Some of Our Favorite Local Bands’ Favorite Albums & Shows of 2008

Sure, I could tell you about my favorite albums and shows of 2009, but wouldn't you rather hear what people who actually play music think?

So, I asked a few dozen great local artists what they liked the most over the course of the last twelve months and here's what they had to say:

Sarah Negahdari – The Happy Hollows

Favorite albums (in no particular order) of the year are:

Death To Anders- Ficticious Business
The Movies- Based 0n a True Story
MGMT- Oracular Spectacular
Pity Party - Orgy Porgy
No Age- Weirdo Rippers
The Transmissions- Greater Imperfections
Henry Clay People- For Cheap or for Free
The Soft Hands- Hours Pass By
The Mae Shi- HLLLYH

Favorite Shows- There were SOOOOO many amazing shows we got to see this year!!! In no particular order my faves were:

1. The Primos, Widow Babies, Dirt Dress, Traps ps and AM performing as Guerilla Fest all over LA. My favorite show I have Ever seen (and was lucky enough to be a part of) in my whole life.
2. The Movies were amazing, the best, at their Spaceland residency.
3. One Trick Pony was unbelievably good, so classic, at the Sidewalk Cafe in NY.
4. Johnny Foreigner stole my heart and blew my mind at SXSW
5. Monotonix were really, really, entertaining at the Blender Theatre at CMJ
6. Death to Anders gave a perfect, oh so perfect, rocking me to my soul, show on the last night of their Echo residency.
7. The Pity Party melted my face off and blew the audience to shreds at their Beauty Bar showcase at SXSW.
8. Deerhoof at the Great American Music Hall. I got to stand right next to Greg Saunier, and feel his rhythms crashing through me as he went ballistic on the drums. I also stood in awe, and took serious mental notes, from my favorite guitarist, John Dieterich. I almost died that night because I went to Heaven...
9. The Mae Shi- they are always too goood

Claire Mc Keown – Dirt Bird & Afternoons

My two favorite albums of 08' would have to be Amnion's 'AmenNamo'. -This album is ridiculously good. I must have listened to aTon about two hundred times. And, The Movies 'Based on a true story''. Such a great album that is right up there with their first album, that I adore and worship, 'in one era'.

My favorite shows come in two's as well. The first was Amnion playing in the restaurant at Tangier on a baby grand. Dirt Bird and Tenlons Fort (he was amazing!) played as well. Aaron Embry turned it into this joyous place filled with hope. It felt as if nothing could ever go wrong because there was no wrong. Everyone was dancing or singing along, or just pounding their fists on the dinner tables. Pure Magic.

The next was Jon Brion's last performance at the old location of Largo. He ended his masterful set with the kinks 'Waterloo sunset'. But after that the owner of Largo, Flanigan, did a gorgeous cover of Bjorks 'All is full of Love'... There wasn't a dry eye in the place. If you haven't seen Jon Brion then do. It's a pilgrimage for all musicians of Los Angeles. The man is motherfucking talented.

Diana Salier – Automatic Drawing

I never follow new releases as closely as I should, but these few definitely stood out to me...

Tokyo Police Club - Elephant Shell
The Submarines - Honeysuckle Weeks
Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs
The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead

I also don't go to enough shows (haha) and can't remember anything I went to when I lived in NY earlier this year, but these stand out in recent memory:

The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra w/ Princeton - The Echo
Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band - Henry Fonda
The Parson Redheads w/ HT Heartache - Spaceland

Mike Corwin – Red Maids

Favorite Album: Liz Pappademas - 11 Songs
Favorite Show: El Haru-Kuroi and Killsonic at Self-Help Graphics Benefit

Matthew Teardrop – Manhattan Murder Mystery

Favorites?
I got a lot of mileage out of the new Death to Anders, Monolators, and French Semester cds.

Most of my favorite shows this year involved The Health Club, Seasons, Guppies and Die Rockers Die.

Also there's this homeless dude who hangs around on Sunset and Hyperion and if you give him money he'll make up a song for you on the spot. I gave him five bucks one night and he sang me a song about my bike and that was one of my favorite shows of the year.

