via//chicago

2008 Year In Review I: The Introduction
If you asked me to sum up the year in music that was 2008 with a single synonym, I'd have to offer "meh". One word? Disappointing. I've always prickled when others have thrown around phrases like "this was a horrible year for music" or "nothing worthwhile came out this year", still kinda do, but I really never expected to kind of agree with those sentiments the way I have the past few weeks. As I've been looking back over the music I've heard over the past 12 months, I'm struck by how little there was to truly get excited about. There were very few blockbuster releases that left my jaw dropped wide, or little I've found to return to time and time and time again. Sure, this may change as I continue to spend time with my favorite albums of the year, but there is very little I can imagine myself pointing back to as one of my personal favorites of the decade. It's hard to really see 2008 as either a watershed or defining year in music.

I felt pretty much the same way when it came to the pop singles I'd hear on the radio. There was no "Stronger", no "Umbrella", no "Crazy", no "Stay Fly", no "Hey Ya", no "Mr. Brightside", no "Since U Been Gone" - no single pop song that enraptured me throughout the year and kept me bumping it long after the radio play died down. Sure, there were some valiant attempts by titans like Fall Out Boy, T.I., Rihanna, The Killers - but, while I may have found something to like about their best singles, none grabbed me like ones in years past. I kept finding it harder and harder to flip on the local radio, I felt even more disconnected than ever from what everyone seemed to love.

Enough whining though. Let me be clear - there was a lot worth hearing out there. A lot of albums I loved spending time with, even if they didn't quite knock my socks off in a way I'd hoped. Quite a few singles that emerged from unlikely sources and provided me with some stellar moments. I think the best music I heard this year surprised me in one way or another. I didn't think the played out Autotune thing (thanks T-Pain!) would actually produce some genuinely engaging music like Kanye's recent singles. I never thought Coldplay would have been capable of producing a genuinely exciting record that allowed them to keep their firm grasp on the mainstream listeners. I didn't expect Cut Copy to seduce me with their pop magic. After dismissing Antony completely, how was I to know that Hercules & Love Affair was the way to sell me on him? Who knew how great the hardcore gone progressive-jazz Fucked Up was? There was certainly enough out there to keep me entertained, if not completely blown away. Join me over the next coupe of days as a I present my thoughts on the best albums, singles, EPs, and compilations/reissues of 2008. Send me some feedback, I'd love to hear it!

As we move ahead, a quick look back at the past several years:

via//chicago's albums of the year 2003-2007
2003: Outkast - Speakerboxx/The Love Below
2004: Modest Mouse - Good News For People Who Love Bad News
2005: Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
2006: Mastodon - Blood Mountain
2007: Battles - Mirrored

via//chicago's singles of the year 2003-2007
2003: "Hey Ya" - Outkast
2004: "Take Me Out" - Franz Ferdinand
2005: "Since U Been Gone" - Kelly Clarkson
2006: "When You Were Young" - The Killers
2007: "Stronger" - Kanye West