Back in my day, we saved up our pennies to buy the latest wax cylinders

[rootbeer1]

Every year the Village Voice polls the music critics of the country for their Pazz n Jop roundup of the best releases of the previous year. And every year I look over their album listings, and sadly discover that I am even further out of the loop when it comes to modern music. I mean, I haven't even heard of the Fuck Buttons before, and evidently they produced one of the top albums of 2008. Twenty years ago, it was rare for an album to be in the top 50 with which I wasn't familiar.

So let's see how out of touch we all are. Look over this list of the top 200 albums of 2008, and see which ones you either:

• purchased as a physical CD or album;


• bought on iTunes or similar sites; or


• listened to enough times that you could recognize the group and the album if it were played for you.

Count up the number of albums you possess or know well, and fill in the poll at the end of the list. Let's see how current we all are.

1. TV on the Radio, Dear Science
2. Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend
3. Portishead, Third
4. Erykah Badu, New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War
5. Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes
6. Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III
7. Santogold, Santogold
8. Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago
9. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
10. Kanye West, 808s & Heartbreak
11. Deerhunter, Microcastle/Weird Era Continued
12. Randy Newman, Harps and Angels
13. The Hold Steady, Stay Positive
14. No Age, Nouns
15. Girl Talk, Feed the Animals
16. My Morning Jacket, Evil Urges
17. MGMT, Oracular Spectacular
18. Hercules and Love Affair, Hercules and Love Affair
19. Raphael Saadiq, The Way I See It
20. Bob Dylan, The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs - Rare and Unreleased 1989-2006
21. Coldplay, Viva La Vida, or Death and All His Friends
22. Los Campesinos!, Hold On Now, Youngster...
23. Cut Copy, In Ghost Colours
24. The Gaslight Anthem, The '59 Sound
25. R.E.M., Accelerate
26. Q-Tip, The Renaissance
27. Drive-By Truckers, Brighter Than Creation's Dark
28. M83, Saturdays=Youth
29. David Byrne & Brian Eno, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
30. She & Him, Volume One
31. Torche, Meanderthal
32. The Walkmen, You & Me
33. Hot Chip, Made in the Dark
34. Frightened Rabbit, The Midnight Organ Fight
35. Kings Of Leon, Only by the Night
36. Alejandro Escovedo, Real Animal
37. Metallica, Death Magnetic
38. Fucked Up, The Chemistry of Common Life
39. Roots, Rising Down
40. T.I., Paper Trail
41. Beck, Modern Guilt
42. Blitzen Trapper, Furr
43. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Real Emotional Trash
44. Gang Gang Dance, Saint Dymphna
45. Elbow, The Seldom Seen Kid
46. Death Cab For Cutie, Narrow Stairs
47. Al Green, Lay It Down
48. Young Jeezy, The Recession
49. The Magnetic Fields, Distortion
50. Vivian Girls, Vivian Girls
51. Ne-Yo, Year of the Gentleman
52. Lucinda Williams, Little Honey
53. Duffy, Rockferry
54. Sigur Ros, Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust
55. The Black Keys, Attack & Release
56. Jamey Johnson, That Lonesome Song
57. Estelle, Shine
58. Taylor Swift, Fearless
59. Flying Lotus, Los Angeles
60. Hayes Carll, Trouble in Mind
61. James McMurtry, Just Us Kids
62. Lindstrøm, Where You Go I Go Too
63. Beach House, Devotion
64. Nas, Untitled
65. Kathleen Edwards, Asking for Flowers
66. Of Montreal, Skeletal Lamping
67. Guns N' Roses, Chinese Democracy
68. Dr. Dog, Fate
69. Times New Viking, Rip It Off
70. Wolf Parade, At Mount Zoomer
71. Fennesz, Black Sea
72. The Raconteurs, Consolers of the Lonely
73. Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Primary Colours
74. Glasvegas, Glasvegas
75. Ponytail, Ice Cream Spiritual!
76. The Raveonettes, Lust Lust Lust
77. Robyn, Robyn
78. Jay Reatard, Matador Singles '08
79. Elvis Costello and the Imposters, Momofuku
80. Spiritualized, Songs in A & E
81. Lykke Li, Youth Novels
82. Opeth, Watershed
83. Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Lie Down in the Light
84. Fuck Buttons, Street Horrrsing
85. Arthur Russell, Love Is Overtaking Me
86. Conor Oberst, Conor Oberst
