My services as an aggregator are probably of most value in this area, if only because there are so few other reliable aggregators. I very much liked the following:
The Roots of Chicha: Psychedelic Cumbias from Peru; I bought it in 2008 at least.
Un Dia, Juana Molina. Quirky, oddly textured songs from Argentina. She’s not just a one-trick pony but she now has a string of excellent albums.
Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, Gurrumal. Aboriginal music from Australia, on acoustic guitar, truly moving. I don’t regret having paid $40 for it.
Calcutta Chronicles: Indian Slide Guitar, by Debashis Bhattacharya.
Anything from Network Medien. Anything. They’re the single best and most useful music label today. The picks on any of their collections are impeccable and always worth the price. This year I’ve been enjoying their Music of the Americas, Desert Blues (multiple parts), Golden Afriques Part II, and Sufi Music, among others.
Here are other world music picks.
On the popular music front, I’m now listening to Fleet Foxes at least once a day. I’m also starting to like the new Bon Iver and the new Kanye West.
New Kanye is good eh. Paranoid is a really good track.
Re the phrase “starting to like” as in “I’m also starting to like the new Bon Iver and the new Kanye West.”
What is the intertemporal pre-ordering which leads to the dynamic functional representation “starting to like”?
Just asking.
Tyler:
You absolutely must not miss an amazing world music pick from this summer, Kayhan Kalhor and Brooklyn Rider, Silent City. It is breathtaking, truly one of the most haunting pieces I’ve heard all year.
Try The Toxic Airborne Event–the best new indie band of 2008: Start with Sometime Around Midnight, then Wishing Well, then download all the rest. Great music.
Have you heard Andy Palacio’s “Watina”? Great garifuna music- afro-caribbean music from Belize.
noooooooooo! the bon iver and fleet foxes albums are so overrated. if you’re looking for some good new music, you could do a lot worse than check out the following releases from this past year:
Thao – We Brave Bee Stings and All
The December Sound – S/T
Conor Oberst – S/T
TV on the Radio – Dear Science
Glasvegas – S/T
Cobra Verde – Haven’t Slept All Year
Black Bunny – S/T
Portishead – Third (check out their great video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKm-OkHj-VM
I feel so alone in saying that rock is dead. Indie pop can’t hold my attention and most of it is just down right awful. There’s so much better music out there…
TC and readers
I know it’s late in the season, but you’ve got to listen to Bela Fleck & the Flecktones newest album, Jingle All the Way. Had the pleasure of seeing these guys in Alexandria… Wow. Four of the best virtuosos you will ever see in your lifetime. They play the 12 Days of Christmas in the 12 keys of the chromatic scale, and because that’s not difficult enough, they play them in 12 different time signatures as well. Check it out.
I think this raises the question of the best ways to find new music that we like. How do we discover new music? It’s not like it used to be. When my Grandfather was young, he had 5 radio stations and no TV. I think 2008 top album lists are great, but I don’t know if they’re any more effective than just downloading random torrents (another issue altogether). Thanks, Tyler!
If you like going to concerts, one good trick I picked up in the last year is to order concert tickets based on a favorable album review before you even listen to the album. I use pitchfork, but any review source will probably do.
Touring can be disheartening for a band, so the band that you see based on albums you bought a few years ago will often be burned out. New bands on the rise will tend to be contagiously exciting and you can see them at small venues.
This year I saw fleet foxes, deerhunter, frightened rabbit, ruby suns, titus andronicus and friendly fires this way. They all were pretty great live.
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