Top 25 of 2008: 25-21

25. Lykke Li – Youth Novels

The first track of this album sounds like it was birthed in a yoga studio. It’s all spoken word and ethereal dribble: “Love is melody, desire’s the key/ love is the harmony, now sing it with me.” The first time I heard this line I laughed out loud while simultaneously choking back vomit. Luckily the album gets much, much better after the first track.

It’s a decidedly odd and schizophrenic album—it’s not exactly pop, though some parts are damn catchy—but I can’t stop thinking about it. The Swedish Li’s sweet and coy voice delivers corny lines the way only non-native English speaker can: honestly. The production is simple, utilizing negative space in way I’ve only heard Spoon pull off.

I came to this album rather late in the year and I’m worried it’s too full of saccharine to stand the test of time, but for now I can’t stop listening to it.

24. Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s – Not Animal

On “30 Rock” Alec Baldwin, explaining to Tina Fey why he’s attracted to the absolutely insane character played by Jennifer Aniston, says: “Emotionally unstable women are…fantastic in the sack. I mean, their self-loathing translates into…never mind.” This hilarious and perhaps painfully true quote may not be exactly apt but it’s the first thing that popped into my head when I approached writing about this completely self-loathing, emotionally unstable album.

Taken one way this album is sad, plodding and doleful. Taken another way, it’s sad, plodding and doleful. It doesn’t have energy of “The Dust of Retreat” and some of the songs get drunk at their own pity party, but there are moments on this album that are completely brilliant. If you feel like getting depressed make some coffee, light a cigarette and put on this album.

23. DJ Rupture – Uproot

After being overtaken by Burial’s “Untrue” album last year I scoured the Internet for dubstep. I’m not quite sure what dubstep is but I know I like it. I like listening to while working or reading: its beat keeps me awake while its haunting atmospherics keep me focused. This album is the best new stuff I found this year. For the record I was listening to this one before Pitchfork put it in their “Best New Music” section—which for some reason made me kind of sad.

It’s not haunting like “Untrue” nor is it particularly catchy. It exists, it seems, in a state of constant transition

22. Horse Feathers – House with No Home

There is a sad and rustic quaintness that pervades this entire album. It seems like they recorded this album next to where their parents were sleeping—playing as lightly as possible so as not to wake them. So, yes, the album never takes off, it sounds soft and samey throughout, but it’s beautiful and fills the void that lack of new releases from Sufjan has left.

This is not to say Horse Feathers sounds like every other pseudo-folk, Americana-whatsit band out there. They’ve definitely carved out their own sound, but I find myself unable to clearly articulate what exactly makes them original.

21. Max Richter – 24 Postcards in Full Color

The idea of making an entire album compromised of neo-classical “vignettes” all hovering around the minute mark so they could be used as ringtones sounded ludicrous to me. What I like about classical music is the movements, the crescendos, the prolonged emotions: one can’t do this in a minute.

And this is not what Richter tries to do. Instead he does just as the title promises. He somehow creates musical snapshots where the atmosphere is immediate, the scene set within a matter of seconds. I'll admit I've not used any for my ringtone but there's always time.

There’s not much else I can say about this album other than I love listening to it.