avoiding the marathon - justin pope & friends: 12.08

No grand statements of purpose, no movements to champion, just my top eight for a year where new music made the daily grind grind a little less...

8.) Ray LaMontagne, Gossip in the Grain
Ray LaMontagne can sing just about anything and still portray an auraof world-weary sensibility that’s almost always convincing in its authenticity. As on most of his work, it’s his voice that’s the star on this album. Though his songwriting is only decent—tellingly, the most memorable song here is an ode to the charms of Meg White—it’s the hazy, warm folk/soul atmosphere, his pleasantly scratchy voice, the simple arrangements and easy pace of this album that makes it one I keep returning to.

7.) M83, Saturdays = Youth

Yes, it’s an unapologetic homage to the 80’s. Yes, Anthony Gonzales (and me, and many of you) was likely eating Nilla Wafers on a swingset when the sounds he’s shamelessly biting were popular, but if you can look past all the romantic hindsight of it (it took me a while), this is a great album. The production is fantastic, the arrangements are borderline flawless, and the wide-eyed, cheeseball idealism that songs like “Graveyard Girl” and “Kim and Jessie” conjure up is the stuff
summers are made from.

6.) Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!

There is very little about Nick Cave and his crew I don’t like—his songwriting is top-notch, the Bad Seeds are ridiculously tight and the way he spits out a phrase almost commands the listener to pay some goddamned attention. The sequencing of the songs on this album is great, but “Midnight Man” is definitely my favorite of the tracks. Even if you don’t like Nick’s snake-oil-salesman vocal style, the way the band comes together on the cathartic refrain (“Everybody’s coming ‘round to my place!”) is well worth the long and often difficult journey the rest of the album offers.

5.) TV on the Radio, Dear Science

I saw this made most year-end lists, and usually in a top spot. I don’t know that I really have anything to add to the collective heap o’ praise this band seems to be laying beneath these days except that I really, really like this album.

4.) The Walkmen, You & Me

Lead singer Hamilton Leithauser doesn’t just have one of indie rock’s most recognizable voices, he’s got a few of them—from his adenoidal, Dylanesque croon to his trademark upper-register scream; the man doesn’t simply sing a song, he delivers it to the listener in a changing palette of vocal inflections. And though a voice like his might serve keep many would-be fans away from this band, The Walkmen have maintained an uncanny ability to have a singular anthem on each of their albums that reaches for mass appeal (see: “Wake Up,” “The Rat,” “Louisiana”). You & Me’s soaring “In the New Year” is certainly no exception, and the album that surrounds it is a big step forward for a band that’s been frustratingly mercurial to this longtime fan. This
album is definitely the work of old pros who've grown comfortable with the range of their signature sound—the garage-rock organ, upright piano, trebly, reverbed guitar and That Voice don’t seem quite as at odds with each other as on 2006’s just-okay A Hundred Miles Off. There’s a confidence in the album’s sustained moodiness, all dusty corners and faded postcards, with Roy Orbison reverb and a classic live-in-the-room timelessness that will keep this one from sounding dated like so many of this year’s scene-centered releases. Although the album isn’t without modern reference points—I can’t think of a lyric that better captures the unfounded optimism of late 2008 American consciousness than “In the New Year’s”, “He won by a landslide / our troubles are over!” In my hopeful imagination, we’re all singing along when the ball drops.

