I feel like I listened to more music than ever this year. Despite my intentions to scale back and invest more time with music, I’m thwarted by my day job as a music Web site producer, the nerdy impulse to collect limited edition vinyl that sells out way before anyone gets to actually hear it and the amount of demos and whatnot received for Thor’s Rubber Hammer. I’m not complaining… I feel like the little of what I did spend more than a couple hours with were all very good. In any case, here’s the best music I heard this year.

Be on the lookout next week for a few 2008 mixtapes once the new laptop comes in the mail (the current iBook doesn’t even play CDs anymore).

[Note: The text for picks 1-10 originally appeared on an episode of NPR's All Songs Considered. You can listen to that show here.]

1. Krallice- Krallice CD [Profound Lore]

Right from the start, the premise behind Krallice made me downright giddy: It’s two of avant-garde metal’s most talented musicians recording a black-metal album. The project’s skeptics feared that some heady New Yorkers would turn the controversial genre into a cartoon (well, that’s not hard, really; just do a Google Image search for “Immortal”). But with Mick Barr as the Steve Reich of lightning-fast guitar shredders and Colin Marston wielding the mammoth Warr guitar, Krallice makes a convincing case for itself as the most innovative American black-metal album since Weakling’s Dead as Dreams. Krallice combines virtuosic skill with thoughtful yet explosive composition for an engaging debut album that’s as intense as it is rewarding.

2. Earth- The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull CD [Southern Lord]

When the ’90s experimental doom-drone metal band Earth rechristened itself as an outlaw Americana act in 2005, it was a revelation. Guitarist Dylan Carlson and his revolving cast found a new way to be heavy, taking the barren landscape of the desert and giving it a plodding soundtrack. Having honed a steady gang behind Carlson over the years, Earth now sounds like a full-fledged band on The Bees Made Honey, with legendary Bill Frisell filling in some fried guitar solos.

3. I Heart Lung- Interoceans CD [Asthmatic Kitty]

Guitarist Chris Schlarb’s projects capture a form of emotional release that few avant-garde musicians can muster. At its core, I Heart Lung is a duo with drummer Tom Steck, but Interoceans is a community. After recording a series of Brian Eno-inspired drones, I Heart Lung enlisted additional contributions from guitarist Nels Cline, trumpeter Kris Tiner, field recorder Aaron Ximm and many more. These meditative, exploratory and sometimes intensely rocking improvisations were woven into the album’s basic framework. And while avant-garde jazz tends to frown upon post-editing, I Heart Lung creates an organic world, which ties all these disparate elements into a sound that moves together.

4. Scott Tuma- Not for Nobody CD [Digitalis]

Besides my No. 1 pick, I came back to Not for Nobody more than any other album this year. The former Souled American guitarist quietly explores the unheard timbres of Americana, particularly the spaces between what we know of folk and blues music. Scott Tuma plays just about every instrument on the album, obscuring familiar melodies on reverb-drenched acoustic guitars and wheezing out a harmonium-led funeral march.

5. Jacaszek- Treny CD [Miasma]

On Treny, Polish composer Jacaszek manipulates mournful strings and an ethereal voice, tugging between electronic music and neo-classical composition. Its bleak beauty frequently caught me off guard, sitting motionless, unable to do anything but soak in all 55 heartache-inducing minutes at once.

6. Graham Lambkin/Jason Lescalleet- The Breadwinner CD [Erstwhile]

After a few months with it, I still don’t have The Breadwinner figured out. Recorded on old reel-to-reels in an Upstate New York apartment, Graham Lambkin and Jason Lescalleet captured the sound of their environment — clinking glasses, humming radiators, what may or may not be wheezing cats — and manipulated the mundane into something I’m still discovering. Ultimately, I’m drawn to what this uncharted sound territory means. Maybe years from now, I can tell you exactly why I like it. But I must admit that the slightly out-of-reach intangibility keeps me coming back.