Wendy Wang – The Sweet Hurt

Benji Hughes - "A Love Extreme"
Bon Iver - "For Emma, Forever Gone"
Priscilla Ahn - "A Good Day"
Obi Best - "Capades"
A.A. Bondy - "American Hearts"
Al Green - "Lay It Down"
Deerhunter "Microcastle"
HoneyHoney "First Rodeo"

E.P.'s
Castledoor "'Til We Sink"
Parson Red Heads "Owl And Timber"

Shows
Jogger at The Smell 11/20/08
Henry Clay People record release w/Parson Red Heads, Le Switch 10/3/08
My Bloody Valentine 10/1/08
Dr. Dog at SXSW 03/08
Liz Pappademas and friends (Killsonic) at Tangier 8/14/08

Nick Ceglio – Death to Anders

Blitzen Trapper -- Furr
The Mae Shi -- HLLLYH
Thailand -- The Remote Controller Absorbs the Place
The Happy Hollows -- Imaginary
The Transmissions -- Greater Imperfections
Mad Gregs -- Big Nun
O'Death -- Broken Hymns, Limbs and skin

Keith Waggoner - Amateurs

I really got into that Bon Iver record earlier this year. Also played the shit out of Dennis Wilson’s Pacific Ocean Blue/Bambu reissue. Would have to say my favorite though, came from some local kids. The Henry Clay’s For Cheap or For Free is one of the most refreshing things I’ve heard in ages. And their record release show was undoubtedly my favorite this year. It totally made me love rock n’ roll again. I didn’t even really know any of their songs at the time (I’d seen these guys once a while back), but I remember standing on the side of the stage at Spaceland grinning and bobbing my head, totally dumbfounded by how good they were.

Hunter Curra – The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra

I am a local whore... new albums by Divisadero, Henry Clay, Obi Best, Jenny Lewis, Western States Motel, Airborne, Le Switch, and the Movies, dominated my CD player. I also got stuck on Vampire Weekend's infectious release. I really enjoyed watching the Damselles & the TC4 play various times this year. They have 'IT' factor.

Andrew – The Temporary Thing

I can tell you my favorite album *from the dollar bin at Amoeba* this year: "Jackie Gleason Presents: Music, Martinis, and Memories"

Geoffrey Geis – Pizza!

These aren't in any real order, but our favorite shows were as follows:

Locals: Abe Vigoda at Eagle Rock Music Fest, The Mae Shi at Echo Curio in August, Fol Chen's Radio Free Silverlake appearance, The Monolators at Pehrspace in September, Manhattan Murder Mystery at Mr. T's in November, Big Whup at 122 Glendale in February, Zombelle with band at Pehrspace in November, and John Thill at Ports o' Call Bedroom sometime over the summer.

Non-locals: David Byrne at the Greek, REM at the Hollywood Bowl, Jeans Team at Spaceland, Elvis Costello at the El Rey, Pigeons or Panthers at some house party out in the Inland Empire.

Favorite albums:
We liked "Don't Dance" by the Monolators, "Skeleton" by Abe Vigoda and "HLLYH" by the Mae Shi. Also awesome were David Byrne/Brian Eno's "Everything That Happens," Kanye's "808s and Heartbreak" and of course "Tha Carter 3." Oh, and "Vampire Weekend."

Rob Danson – Death to Anders

Favorite Albums: Divisidero - Lefty. Blitzen Trapper - Furr. Henry Clay People - For Cheap or For Free. Happy Hollows - Imaginary EP

Favorite Shows - Fol Chen @ Lets Independent. Radars to the Sky @ Spaceland (Spaceland recording release show). Mae Shi @ Echo Curio. Manhattan Murder Mystery @ Echo Curio, The Monolators @ PehrSpcace (Final Residency Night)

Riaz - The French Semester

Favorite albums of 2008 in no particular order: Dr. Dog - Fate, Spiritualized - Songs in A&E, the Mumlers - Thickets and Stitches, Seun Kuti - Many Things, Divisadero – Lefty, Indienella - Self titled

Favorite Show: Eagle Rock Festival w/ Radar Bros. especially blowing the old mind.

