The Rock Blogger

30. Dragontears. Tambourine Freak Machine.
A late comer to the list but still a fantastic album nonetheless. Hazy psychedlic tunes with spaced-out vocals and dizzying electronic effects. Great, well-sung cover of Bob Dylan’s Masters of War on this as well. This is likely to provide one of the better head trips of the year with its many jangly guitar jams and drum solos. Has a very relaxed, stoned colorful aesthetic.

29. Darkspace. Darkspace III. Full Review.
This album is total insanity. With open wintry keyboards and furious black metal riffs, Darkspace create a crushing atmosphere that swallows everything around it. If you are familiar with Switzerland’s Paysage d’Hiver, you will know what to expect here, as Darkspace features PDH’s Tobias Möckl on guitars and vocals. While PDH was barren, lo-fi and rustic, Darkspace’s sound sports slightly better production and its ragged guitar rhythms are given more room to breathe. The sound created here is cold, grim and bleak but is also feverishly paced, running through torrents of visceral blackness.

28. Torche. Meanderthal. Full Review
Sounding like a cross between Queens of the Stone Age and Pelican, Torche’s songs are full of tight melodies and furious riffs, moving along at a speedy pace while still laying down the heaviness. The majority of the tracks here are short and sweet, with only one song pushing past five minutes, making Meanderthal a breezy and accessible listen that begs repeating.

27. Sigur Rós. Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust. Full Review.
Globe-trotting recording sessions and intimate tours of rural Iceland has given their work a more rustic, eclectic, and optimistic flavor, with greater emphasis on acoustic instruments and simple song structures.

26. Jóhann Jóhannsson. Fordlândia
Stirring neoclassical/ambient music from this Icelandic composer. It has a cinematic quality to it, with soaring lifts and compelling ambiance. Both pastoral and electronic textures are used and contrasted against each other, producing a work of haunting beauty. This album is vivid and alluring, instrumental music at its finest.

25. Snowman. The Horse, the Rat and the Swan. Full Review.
Their sound can be poorly described as the spooky artiness of Liars mixed with the Gothic industrial sounds of Coil. Even some traces of New York’s avant-noise scene slip in here, with some of the bleaker psychedelic passages reminding me of early Swans (White Light, Children of God). Far from being a mere encyclopedia of rock’s darker corners, Snowman is compellingly original, with foot-stomping darkwave grooves pounding behind psychotic vocals and eerie guitar work. Despite the gritty asylum atmosphere haunting the whole affair, this album is surprisingly accessible, as the songs are direct and full of alternative hooks to keep them focused.

24. Nine Inch Nails. Ghosts I-IV. Full Review.
Following the lead of Radiohead’s In Rainbows, Reznor left his major label (Interscope/Universal) the pursue his own online business model (free downloads, expensive box set) and escape the creative boundaries associated with conventional distribution. The result is a four disc, 36 track instrumental album that sees Reznor laying down moody ambient pieces, melancholic piano compositions and full throttle industrial jams, experimenting beyond the traditional NIN sound and showcasing Reznor’s artistic maturity.

23. Bonnie Prince Billy. Lie Down in the Light. Full Review.
Lie Down in the Light , the latest offering under Oldham’s BPB moniker, is one of his most summery and optimistic efforts to date, blending alt-country and folk traditions together for a laid-back and
rustic outing. The inclusion of traditional instruments really complement Oldham’s wide-eyed lyrics and finely-weathered vocals.

22. Titus Andronicus. The Airing of Grievances. Full Review.
What a great debut from this New Jersey band. The Airing of Grievances is a raw, noisy and spirited indie rock album that has shades of The Walkmen and early Trail of Dead. Not only are these songs emotionally charged, reflecting the caustic frustrations of the suburban soul, they also incorporate bombastic piano, horn and brass flourishes. By blending the orchestral with the lo-fi, Titus Andronicus have produced a truly epic work of art-punk.

21. Suffocate for Fuck Sake. Blazing Fires and Helicopters… Full Review.
Blazing Fires is a daring, if not downright suicidal, album from Sweden’s post-hardcore newcomers Suffocate for Fuck Sake. Gorgeous instrumentals, complete with sorrowful piano keys, shimmery post-rock guitars and strings frame a dark narrative of depression and redemption, as told by an institutionalized young woman. Just as Matthew Good’s Hospital Music expressed the toils of mental illness with dramatic shifts in mood and song phrasing, SFFS plot a winding trajectory for their tortured protagonist that goes to remarkable extremes. From the cold spoken word performances to fiery screamo fits of rage, this album is an emotional roller coaster.

The countdown continues. Look to the Top 50 of 2008 link at the top right to see the list so far in full.