7. Mount Eerie- Dawn CD+book / Black Wooden Ceiling Opening 10″ LP / Lost Wisdom CD [P.W. Elverum & Sun]

In the introduction to Dawn, Phil Elverum (a.k.a. Mount Eerie) writes, “I am a self-mythologizer.” In a year that saw Elverum looking back and reinterpreting his work as Crazy Horse-style hardcore punk songs (Black Wooden Ceiling Opening) and with singer-songwriter Julie Doiron (Lost Wisdom), Dawn is the one obsessives have waited for. These were the songs, written in a remote cabin in Norway in 2002, that eventually ended up on various Mount Eerie albums, now finally recorded as originally conceived: just Elverum’s voice and a nylon-string acoustic guitar. The accompanying journals provide an all-too-rare and sometimes intensely personal look into the inspiration behind these 19 songs.

8. Fucked Up- The Chemistry of Common Life CD [Matador]

Is it hardcore when your anthems not only conjure the raw spirit of Black Flag, but also the lush sound of U2? Is it hardcore when you use 18 separate guitar tracks on the lead single? I guess in the end, it doesn’t really matter, because The Chemistry of Common Life is one of those albums that will change how people think about hardcore punk, for better and for worse. Its gorgeous production flies in the face of the band’s typically raw live style and reveals a different kind of force.

9. Josephine Foster- This Coming Gladness CD [Bo'Weevil]

Upon hearing This Coming Gladness, I was immediately reminded of the British singer Julie Tippetts. In the ’70s, Tippetts left the pop-music world to combine folk music with Canterbury’s creative improvisation scene. Josephine Foster’s latest album uses this same premise, but produces an entirely different result. Built around Foster’s operatic voice and modal chord progressions, the trio discovers a 21st-century folk music, unfolding new sounds as songs progress.

10. Portishead- Third CD [Mercury]

If Dummy is the CD you put on when a lover’s over, then Portishead’s Third is a soundtrack for heartbreak in a post-apocalyptic world. Third is exactly the album Portishead needed to make… a mere 11 years after the last one. Its hypnotic krautrock rhythms measure out a cold existence, pulsing behind the fragile-yet-intense voice of Beth Gibbons.

11. v/a- The Garden of the Forking Paths CD [Important] / Brethren of the Free Spirit- All Things are from Him, through Him and in Him CD [audioMer] / James Blackshaw- Litany of Echoes CD [Tompkin's Square]

It’s been a very good year for James Blackshaw: An extensive reissue campaign, two fine collaborative discs with lutist Josef Van Wissem, a new solo effort and his well-curated compilation of new acoustic music. Unlike most of his fingerstyle colleagues, the 12-string guitarist opts out the more raw-sounding “American Primitive” and approaches something more akin to Terry Riley, which I’ve mentioned numerous times in plenty of other places online. I think his crowning achievement, however, was “The Broken Hourglass,” his contribution to The Garden of Forking Paths. It’s by far my favorite piece of 2008, a stunningly deep composition with the emotional aplomb of a Bach cello suite.

12. Harvey Milk- Life… The Best Game in Town CD [Hydrahead]

To paraphrase my favorite review about this album, for the first time, Harvey Milk sounds like Harvey Milk. (If I knew who wrote it, I’d give credit.) Special Wishes was a great combination of everything that made Harvey Milk great (ZZ Top-style Southern rock, punishingly weird sludge, unnerving folk), yet Life… The Best Game in Town coalesces those different eras of Milk so much better. It’s the sound of band hitting its stride, then beating it to a bloody pulp.

13. Evangelista- Hello, Voyager CD [Constellation]

Danger lurks behind Carla Bozulich’s voice, which was confirmed at the Evangelista show at the Velvet Lounge here in D.C. She stares you down and I’ll be damned if it ain’t sexy in a creepy way. It comes through Hello, Voyager, which sometimes feels like an aural peep-show into something you know is wrong.

14. {{{Sunset}}}- The Glowing City CD [Autobus]

Bill Baird has a lot of ideas, none of which he spares on the 80-minute Glowing City. There are few albums worthy of that much head space and time, but Baird makes every minute count. It’d be easy to point to The Olivia Tremor Control, specifically Bill Doss’ more straight-ahead pop songs, but there’s something refreshingly weird about {{{Sunset}}} that I can’t quite put my finger on.