Evan Way – The Parson Redheads

Gosh - here are a few fav albums of the year. Always hard to boil it down.

1 - Everest - Ghost Notes
2 - Blitzen Trapper - Furr
3 - Henry Clay People - For Cheap or for Free
4 - Fleet Foxes - S/T
5 - The Sweet Hurt - In The Shade Of Dreams

We got to see a lot of our favorite show, over and over again, when we toured with Blitzen Trapper. And, in fact, we got to see some more favorite shows on our other tours ... man, what a fun year:

1) Blitzen Trapper @ The Independent (San Francisco, CA)
2) Everest @ The Artistery (Portland, OR)
3) Earlimart @ The Casbah (San Diego, CA)
4) The Spires @ Spaceland
5) Jeremy Enigk / Damien Jurado @ Spaceland
6) Fleet Foxes @ El Rey

Josiah Mazzaschi – Light FM

Favorite Albums:
Tiger's Can Bite You - Steve Ward Hears Voices
Earlimart - Hymn and Her
Human Value - Push and Pull
Tv on the Radio - Dear Science
Pinback -Autumn of the Seraphs
The Spinto Band - Moonwink
Radiohead -In Rainbows
Rademacher- Era EP
Jesus and Mary Chain - The Power of Negative Thinking
Favorite Shows:
Shout out Louds, Love and Rockets, and Swervedriver at Coachella
M83 at the Fonda
Earlimart at Echoplex
Built to Spill at Troubadour
Exitmusic at Boardners
Divisadero, Parsons Redheads, The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra, etc at Eagle Rock Music Festival

Jonathan Leahy – The Broken Remotes

Favorite albums of 2008
A Love Extreme / Benji Hughes
M83 / Saturdays = Youth (duh!)
Ida Maria / Fortress Around My Heart (not sure this is released yet, have advance copy)
Radiohead / In Rainbows
Mates of State / Re-Arrange Us

Favorite shows of 2008:
Henry Clay People at Spaceland
Le Switch at The Echo
Throw Me The Statue at the Silverlake Lounge
International Noise Conspiracy at Eagle Rock Center for the Arts
The Hold Steady at the Wiltern

Jacob Summers – The Rhone Occupation

Records: Chris Walla: "Field Manual", The Perishers: "Victorious", Liam Finn: "I'll be lightning"

Shows: the kooks at the echo, Radiohead at the Hollywood Bowl, shys opening for albert hammond at spaceland, Dr. Dog @ the el rey. Death Cab at Nokia. Sharon jones and dap kings, feist at Hollywood Bowl.

Erica Elektra – Hearts of Palm UK

Favorite Albums:
Crystal Castles - S/T
Albert Hammond, Jr. - Como Te Llama
Human Highway - Moody Motorcycle
Midnight Juggernauts - Dystopica
Portishead - Third
M83 - Saturdays = Youth

Karma – Super Karma

These were my favorite albums, in order of importance.

Fleet Floxes
Vampire Weekend
Of Montreal
Beach House
Dept. of Eagles
m83

The best show I saw this year was Fleet Foxes, and The Decemberists at the Wiltern.

Jason Bays - The Spires

Haven't been buying a lot of new records this year but the few I did buy and loved are:

1. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks / Real Emotional Trash - Heavy medieval riffage meets oblique lyrics and hooks. Watch your speedometer will listening.

2. Times New Viking / Rip It Off - Great pop record buried beneath a mountain of treble and hiss. Much like early Guided By Voices records. The noise adds mystery and a little danger to whole thing once you acclimate.

Some older records I have been revisiting or discovering:

1. Finally got into The Lilys - Amazing songs and guitars. Kinda Kinks, kinda Pavement, condescending in a good way.

2. WIRE - All Records. Chairs Missing and the song Three Girl Rhumba in particular.

3. Alice Coltrane - Early Impulse Records stuff is wonderful and meditative.

4. Vince Guaraldi - A Charlie Brown Christmas. I love that record. I never get tired of it. Did you know that he died of a sudden of a heart attack at age 47 relaxing between sets at Butterfield's nightclub?

Many thanks to everyone for participating in this and some of the articles we have due for next week...