This Week

NEWS & VIEWS

By Jeff Schwachter

Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted Dec. 25, 2008

For the Records

TWAS THE DAY BEFORE Christmas and up and down the Jersey shore, last-minute shoppers could be heard at the shops, chains and stores. If you are in search of a musical gift, some of my favorite albums from 2008 are included in the following list:

1. Bob Dylan - Tell Tale Signs (Columbia/Legacy) The eighth installment of Dylan's Bootleg Series, this two-disc (or deluxe three-disc) set of studio outtakes, live cuts and never-heard-before material from Dylan's modern period is the best album of '08.

2. k.d. lang - Watershed (Nonesuch) I picked this up at Starbucks for my wife and it later found its way into my car. It never left.

3. Van Morrison - Keep it Simple (Lost Highway) George Ivan Morrison strips it down and it sounds extraordinary.

4. Al Green - Lay it Down (Blue Note) Producer Ahmir Thompson of the Roots teams up with one of the greatest singers ever. Enough said.

5. Randy Newman - Harps and Angels (Nonesuch) The great American singer-songwriter said he almost left the title track off the album. Even if that song was absent from this Katrina-soaked collection, it would still be one of my favorites of the year.

6. Radiohead - In Rainbows (ATO) Although the free download was available in 2007, I picked up the LP (vinyl) version in '08 and I've been spinning it over and over and over again.

7. B.B. King - One Kind Favor (Geffen) T-Bone Burnett produced this wonderful collection of old blues. One of B.B.'s best in years. Great song choices.

8. Fleet Foxes (Sub Pop) The melancholic Seattle band's self-titled long-playing debut sounds like the Shins meets Animal Collective meets British folk meets early My Morning Jacket.

9. Jonathan Richman - Because Her Beauty Is Raw and Wild (Vapor) One of the great songwriters of the modern era's latest is spare, beautiful and sometimes funny.

10. Tie: Dr. Dog - Fate (Park the Van) and Silver Jews - Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea (Drag City). Get 'em both for those who like their rock a bit rugged and very soulful.

TOP 40 UNDER 40 ALERT: Nominations are being accepted (through Jan. 23) for the fifth annual Top 40 Under 40 project. Go to atlanticcityweekly.com/40.

Happy holidays.

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