SOME WICKED: Dashiell Brown's Blog

(I apologize for the looks of this blog post. For whatever reasons, I can’t get the formatting fixed and some of the pics are missing, no matter how I try to fix it!)

I published part of this in Current Magazine last month, but here I add links and some other info, the beauty of the web. Here are my top ten most under-rated albums of 2008 with videos and links to find the stuff.

You already know the chart-toppers: TV on the Radio, Fleet Foxes, Portishead, Bon Iver, Hercules and Love Affair, etc. Yes, these are great albums, but in true Dashiell Brown-style, this article is not about the best albums of the year, but the best under-rated albums of the year, the ones that got away for whatever reason (usually promotion.) 2008 was a great year for music, and this list only scratches the surface. To hear these artists and others like it, be sure to tune in to The New Spin, Thursdays 9-11 P.M. As always, I’ll hook you up with “the best music you’ve never heard.”

The Tallest Man on Earth, Shallow Grave. Kristian Mattson is from Sweden and his voice is Bob Dylan-ish, but he crows surreal lyrics over his mad fingerpicking skills. This is sparse, minimal folk at its best, with some great banjo picking as well. Check out the track “Where Do My Bluebirds Fly?”

Frontier Ruckus, The Orion Songbook. For fans of Sufjan Stevens, Neutral Milk Hotel, Beirut, mountian music/ballads, etc. The engineer of this special album is Matthew Milia who resides in Orion, which floats on the fringe of the Detroit metropolis. There is an immediate likeness to Sufjan Stevens’ Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lake State, complete with bluegrassy banjos, fiddles, harmonicas, acoustic guitars, musical saws, man/woman folk/country harmonies, and Eastern European brass. This album’s way off the grid, but worth finding if you can. “The Way You Are” is insanely delectable.

Here’s a video of them playing my favorite song, “What You Are.” Dig the musical saw.

This album is so under-rated it’s not even funny. It didn’t even make the Pitchfork list, for reasons I have yet to understand. Ok, I was Becked-out, and really not that thrilled with his last few efforts, but this album, produced by none other than Dangermouse, has renewed my faith in this dude. Produced by Dangermouse, this album is easily one of the best of the year, and I am puzzled as to why the critics didn’t give it the props it deserves. It totally grooves. He has renewed my faith in him. Go Beck.

Samantha Crain has an exquisitely original voice, and I can’t get enough of it. She’s from Oklahoma, home of The Flaming Lips. For fans of folk/roots/blues/americana. You get the idea. don’t know where this girl came from, but her voice is so entrancing with her honey-soaked folk/roots vibrato that reminds me of Kristin Hersh or Hope Sandoval, but not. It’s short, but stands out from the pack, and I can’t wait to hear her new album, Songs in the Night, which comes out April ’09. Hooray! Haven’t heard of her? No time like the present. Or just request it on The New Spin, www.thenewspin.ca

Here she is playing for Paste Magazine.

Helio Sequence, Keep Your Eyes Ahead – my initial reaction was to dismiss this album since it sounded too “alternative,” and yet I found I came to this again and again. It’s crazy catchy, and once the hooks bury deep in your skin, they don’t let go. I remember one night I wanted to pay someone to get the song “Hallelujah” out of my head. It’s that catchy, and this deserves repeated listening. Lots of them.

Apollo Sunshine, Shall Noise Upon – I love artists that explore music’s boundaries, but sometimes you can go too out there. Apollo Sunshine, however, knows when enough’s enough, and they stay right there in that genre-melting sweet spot for the entire duration of this exciting album. I love the Hawaiian angle, too, yes, yes.

Ketch Harbour Wolves, Dead Calm Horizon – out of Toronto, this album is stellar in every way. I don’t know if this album is in stores, but you can download the whole thing on their website, www.ketchharbourwolves.com. So what are you waiting for, go do it. These songs are pure bliss (in an Interpol meets Coldplay sort of way.)

The Ruby Suns, Sea Lion – absolutely, one of my faves of the year, much less agro than Animal Collective, but Sea Lion is no less interesting. Ryan McPhun went around the world with a tape recorder, intending this to be a world music album. Originally from California (like me!) he’s now stationed himself in New Zealand, and like him (and me!) this album has “traveler” written all over it. This one’s a keeper.

Spiritualized, Songs in A&E – the title is a pun: initially you’d think “A&E” stands for the key signatures A and E, but further research and we learn that Jason Pierce is actually referring to the “Accident & Emergency” wing in the hospital in which he almost died of double pneumonia. Six years in the making, this album is well worth the wait, and you really feel the pain he went through. If you’re into the melancholy, this might be your next best friend.

War on Drugs, Wagonwheel Blues – this album has probably got the most play on my show and I never tire of it. It’s a magical blend of Dylanesque folk-rock tunes and post-rock. It’s warm as the sun with such a comforting and euphoric feel to it, and I can’t get enough. It’s easily my favorite most-looked-over album of the year.

–Dashiell Brown (host of The New Spin, “the best music you’ve never heard.”

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