Happy New Year

Let's all hope it's better than the last.

BEST ALBUMS of 2008

Here we go the big reveal:

Honorable Mentions: Anthony Green - Avalon, The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound, Russian Circles - Station, Thrice - The Alchemy Index Volumes 3 & 4: Air & Earth, United Nations - United Nations

10. Once Nothing - First Came The Law
9. Copeland - You Are My Sunshine
8. Dance Gavin Dance - Dance Gavin Dance
7. Good Old War - Only Way To Be Alone
6. Bayside - Shudder

5. Underøath - Lost In The Sound of Separation
Unquestionably my favorite UO record to date. I can't think of a single complaint about it.

4. Colour Revolt - Plunder, Beg, and Curse
Every time I listen to this record I find a new song to love.

3. City and Colour - Bring Me Your Love
The beauty of this one lies in it's sheer simplicity.

2. La Dispute - Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair
One of the most emotional records I've ever heard in my life. Legitimate screamo is still alive and kicking.

1. Lydia - ...Illuminate
Some of the most beautiful sounds ever put to record. This has been my number one since January, and nothing has been able to come close.



Again, if I'm missing any lists you'd like to see, please let me know. Also, read these on my Myspace, the formatting is better there. This list also may change as soon as next week, with every listen I find something new to love in all of these albums. Please, give these artists a chance.

Best EPs of 2008

10. La Dispute - Untitled 7"/Here, Hear I/Here, Hear II
9. Jon Foreman - Winter EP/Spring EP/Summer EP
8. The Narrative - Just Say Yes EP
7. Deas Vail - White Lights EP
6. All Get Out - All Get Out EP
5. The Glass Ocean - Put On the Wooden Overcoat EP
4. Manchester Orchestra - Let My Pride Be EP
3. Eye Alaska - Yellow & Elephant EP
2. You, Me, and Everyone We Know - So Young, So Insane EP
1. Person L - Initial EP

Note:
There's a very good chance that unless you follow what I type very closely, you haven't heard all of these artists. Well I would very strongly recommend give every single one of them a chance, they're all outstanding and hardworking people.

Best Albums of 2007 in Retrospect

10. Thrice - The Alchemy Index Volumes 1 & 2: Fire & Water
9. Shad - The Old Prince
8. Dance Gavin Dance - Downtown Battle Mountain
7. The Receiving End of Sirens - The Earth Sings Mi Fa Mi
6. Bayside - The Walking Wounded
5. Every Time I Die - The Big Dirty
4. Dashboard Confessional - The Shade of Poison Trees
3. Circa Survive - On Letting Go
2. Big D and the Kids Table - Strictly Rude
1. Radiohead - In Rainbows

Best Live Bands I Saw in 2008

Honorable Mentions: Alkaline Trio, Bayside, The Dear Hunter, Norma Jean

10. Chiodos
9. Eye Alaska
8. Person L
7. Manchester Orchestra
6. Lydia
5. All Get Out
4. Circa Survive
3. Once Nothing
2. Kevin Devine
1. Thrice

Do yourself a favor and go pick up Thrice's Live at the House of Blues DVD

Bands I Don't Dig in 2008

These are all bands that have received generally positive promotion from people whose opinions I respect, thus I expect to enjoy the band, yet I don't. Not saying they're bad.

Anberlin
Bon Iver
Closure In Moscow
Fleet Foxes
Foxy Shazam
The Hold Steady
House of Heroes
Love You Moon
The Matches
These Arms Are Snakes

Most Disappointing Albums of 2008

5. Norma Jean - The Anti-Mother
4. The Sound of Animals Fighting - The Ocean and the Sun
3. Dear and the Headlights - Drunk Like Bible Times
2. Bring Me the Horizon - Suicide Season
1. Fear Before - Fear Before

Note:
All of these albums followed my personal favorite releases from these bands. I don't like a single one of these albums, but every album (i.e. Redeemer, Lover..., Small Steps Heavy Hooves, Count Your Blessings, The Always Open Mouth) that preceded it are personal favorites.

