Well, to be absolutely honest with you, we were really slacking off in 2008, and didn't manage to review all the releases we meant to. Here is a short list of some important performers whose music we unfortunately didn't cover on time: Amadou & Mariam, Beach House, Bug, Nick Cave, Crystal Castles, Elbow, Fuck Buttons, Glasvegas, Hercules And Love Affair, Hold Steady, No Age, Portishead and Kanye West. Now, let's look at the ten album we all actually did listen to and truly loved.
10Juvelen
1
[Hybris]
If you ever get dumped, cheated on, or just treated badly by your loved one, don't just sit and whine; get out of the house, drive up to the club and give yourself in to the hazy drunken atmosphere. If you're lucky enough, Juvelen might be the music that will guide you through the night. Euro-disco for an empty dance floor. Lust, funk and desolation; Prince triumphs again. –Jan Błaszczak
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09Brian Wilson
That Lucky Old Sun
[Capitol]
While all of a sudden every other band is trying to sound like they were living in the sixties, grandpa Wilson laughs with condescension and shows you how to do it the right way. Kudos to him for approaching his seventieth birthday with the same sunny California outlook he had at the start of Beach Boys' career; still recording songs about girls in bikini and surfing. Not for money, not for the fans, but out of sincere need. And you really can tell; just have a listen. –Łukasz Halicki
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08Osborne
Osborne
[Spectral Sound]
Detroit's DJ Osborne must be a fan of amusement parks, because listening to his latest output feels kinda like spending a crazy day in Tivoli or Six Flags. "Ruling" is the huge wooden roller coaster here, and other tracks also bring plenty of pleasure, from De La Soul-style bumper car ride (''Our Definition Of A Breakdown'') to coming face to face with Aphex Twin in his haunted mansion (''Junk Food''). This guy has created an 80-minute musical experience that is never tiring nor strained; a colorful, heart-gripping union of funk, Chicago house and Detroit techno. If the theme park metaphor doesn't work for you, think of it as a dance class lecture on the history of electronic music. –Wojciech Sawicki
album review »
07Dungen
4
[Subliminal Sounds]
Having apparently abandoned all hopes of ever again making anything quite as prominent as Tad Det Lungt, Dungen seem to have resorted to exploring the capacity of their genre, and this approach really works in their favor. On the fifth record, Gustav Ejstes's dearly held fascination with the 1970's era comes together with jazz, Jimi Hendrix, sixties melodies and melancholic piano themes; also, the band is employing a new found affinity for longer forms. To put it in the words of an Amazon.com customer: "I haven't the foggiest idea what they're singing, but only half the songs have lyrics anyway". –Zosia Dąbrowska
06Max Tundra
Parallax Error Beheads You
[Domino]
I'm perfectly aware of the fact that most our readers will remember this as the "Which Song's on it" album; it is nevertheless quite unfair for Tundra, given the sheer amount of good music that fills the record up to the brim. While it obviously doesn’t have a start to Ben Jacob's 2002 masterpiece, Mastered By Guy At The Exchange, it still leaves the competition far behind. Besides "Which Song", the enamoring internet girl-drama "Will Get Fooled Again" and the entrancing "Orphaned", driven by a powerful lead melody, come off as major highlights of this legitimately awesome album. –Kacper Bartosiak
album review »
05High Places
03/07 – 09/07
[Thrill Jockey]
Let's put the comparisons with You Know What Band aside for a moment. Seriously, there is way more to High Places than that. For starters, this 7" compilation sounds like nothing but a cohesive album; an album that is also the best Saturday-evening soundtrack that you might've heard in 2008. Mary Pearson's voice contains just the amount of emotion it takes to put you into a state of deep relaxation, and the music itself is vastly packed with amazing ideas. If listening to idealist love songs is for wimps, then hell, I'm a wimp, and so will be you if you only give High Places a try. –Filip Kekusz
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04Nico Muhly
Mothertongue
[Bedroom Community]