15. The Hospitals- Hairdryer Peace LP [self-released]

I didn’t make much of the “shitgaze” punk/pop/garage/grunge trend over the year. Eat Skull, Sic Alps and No Age put out some interesting records, but they didn’t hold my attention for more than a couple listens. I was probably too pissed thinking about some of the Athens punk bands from 2002-04 (Zumm Zumm, Carrie Nations, and especially Welcome Home, Nemo) doing more or less the same thing and never getting the same recognition. In any case, The Hospitals stood out with a brash and overloaded slab of wax that got mucho spins. Sounds like White Light/White Heat Babel-Fished into Japanese and back.

16. Mary Halvorson Trio- Dragon’s Head CD [Firehouse 12]

It’s rare that a band leader debut from an avant-jazz guitarist is this good. Most guitarists bang and thrash their way through, cop out and call it punk-jazz. (Mind you, I love some of it, but most of it’s aimless trash-punk in avant-clothing.) Mary Halvorson proves she needs no more than a couple pedals, a steady head for engaging composition and some serious chops. I’m really looking forward to what more she has to offer in the future.

17. Juana Molina- Un Dia CD [Domino]

I think Un Dia is the album Bjork meant to make with Medulla. Juana Molina’s continuing experiments with vocal loops turn to ecstatic dance, an exciting new venture. (I gotta ask, though, where’s the DFA remix?)

18. Chartreuse- No More Paths to Sounder Sleep CD [Thor's Rubber Hammer]

This might be completely shameless (it is), but I’ve been with No More Paths to Sounder Sleep for over a year now and even though I normally wouldn’t list something from my label, I felt like I needed to break my own rule. This is a grower, which I didn’t realize until recently. Its murky drones and heart-wrenching melodies, though sparse, kept bringing me back, discovering different textures.

19. Valerio Cosi- Heavy Electronic Pacific Rock CD [Digitalis]

This young saxophonist is full of surprises. Valerio Cosi put out a bunch of great material this year (he spars with drummer Enzo Franchini in an upcoming Ecstatic Jazz Duos LP sometime in 2009), but Heavy Electronic Pacific Rock was tops. It’s one half Terry Riley-inspired looping saxophone workouts, one-half noisy kraut-dance party.

20. Uncle Owen Aunt Beru- Black Seas MP3-Download [Awake Asong]

Uncle Owen Aunt Beru was something of an exciting discovery for me late this year. You may already know its sole member, Jessica Calleiro, as the face of Thor’s Rubber Hammer. Yep, that’s Jessica’s face in mid-scream manipulated from a picture I took of her drumming with Cat People in early 2007 (I don’t even think she knows that). For some reason, it’s taken me this long to hear her solo work and I’ve just been blown away by every bit of it. Black Seas, in particular, is an engaging listen. Calleiro clearly favors motifs, weaving some of the same thematic beats and samples throughout. Her collage technique evokes the earlier noise of Current 93 yet at the same time picks up on the haunting folk of David Tibet’s apocryphal material from the early ’90s on. I eagerly await Uncle Owen Aunt Beru’s next folk-collage exploration. This album is available for free download from Awake Asong.
21. Extra Life- Secular Works CD [Planaria]

Secular Works is an ugly album that becomes that kind of odd-pretty after repeated listens. It wrangles melody with crooked guitars, atonal strings, sparse drumming and Charlie Looker’s aching vocals. Extra Life’s use of tension and release especially comes to a terrifying climax on “See You at the Show” with a claustrophobic drone enveloping a staccato delivery.

22. Erykah Badu- New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) CD [Universal/Motown]

Didn’t pay much attention to soul/hip-hop this year… didn’t even download those Lil Wayne mixtapes. But I did consciously seek out the new Erykah Badu. This totally whacked-out piece of diva-soul doesn’t quite match up to Baduizm, but it maintains my thought that the most innovative hip-hop belongs to the weirdos.

23. Pocahaunted- Island Diamonds CD [Not Not Fun]

Finally took a chance on these bi-coastal drone girls after reading about Pocahaunted’s foray into dub and was pleasantly surprised. Island Diamonds has a nice tribal rhythm throughout, abetted by the girls’ repeated wordless moans. Normally this kind of junk sounds like two kids dicking around until something sounds good, but the repetition works in Pocahaunted’s favor, collecting cosmic dub from the ground up.

