Year End Wrap-Up: Some Favorites

There are plenty of people who know music, geesh, even local music, much much better than I do. I'm really not qualified in any way, shape, or form to rate the year's best anything since I'm more of a lazy part-time dilettante than a credible critic.

But that all said, I'm still left with strong opinions about my favorite albums and shows from the last year. Like:

EARLIMART -- How do you follow up an epic, perfectly-produced album like last year's Mentor Tormentor? Well, apparently with a stripped down four-weeks-to-record cd like Hymn & Her, which broke hearts and took names with a collection of all killer, no filler indie rock tracks. (Listen to it and you'll have a new favorite songs each week for, like, months.)



ONE TRICK PONY -- Catching the hard-to-describe-well-yet-quite-rad One Trick Pony live multiple times (ideally, at small chatter-free places like Pehrspace) has made for some of my favorite nights out in LA. And Loose Talk is one of the most perfect songs I've heard all year.



DEATH TO ANDERS -- Their Dave Newton-produced album Fictitious Business hit January of 08 and nailed their irregular folk rock sound with stand-out tracks like Great Plains States, Camera Lens, and Doll, while the song Cut It quietly killed in their subsequent EP.



THE FLYING TOURBILLON ORCHESTRA -- ...released a great EP of smarty pants indie pop and developed into a consistently engaging live act over the course of 08.



THE SAVAGES -- I swear I think I could listen to The Savages all day and never grow tired of their psyche rock screamings. They make you want to quit your job and do mushrooms all day. (You know, again...) Hopefully they can resolve their police gear troubles and finish their EP soon.



THE MOVIES -- Ah, The Movies, The Movies, The Movies... They're always a great experience live and their album Based On A True Story was among the year's best, but Tim James' alternately fantastic and hilarious solo-ish performance at Bordello six months back was one for the history books.





THE HAPPY HOLLOWS -- Their recent Imaginary EP is a nice appetizer for their upcoming Dave Newton-produced album. The EP-only song Tambourine is among the band's best tracks, perfecting their experimental/accessible formula better even better than similarish acts like Deerhoof. (Sarah's 08 solo performances have also been pretty phenomenal.)





THAILAND -- Their 08 electro pop follow-up EP to last year's debut showed a band that's continuing to evolve in many interesting ways while remaining, y'know, catchy as fuck. (The track Control gets frequent play around the RFSL corporate HQ and in the company car.)

RELATED LINKS:
- Earlimart Interview
- One Trick Pony Interview
- Death To Anders Interview
- The Savages Interview
- The Movies Interview
- The Happy Hollows Interview
- Sarah Negahdari Interview
- Thailand Interview