The Juilliard School alumnus Nico Muhly and his Mothertounge left me speechless and twisted in knots. If you think Gang Gang Dance make weird music, then what would you say about that? This is some kind of minimal psych folk, a crazy avant-garde opera, or a product of a "possessed" genius. My best guess is that Nico Muhly is actually the son of an Elizabethan court musician, and somehow got transported in time to the XXI century. Mothertongue seems like enough of a proof for that; drawing from chamber classical as well as alt-country and futuristic electronica, Muhly fuses musical themes of different worlds and ages, eventually ending up with an intriguing, captivating and at times truly moving work. –Paweł Greczyn
03Atlas Sound
Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel
[Kranky]
What's the connection between Lincoln, Rachmaninoff, and Cox? If you think Marfan syndrome, think again. Now, Bradford's latest LP, recorded without much support of his band, is an intimate and blurry pop album; it includes the motion-core banger "Recent Bedroom", and ultimately seems to bee even prettier than Deerhunter's Cryptograms. –Mateusz Jędras
album review »
02Foreign Exchange
Leave It All Behind
[Nicolay Music]
I've never been much into "sweet" and "sugary" tunes, and overly mawkish music in general; The Foreign Exchange, however, make me suddenly think that sentimentality does not necessarily equal kitsch.Leave it All Behind might be a little too cutesy and immaculate in its form, but it's also beautifully impregnated with a certain kind of delicacy. Considering FE's creative approach to the hip-hop/r'n'b brand (Oval meets Kylie meets Blackalicious) and a superb sense of emotive balance and style, the mushiness slowly starts to seem like not much of a drawback, but actually an asset. Plus, you could well play all these songs with an acoustic guitar, and I'm positive they wouldn't lose any of their appeal. –Jędrzej Michalak
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01Gang Gang Dance
Saint Dymphna
[The Social Registry]
Seems like the school of outre-noise (aka neo-tribal) is finally enjoying its well-deserved five minutes of fame. Following a gradual increase in hype for our beloved Animal Collective, another weird-folk New York crew is now blessed with relative popularity. In case of Gang Gang Dance, this sudden boost of good reputation has a very tangible reason behind it – an album of wonderfully complex form and first-rate songs.
Saint Dymphna is a wholly engrossing stylistic jumble, based on full-blown eclecticism and incessant diversification of the tribal sound. There's no other indie band out there as highly capable of creating hypnotic, polyrhythmic drum & percussion displays, and also constructing sick musical patterns that draw freely from abstract electronica, UK garage or experimental noise. Here and only here can African beats coalesce with riot girl, melodious 80's pop and cut-up house music.
It is said to be a difficult album. Well, on the one hand it really is a treat for the ethnographic connoisseurs at "The Wire", but at the same time, being full of dance-funk grooves and explosive hooks, Saint Dymphna definitely possesses a broader appeal. You can love it for its stylistic exploration, the mood and spirituality, or simply – all those outstanding motifs and melodies. –Michał Zagroba
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On the list voted (and their favorite albums):
Kamil Babacz (Foreign Exchange Leave It All Behind), Kacper Bartosiak (M83 Saturdays=Youth), Jan Błaszczak (We Versus The Shark Dirty Versions), Zosia Dąbrowska (Gang Gang Dance Saint Dymphna), Borys Dejnarowicz (Foreign Exchange Leave It All Behind), Marek Fall (TV On The Radio Dear Science), Paweł Greczyn (Gang Gang Dance Saint Dymphna), Łukasz Halicki (Flying Lotus Los Angeles), Mateusz Jędras (Gang Gang Dance Saint Dymphna), Filip Kekusz (Gang Gang Dance Saint Dymphna), Łukasz Konatowicz (Gang Gang Dance Saint Dymphna), Jędrzej Michalak (Foreign Exchange Leave It All Behind), Patryk Mrozek (Atlas Sound Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel), Paweł Nowotarski (Eddie Current Suppresion Ring Primary Colours), Wojciech Sawicki (Atlas Sound Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel), Michał Zagroba (Gang Gang Dance Saint Dymphna).
(translation: pm)