A Rate of Six of the Most Critically Acclaimed Albums Released in 2008
Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago
"For Emma captures the sound of broken and quiet
isolation, wraps it in a beautiful package, and delivers
it to your door with a beating, bruised heart." (AllMusic)
"Badu herself is serene and strong, picking a steady
path through the turbulence as if guiding her people.
Each listen to New Amerykah brings fresh rewards:
it demands to be explored." (The Guardian)
"Fleet Foxes doesn’t leave the stereo. Three, four, five
times through – these songs resonate over and over
until they stick for good. A sign of a great record: words
fail but a feeling remains." (Drowned In Sound)
"Good news for people who love bad news is that Portishead
have gotten better, too. Third is a briar-patch of sonics,
the songs gnarled and prickly, combining warm, analogue
notes with sharp, glitchy, digital ones." (Village Voice)
"The whole record is about the band skillfully weaving in
and out of dramatically different textures and arrangements;
each song plays with several musical ideas, not just
one or two." (NYMag)
"Bring any baggage you want to this record, and it still returns
nothing but warm, airy, low-gimmick pop, peppy, clever, and yes,
unpretentious--one of the most refreshing and replayable indie
records in recent years." (Pitchfork)
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago:
1. Flume
2. Lump Sum
3. Skinny Love
4. The Wolves (Act 1 & 2)
5. Blindsided
6. Creature Fear
7. Team
8. For Emma
9. re:Stacks
Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Pt. 1 (4th World War):
1. American Promise
2. The Healer
3. Me
4. My People
5. Soldier
6. The Cell
7. Twinkle
8. Master Teacher
9. That Hump
10. Telephone
11. Honey [bonus track]
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes:
1. Sun It Rises
2. White Winter Hymnal
3. Ragged Wood
4. Tiger Mountain Peasant Song
5. Quiet Houses
6. He Doesn't Know Why
7. Heard Them Stirring
8. Your Protector
9. Meadowlark
10. Blue Ridge Mountains
11. Oliver James
Portishead - Third:
1. Silence
2. Hunter
3. Nylon Smile
4. The Rip
5. Plastic
6. We Carry On
7. Deep Water
8. Machine Gun
9. Small
10. Magic Doors
11. Threads
TV on the Radio - Dear Science:
1.Halfway Home
2. Crying
3. Dancing Choose
4. Stork & Owl
5. Golden Age
6. Family Tree
7. Red Dress
8. Love Dog
9. Shout Me Out
10. DLZ
11. Lover’s Day
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend:
1. Mansard Roof
2. Oxford Comma
3. A-Punk
4. Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
5. M79
6. Campus
7. Bryn
8. One (Blake's got a new face)
9. I Stand Corrected
10. Walcott
11. The Kid's Don't Stand a Chance
Submit a score of 1-10 for each song to me via PM.
Six albums (64 tracks) is a lot -- definitely best to pace yourself by getting started early.
Feel free to post your impressions and thoughts on the album in this thread as you listen through the albums.
It's a learning experience. All the more reason to participate.
You're most likely to recognize Skinny Love by Bon Iver (or the Birdy cover), A-Punk or Oxford Comma by Vampire Weekend, and/or White Winter Hymnal by Fleet Foxes.
Full Songs List
Not the only time Badu is in a rate it's with 5 other people I have no clue about.
You should definitely still participate -- the other albums are worth it, and it would be cool to get the perspectives of Badu-only fans in this.