87. Toumani Diabate, The Mande Variations
88. Marnie Stern, This Is It . . .
89. Orchestra Baobab, Made in Dakar
90. Franco, Francophonic
91. The-Dream, Love/Hate
92. Charlie Haden Family & Friends, Rambling Boy
93. Steinski, What Does It All Mean? 1983-2006 Retrospective
94. Flight of the Conchords, Flight of the Conchords
95. Jenny Lewis, Acid Tongue
96. The Knux, Remind Me in 3 Days...
97. Why?, Alopecia
98. Okkervil River, The Stand Ins
99. Nada Surf, Lucky
100. Juana Molina, Un Dia
101. Crystal Castles, Crystal Castles
102. Be Your Own Pet, Get Awkward
103. Shelby Lynne, Just a Little Lovin'
104. Nachtmystium, Assassins: Black Meddle, Pt.1
105. The Dutchess & the Duke, She's the Dutchess, He's the Duke
106. The Gutter Twins, Saturnalia
107. Laura Marling, Alas I Cannot Swim
108. Grouper, Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill
109. The Breeders, Mountain Battles
110. Adele, 19
111. The Bug, London Zoo
112. Mudcrutch, Mudcrutch
113. Gnarls Barkley, The Odd Couple
114. The Mountain Goats, Heretic Pride
115. The Sword, Gods of the Earth
116. dj/Rupture, Uproot
117. Goldfrapp, Seventh Tree
118. The Black Crowes, Warpaint
119. Crystal Stilts, Alight of Night
120. Robert Forster, The Evangelist
121. Harvey Milk, Life...The Best Game in Town
122. Jazmine Sullivan, Fearless (Jazmine Sullivan)
123. High Places, High Places
124. The Kills, Midnight Boom
125. Wale, The Mixtape About Nothing
126. Ryan Adams, Cardinology
127. Deerhoof, Offend Maggie
128. Joe Jackson, Rain
129. Solange Knowles, Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams
130. The Whigs, Mission Control
131. Paul Weller, 22 Dreams
132. Shearwater, Rook
133. The Ting Tings, We Started Nothing
134. Neil Young, Sugar Mountain: Live at Canterbury House 1968
135. Dodos, Visiter
136. Sun Kil Moon, April
137. Radiohead, In Rainbows
138. Atmosphere, When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold
139. The Cool Kids, The Bake Sale
140. AC/DC, Black Ice
141. The Helio Sequence, Keep Your Eyes Ahead
142. Max Tundra, Parallax Error Beheads You
143. Sloan, Parallel Play
144. Calexico, Carried to Dust
145. The Fireman, Electric Arguments
146. B.B. King, One Kind Favor
147. Paul Westerberg, 49:00
148. El Guincho, Alegranza
149. Cat Power, Jukebox
150. The Night Marchers, See You in Magic
151. Seun Kuti, Seun Kuti + Fela's Egypt 80
152. Sam Phillips, Don't Do Anything
153. John Legend, Evolver
154. Janelle Monae, Metropolis: The Chase Suite
155. Los Campesinos!, We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
156. Hank Williams, The Unreleased Recordings
157. Last Shadow Puppets, The Age of the Understatement
158. Esau Mwamwaya and Radioclit, Esau Mwamwaya and Radioclit are the Very Best
159. Brian Wilson, That Lucky Old Sun
160. Sam Amidon, All Is Well
161. The Baseball Project, The Baseball Project, Vol. 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails
162. The Duke Spirit, Neptune
163. The Pretenders, Break Up the Concrete
164. Mates Of State, Re-Arrange Us
165. Black Milk, Tronic
166. Atlas Sound, Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel
167. Earth, The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull
168. Enslaved, Vertebrae
169. Black Mountain, In the Future
170. Ra Ra Riot, The Rhumb Line
171. Air France, No Way Down
172. Sic Alps, U.S. EZ
173. Jamie Lidell, Jim
174. Kaiser Chiefs, Off With Their Heads
175. Love is All, A Hundred Things Keep Me Up at Night
176. Rodney Crowell, Sex & Gasoline
177. Ratatat, LP3
178. Gojira, The Way of All Flesh
179. Made Out of Babies, The Ruiner
180. Amanda Palmer, Who Killed Amanda Palmer
181. Abigail Washburn, Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet
182. Rodriguez, Cold Fact
183. The Killers, Day & Age
184. Little Joy, Little Joy
185. Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson, Rattlin' Bones
186. NOMO, Ghost Rock
187. Calle 13, Los De Atrás Vienen Conmigo
188. Meshuggah, obZen
189. Ray Davies, Working Man's Cafe
190. Jolie Holland, The Living and the Dead
191. Man Man, Rabbit Habits
192. Punch Brothers, Punch
193. Neon Neon, Stainless Style
194. Darker My Love, 2
195. Department of Eagles, In Ear Park
196. Fall Out Boy, Folie a Deux
197. Jean Grae, Jeanius
198. War on Drugs, Wagonwheel Blues
199. Britney Spears, Circus
200. Boris, Smile