40. Sunn O))). Dømkirke. 2008 Full Review
Dømkirke may not sound as direct or metal as 2005’s Black One, but the thick graveyard atmosphere and dense production remains fully intact. The inclusion of monk vocals and the chosen recording space also lend Sunn O))) even more gravity to pull you down into their murky pits. As a band willing to take risks with their already unconventional and disturbing sound, Sunn O))) have once again shown their intense mystique and musical craftsmanship.

39. October Falls. The Womb of Primordial Nature. Full Review
This album marks a dramatic departure from the calm neofolk sound of October Fall’s previous work Marras (2005). With The Womb of Primordial Nature, October Falls has matured into a full-fledged black metal band. While the beautiful acoustic guitar passages are still well intact, they now interwoven with electric tremolo riffs, distant growls and rapid percussion. The transition is a tremendously successful, as the shifts between folk and metal aesthetics are organic, fluid and well produced.

38. Encomiast. Bathed in Sunlight. Full Review
Bathed in Sunlight is a beautiful ambient/post-rock album from Colorado natives Encomiast that features five blissful songs that incorporate an impressive variety of ethereal sounds and instruments.
Fans of minimalist music, film scores and ambient rock like Labradford will find much to like here.

37. Protestant. The Hate The Hollow. Full Review

The Hate The Hollow is a killer crust punk/hardcore album from a little known Milwaukee band. Protestant takes the grit and grime of early crust bands like Amebix and infuses it with the technicality and raw power of modern hardcore. The result is an intense storm of grinding riffs, raging vocals and suffocating bass lines.

36. Sculptured. Embodiment: Collapsing Under the Weight of God. Full Review
Sculptured’s latest offering is a solid prog-metal release that features intricate compositions and clear production, integrating complicated guitar riffs, symphonic keyboards and frantic drumming into a cohesive and dense package. While Sculptured’s impressive lineup features Don Anderson and Jason Walton from Agalloch, their sound is completely different, with labyrinthine song structures that dart from guttural metal to progressive passages in an instant, switching between time signatures and moods with surprising transitions.

35. Plants and Animals. Parc Avenue. Full Review

Yet another musical gift from the indie oasis that is Montreal, Plants and Animals bring bombast and warm vibes to their epic debut. While the arrangements on Parc Avenue’s tracks are lush, classically inspired and eclectic, they avoid the tragedy and harrowing drama found in their contemporaries The Dears and The Arcade Fire, producing a masterpiece that is laid back, adventurous and drunkenly optimistic.

34. Ashes Divide. Keep Telling Myself It’s Alright. Full Review
A Perfect Circle’s Billy Howerdel returns with his new solo project Ashes Divide, providing a logical extension to where his last efforts left off. he music itself is also very similar to APC, with spiraling, angular guitars and propulsive drumming, but moves at a generally faster pace, rarely breaking down into the slower, more depressive territory his previous band had been known for. Gorgeous piano and cello accompaniment often creeps into the mix to round out the songs, providing anchors for the epic guitar wails. The overall style of the album is avowedly alternative, avoiding progressive or psychedelic tendencies to produce tight, concise song structures that are accessible and hook driven.

33. Red Sparowes. Aphorisms EP. Full Review
The latest EP from Red Sparowes is not only a fine step forward for the band, but its also one of the most solid post-rock releases of the year. Taking the Isis-meets-math rock approach even further, Aphorisms has all the shimmering tones you would expect from a modern post-rock album yet the rhythmic quality and metal influence here distinguishes their melodies from the rest of the pack.

The three instrumental tracks here are far more streamlined than those on previous albums, as Red Sparowes trims away the drawn out intros, crescendos and sound effects to keep the focus on tight song craft. This new found cohesion gives their work a more refined sense of urgency and is just more listenable overall.

32. Coldworld. Melancholie² Full Review
Germany’s Coldworld (aka Georg Börner) has created a highly accomplished black metal album with dense melodic layers and spooky ambient flourishes. While Coldworld clearly fits within the genre with its relentless blast beat percussion and tremolo riffs, its use of symphonic elements and strings (”Tortured by Solitude”, “Escape”) makes this album stand out. In its more atmospheric stretches, Coldworld seem to blend drone, post-rock and shoegaze elements together in well crafted torrents. The clear production work reveals Börner’s talent for composing, drawing in disparate sounds to direct an expressive musical vision. While many of these passages are certainly bleak, they do have a ghostly beauty to them, as distant choral samples and keyborads give off an icy sheen.

31. Earth. The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull. Full Review
This is music for stoned, post-apocalyptic cowboys, like the Mad Max set, but more relaxed and pining for a peyote journey. The influential and experimental Earth, who revolutionized stoner rock with the minimalist drones of 2, return to the doomed Western landscapes they began exploring with 2005’s Hex. The jams here are slow, heavy and hypnotic, luring you with its steady, slithering bass grooves and catatonic drumming. The mood they establish is introspective and sedative, nudging you into an ancient and primal feelings.