Best Guest Appearances of 2008

5. "I Can Get Back Up Now" - You, Me , and Everyone We Know
Featuring Max Bemis of Say Anything

4. "Hospital" - Lydia
Featuring Aaron Marsh of Copeland

3. "Weak Man" - Good Old War
Featuring Anthony Green of Circa Survive

2. "Uneasy Hearts Weigh The Most" - Dance Gavin Dance
Featuring Nic Newsham of Gatsbys American Dream

1. All of Razia's Shadow: A Musical as performed by Forgive Durden
Featuring Casey Crecenzo of The Dear Hunter, John Gourley of Portugal. The Man, Kris Anaya of An Angle, Aaron Weiss of mewithoutYou, Danny Stevens of theAUDITION, Chris Conley of Saves the Day, Daniel Young of This Providence, Max Bemis of Say Anything, Greta Salpeter of The Hush Sound, Brendon Urie of Panic at the Disco, Nic Newsham of Gatsbys American Dream, Shawn Harris of The Matches, and Lizzie Huffman of Man in the Blue Van

Best Songs of 2008

10. "The Dust of a Town" - Once Nothing - First Came the Law
9. "Storms" - Person L - Initial EP
8. "Wolves At Night (Live on WBRU-FM)" - Manchester Orchestra - Let My Pride Be EP
7. "You've Already Been (iTunes Bonus Track)" - Bayside - Shudder
6. "Breathing In A New Mentality" - Underøath - Lost In The Sound of Separation
5. "One More Day" - Lydia - ...Illuminate
4. "New Storms For Older Lovers" - La Dispute - Somewhere At the Bottom of The River
Between Vega and Altair
3. "Moses of The South" - Colour Revolt - Plunder, Beg, and Curse
2. "Water and God" - All Get Out - All Get Out EP
1. "I, The Swan" - The Sound of Animals Fighting - The Ocean and the Sun

Unfortunately I couldn't find all of these songs on Myspace, otherwise I'd have a playlist of them. Just a few notes:
"Wolves at Night (WBRU-FM)" is VERY different from the version featured on I'm Like A
Virgin Losing a Child. It's worth buying though. "You've Already Been" is the iTunes bonus track to Shudder, but would have been the best song on the record. "I, the Swan" just makes me dance.

Last week's list

I realize I'm a day late, and I'm not gonna put myspace links cuz there's gonna be A LOT:

Taking Back Sunday - Louder Now (rock)
Taking Back Sunday - Tell All Your Friends (rock)
Taking Back Sunday - Where You Want to Be (rock)
Thursday - Thursday / envy Split (post-hardcore)
envy - Thursday / envy Split (screamo/post-rock)
La Dispute - Somewhere At the Bottom of The River Between Vega and Altair (screamo)
Every Time I Die - The Big Dirty (southern metal)
Manchester Orchestra - I'm Like A Virgin Losing A Child (rock)
Darling, You Should Be Ashamed - The Weight of Days (metalcore)
Secret Lives! of the Freemasons - This Was Built To Make You Dance (post-hardcore)
You, Me, and Everyone We Know - So Young, So Insane EP (pop-rock)
Closure In Moscow - The Penance and The Patience EP (alternative rock)
Showbread - No Sir, Nihilism Is Not Practical (post-hardcore)
Further Seems Forever - The Moon Is Down (emo)
Uzi & Ari - Headworms (indie)
Chuck Ragan - Feast Or Famine (folk/acoustic rock)
Codeseven - Dancing Echoes/Dead Sounds (alternative rock)
Circus Circus - Brooklyn Nightlife (metalcore)
Chiodos - Bone Palace Ballet: Grand Coda (post-hardcore)
The Sound of Animals Fighting - The Ocean and the Sun (alternative rock)
Fear Before The March of Flames - The Always Open Mouth (metalcore)
City and Colour - Sometimes (folk/acoustic rock)
Sufjan Stevens - Songs For Christmas (holiday)
Alexisonfire - The Switcheroo Series (post-hardcore)
.moneen. - The Switcheroo Series (rock)
Moving Mountains - Foreword EP (post-rock)
Radiohead - In Rainbows (indie)
The Chariot - The Fiancée (metalcore)
Dance Gavin Dance - Dance Gavin Dance (post-hardcore)
House of Heroes - The End is Not The End (rock)
Uzi & Ari - It is Freezing Out (indie)
Shad - The Old Prince (hip hop/rap)
Eisley - Combinations (indie)
¡All-Time Quarterback! - ¡All-Time Quarterback! (indie)
Alexisonfire - Crisis (post-hardcore)
.moneen. - The Red Tree (rock)
Heavy Heavy Low Low - Fuck It?! EP (grindcore)
Kevin Devine - Put Your Ghost To Rest (folk/rock)
Kevin Devine - Split The Country, Split the Street (folk/rock)
Copeland - Beneath Medicine Tree (alternative rock)
Copeland - Eat, Sleep, Repeat (alternative rock)

No, there's way too many to link em all. Maybe I'll go back and edit later.