[Poll #1335906]

Comments

[nfotxn.livejournal.com]

The list is sorta hipstery. Like Fuck Buttons are totally boring 18-year-olds from London screaming into a Fisher Price cassette recorder over some uninspired noise. You can see that any Wednesday night in any city all over the world if you like. I don't understand the appeal. But they have style.

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

The list does at least contain some artist/bands that have been round the block a few times, and I have managed to find some goodies among the new-n-hip stuff of today. But there is a whoooole lotta stuff out there that simply does not appeal to me for various reasons. It's either formulaic pop tripe that is mostly disposable and does not break any new ground, or tends to be more noise than melody. And there's so much of the style-over-substance stuff that has the shelf life of a quart of milk.

[heypyro.livejournal.com]

2009 is also shaping up to be a good year for veterans. From U2 to Franz Ferdinand.

[nfotxn.livejournal.com]

Whoa, Franz Ferdinand are "veterans"? Also try this fun game. Attempt to hum a U2 song. Also why does Adam Clayton still dress like a raver?

[heypyro.livejournal.com]

Its an interesting question: at what point are bands cemented enough to no longer be one off acts.. Like the Killers and The Kaiser Chiefs, Franz Ferdinand are dropping their third album. Scissor Sisters arn't far behind. Thats kind of a marker for me. I think they are pretty veteran compared to most of that list.

[nfotxn.livejournal.com]

I dunno about third albums. I don't think that makes one a veteran at all. I mean Maxïmo Park is doing their 3rd album and they sound just like Franz Ferdinand... Junior Boys sell similarly well and are on their 3rd. Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion is like what their 9th LP?

[furmuslbulk.livejournal.com]

I just hummed "In the Name of Love." what about it?

[nfotxn.livejournal.com]

You probably just hulled a few bars from the chorus. Try humming the rest of the song. Bono likes to sing vocal warm ups and call them lyrics.

[furmuslbulk.livejournal.com]

Umm are you dissing Bono? Oh right, you're too cool to like U2.

[nfotxn.livejournal.com]

Well no actually. I certainly think their last two records were stinkers. But this is just something I was talking to a friend about. A friend who is a fairly good singer.

[shake-it-up.livejournal.com]

I used to really follow the Village Voice, especially when Robert Christgau was still with them. Since I have switched from the print edition, less and less. Also, I don't have a radio outlet that would give me a head's up on a lot of this music.

