Best of 2008 Round Up (part 2)

My previous post covered the best albums but these were all very good too.


Quiet Village - Silent Movie

I was quick to dismiss this when it came out in the summer. I'd loved most of the tracks they had put out on 12" but on a first listen I found the album to be slow and dull. And so it sat in the overflowing 'UNSORTED' folder on my hard drive for months until I noticed a large number of people on the DJ History forums naming it as their album of the year. The beards over there aren't always right but I thought it was about time I checked out the album again with new ears. Turns out it was actually a really nice selection of downtempo grooves and psychedelic funk, albeit borrowed from somebody elses old record(s).

Stream selected tracks on the Quiet Village microsite


Q-Tip - The Renaissance

I've not had this long but it's clearly a great album. More time with it may have led to it being in the previous post of 2008's 'great' albums rather than this section of merely 'very good' ones. There are still a couple of tracks I've not fully warmed to yet but there is certainly no bad tracks to worry about. Q-Tip is sounding great as ever with that perfect combination of interesting, well delivered lyrics and funky, catchy beats. Looking forward to hearing it next summer already.

Stream the album on last.fm


Ezekiel Honig - Surfaces of a Broken Marching Band

This is some late night mood music, which for me works best at a low volume; heard only in the background. Everyday sounds are decontructed and reconstructed and mixed with organic and electronic instruments, overlaying the soft rhythmic patterns. Reminds me of Loop-Finding-Jazz-Records by Jan Jelinek and Le Fumeur de Ciel by Julien Neto; two of my favourite albums. Real minimal music, minus the techno.

Stream the album at Anticipate Recordings


Midnight Juggernauts - Dystopia

Probably the second best electro/indie mix-up of the year after Cut Copy. It opens with the big trio of Ending of an Era, Into the Galaxy and Shadows and doesn't tail off too badly. It's a track too long for my liking (Nine Lives would be the one I'd drop) but you can't argue with the quality of the production or the variety in the songs.

Stream the album on last.fm


Twilight Moose - Embrace The Loneliness

More old school electro/ambient/soundtrack stuff from Legowelt on his own Strange Life Records. Feels more like a collection of tracks than a proper album (it possibly is) and so although most of them are good it does drag a little. Still, nobody else is really putting out this kind of stuff as far as I know and it's nice to support the guy's doing their own (deep and hypnotic) thing.

Stream album clips from the Strange Life Shop