2008 was kind of a bad year for me regarding new music.  Generally, when I read everyone’s lists of the top albums of the year, I’ve heard of all of it and own a lot of it.  in 2008, however, I pretty much dropped the ball regarding seeking out new music.  Not that I haven’t been buying stuff, but I’ve been looking more aggressively backwards than in years past.   Today I’m going to write a bit about the new music I got last year, then later in the week I’ll go into some records that came out last year I’m still hoping to get around to, and maybe next week I’ll  go on and on about the old music that I got into last year.

The one new record I did buy that ended up on a lot of lists was Dear Science, the new TV On the Radio record.  It was awesome, and I think it makes sense that it’s on people’s best-of lists, even though I don’t know much else about the year in music.  I think I only bought five or so new records that actually came out this year, making them my de facto best-of list:

• Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy- Lie Down in the Light
  The first B’P’B record I got was Greatest Palace Music, and I’ve bought most of the Will Oldham records that have come out since then.  Then I went looking backwards and started listening to Palace.  Palace is more like the kind of stuff I’m into, but I still like Bonnie ‘Prnce’ Billy.  That said, none of his records ever stay in rotation with me very long, but they hold up well when I go back to ehm.
• Beach House- Devotion
  I got this record solely because they covered “Some Things Last a Long Time” by Daniel Johnston/Jad Fair.  They do a great job on the song, but not as good as Built to Spill did back in ’94 or whenever they put it on a 7″.  Other than that song, that album kind of breezes by me without me really remembering it.  It’s good enough, but I’m a little baffled that it appeared on so many year end lists.
• REM- Accelerate
  I’ll probably buy every REM record that comes out, hoping that it will be as good as one of their early records.  Though this record is a huge step up from Around the Sun, that doesn’t say much.  I bought it as a 2-LP 45 rpm set, which is fun, but also kind of a pain to listen to, because it’s really a pretty short record.  So, even though it’s the best REM album of the millenium, it didn’t have much competition.
• TVotR- Dear Science
  Um…  it’s awesome and might be their best record.  “Family Tree” might be my favorite song of the year.  TVotR is the kind of band whose sound is so cool and unique (I think) that it runs the risk of being less interesting with each passing album.  That said, each of their albums has been bigger and better than the one before.  I think the Arcade Fire is similar in that respect, though Neon Bible again upped the ante.
• Gnarls Barkley- The Odd Couple
  These dudes kind of epitomize what I referred to earlier.  Though this album is great, arguably better than their debut, once I stopped being surprised and excited by their sound, I lost interest.  “Blind Mary”, however, is awesome.
• Girl Talk- Feed the Animals
  I didn’t really buy this- the label (Illegal Art) sent it to me for free, I think because I had purchased some other stuff from them.  It’s cool, but…  I guess it’s just a little much for me.  Listening to the crazy breadth of those samples is fun, and trying to recognise all the samples is fun, but I prefer mash-up stuff that sticks to two or three songs.
• Reissues/Compilations: I did buy a handful of reissues this year.   Pavement’s Brighten the Corners: Nicene Credence Edition was great.  It came with a bonus LP of a live show from around the same period that’s fantastic.  It’s not my favorite Pavement album, but those deluxe reissues have been fantastic across the board.  I also got the Replacement’s Tim, Pleased to Meet Me,  and Stink. Tim was nice because I’d previously only had it on vinyl, and I loved the bonus material. The alternative version of “Can’t Hardly Wait” is good, but the rest of the bonus material wasn’t as good.  Stink I hadn’t owned before, and I guess I just don’t like it very much.  The AV Club’s Noel Murray has a fantastic review of all the ‘Mats reissues.  Finally, I also got Illegal Art’s What Does It All Mean? Steinski retrospective, which was awesome.  It also led to some free goodies from Illegal Art (like Girl Talk), including 2007’s Champions of Wonder by Oh Astro, which is as fantastic as it is totally weird.

So that’s it for new stuff.  Like I said, I’m also going to mention later in the week what I missed but still hope to catch, and then I’ll go on and on about the old stuff I “discovered” last year.  Get stoked.