Headlights - Some Racing, Some Stopping
On their second album the group builds on the promise of their debut and consolidates their strengths into a peppy, pretty and satisfying romp through ten songs that will have fans of light and breezy indie pop smiling like crazy. The album is split between up-tempo tracks perfect for indie night at your local teen club, happy go lucky songs with glockenspiels, and sweeter than sugar ballads that might nudge your heartstrings but never tug too hard. (read more)

Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve just placed the AllMusic Blog in a warm room with a five-disc DVD player stocked with Fireplace, Ambient Fire, Virtual Flames, Fireplace Lounge, and Ambience DVD Fireplace — as well as a laptop with an internet browser pointed at Rhino’s virtual yule log featuring Al Jarreau’s “Winter Wonderland” — to keep it company by playing on continual restful loop until the morning of January 5, 2009, when it will resume normal activity. In the meantime, the blog would love to have its archives scoured. There are album reviews, crush bands, buried treasures, recent favorites, Classical Corner, Whole Note, and so much more. Just as importantly, it does not want you to forget about all the series of 2008 roundups from the AllMusic editors:

AllMusic’s Favorite Albums of 2008
The AllMusic Pop Editors’ Favorites of 2008
The AllMusic Classical Editors’ Favorites of 2008

AllMusic’s Favorite Americana Albums of 2008
AllMusic’s Favorite Blues Albums of 2008
AllMusic’s Favorite Country Albums of 2008
AllMusic’s Favorite Electronic Albums of 2008
AllMusic’s Favorite Folk Albums of 2008
AllMusic’s Favorite Garage Rock Albums of 2008
AllMusic’s Favorite Hip-Hop/Rap Albums of 2008
AllMusic’s Favorite Indie Rock Albums of 2008, Pt. 1
AllMusic’s Favorite Indie Rock Albums of 2008, Pt. 2
AllMusic’s Favorite Jazz Albums of 2008
AllMusic’s Favorite Jazz Reissues of 2008
AllMusic’s Favorite Latin Albums of 2008
AllMusic’s Favorite Metal Albums of 2008
AllMusic’s Favorite Pop Albums of 2008
AllMusic’s Favorite Pop/Rock Reissues of 2008
AllMusic’s Favorite R&B Albums of 2008
AllMusic’s Favorite Reggae Albums of 2008
AllMusic’s Favorite Rock Albums of 2008
AllMusic’s Favorite Soundtracks of 2008

Rip It Off and Start Again: Noise to Enjoy in 2008
Some of Our Favorite Videos of 2008
Some of Our Favorite Mixes of 2008
Top Labels of 2008: Slumberland Records

Four Outstanding Classical Series for 2008

Most importantly, thank you all for reading and sharing your opinions!

There’s nothing like a good mix for stripping away all the annoying filler and getting right down to the real nitty gritty. Whether it’s the soundtrack for a headtrip or a sweaty night on the dance floor, or just tunes to keep you from going mad as you boil away the hours in your cubicle, give us the jamz and we’ll be satisfied. These are just some of the mixes –hip-hop, disco, Latin, cosmic and more — that kept our feet moving and heads nodding in 2008.

Daniele Baldelli and Marco Dionigi - Cosmic Disco?! Cosmic Rock!!!
Ray Parker Jr. “The Other Woman”
 
 
 
 
Carl Craig - Sessions
Paperclip People - “Oscillator”
 
 
 
 
DJ Format - Fania DJ Series
Dave Cortez - “Happy Soul with a Hook”
 
 
 
 
DJ Rupture - Uproot
Ekstrak - “Mass Dampers”
 
 
 
 
 
Junior Boys - Body Language, Vol. 6
Stereo Image - “Dark Chapter”
 
 
 
 
 
Lil Wayne & DJ Drama - Dedication, Vol. 3
Lil Wayne & Gudda Gudda - “Get Bizzy”
 
 
 
 
 
Metro Area - Fabric 43
Barbara Norris - “Heavy Hitter”
 
 
 
 
 
Poplife Presents: Poplife Sucks
Adriano Celentano “Prisencolinensinainciusol”
 
 
 
 
 
Simian Mobile Disco - Fabriclive.41
Discodeine “Joystick”
 
 
 
 
 
Andy Votel - Brazilika
Os Brazoes “Gotham City”
 
 
 
 
Diplo & Santogold - Top Ranking: A Diplo Dub
Santogold - “Guns of Brooklyn”

MF Doom - Doomed

The Cansecos - Showers: A Disco Mix by the Cansecos

Green Lantern & Russell Simmons - Yes We Can: The Mixtape

Mick Boogie - Viva La Hova

Gaslamp Killer - I Spit On Your Grave

Every year when you make your top tens, there are invariably some very worthwhile records that fall just short of making the list. These six albums all came very close to making mine….

