This is going to take a while. I am re-listening to all the albums and EP’s that I have that were released in 2008. I have no idea how long it is going to take to finish this little project, but here goes round 1….
Air France – No Way Down – Nice EP of relaxed beats and atmospheres. That they sample Happy Mondays’ “Hallelujah” gets them bonus points but there is nothing on here that demands that I listen to it. I am looking forward to a full release, though.
Amorphous Androgynous – The Peppermint Tree and Seeds of Superconciousness – The Future Sound of London spoiled their reputation on their last album by giving the world some hippy dippy thing. So it’s odd that their side project would spin out the same thing. It starts out very, very hippy-dippy but as you listen to the full album, they get away from most of the bad 60’s hippiness and move to a more experimental mode which redeems this album. Though I am no Donovan fan, I find this album very listenable.
The Apples in Stereo – Electronic Projects for Musicians – A typical Apples in Stereo sound, which features almost no electronics (well, at least of the synths/drum machines variety). A nice mix of garage rock tunes but I don’t think it’s the best ever collection of Apples in Stereo I’ve ever heard.
Autechre – Quaristice – Play this for your parents. They will think you are on “teh drugz”. It’ll be funny. But once the joke is over and you’re no longer grounded, you’ll find that this is another strong offering from Autechre. It’s less harsh and warmer than a lot of the Autechre I’ve heard over the years. It is still very much electronic and very much experimental and very much an Autechre album. It also just happens to very much be a good one.
The Automatic – This Is a Fix – Ranges from over the top choruses as in the catchy “Steve McQueen” to some run of the mill upbeat indie-rock. If this were an EP, it might be release of the year. As a full album, it falls to just plain good.
Bauhaus – Go Away White – Surprisingly smooth and laid back release. When I think of Bauhaus I think of more experimentation and noisy guitars. But this reformed version is, I suppose, the more mature version of Bauhaus. It’s a solid album but not entirely memorable, as in, I totally forgot that they released this album and I listened to it quite a bit when it first came out.
1 comment
Hallo Flinchbot,
fortunately by all the time spending with re-listening to the 2008 albums you had some time for putting a really classic album into the playlist: Die Toten Hosen: Opel Gang. I’m always pleased when a song of the album is played. And this inspired me to re-listen to some old records.
By the way,as always you play a lot of good new stuff!
The Automic – This is a Fix: “Not accepted anywhere” is one of my favorite alternative albums of the last years but “This is a Fix” is in my opinion just average.
Bauhaus – Go away white: I think it is average too. And there is a hit like Bela Lugosi, Third Uncle, The Passion of Lovers etc. missing.
Greetings from Germany!
Kevin Uwe