TOP TEN OF 2008

2008 was the year the Punk philosophy to DESTROY EVERYTHING almost became a reality.  The U.S. economy, the largest our planet has ever seen, almost went belly up!  As the world took a nose dive I kept listening to music.

Here are the 10 albums released in 2008 I replayed the most.

10. J Hood – Newest Mixtape

J Hood is my favorite unsigned rapper.  I’ve listened to him for almost ten years now.  I’ll never forget his debut rap, on the skit  “Rape’n U Records” off LOX’s We Are The Streets:

Don’t sleep
Cuz if you sleep you dreamin’
And while you dreamin’
Your bitch getting pumped full of semen.

Oh my god I love J Hood.  His lazy flow and sharp wit always make me rewind.  Fast forward ten years and he quit D Block and is on his own trying to make things happen.  Listening to the newest mixtape (he releases one about every four months) reminds me that we’re all struggling artists just trying to get a piece of the cake.

9. The Dears – Missiles

Nothing like some Canadian indie rock to remind me of my roots.  I love Murray Lightburn’s singing voice and this band is his through and through.  To prove it he fired the awesome group that made 2006’s Gang of Losers, hired a bunch of new people and made another great album.

8. Jenny Lewis – Acid Tongue

I was looking forward to whatever Jenny Lewis made after 2006’s Rabbit Fur Coat.  This album is another genre record and has some great guest spots, like Chris Robinson from the Black Crowes and Elvis Costello.  I like older country music and this album has a traditional folksy feel with a 21st century edge.

7. Rick Ro$$ – Trilla

I slept on Ross’s first album, except for “Hustlin’”.  By the time Trilla came out I was a big DJ Khaled fan, so anything he produced got my immediate attention.   I remember listening to this in the summer and kinda hating on it until track 6.  HOLY FUCK MY MIND WAS BLOWN.  Listen to this track, it’s my second fav of the year:

Rick Ro$$ – Money Make Me Cum

6. Guns N’ Roses – Chinese Democracy

I’m a big G’n'R fan but didn’t pay any mind to this album – I never thought it would be released.  As I waited for it to download I wasn’t expecting much, to be honest.  Axl rules but c’mon, a G’n'R record without Slash or Duff McKagan?  Forget it.  What impressed me the most about this project was that Axl didn’t try and replicate the past.  He embraced all the new recording technology and different genres and invested a career’s worth of psychological baggage and rewarded himself with a work of art that can really only be described as EPIC.  I listen to it from start to finish every time; no singles on this thing –  it’s a journey.

5. P!nk – Funhouse

This album surprised me the most this year.  Not only do I think “Sober” is the best pop song written all year, but the music video shocked me — and I don’t get shocked!  Watch at 2:25 as Pink makes out with herself.  Amazing.  Also, after listening to this album I always switch to Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix on my iPod.  That’s a real compliment.  Pink is honest, and true, and she doesn’t hold back.  She’s impressive, that one.

4. Young Jeezy – The Recession

I remember Flores telling me back in the day that hip-hop is the black Punk rock.  When I heard “Who Dat” I remembered that truth.  Not only is “Who Dat” an awesome homage to classic hip-hop, where the DJ is center-stage like on “Jam Master Jay” or “Terminator X to the Edge of Panic”, but Jeezy, who honestly is about as good an MC as Puffy (ugh!) delivers awesome one-liners, like “I don’t chase no broads, I chase money and vodka” and

State of paranoia, all I do is call my lawyer
Tell him I know a nigga that might have a little trouble
OK you know it’s me
If you beat it I’ll pay you double

“Who Dat” is my favorite song of the year.  Shawty Redd’s production is so absurd that for the first 20 times I listened to the song I couldn’t get through the whole thing.  The relentless repetition of those three keys was just so intense.  I LOVE THIS SONG.

Young Jeezy – Who Dat

To my mind this track, with its nihilistic abandon and relentless momentum, is just like a punk rock song.  Kinda like this twenty-seven second tune:

Circle Jerks – Deny Everything

3. Mutators – Secret Life

PUNKS NOT DEAD! Mutators continue Vancouver, BC’s historic role in the history of punk.  Nuff said.

2. Three 6 Mafia – Last 2 Walk

DJ Paul and Juicy J put every other hip-hop producer to shame.  Simple as that.  Listen to the lush layering, vocal syncopation, originality and reverent homage to the Texas old school in “On Some Chrome.”  You can listen to this song twenty times and hear something new every time.  R.I.P. Pimp C – he couldn’t have had a better exit.

Three 6 Mafia feat. UGK – On Some Chrome

1. Tricky – Knowle West Boy

When I was 15 two artists changed my life forever: Nirvana and Tricky.  Well Tricky Kid is still around, and this album has some of his most lively, upbeat and exciting material in years.  He conceived of it as a mixtape, so every genre you can think of, from blues to trance to hip-hop to punk to old spirituals is on display.  The dexterity and breadth of Tricky’s creativity is bonkers.

BONUS

The best Album Intro I heard all year was Rap-A-Lot CEO J. Prince’s retelling of his legal woes on Scarface’s Emeritus.  “Pumpkin head and swollen eyes” listen to this it’s hilarious:

J Prince – Scarface Album Intro

I’d be doing my music listening habit a diservice if I didn’t mention my favorite radio program.  I listen to CBC Radio’s “Q” hosted by Jian Ghomeshi every day.  Great interviews with artists from film, music, arts, everything.

And finally, the art world lost Robert Rauschenberg this year.  Check out this 4 min video about how he put himself on the map by erasing a famous artist’s drawing: