Calexico – Carried to Dust
A really great entry in the magnificent catalog. This album marked a return to their dusty desert roots, with a radio-friendly pop leading-edge that is informed by their many years of live concerts (which are fantastic, btw).
Silver Jews – Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea
Depression and existential dread put to music. Such a great collection of downtrodden and disenfranchised characters detailed in an incredible poetic way.
“Then he came at me with some fist cuisine”…
Supergrass – Diamond Hoo Ha
The final album in a great run on power-pop/glam/garage. Punched up and radio-ready tunes cranked out by some real pros. It’s always worth keeping some Supergrass in the playlist rotation…
Deerhunter – Microcastle/Weird Era Cont
Massively broad album centered on ‘shoegaze’ but touching everything from bubblegum pop to krautrock. At the time I wouldn’t have guessed the massive impact that Bradley Cox et al would have on indie rock through the years – where they even now remain a solid genre highlight.
Gutter Twins – Saturnalia
Dulli/Lanegan blast off with this dark and doomy rock that tumbles down every rabbit hole. An excellent addition to any listening library – one that is a welcome re-addition to playlists.
Throw Rag – 2nd Place
Semi-crazed CA punk melange. Mixing punk, rockabilly, rock, cabaret/circus tunes (?), and general mayhem. Very fun, loose and raw.
She & Him – Volume One
Excellent sun-drenched pop album full of charming harmonies and singalong melodies. Pure simplicity that succeeds by not trying too hard. Plus, those eyes…
Spiritualized – Songs in A&E
Very personal and deeply emotional stripped-back psych-rock, with a heap of tasteful and elegant strings layered on top. A fantastic listed. Do it!
Emiliana Torrini – Me and Armani
Remarkably gorgeous, well-thought-out pop from Iceland. Stripped-back guitars and keyboards frame ETs incredible and delicate voice, which thrums with emotion and warmth. Most definitely one for the ages…
Kurt Vile – Constant Hitmaker
Debut studio album for a future-favorite. A collection of (very) lo-fi psych/bedroom pop. Not a lot to grab onto here, but an interesting (in hindsight) view of the path KV took…
Jim White – Transnormal Skiperoo
Delightfully existential indie/folk/americana/s-s. Lovely, lively, and full of strange characters and odd stories.
Bubblegum Lemonade – Doubleplusgood
A smashing debut album from Scottish pop superstar Laz. A gorgeously fuzzed-out blast of romantic, car-crash, sunshine indie-rock/power-pop/bubblegum…
The Kills – Midnight Boom
Classic-rock songs blasted with a sexy, chaotic, drug-addled modern treatment. How VV and Hotel made it out of this insane phase I’ll never know, but I’m damn glad I got to experience it (and relive it via Drive Years!)
Johnossi – All They Ever Wanted
Muscular garage-rock/power-pop from Sweden. Just two dudes (John & Ossi), bashing and banging their way into hearts and minds. Damn fun…
Delta Spirit – Ode To Sunshine
An eye-opening melange of country-soul and garage-rock, full of rambunctious energy. Perhaps not destined to be a classic, this is nonetheless still a very fun listen. (A tad notable for it’s use of trash-can-lid percussion and use of stage energy ala early Arcade Fire).
Marks a real beginning of music that is very SXSW-oriented…
Black Keys – Attack And Release
One of their “sonic change” albums that moved them completely away from their initial lo-fi DYI sawdust-on-the-floor recording process/sound. Adding Danger Mouse as a producer flushed out their sound, and gave rise to a new BK era. Clean and polished blues-rock classics ensue…
(although I humbly submit this album is when they started going permanently downhill)
The Young Republic – 12 Tales From Winter City
A lovely classically-influenced indie-pop/rock outing. Delicate arrangements and instrumentation surround some great melodies/harmonies and fun tunes. Maybe a bit thin to be an all-time-great, but definitely a fun listen.
TV on the Radio – Dear Science
OUTSTANDING art-rock album that to-this-day sounds unique and original. A massive sound incorporating traditional rock sounds, adventurous world-influenced percussion, and some really great vox effects. Deserves all the praise it gets…
Frightened Rabbit – The Midnight Organ Fight
A fine album that got most of it’s praise after-the-fact (justified, imo). While the album as a whole is uneven, the open-hearted tunes continue to resonate with listeners.
(RIP Scott Hutchison)
Not listened to, despite best intentions….
Wooden Shjips – Vol. 1
Foxboro Hottubs – Stop Drop And Roll
Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
Tilly And The Wall – O
Elf Power – In A Cave
The Kooks – Konk
Black Diamond Heavies – A Touch Of Someone Else’s Class
Lambchop – OH
Blitzen Trapper – Furr
White Denim – Workout Holiday
Thee Emergency – Solid
Notes:
Album selection for this year was almost 100% from my collection, benefiting from it’s inclusion in a DrBeeper faves list. On re-listen I was a bit surprised at how much of these albums I have very strong memories of (time flies). Some really great albums here, and these re-listens have moved some further ‘up’ in the all-time listen ranks.
Original contemporaneous DrB reviews…
Drive Year: 2008 happened in October 2019
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