This year, I’ve asked a few Phoenix-area musicians/people of interest for their year-end, best-of lists: albums, songs, whatever. This installment comes from Brian Coughlin of Kinch, whose full-length Advances was recently listed among 2008 favorites by Phoenix New Times music editor Martin Cizmar. (It’s also available as a free download.)

Coughlin gives us his top 10 local songs of 2008.

• Kinch | Fare Forward

1. Black Carl – Dirty Wine
2. Neba – Rest
3. Kirkwood Dellinger – New Juice
4. The Stiletto Formal – Fiesta Fiesta Fiesta Fiesta
5. Holy Rolling Empire – Bipolar Bear Mania
6. Source Victoria – Miss Spiritual Tramp of 1948
7. What Laura Says – July 23
8. Miniature Tigers – Cannibal Queen
9. Sleepwalk, a Robot – Rx
10. Yellow Minute – Car Ride in Greece

Related:
Favorite albums of 2008
Favorite song(s) of 2008
Guest list: Charlie Brand of Miniature Tigers
Guest list: Jay Wiggins (aka DJ Funkfinger)
Guest list: Brendan Murphy of Source Victoria

This year, I’ve asked a few Phoenix-area musicians/people of interest for their year-end, best-of lists: albums, songs, whatever. This installment comes from Charlie Brand, frontman/writer for Miniature Tigers, who released the excellent Tell it to the Volcano in August.

Brand offers up a list of the albums he listened to most in 2008, whether they were released this year or not. Of Grizzly Bear’s Yellow House, Brand told me, “I discovered it late in the game. One of my favorite and most listened to albums of the year.”

• Miniature Tigers | Dino Damage
• Miniature Tigers | The Wolf

• Department of Eagles – In Ear Park (4AD)
• Of Montreal – Skeletal Lamping (Polyvinyl)
• Beach House – Devotion (Carpark Records)
• Alvin Band – Mantis Praying
• Harry Nilsson – Nilsson Sings Newman (RCA Victor Europe)
• Grizzly Bear – Yellow House (Warp Records)
• Elvis Costello – Armed Forces (Hip-O records)
• The Kinks – entire catalogue
• Portisthead – Third (Island)
• Van Dyke Parks – Song Cycle (Rhino/Warner Bros.)

Related:
Favorite albums of 2008
Favorite song(s) of 2008
Guest list: Jay Wiggins (aka DJ Funkfinger)
Guest list: Brendan Murphy of Source Victoria

This year, I’ve asked a few Phoenix-area musicians/people of interest for their year-end, best-of lists: albums, songs, whatever. This installment comes from good friend Jay Wiggins, who spins under the name DJ Funkfinger at Shake! on Saturday nights at the Rogue, voted Best Hipster Dance Night by the Phoenix New Times.

Jay was also kind enough to host mp3s for all of his selections for his indie-pop top 10 (in no particular order).

• Oxford Comma – Vampire Weekend [3:16]
What can I say that hasn’t been said?

• Ready For The Floor – Hot Chip [3:53]
Caught the last bit of these guys at a festival in San Diego (with
Kevin) – what little I saw made my day.

• Lights Out – Santogold [3:13]
Yeah, this track was selling Bud Light well prior to the album’s
release. I’m a buyer (of Santogold, not the beer).

• The Wolf – Miniature Tigers [2:34]
Local AZ band that I was introduced to at a show Kevin was putting on. This track grabbed me there, and I promptly found and downloaded.

• American Boy (Ft. Kanye West) – Estelle [4:45]
Played a million times this summer, and I still like it. An essential
“summer jam.”

• Good Time – Brazilian Girls [3:47]
The name says it all. I get the feeling that it they would be
excellent to see live.

• Bring It On – Little Boots [4:20]
Relatively new to my library, she (Little Boots) put out a mix that I
really enjoyed so I dug deeper and tracked this down.

• Look At Me (When I Rock Wichoo) – Black Kids [4:13]
The chanting at the end of the song is why it made the list.

• Shut Up And Let Me Go – The Ting Tings [2:51]
The short but sweet star of their popular “indie” album.

