Jason's 2008 List

Farewell to an amazing year:

10. Drew's Pastry Place
9. The WAC
8. Whataburger (especially the honey bbq chicken strip sandwich)
7. Christmas Party in College Station
6.My Apartment (first place of my own)
5. Gear
4. Chicago Road Trip
3. The Dark Knight
2. Amanda Bower
1. Year One

LP's:

20. These Arms Are Snakes-Tail Swallower & Dove

Tail Swallowers & Dove is a great follow up to Easter. Once again TARS deliver an interesting blend of DC influenced hardcore with electronics.

19. Why?-Alopecia

What can I say about Why? Lyrically, it will be stuck in my head for days, even though I have no idea what Yani Wolfe is talking about. I got this album at the very beginning of the year and burned it out unfortunately. A creative blend of hip hop and “indy-rock.”

18. Melvins-Nude With Boots

Yet another solid release from the Melvins. Not sure if these guys could release anything bad. The dueling drums with Big Business has brought an interesting element to their music. The songs may not be as memorably as other releases but there is an awesome jam vibe I get from Nude with Boots.

17. Annihilation Time-III: Tales of the Ancient Age

After seeing them at SXSW this year, I fell in love with this band. This album is a blast, very dickheads.

16. Earth-the bees made honey in the lion's mouth

What a pleasant album. I thank Earth for helping me study and pass this semester with flying colors.

15. Sigur ros-með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust

Sigur Ros has been one of my favorite and I think creative bands out there for years. This album I still think pushed their sound to a new level but did not keep me coming back time and time again like their previous releases. Not to discredit this album at all. Sigur Ros still brings a very solid release with some great tunes that only Sigur Ros can deliver.

14. Transit-This Will Not Define Us

I fine pop punk album blending influences of some of my favorite acts (such as lifetime/saves the day). A great first record, I look forward to hearing this band grow.

13. Cult of Luna-Eternal Kingdown

I waited until the end of the year to finally get Eternal Kingdom but once I did it by passed all the way to the 13^th spot on my list. As usual: dark, heavy, and oh so epic.

12. Helms Alee-Night Terror

It took me a few listens to get into this band but once I did, I began to appreciate Night Terror. The drumming is what stands out on this album to me. Yet another creative and original Hydra-head release.

11. On My Side-GROW

These guys may be my best friends, however in all honesty this is one of the best hardcore albums I have heard in a long time. Lyrically and musically, it has been great watching this band literally “GROW”. If people don’t make a big deal about GROW I will be truly baffled.

10. Tigers Jaw-Tigers Jaw

When Danny sent me this record, I believe I listened to it about seven times in a row. The music could not be more pleasant and the lyrics could not be more perfect to fit the sound. There are parts on this album that continue to give me chills on every listen.

9. Clouds-We Are Above You

Once I finally gave this album a chance, I loved it. I love the blend of punk and classic rock. Nobody quite sounds like Clouds. After seeing them, I realized the complexity and originally of this band. Big amps with a big sound, my kind of music.

8. Dave House-See That No One Else Escapes

Danny and I are confused about when this was released in the U.S. so I will go ahead and put it on my 2008 list since that is when I got it anyways. This competes with The Gaslight Anthem for the catchiest album of the year. Dave leaves me singing his tunes days after my last listen. His heart warming, poppy acoustic tunes cheered me up on multiple occasions this semester. The number 8 spot may not even give this album the justice it deserves.

7. Meshuggah-Obzen

Meshugghah is a band, that I feel many people don’t listen to because they do not understand them. Meshuggah’s push for complexity in rhythm, tone, and timing is nothing short of incredible. These Swedes are probably some of the most under rated musicians on Earth (if they are not aliens themselves). Obzen brings Meshuggah’s songs back to long individual tracks with a Destroy Erase Improve/Nothing feel. Bleed could quiet possibly be the heaviest song I have heard.

6. Disfear-Live the Storm

What do you get when you mix my favorite vocalist, Tomas Lindburg with D-beat punk/metal and Motorhead? One hell of an album. Fast, fierce, and fun!

-Trying to figure out my top 5 albums for the year was not an easy task. All five of these albums played an important role for me in 2008.

5. Have Heart-Songs to Scream at the Sun

The Things We Carry was my #2 album in 2006. Songs to Scream…blows it out of the water. A 23 minute journey of emotionally filled melodic hardcore. This album is the soundtrack from my summer.

4. Torche-Meandrathal

I am not even sure how to describe how much I enjoy this album. I will just sum it up with three words CATCHY, LOUD, & TONE.

3. Polar Bear Club-Sometimes Things Just Disappear

After discovering PBC’s The Redder, the Better EP last year, I knew there was a great future for this band. With influences of Hot Water Music and other Long Island acts, such as Silent Majority, PBC has created their own beautiful refreshing sound. I received this album in 2007 with a pre order though it was not released until 2008 and have yet to slow down listening to it. It is and will continue to be a constant play.

2. The Gaslight Anthem-The ‘59 Sound

Hey guys, not only are you the coolest bastards I have ever met, you are incapable of writing an average song. How can you write my #2 album and #1 7” in the same year? It is just not fair to be this fucking cool! Every song on this album is memorable. This band deserves to be huge. This is a band that you can tell loves every second of writing and playing their music. I cannot wait to see what they bring to the table next.

1. Paint It Black-New Lexicon

PIB is the great act in hardcore today. New Lexicon is brutal, pissed, intelligent, melodic, and uplifting. Yem’s hip hop influence shines through in this album with the help of Dalek’s production. This album is nothing short of innovating. From the first listen, I knew this would be my favorite album of the year. Dan Yemin, thank you so much for continually creating my favorite music. “Live Fast but don’t die young. Slow down, but never stop.”

EP's, 7", 10", Tapes:
1. Gaslight Anthem-Senor and the Queen 7"
2. Mammoth Grinder-No Result 7"
3. Kowloon Walled City-Turk Street 10"
4. Feed-Tape Demo
5. Ghost Town Electric-Nowhere tape
6. Lewd Acts/Hour of the Wolf Split 7"
7. Lie and Wait-Awakening 7"
8. Candybomb-Candybomb ep
9. Doomriders/Disfear Split 7"
10. Jesu/Battle of Mice Split 7"

Honorable Mentions:
Lords of the North-EP
Mind Eraser-Conscious, Unconscious
Agent-Awake in their World 7"
Envy/Jesu Split
Title Fight-Kingston

Soundtracks:
1. Eddie Vedder-Into the Wild
2. Howard Shore-The Dark Knight
3. John Biron-Synecdoche, New York

Films:
1. The Dark Knight
2. Step Brothers
3. Burn After Reading
4. Pineapple Express
5. Wall-E
6. Doubt
*There were several movies release near the end of the year I have yet to see which probably would have made this list.

Books (from 2008):
God's Middle Finger
Easter Rising