Best of November - December 2008

Cold War Kids' sophomore release "Loyalty to Loyalty" is the proud winner of our last "Album Of The Month" award for 2008 and its place in the Top 20 of our "Best Albums of the Year" list, which is currently under construction, looks certain. The young California band was one of the sensations of 2006 when their excellent debut "Robbers And Cowards" came out. Two years later they verify the potential shown with stunning early singles "Hang me up to dry" and "We used to vacation", delivering another fine collection of blues influenced indie rock. Recent single "Something is not right with me" (and one of our choices for the Tracks of the Year series of posts) is the dizzying sound of a panic-attack, while "Dreams old men dream" is another fine example of the captivating storytelling/songwritting abilities of these Kids.

Elsewhere in this month's eclectic list of albums, the beats-per-minute count rises with Bloc Party, Gang Gang Dance, The Bug and promising newcomers Friendly Fires, while prolific Athenians (of the one in Georgia) Of Montreal deliver a manic dionysian orgy of an album with "Skeletal lamping". And one of our very favorite female voices, the one belonging to Rilo Kiley crooner Jenny Lewis, returns with the alt-country "Acid Tongue", her second solo album featuring some very interesting collaborations, particularly the one with Elvis Costello on album highlight "Carpetbaggers".

Top 15 Albums

1. Loyalty To Loyalty - COLD WAR KIDS
2. Intimacy - BLOC PARTY
3. Saint Dymphna - GANG GANG DANCE
4. London Zoo - THE BUG
5. Skeletal Lamping - OF MONTREAL
6. Acid Tongue - JENNY LEWIS
7. Friendly Fires - FRIENDLY FIRES
8. Modern Guilt - BECK
9. You & Me - THE WALKMEN
10. OH (ohio) - LAMBCHOP
11. The Stand Ins - OKKERVIL RIVER
12. Knowle West Boy - TRICKY
13. Off With Their Heads - KAISER CHIEFS
14. The Way We Ride - FULTON LIGHTS
15. Xs On Your Eyes - +/-


Top 20 Tracks

1. Dreams old men dream - COLD WAR KIDS
2. Carpetbaggers - JENNY LEWIS
3. Mercury - BLOC PARTY
4. First communion - GANG GANG DANCE
5. Murder we - THE BUG
6. Council estate - TRICKY
7. Jump in the pool - FRIENDLY FIRES
8. Gamma ray - BECK
9. Id engager - OF MONTREAL
10. Poor man’s ice cream - TILLY AND THE WALL
11. Your control - CROOKED FINGERS
12. National talk like a pirate day - LAMBCHOP
13. On the water - THE WALKMEN
14. The way we ride - FULTON LIGHTS
15. Kiss me again - JESSICA LEA MAYFIELD
16. I came out of the wilderness - PETE MOLINARI
17. Lost coastlines - OKKERVIL RIVER
18. Never miss a beat - KAISER CHIEFS
19. Senses on fire - MERCURY REV
20. Strand the test of time - WILDERNESS

2008 Review: Tracks of the Year

As the list of our favorite tracks of the year is starting to take shape, during the next couple of weeks we'll have a series of posts showcasing the videos for some of them. You can also check out previous posts with the Killer Tracks label to get an idea of what this list is going to look like. Mind you that both our "Best Tracks" and "Best Albums" of 2008 lists are going to be presented in full at the beginning of January, since we like to consider that poor December is still a part of the year. Most publications seem to think that the year ends in mid-November, but we like to follow the old calendar that says that 2008 started January 1st and ends December 31st! Anyway, to start the countdown for the musical festivities, today we have for your consideration the excellent first single off Cold War Kids' sophomore release "Loyalty to Loyalty", our album of the month for November (more on the subject soon). The track is called "Something is not right with me" and you can have a listen by clicking below. Enjoy:

Cold War Kids - Something is not right with me