Five Favorite Albums of 2008:
Bob Dylan – Tell Tale Signs: Rare and Unreleased – 1989-2008
Only Bob Dylan would leave masterpieces unreleased. The songs on these two songs showcase why Dylan is the greatest songwriter of all time. Songs like “Red River Shore” and “Cross the Green Mountain” tell stories full of painful memories and regret. Add in a couple of fantastic live tracks and covers and you have yourself another modern-day masterpiece from Mr. Zimmerman.
Sun Kil Moon – April
No one can write a long song quite like Mark Kozelek. This is an album full of songs so beautiful and painful and personal, it’s like listening to your best friend read his diary out loud to you. “Lost Verses” opens the album with the singer wandering through the streets of San Francisco after his death and watching all his friends and family. This leads into a journey through the interior of a mind haunted by memory and past regrets. With every song being a ballad and weighing in at nearly 80 minutes, this is not an album for the impatient.
Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
This is one of the most wonderful debut albums I have ever heard. Full of expert songwriting and gorgeous harmonies, songs like “Meadowlarks” will leave you crying with their tranquil and simple beauty, while tracks such as “White Winter Hymnal” and “Ragged Wood” will take your breath away with their extravagance and power.
My Morning Jacket – Evil Urges
This is probably the album I’ve listened to most in 2008. It features some of the most fantastic instrumental and vocal performances I’ve ever heard. Try to listen to the breakdown in the title track without headbanging (or something similar), or the coda in “Smokin From Shootin” without leaving your mouth agape in astonishment. Even though it wasn’t all to warmly received by critics (thanks mostly to “Highly Suspicious”), that won’t stop me from calling this my favorite rock album of 2008.
She & Him – Volume One
She is actress Zooey Deschanel. He is producer M. Ward. Together they make an album that chronicles the history of popular song that’s very near perfect. Zooey is a wonderful singer, and M. Ward produces and arranges in a way reminiscent of the pop songs of the 50’s and 60’s. It’s an album you can sing along with over and over again without getting sick.
Great Movies of 2008:
Wall-E
The Dark Knight
Synecdoche, New York
U2 3D
One Movie From 2007 That’s Still Worth Talking About:
There Will Be Blood
One Album From 2007 That’s Still Worth Talking About:
Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
Albums to Look Forward to In 2009:
Andrew Bird – Noble Beast (January 20)
U2 – No Line On the Horizon
Jars of Clay
Wilco
Derek Webb – Stockholm Syndrome
Radiohead (?)
Films to Look Forward to In 2009:
The Road
Up
It Might Get Loud
I REALLY want to see Doubt. I’m first in line for anything Philip Seymour Hoffman is in.
Paul Thomas Anderson is my favorite filmmaker, so I think any one of his films is fascinating.
Joel,
Your father should bring you on to the show as a pop culture commentator–you have some good taste, my friend (incidentally, I won a free book off the show today…I knew that the narrator in ‘The Grinch’ wouldn’t touch the Grinch with a 39 1/2 foot pole).
Awesome taste in movies along with music. I’m a professional critic and WALL-E and SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK are both in my end of the year top 5–THE DARK KNIGHT is in the top 10. Keep an eye out for DOUBT and GRAN TORINO, though. I think those have some significant themes for Christians to look at and address. And THERE WILL BE BLOOD is one of the most fascinating films of the decade.