I see a lot less hip-hop/rap on this list than in previous years (also at the inauguration, did anyone else notice the exclusion?). And the kind of faux soul singers rank, which kind of a amazes me (I can take Shelby Lynne, like her earlier stuff, but find Duffy and Adele very arch and phony).

To answer the first question, I bought 5 or more of these in CD format. And a few others on MP3. I've been able to listen to some of the others through friends or some kind of file sharing. Of the albums I bought on CD, Gnarls Barkley was the only real newcomer. Many of them I have bought for years, in fact, Ray Davies of the Kinks was on the second LP I ever bought in 1965.

I wasn't aware of TV on the Radio in 2008, but got hip to them recently and they have played on my laptop constantly for the past 2 weeks. They even made it to my facebook "status comment" (with comments asking if I'd bought a new TV, yes it's a stupid name). I was a little worried about the group's pseudo-black hipster sound, until I realized they are multi-racial and mostly black.

I miss a couple of records I did like, that I thought would fit on a Top 200 list: The Hives' record was pretty good, not perfect. I really like the Watson Twins. Weezer probably deserves to be left off, their album was a mess. Lindsay Buckingham didn't make it.

"Lucky old Sun" by Brian Wilson was the #1 disappointment for me on this list.

[soundbear69.livejournal.com]

I am very happy to see Elbow's "Seldom Seen Kid." However, I have heard a lot of tracks from these discs by listening to KCRW. That is truly one of the best things about living in LA.

[dhpbear.livejournal.com]

Zero -- I'm not kidding here!


I so miss the days of "accessible" pop music :(

You're gonna hate me for this...

[heypyro.livejournal.com]

56.

See my post for more info.

[akil.livejournal.com]

I bought Portishead, MGMT, R.E.M., Hot Chip, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Elbow, Duffy, Of Montreal, Goldfrapp and Cat Power.

I saw Portishead, MGMT, Hot Chip, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks and Duffy at Coachella, which is why I bought their records.

I bought Goldfrapp based on their earlier work and was highly disappointed by Seventh Tree.

I bought R.E.M., Elbow, Of Montreal and Cat Power based on recommendations from folks on LiveJournal.

[bigbrute-usa.livejournal.com]

I got the Goldfrapp early on in its existence was introduced to them about 6 years ago in a video of them doing an evening show in a town square in Europe - MESMERIZING ! !

I was lucky enough to catch ELBOW live at about 30 feet from center stage here in Minneapolis at a venue called 'the Fine Line' have been aware of them since thier participation in the 2001 COACHELLA Music festival (Palm Springs area) at that point thier big 'hit' was "Newborn" and it is a truly beautiful piece.. one of thier songs on 'Seldom Seen Kid" was featured in the adds for the Coen Bros. latest film..{burn after..} and also another song is used in the promo of the 'Bejamin Buttons' film

I JUST HAVE TO MENTION
if you want a place to hear this music on a fairly regular basis.. with play lists of the current songs and possibility of requests.. video clips of 'in house' performances and ionterviews ..
well..it's all 'STREAMING' and on the net at:

www.mpr.org

then click to 'The Current'
It's or local Public Radio Stations version of what radio really "SHOULD BE"
on our local radios its available at 93.7 FM
It was only in business 7 months and took the 'local BIG rag/progressive news periodical' "BEST OF" for local radio stations

it truly is awe inspiring what range they have at times

[heypyro.livejournal.com]

AMEN!

[rootbeer1.livejournal.com]

Critics do suck.

The Presets showed up on the main Village Voice list at #1123, with one mention by one critic.

[rootbeer1.livejournal.com]

That's pretty cool!

[quirkstreet.livejournal.com]

Word. I'm listening to the album as I take the poll and read the comments and thinking "WTF no Presets?"

[furmuslbulk.livejournal.com]

Cool- The Presets are going to be at Coachella- and I am too! Love them based on their Myspace page, but never heard of them until today! Are you going?

[quirkstreet.livejournal.com]

I don't do well in hot weather with those big crowds and on my feet all day. Coachella is *awesome* but a bit too much for me (having gone twice in the past).

