind of the everyday. Appreciate your assistance in this regard.
Sorely disappointing is how I'd describe hip-hop in 2008. New albums from Common, NAS, the Roots and Kanye all failed to impress. On the other hand, that relative sucking gave me pause to appreciate some other artists I likely wouldn't have otherwise - I never thought I'd be a Lil' Wayne fan, but Tha Carter III was my best rap album of '08.
Damn. Good point, B-Roc. I wasn't around for Common or Kanye, but I own Untitled and Rising Down and neither occurred to me, which generally isn't a good sign. Though I thought the Nas one did have some pretty solid tracks, to be fair.
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