2008 music wrap-up

14 years ago
In fact, yes, I did put this off so long that it's two weeks late. You'll have to excuse me, I have been somewhat distracted with the  REDACTED .

In only approximate order of favoriteness, here is my year-end wrap-up. As in previous years, a few of the entries on the following list were released earlier than 2008, but that is when I discovered them, so I'm allowing a little slack (but less slack than in previous years!) In 2008, I acquired roughly the same amount of new music as I did last year, but this year a lot more of it was recently-released: roughly 230 new releases and 100ish old ones.

I think all of these bands have made appearances on the jwz mixtapes this year.

I spent a week trying to write a couple of sentences about each of these telling you why you should listen to them, like I did in each of the last seven years (!!) but you know what? That's a pain in the ass, and I'm not really very good at writing about music. I'm not convinced any of you read this crap anyway. So, instead, here's a list of roughly forty albums that were released roughly last year that you should listen to because I loved them and you trust me.

I feel a little bad about doing it this way, because I know that when I come across someone's un-annotated list of favorite music, even I am less likely to click the links, and I'm a near-pathologically compulsive seeker of new music. But, if you've been listening to my mixtapes, you know what kind of things I like, and you've already heard all of these anyway.

Here, then, is the new.

Tags: , ,
Current Music: M83 -- Too Late ♬

24 Responses:

  1. ammutbite says:
    14 years ago at 3:43 am

    "I'm not convinced any of you read this crap anyway."
    Be convinced. Be very convinced.
  2. lafinjack says:
    14 years ago at 4:35 am

    So why didn't you write a couple of sentences about each of them telling us why we should listen to them like you did the last couple years?
  3. pvck says:
    14 years ago at 4:49 am

    I read this crap. Moreover, I only like about 60% of what you like, so the flavortext is useful, not to mention humorous.

    Of course I should be pretentious enough to pretend I heard them all last year anyway, so it shouldn't matter.
  4. ammitbeast says:
    14 years ago at 6:21 am

    I read this crap, too.

    I appreciate it that you post mixtapes. I've come to the show a bit late, didn't catch your premiere performance, only started listening to the tapes late last year. It's nice to hear music I might not otherwise discover.

    I've been reading your blog for a number of years now. Not sure if I mentioned it before, but I first encountered your posted prose in the Netscape internal newsgroups. Your comments were always insightful or amusing, and you don't disappoint here, either.
    • httf says:
      14 years ago at 1:52 pm

      You know about the archive, right? Some of us were not bright enough to intuit its existence and had to be told to google "jwz mixtapes".
  5. ultranurd says:
    14 years ago at 6:50 am

    I read this crap, although I probably only catch a little over half of the mixtapes before the streams expire. You definitely cover an area of the music space that generally isn't heard on Radio Paradise, my main source for new-to-me music, so thanks for that public service.
    • httf says:
      14 years ago at 1:53 pm

      See comment above. And after this I swear I'm going to stop pointing this out because it's a never-ending task.
  6. katerv says:
    14 years ago at 7:20 am

    I read this crap; the year end wrap-ups have been amusing and entirely helpful. Your mixtapes have been my primary resource for new music over the last year, so I'm grateful that you keep putting them out.
  7. squirrelonlj says:
    14 years ago at 7:41 am

    I think we all read this crap. Now I can only tell if I will like it by recognizing familiar band names.
  8. nwilhelmy says:
    14 years ago at 11:21 am

    I read this crap, too. In fact, after The Onion AV Club's annual list of Least Essential albums of the year, this is the year-end round up I look forward to the most.

    -NW
  9. waider says:
    14 years ago at 11:27 am

    I bought two LCD Soundsystem albums this year on the strength of hearing Someone Great on two mixtapes. It's pretty good stuff; their occasional similarity to Hot Chip makes me wonder if you've listened to any of the latter?
    • waider says:
      14 years ago at 11:40 pm

      Mind you, I also bought Plagiarism 2.0 based on the fact that Rocked By Rape is possibly my favourite thing that appeared on the mixtapes to date, and that was a rather large and stinky mistake - the only other thing worth listening to on the album is The Fucking Moon and I suspect the novelty value will wear off in another couple of plays.

      In my completely humble opinion, of course.
  10. anktastic says:
    14 years ago at 7:11 pm

    What is that "REDACTED" thingie?
    • discogravy says:
      14 years ago at 11:33 am

      I read that as jwz-speak for "i am prohibited from telling you more by reasons of law, lawsuit or the blinding rage when I think about the thing we-shall-not-name".
  11. kevinspencer says:
    14 years ago at 8:30 am

    Oh, I read this crap and enjoy it actually. In years past you've given a nod to new NIN albums. The two that were released last year didn't tickle your fancy then?

    Not being privy to the 230 new albums you acquired last year means you could well have already listened to the two I'm about to recommend and may have already decided they were a bit crap. Nevertheless, two albums released in 2008 that I thought were quite good:

    ohGr - Devil's In My Details
    Fixmer/McCarthy - Into The Night
    • jwz says:
      14 years ago at 12:37 pm

      The NIN albums were good (especially Ghosts), but I found that I didn't go back to them much after a month or two, and the list was pretty long already.

      I have a Fixmer/McCarthy album, and it just made me think, "Yes, I already own Ebbhead. That Total Age was a lot better."

      ohGr does absolutely nothing for me. But I also try to pretend that Skinny Puppy released their last album in 1988 instead of subjecting us to what followed.
  12. fantasygoat says:
    14 years ago at 8:54 am

    Surprisingly little overlap with me this year, other than the Dresden Dolls and Stars. Now I'm off to listen!
  13. discogravy says:
    14 years ago at 11:35 am

    I also find the extra descriptive sentence or two quite useful.
  14. 100indecisions says:
    14 years ago at 8:54 pm

    Just to chime in to say: I read this crap. I listen to the mixtapes too and I discover wonderful new music. Please keep this up.

Comments are closed because this post is 14 years old.