You should definitely do it, though!

[weebull.livejournal.com]

81!

[progbear.livejournal.com]

I own zero of these albums. I own albums by two of them, surprisingly both recent-ish acts: Radiohead and Spiritualized. Actually, Spiritualized doesn’t really count: the MP3’s of the two albums I bought of theirs are still on my external hard drive, but I wound up dumping the CD’s. Musically they’re pretty cool, but I really got sick of their “I woke up, shot myself up with heroin and washed it down with a fifth of whiskey, fuck fuck fuck” lyrical shtick but quick.

Most of the acts on the list I have no knowledge of. I know some of the names just from frequent visits to the record store, but I have no idea what sort of music they make. The few modern artists whose names I recognized were usually met with a shudder and a cringe (Britney Spears and Kanye West spring immediately to mind). Most of the names I did recognize were old, old, old. Who even knew Ray Davies had a new album out? More to the point, who cares?

Of this list, there was only even one album I had any interest in buying, and that was the new Radiohead album. Any other 2008 purchases I had in mind were either not on the list (the new Keane album) or would never be on the list because it’s too obscure or too painfully un-hip (I think the latest album by D.F.A. qualifies in both cases).

[timbear.livejournal.com]

It's odd with all those names that I recognise I assumed that I would probably own a few albums but no. I own one. Or rather I've purchased one, but it's a pre-order because it hasn't been released in the UK yet. And that's Taylor Swift so not one of the old artists that I know of. Funny how my buying style seems to have changed from Heavy Metal in my twenties to commercial pop now.

Maybe my parents were right and it was all just noise ...

[sunbeam-bears.livejournal.com]

I am so far out of the loop, I have no idea of any of these.

[bearsrider.livejournal.com]

so do I!
Ok ok, I do usually listen to completely different music...

[bearsrider.livejournal.com]

And I bet I could draft a list having the same length which contains unknown musicians for the most

[furmuslbulk.livejournal.com]

So you've never heard of Bob Dylan, Brittney Spears, or REM?

[rootbeer1.livejournal.com]

I'm familiar with Britney Spears' tabloid behavior, but I think I'd recognize only one of her songs if I heard it on the radio. So despite knowing way too much about her personal life, I wouldn't count her as a "yes" for the second poll question.

There's a big difference between "I've heard of this person" and "I follow this person's work."

[tbass.livejournal.com]

I've heard of almost all the musicians on the list, but only heard about half. The majority of it is indie rock or pop with some metal and country thrown in. A lot of these bands suck.

Big ZERO here

[ursine1.livejournal.com]

Like bearsrider, I live in a different world of music. And I don't mean the norteño stuff you hear on Spanish Mexican radio stations in the Bay Area.

Carlos

[anziulewicz.livejournal.com]

I am just spectacularly non-hip.

[progbear.livejournal.com]

Hey, I probably have you beat. I just streamed the latest Uriah Heep album via last.fm. Can’t get much more un-hip than that! (Mind you, it was “streamed” and not “bought”)

[sonicgloo.livejournal.com]

well.... I bought the new Nektar album (book of days) last year from the band's website and got a personal note from the guitarist who mailed it to me. :-)

[quirkstreet.livejournal.com]

I was pleasantly surprised at how many of these I actually have copies of. Still, it was "only" eleven.

[grandiva1968.livejournal.com]

You're hipper than me, by any accounting.  Erykah Badu, and that's about it for me.

[bear-with-me.livejournal.com]

I am a zero on the first part, and I really don't care. I am the most non-musical person I know.

[mudcub.livejournal.com]

I personally purchased 49 of those CDs, with... um... "evaluation" copies of a dozen more. Yeah, I think I have a problem!

[sonicgloo.livejournal.com]

i'm still catching up but was pleased I had as many as I did... of course it also brings up the question of whether I really care about the "top 200" which doesn't always sync the "really good 200" ;-) Although sometimes there are nice moments of synergy...