Absentee - Victory Shorts
Absentee cut way back on the country-rock on their second album, Victory Shorts. What they don’t scale back is the mordant wit of singer Dan Michaelson’s lyrics, the band’s raucous approach, the size and strength of the hooks, and — best of all — Michaelson’s amazing voice. He has one of the deeper voices you’re likely to hear outside of doo wop or opera; he sounds sort of like a steadier Johnny Cash or a way steadier Calvin Johnson. Mostly, though, he just sounds pretty great as he staggers through the ballads like a heartsick, slightly drunken fool and romps through the rockers with an amazingly light touch. (Read more)

Read the rest of this entry »

A type of release which is difficult to highlight around year’s-end “toplist” season -– the bane of most music reviewers -– are those issued in series. If the whole series is good -– and in classical, good album series are produced with remarkable consistency -– then it is difficult to single out one disc from the whole in order to add it to a toplist. In this blog post, the intention is to briefly touch upon four series that are, so to speak, “serially good.”

Read the rest of this entry »

From the 8th through the 19th, the AllMusic Blog has been publishing our editors’ favorite albums of 2008. We’ve covered well over a dozen genres and styles, from rap to reggae, R&B to electronic, country to Latin, blues to metal, folk to soundtracks, and several points in-between. Right now, on the AllMusic Blog, we take a jump over to the visual realm and look at some of our favorite videos of 2008. (Be sure to check our overall feature of new albums, reissues, and classical releases, as well as our editors’ individualized lists of favorite albums and songs.)

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - “Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!”

 
Deadelus – “Make It So”

 
Flight of the Conchords - “Ladies of the World”

 
The Foreign Exchange - “Daykeeper”

 
Fujiya & Miyagi - “Knickerbocker Glory”

 
Headlights – “Cherry Tulips”

 
Hot Chip – “One Pure Thought”

 
Ipso Facto - “Six And Three Quarters”

 
Metronomy - “A Thing For Me”

 
No Age – “Eraser”

 
Pacific! - “Number One”

 
Polysics - “Electric Surfin’ Go Go”

 
Pop Levi – “Never Never Love”

 
The School - “All I Wanna Do”

 
Stereolab – “Neon Beanbag”

 
Marnie Stern “Transformer”

 
Sebastian Tellier - “Divine”

From the 8th through the 19th, the AllMusic Blog will be publishing our editors’ favorite albums of 2008. We’ll be covering well over a dozen genres and styles, from rap to reggae, R&B to electronic, country to Latin, blues to metal, folk to soundtracks, and several points in-between. Right now, on the AllMusic Blog, we take a look at our favorite pop/rock reissues of 2008. (Be sure to check our overall feature of new albums, reissues, and classical releases, as well as our editors’ individualized lists of favorite albums and songs.)

Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode: His Complete ’50s Chess Recordings
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Big Dipper - Supercluster: The Big Dipper Anthology
 
 
 
 
 
 
Blue Ash - No More No Less
 
 
 
 
 
 
David Bowie - Live in Santa Monica ‘72
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Clash - Live at Shea Stadium
 
 
 
 
 
 
Commander Cody - The Early Years 1967-1970
 
 
 
 
 
 
Bo Diddley - Road Runner: The Chess Masters 1959-1960
 
 
 
 
 
 
Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs - Rare and Unreleased 1989-2006
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Flamin’ Groovies - This Band Is Red Hot 1969-1979
 
 
 
 
 
 
Jim Ford - Point of No Return
 
 
 
 
 
 
Dallas Frazier - The R&B Sessions: Elvira/Tell It Like It Is!
 
