B.S. Awards - Albums of the Year

There were many great albums in 2008. I used to worry that the coming year would never be able to be as good as the one just passed. But every year I am wrong and have a whole bunch of new albums to adore. Following is my top ten albums of the year and my top three soundtrack albums of the year. I have never had a soundtrack list. I've always liked soundtracks and there is usually one or two a year that are really good to me. But this year there were several that I played over and over. One of them is still in Olive where it was put in as soon as I got her.

1. Stay Positive by The Hold Steady - No surprise after reading my last post on bands of the year; The Hold Steady walks home with the B.S. Album of the Year. The album has excellent story telling, rockin songs and even kick-ass guitar solos. And I'm not one for guitar solos. I'll pick out a couple of the songs that landed in my top 20 later. It is the only album all year that referenced Sacramento from a band not from here.

2. Consolers of the Lonely by the Racontuers - I have previously mentioned Jack White's musical genius. The Racontuers are Jack White with an actual band instead of just rocking himself. It's not quite a sparse as The White Stripes which has it's own quality, but dude can hook me in with his blues rock riffs. There are a number of great songs on this album. 4 songs were in my top 40 of the year and one even was one of my top cool out songs of the year.

3. Weezer - The Red Album - I love the Weeze. They had two of my absolute favorite songs of the year and the album have many more hits than misses for me. Everyone in the band took turns singing a song (to somewhat mixed results). But overall, a very strong album.

4. The Blakes by The Blakes - Taking home the B.S. for Best New Band, Seattle based The Blakes might have even landed higher if they didn't bail as the opening act for the Toadies concert at The Boardwalk. I love this album! Many of their songs are different sounding from each other. They had 4 or 5 of my top 40 songs of the year as well. Check out this hot new band!

5. Sleep Through the Static by Jack Johnson - Jack continues to break out great material that is perfect for a day at the beach or a dreary rainy day outside. Tasty waves and a cool buzz to you my flip-flop wearing friend.

6. Viva La Vida by Coldplay - I was a little leary that this album was going to be a letdown. My only letdown was that they kept putting a "hidden song" on their songs which made it difficult to add to my seasonal mixes much like JT did with FutureSex/LoveSounds. If you understand that reference and still are attracted to only women, welcome to my very exclusive club.

7. Narrow Stairs by Death Cab for Cutie - They took home the B.S. award for Cool Out song of the year, but the entire album had an excellent vibe that grew on me. I listened to it more each month I've owned it than the prior month.

8. The Odd Couple by Gnarls Barkley - They proved they were not going to be a flash in the pan with this solid followup to their first album. Not all their songs clicked with me, but the ones that did funked me up.

9. Vampire Weekend by Vampire Weekend - Excellent summer mix of songs. Kind of an African-Alternative mix via the Ivy League. I don't know how to explain it, I just know I liked listening to it with sunroof open during beautiful summer days.

10. These Are the Good Time People by The Presidents of the United States of America - More solid tunes from a band always entertains me. Ranking likely boosted by seeing this very fun band in concert again. They really are a good time, people.

Right on the edge were the new release by The Toadies, No Deliverance and, with many apologies to Ted, Attack & Release by The Black Keys. Both were very good albums, just not enough to unseat any of these ten.

Soundtracks:

1. Across the Universe. I loved the soundtrack, the idea of the movie and the movie. It is two discs worth of Beatles remakes. I'm always a little skeptical about remakes, but this hit it out of the park for me. Putting the songs in the context of the story even made the original Beatles songs better to me. It had almost a Baz Luhrman feel to it. My favorite song from the movie isn't even on the soundtrack. Just wonderful.

2. Into the Wild. This movie is in my top album list, my top movie list and my top book list. The story about this mixed up kid sure did occupy a lot of my entertainment time this year! I'm talking just about the soundtrack here. Eddie Vedder (one of my all time rock gods) delivers with a powerful, cool out soundtrack that really captures the emotions in the film.

3. Once. Hard to believe this would end up #3. It is a testiment to how strong the first two are. I don't love all of the songs on it, but the music really makes this excellent, touching film even more emotional.