Most Anticipated of 2009

Well, being it's the last three days of 2008 I figure I should post all of my end of the year lists. Rather than overload you with one mega-post, I'll post all my lists in several separate posts.

Here's what I'm most excited for next year:
Brand New
Kevin Devine (expecting this to be AOTY, but who's to say)
Manchester Orchestra
As Tall As Lions
Gallows
Lupe Fiasco
Radiohead
Say Anything
mewithoutYou
Circa Survive (probably most anticipated)
Taking Back Sunday
Two Tongues
Saves The Day
The Snake The Cross The Crown
Silverstein
Thursday
Deas Veil
All Get Out (also going to be VERY good)
You, Me, and Everyone We Know
Envy On The Coast
The Dear Hunter
.moneen.
Circle Takes The Square
Wale
Every Time I Die
glassJAw (in my dreams)
Once Nothing
Cassino
Arcade Fire
Person L
Isles & Glaciers
Dashboard Confessional
Portugal. The Man
Alexisonfire
Minus The Bear

Needless to say, it should be a good year.

Today

is going to be a long day. I'm stuck in the car traveling the route I posted yesterday. Fortunately my dad is driving so I can do this. I decided I'm gonna listen to all the albums I have on my iPod that I haven't given a chance to. I already listened to Chiodos' Bone Palace Ballet: Grand Coda through Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It gets a little worse with every listen to be honest. I didn't like the album at first, save for three or four songs, but the re-issue rejuvenated it. Now though, the more I listen to the new songs on Coda, I get the feeling they were very rushed. The songs lack a certain quality. I just finished listening to Circus Circus' Brooklyn Nightlife, and I must say, I'm impressed. This is one I'll definitely listen to again. For fans of Chiodos, Alexisonfire, and other generic (BUT GOOD) metalcore/post-hardcore-ish stuff. Right now I have Codeseven's Dancing Echoes/Dead Sounds on, and I cannot think of why I haven't listened to this yet. I heard of these guys from an Equal Vision Records sampler I got at Hot Topic in '05. Oddly enough, that's also how I got into Circa Survive, Bear vs. Shark, and Armor For Sleep. I still have that sampler. I'd recommend these guys if you like Circa, or even some post-rock stuff. When I finish this (or the next record) I'll edit this post.

EDIT: That Codeseven record is very good, but it felt like it dragged on. It definitely could be that I'm trapped in a car with my family and no one to talk to because it's 11am on a Sunday. Right now I have Chuck Ragan on. It was refreshing to hear the first chords after that Codeseven record. I always liked Hot Water Music, but I never could get that into it. This though I can dig. I definitely recommend Feast or Famine to anyone who likes folky acoustic stuff. Another edit to come soon.

EDIT 2: Right now I have Uzi & Ari's Headworms on. If anyone reads anything I say you may have seen what I said about It Is Freezing Out. Well, this record is far different from that. But NOT in a bad way. If anything, Headworms is more accessible than It Is Freezing Out, but it sacrifices nothing that makes Uzi & Ari different than everything I listen to. Another edit soon.

EDIT 3: Now I have Further Seems Forever on. Like Dashboard Confessional? You probably like this band. It's just Chris Carraba's pre-DC band. There was another singer too, but the only album I really like is The Moon Is Down. I'm getting really annoyed with everyone in this van.

EDIT 4: Showbread's No Sir, Nihilism Is Not Practical is a really long record. Not to say that it's not good, I'm actually rather enjoying it, but it's very long. Christian post-hardcore, I believe they're on Tooth & Nail.

EDIT 5: Closure In Moscow's debut albumette, The Penance and The Patience, is not as good as I hoped. All the reviews I've read just RAVE about it and to be perfectly honest, I'm not very enamored at all. It may stay on my iPod though, I'll give it time to grow.

EDIT 6: Just finished You, Me, and Everyone We Know's new EP. Still love it :). There's not a whole lot of really REALLY poppy stuff I listen to, but man I love those guys.

EDIT 7: Secret Lives! of the Freemasons are new to me. I know, I'm behind. They're pretty good, worth giving a shot if you're a fan of the other generic post-hardcore stuff I recommend. With a name like that though, I keep wanting them to be a ska band. Oh well, I'll settle lol.

EDIT 8: This will be my last update till I get home. I just got through Darling, You Should Be Ashamed's new EP, The Weight Of Days, and I must say, it's awesome, though not as good as their first, Nostalgia. It shows definite progression, but I don't think they're fully comfortable with it the way they seemed with Nostalgia. It's unfortunate they're on hiatus, their next could be outstanding. I'd recommend these guys to fans of The Chariot, Greeley Estates, and stuff along those lines.