 
 
 
 
 
Genesis - Genesis 1970-1975
 
 
 
 
 
 
Robyn Hitchcock - Luminous Groove
 
 
 
 
 
 
Jan & Dean - The Complete Liberty Singles
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Jesus and Mary Chain - The Power of Negative Thinking: B-Sides & Rarities
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Billy Joel - The Stranger (30th Anniversary Legacy Edition)
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nick Lowe - Jesus of Cool (Bonus Tracks)
 
 
 
 
 
 
Manfred Mann - Hit Mann! The Essential Singles 1963-1969
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mission of Burma - Signals, Calls and Marches (Definitive Edition)
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mott the Hoople - Old Records Never Die: The Mott the Hoople/Ian Hunter Anthology
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Move - Anthology 1966-1972
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mudhoney - Superfuzz Bigmuff (Deluxe Edition)
 
 
 
 
 
 
Pavement - Brighten the Corners (Nicene Creedence Edition)
 
 

 
 
 
 
Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville (Deluxe Edition)
 
 
 
 
 
 
R.E.M. - Murmur (Deluxe 25th Anniversary Edition)
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Replacements - Let It Be (Deluxe Edition)
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Replacements - Tim (Expanded Edition)
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Smiths - The Sound of the Smiths (Deluxe Edition)
 
 
 
 
 
 
Squeeze - Argybargy (Deluxe Edition)
 
 
 
 
 
 
Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue (Legacy Edition)
 
 
 
 
 
 
Neil Young - Sugar Mountain: Live at Canterbury House 1968
 
 
 
 
 
 
Warren Zevon - Warren Zevon (Collector’s Edition)
 
 
 
 
 
 
Various Artists - A-Square (Of Course): The Story of Michigan’s Legendary A-Square Records
 
 
 
 
 
 
Various Artists - The Complete Motown Singles, Vol. 10: 1970
 
 
 
 
 
 
Various Artists - Thank You Friends: The Ardent Records Story
 
 
 
 
 
 
Various Artists - Titan: It’s All Pop!
 
 
 
 
 
 

From the 8th through the 19th, the AllMusic Blog will be publishing our editors’ favorite albums of 2008. We’ll be covering well over a dozen genres and styles, from rap to reggae, R&B to electronic, country to Latin, blues to metal, folk to soundtracks, and several points in-between. Right now, on the AllMusic Blog, we take a look at M-Z of our favorite indie rock and pop albums of 2008, with A-L covered earlier in part one. (Be sure to check our overall feature of new albums, reissues, and classical releases, as well as our editors’ individualized lists of favorite albums and songs.)

M83 - Saturdays=Youth
 
 
 
 
 
 
Neon Neon - Stainless Style
 
 
 
 
 
 
The New Year - The New Year
 
 
 
 
 
 
No Age - Nouns
 
 
 
 
 
 
Parenthetical Girls - Entanglements
 
 
 
 
 
 
Pas/Cal - I Was Raised on Matthew, Mark, Luke & Laura
 
 
 
 
 
 
Populous/Short Stories - Drawn in Basic
 
 
 
 
 
 
Portastatic - Some Small History
 
 
 
 
 
 
Pram - The Moving Frontier
 
 
 
 
 
 
Jay Reatard - Matador Singles ‘08
 
 
 
 
 
 
Jay Reatard - Singles 06-07
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Ruby Suns - Sea Lion
 
 
 
 
 
 
School of Language - Sea from Shore
 
 
 
 
 
 
School of Seven Bells - Alpinisms
 
 
 
 
 
 
Shearwater - Rook
 
 
 
 
 
 
Silver Jews - Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sons & Daughters - This Gift
 
 
 
 
 
 
Stereolab - Chemical Chords
 
 
 
 
 
 
Times New Viking - Rip It Off
 
 
 
 
 
 
Tussle - Cream Cuts
 
 
 
 
 
 
TV on the Radio - Dear Science
 
 
 
 
 
 
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Walkmen - You & Me
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Week That Was - The Week That Was
 
 
 
 
 
 
Yip-Yip! - Two Kings of the Same Kingdom (CD/DVD)
 
 
 
 
 
 
Our Favorite Indie Rock A-L