24. Sun Araw- Beach Head LP [Not Not Fun] / Magic Lantern- High Beams LP [Not Not Fun]

It’s no secret that I have a band-crush on Magic Lantern, all of its side projects and its sort-of vanity label, Stunned. Unfortunately, my turntable broke not long after I got these LPs, so I don’t have much to write on High Beams, but Cameron Stallone’s Sun Araw LP (as well as the excellent Boat Trip EP) is a nice slice of tropical psych-drone in a year that seams to have had a bunch of tropical-pysch acts (what?). Now that I’ve found a somewhat decent vinyl rip of Beach Head on the interwebs, I love pretending it’s warm outside while listening to the raw bass lead on the dubby “Horse Steppin’”, sipping a Corona Light, watching the babes walk by in flip-flops.

25. Cristopher Cichocki- Elemental Shift DVDr [Table of Contents]

I might as well come out and say it: I don’t have much tolerance for harsh noise. When it comes to noise, I need a hook, be it beat-driven, focused more on bass, or within the context of a song or a drone. (So, yeah, I like Wolf Eyes’ Sub Pop stuff more than the limited-edition wankery… what of it?) Cristopher Cichocki achieves the bulk of these, but the context is video. Element Shift presents noise and video as one object, frame for seizure-inducing frame.

ALSO ENJOYED… (in no particular order)
Annea Lockwood- A Sound Map of the Danube 3xCD [Lovely Music]
Jex Thoth- Jex Thoth CD [I Hate Records]
Grails- Doomsdayer’s Holiday LP [Temporary Residence]
Jeremiah Cymerman- In Memory of the Labyrinth System CD [Tzadik]
Hexlove/Falouah- Free Jazz from Slavery 2xLP [Weird Forest]
Sun Circle / Pregnant Moon- split c40 [NNA]
William Parker- Double Sunrise Over Neptune CD [AUM Fidelity]
Eat Skull- Sick to Death LP [Siltbreeze]
The Music Tapes- For Clouds and Tornadoes CD [Merge]
Chris Connelly- Forgiveness & Exile CD [Durtro/Jnana]
Charlemagne Palestine- From Etudes to Cataclysms, for the Doppio Borgato 2xCD [Subrosa]
Food For Animals- Belly CD [Hoss]
Charles Lloyd Quartet- Rado de Nude CD [ECM]
Wrnlrd- Oneiromantical War LP [FSS]
Thou- Tyrant CD [Gilead Media]
just about anything on Stunned Records

WHAT I MISSED, PLAN TO CHECK OUT IN 2009
Nachtmystium- Assassins: Black Meddle, Pt. 1 CD [Century Media]
Kurt Vile- Constant Hitmaker CD [Gulcher]
Emeralds- Solar Bridge CD [Hanson]

FAVORITE REISSUES/NEW DISCOVERIES
Larry Norman- Rebel Poet, Jukebox Balladeer: The Anthology CD [Arena Rock]
Mission of Burma reissues [Matador]
Fripp & Eno- No Pussyfooting 2xCD [Discipline] (especially the slowed-down and reversed bonuses)
Anthony Braxton- The Complete Arista Recordings of Anthony Braxton 8xCD [Mosaic] (massive review forthcoming?)
Arthur Russell- Love is Overtaking Me CD [Audika]
Grateful Dead- Rocking the Cradle: Egypt 1978 2CD+DVD [Rhino]
Polk Miller- Polk Miller CD [Tompkins Square]
Natural Snow Buildings- Dance of the Moon and the Sun 2xCD+2×3″ CDr [Students of Decay]
Phillip Glass- Glass Box 10xCD [Nonesuch]
Black Sabbath- The Rules of Hell 5xCD [Rhino]

FAVORITE SHOWS
Boredoms @ 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C. (4/3/08)
Dark Meat, Monotonix @ The Red & The Black, Washington, D.C. (4/12/08)
Evangelista @ Velvet Lounge, Washington, D.C. (4/16/08)
Stars of the Lid @ Iota, Arlington, VA (5/4/08)
Harvey Milk @ Canal Club, Richmond, VA (6/19/08)
Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour @ Talking Head, Baltimore, MD (10/10/08)

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