You're the Great One, I'm Marty McSorley.

Happy 2009! I love this year so far. This is going to be a year of being a better, happier me and so far it’s rocking. I’ve eaten healthy today, exercised, cleaned, had friends over for waffles, napped with Rilo, chatted with my mom on the phone, had a bubble bath, and now I’m going to curl up in bed with a good book.

Here is my list of my 10 favourite albums of 2008. I wanted to post this ASAP, because I have had a request for a guest blogger to post his list here too. Hopefully it’ll happen because it will be my first incidence of guest-blogging.

10) Jenny Lewis – Acid Tongue
I could not leave this album off of my list because Jenny Lewis has been a huge presence in my 2008 musical universe. I really got into Rilo Kiley this year; I listened to them A LOT, went to a show, and even named my cat after them. This album is a great listen, and I love the stripped-down rootsy sound of Jenny’s solo stuff. Her voice is so perfect and beautiful.
Fave song: Acid Tongue (great to listen to when you’re just feeling tired of it all)

9) Serena Ryder – Is It O.K.
Serena has an amazingly rich soulful voice, and her songs, mainly about heartbreak, are extremely emotional. I am pretty sure that I saw her years ago at some festival, but she really impressed me when I saw her open for Sarah Harmer in Charlottetown. Anyone who exhibits a commanding stage presence with just their voice and a guitar gets huge points in my book. I picked up an EP after that show, and this full-length album expands on the strength of those songs.
Fave song: Little Bit of Red (I love the visceral anger in this song.)

8) Leona Naess – Thirteens
I’ll admit that I found out about this album on one of my fave celeb gossip blogs, Pink Is The New Blog. Becca T and I loved Leona’s song Charm Attack back in our university days, and I was curious to find out how her new stuff sounded. This album is absolutely charming, and many of the songs apply to my life this year. Also, each week you can download an unreleased track from the album from this site, and so far all of the tracks are just as good as those on this album.
Fave song: Ghosts in the Attic

7) Hayden - In Field & Town
I personally believe that Hayden gets better with every album. Like my dear Hawksley, his musicianship is consummate. I love the quiet, understated quality of most of his work. This album is one of my favourites to listen to on the subway on my way to work. Twinkling pianos, xylophones, and strumming guitars make the start of any day better. And Hayden’s poignant, and often heart-breaking lyrics, make me feel better about whatever silliness is stressing me out.
Fave song: Lonely Security Guard

6) REM – Accelerate
Admittedly, this album has a very special place in my heart because I first saw most of it performed when I saw REM at SXSW. And, then I got to hear the songs again when REM pulled off a great show here in Toronto in June. However, the album is a super-fun listen with punchy, short, politically-motivated songs which were a perfect accompaniment to the early months of 2008 when everyone was crossing their fingers that the Dems in the US would be able to end the reign of the past 8 years.
Fave song: Living Well is the Best Revenge

5) Stars – Sad Robots EP
Yes, this is only an EP, but Stars can do more in a mere six tracks then most bands can do in twice that. This EP is a great little follow-up to last year’s album, and it has the Amy/Torq duets that never fail to touch me and make my ears happy. I love listening to to “A Thread Cut with A Carving Knife” and singing along with the line “we raised a glass and shouted fuck the war!” because impassioned swearing is always fun.
Fave song: 14 Forever

4) Hey Rosetta! – Into Your Lungs
Hey Rosetta! are my favourite new band discovery of 2008. They came onto my radar when they joined Hawksley on stage for a song during a March show. Hawksley produced this album, and it’s one of my faves to blast in my apartment while I attempt to sing along. The lead singer has a fabulous voice, and high energy instrumentation augments the lyrics and melody.
Fave song: Red Heart

3) Hawksley Workman – Between the Beautifuls
My beloved Hawksley put out two albums this year, first the more eclectic “Between the Beautifuls”, and secondly the rockier “Los Manilcious”. There is a bit of overlap between the two albums, but the former is my favourite by far. Hawksley is by far one of the most talented musicians in my catalogue; he writes, produces, and can play pretty much every instrument. His style ranges from straight-forward rock, beautiful ballads, twangy country, and even soulful gospel.
Fave songs: Piano Blink (los manilicious mix), but lately I’ve really been into the sweeping Pomegranate Daffodil

2) Jack’s Mannequin – The Glass Passenger
I love this band, even though they are probably the only band that I love that my students listen to as well. Of course, I’m sure they can’t appreciate them on as many levels as I do (I must credit Prof. Frink with that line). This is definitely my most-listened-to album of the year, and that’s because it has all of the aspects of music that I love: heart-felt lyrics, stories, kick-ass musicianship (Andrew McMahon is piano god #3 in my universe, the first two being Ben and Tori), and fits any of my moods. I’d been dying for a new Jack’s album ever since I discovered them, and they didn’t disappoint me. The song “The Resolution” was my anthem of 2008, and the rest of the album lives up to its standard. I know that I’ll be listening to this album for years.
Fave songs: The Resolution, of course, and the epic Caves.

1) Kathleen Edwards – Asking for Flowers
When I was on the train home for the holidays, I sat beside a girl who was in my grade 12 English class. We didn’t know each other then, but have recognized each other a couple of times on the train and catch up. We chatted about music, and I mentioned how much I love Kathleen’s music, because it reminds me of the trashy aspect of Stratford. As a result of this conversation, I listened to this album a lot over the holidays, and determined that it is my top album of the year. The music is gorgeous, and Kathleen’s unique voice is amazing as she tells stories in her songs. In “Alicia Ross”, she sings from the point of view of a girl who was murdered in Toronto a few years ago. In “Asking for Flowers” she tells the story of an unappreciated woman who works the night shift. “Oil Man’s War” is about a couple leaving the US and heading north to Canada to escape the Iraq War. And of course, there is the cleverly fun “I Make the Dough, You Get the Glory”, she compares hockey player Marty McSorley to The Great One, and even a non-hockey person like me gets it.
Fave song: The Cheapest Key (I just checked out the video for the first song right now and it's pretty fun and ummm, applicable to me even though I do NOT drink bourbon in class... but I am known to wear my Chucks to school.)




Honourable Mentions:

Two Hours Traffic – Little Jabs: I believe this album came out in 2007, but I discovered it in 2008 and it was definitely the soundtrack of my summer.
Soundtracks for the movies “American Teen” and “Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist”: Both of these soundtracks are like really awesome mixes that a way cool friend made for you.
Matthew Good – Live from Massey Hall: This two-disk set is a great retrospective of one of my favourite artist’s career, and is extra special to me because I was at that show.

Also, in random musical excitement for 2009, Neko Case is coming out with a new album on March 3rd (her album "Fox Confessor Brings the Flood" was my fave album of 2006) and I already have two concerts lined up: Ben Folds and The Weakerthans!