3.) Pavement, Brighten the Corners: Nicene Creedence Edition

Admittedly, this doesn’t count as a “Best of 2008” contender, the original album having been released in 1997. However, this newest installment in Pavement’s excellent reissue series is one of only two records on this list for which I waited like a excitable, salivating fanboy (You & Me being the other). This album was my first introduction to Pavement, and I can’t recall having a stronger negative reaction to a song on first listen than when I heard “Shady Lane” blasting from a dorm-mate’s room (correct me if I’m wrong, Kent, but I think I said, “Why can’t they just tune the fucking guitars?”). In the years that would follow, I found myself making peace with their
lackluster attention to the finer points of pitch and tone, and drawn further and further into the spell of SM’s off-kilter lyrical genius and the band’s schizophrenic tendencies toward noisy scuzz-jams and sweet almost-ballads, often in the same song (see “Transport Is Arranged”). This album is a great introduction to the band for casual listeners, showcasing some of SM’s greatest imagery (“There’s no women in Alaska / there’s no Creoles in Vermont / there’s no coast of Nebraska / my mother I forgot”), two of “other guy” Spiral Stairs’ best contributions (“Date With Ikea”, “Passat Dream”), and excellent song sequencing, from the bubbling synths at the intro of album opener “Stereo” to the sloppy guitar heroics that elevate closing track “Fin”
to unabashed anthem status. The additional live tracks and b-sides make this a collector’s item worth having if you’re a fan, but it’s my #3 for reminding me how great it is to be excited about music.

2.) Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago

I know this technically came out in 2007, but like many of you, I only started hearing about it when it was re-released earlier this year. To be honest, I don’t think this would have ended up on my top list if I hadn’t been fortunate enough to catch Justin Vernon with his touring band at a church basement show in Philly this summer. Playing in a literal sauna of sweaty hipster kids, with one working ceiling fan doing little but teasing, the four musicians recreated the desolate-winter-cabin vibe of this excellent album with ease and confidence, even as they joked about heatstroke and cutting the set short for safety reasons. There’s little I can say about this album
that hasn’t been written already, so I’ll just say that this is some great music, and if you get a chance to see the live show, do (here’s a sample courtesy, no doubt, of the very kids I was angry at for blocking my view with their cameras). “Re: Stacks” is the jam.

1.) Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend

I know it’s almost too easy to hate on these guys—believe me, I love to Rage Against the Buzz—but they’ve made some incredibly likeable music with this record. More than any of my favorites, this one seems to be the most apt for my #1 spot: serving as background music in our home for most of the year, soundtracking many of 2008’s best dinners and Scrabble games (that’s another list), and containing the catchiest, most upbeat music I heard all year, anywhere, period. It’s so good, in fact, that I almost hope they never make another record, so I can enjoy this one, unspoiled by future disappointments, for years to come.

#9:
Sun Kil Moon, April

Honorable Mentions:
The Hold Steady, Stay Positive
Silver Jews, Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea
My Morning Jacket, Evil Urges
Bonnie Prince Billy, Lie Down in the Light
Flight of the Conchords, Flight of the Conchords
Spiritualized, Songs in A&E
Kaki King, Dreaming of Revenge

I was excited to have old friend and musical foil Mike Oravec (in from San Diego for the holidays) join me back on the J&P's stage for the first time in two years. As such, the set leaned heavily on covers from our old open-mic-duo days (including VU's "Candy Says", a recording of which is posted below). As always, Christina Ward and I rotated sets a few times throughout the evening, which lasted three hours, and culminated with a John Popper sighting that, sadly, did not result in an amazing harmonica jam with us on stage. Maybe next time, John?

12.18.08 - John & Peters
Setlist:
(^ - featuring Lisa Rich, * - featuring Mike Oravec)

1. Corinne (the Drunk Girl Song)
2. Mama, You Been on My Mind (B. Dylan)^
3. Into the Mystic (V. Morrison)
4. Cellophane*
5. Candy Says* (V. Underground)
6. Dear Azalea Gwen*

7. I'll Be Home For Christmas (Trad.)*
8. The Ballad of Brighter Begins*
9. Sad Songs and Waltzes (W. Nelson)*
10. F*** Her Gently (Tenacious D)*
11. How Dare You (M. Oravec)*
12. The Sprinter
13. Creep (Radiohead)*

14. Six, Seven
15. Carmelita (W. Zevon)
16. Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes (P. Simon)
17. House Where Nobody Lives (T. Waits)
18. Wave of Mutilation (Pixies)
19. I Don't Want to Live on the Moon

(songs by Justin Pope unless indicated)

live track: "Into the Mystic"(Van Morrison cover)