Much of the music of the past year has been dominated by pop music from Disney stars and movie soundtracks. Once you look past the commercialized mainstream music, though, some great music hit the scene this year.
My Top Five Albums of 2008
“Feed The Animals” by Girl Talk
The prestigious title of best album of the year goes to “Feed The Animals” by the DJ with the mashup magic, Girl Talk. Gregg Gillis, the man behind Girl Talk, has the golden touch — every album he creates is a mix and match overload of hits from the ’60s to today. “Feed The Animals” is a great example of Girl Talk’s amazing disc jockeying abilities. He is able to mold and layer songs from opposite genres and composition into a cohesive dance party.
“Seeing Sounds” by N.E.R.D.
The second best album is from the guys of N.E.R.D., who created a musical masterpiece comparable to the works of Outkast with “Seeing Sounds.” The sound of the album is a fusion of R&B, rock, funk and hip-hop, and there’s an element of surprise within each song. It’s not only fun to listen to as you walk to class, but it can double as the perfect party album. It’s upbeat, with soothing vocals from lead singer Pharrell Williams.
“Santogold” by Santogold
Santogold’s self-titled debut album is an explosion of alternative rock, pop, R&B and hip-hop. She breaks onto the music scene in a huge way, and the album is almost flawless. Each song is so different from the last, it’s hard to even categorize her as an artist. Santogold is hopefully the future of new music because her experimentation with different sounds is both pleasing to the ear and technically impressive.
“Acid Tongue” by Jenny Lewis
“Acid Tongue” is the second solo album from Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis. She is the modern Joni Mitchell, with some country and indie rock thrown in. “Acid Tongue” is a soulful indie rock album that beautifully displays Lewis’ great range as a singer and playfulness with varying sounds.
“The Way I See It” by Raphael Saadiq
Rounding out my top five is Raphael Saadiq’s album “The Way I See It.” I was fortunate to see Saadiq perform with John Legend a few weeks ago, and he sounds even better live. Saadiq almost upstaged Legend with his Motown inspired R&B sound.
He shows his talent throughout this album with a sound that is a modern take on Marvin Gaye meets the Temptations. “The Way I See It” is a feel-good album with cheerful love songs that will be stuck in your head for days.
One artist you will see conveniently missing from my list is rapper Lil’ Wayne. Just because his album “Tha Carter III” was the No. 1 selling album this year does not mean it was top quality music. He has enough guest artists on his album to make it manageable to listen to, but it lacks any depth or meaning. It’s a pop party album with elements of a hard edge to try to cover up the commercial ploy it actually is.
Memorable Music Moments in 2008
Barker survives plane crash
Former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein narrowly escaped death in September when their private jet crashed shortly after takeoff in Columbia, S.C.
The two were the sole survivors of the crash and were lucky to walk away with only severe burns. They had speedy recoveries and are in talks to perform together again sometime soon.
Vatican forgives Lennon
In late November, the official newspaper of the Vatican forgave John Lennon for his 1966 comment where he jokingly said The Beatles were more famous than Jesus. It’s a little late.
McCain pirates songs for campaign
In the months leading up to the presidential election, several artists, including Jon Bon Jovi, John Mellencamp and Van Halen, sued John McCain’s presidential campaign for using their songs without their consent.
The artists were upset mainly because they had not endorsed the presidential nominee and did not want their material or name associated with McCain.
Spears recovers
Britney Spears managed to pick herself back up after reaching rock bottom. She won her first MTV Video Music Award this year and is starting to slowly rebuild her career with her new album, “Circus.” She will go on a full North American tour to celebrate the recent album in spring 2009.
Madonna, Mariah Carey break Elvis records
Both Mariah Carey and Madonna broke records this year previously held by Elvis Presley. Carey surpassed Presley’s number of No. 1 singles with her 18th No. 1 hit song, “Touch My Body.” Madonna beat Presley’s number of top 10 songs with her 38th top 10 hit, “4 Minutes.”
Outlook for Music in 2009
There have been monumental shifts in American culture recently, so there’s only hope there will be a monumental shift in American music in 2009.
Outkast gets to work
One shining hope lies in the hands of the hip-hop duo Outkast. The never-predictable group has announced they will release three albums in 2009. Big Boi told MTV news recently he has finished his second solo album and his partner, Andre 3000, is putting the finishing on his solo album right now.
The duo will release their second solo efforts as a double album, as they did in 2003 with their multiplatinum album, “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below,” Big Boi said.
In addition, Big Boi said Outkast will be putting out a group album later in the year.
Eminem to release album
Another hip-hop album slated for release in early 2009 is a new album from Eminem. “Relapse” will be Eminem’s first album since 2004’s “Encore.”
Not surprisingly, Eminem will be working with Dr. Dre on his new project as Dre tries to finish his rumored new album as well.
Big artists hop on tour buses
In addition to albums, new tours will be something to look for next year. Katy Perry will be hitting the road with her first headlining tour, where she will play club venues such as Clutch Cargos in Pontiac, Mich.
A highly anticipated tour will be scheduled in 2009, as No Doubt will be reuniting to play classic hits from the past decade. The band also announced it will be recording new and original material while on the road.