• Universal Mind Control (UMC) – Common [3:26]
This was the B-side of a pre-album single. The now-released album is
named after this track. Enough said.

This year, I’ve asked a few Phoenix-area musicians/people of interest for their year-end, best-of lists: albums, songs, whatever. It’s only natural I start with Brendan Murphy, singer/guitarist for Source Victoria. And, oh, yeah, he’s my brother, and he’s probably had as much influence on my music tastes as anyone.

Here are his top 14 albums of the year, in no particular order:

• Kanye West – 808s & Heartbreak (Roc-A-Fella)
• Frightened Rabbit – The Midnight Organ Fight (Fat Cat)
• Sigur Ros – Med sud I eyrum vid spilum endalaust (XL)
• The Silver State – Cut and Run (Young American)
• Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago (Jagjaguwar)
• Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid (Fiction Records)
• Magnetic Morning – A.M. (Friend or Faux)
• Fleet Foxes – self-titled (Sub Pop)
• Radiohead – In Rainbows (XL)
• Vampire Weekend – self-titled (XL)
• Retribution Gospel Choir – self-titled (Caldo Verde)
• Portishead – Third (Island)
• TV on the Radio – Dear Science (Interscope)
• Ryan Adams and the Cardinals – Cardinology (Lost Highway)

Related:
Favorite albums of 2008.
Favorite song(s) of 2008.

“How can it be bullshit to state a personal preference?” – Rob Gordon, High Fidelity

For the second year in a row, I was asked for a top 10 list that will be included in the annual booklet that local record shop Stinkweeds puts out (get the 2007 edition here). Again, it’s difficult to quantify these in a ranking system. Other than the top two albums, the order of these picks can change any day, any minute. Never do I claim these to be the best, just the albums I listened to the most.

That said, I didn’t seek out as much new music as in years past. I’ve tried to spend more time with fewer (hopefully, better) albums than less time with more albums. So it’s almost certain I overlooked some amazing artists/records. But I’m fairly confident the following list is a decent representation of my year in listening:

10. NADA SURF: Lucky (Barsuk)
As long as Nada Surf keeps cranking out no-frills power-pop gems, I’ll keep listening. Lucky hardly seems like a sexy pick in ’08, and I think that’s exactly what I love about it. Substance wins out over gimmicks.
Favorite tracks: See These Bones, Weightless and The Fox.
MP3: Nada Surf | See These Bones

9. RADAR BROS.: Auditorium (Merge)
There’s something calming and meditative about Jim Putnam’s rolling melodies, which come in waves on Auditorium. I feel comfortable in the Radar Bros.’ languid compositions – specifically here on Pomona – when most of the self-important/need-to-feel-different indie rock quickly wears out its welcome.
Favorite tracks: Pomona, Warm Rising Sun, When Cold Air Goes to Sleep.
MP3: Radar Bros. | Warm Rising Sun

8. BORN RUFFIANS: Red, Yellow & Blue (Warp Records)
Here’s hoping misguided comparisons to Vampire Weekend (nothing wrong with VW, mind you) don’t taint this album’s reputation. Red, Yellow & Blue explodes with quirky call-and-response anthems and time-signature trickery, pulled together by the band’s unparalleled chemistry.
Favorite tracks: Badonkadonkey, I Need a Life, Kurt Vonnegut.

7. FLEET FOXES: self-titled (Sub Pop)
Though I’m more enamored with the stunning (but too short) Sun Giant EP, the band’s debut is a beauty. Who can resist those harmonies?
Favorite tracks: White Winter Hymnal, Oliver James, Quiet Houses.
MP3: Fleet Foxes | White Winter Hymnal

6. CADENCE WEAPON: Afterparty Babies (Anti-)
While the Edmonton-based Cadence Weapon introduces hip-hop heads to tech-house beats, few (save for Busdriver, of course) can match his scattered and sophisticated well of rhymes and deliver it with tongue-and-cheek charm.
Favorite tracks: Real Estate, Getting Dumb, Limited Edition OJ Slammer.
MP3: Cadence Weapon | In Search of the Youth Crew

5. Q-TIP: The Renaissance (Universal Motown)
Nostalgia might be clouding my judgment, but Q-Tip returned with what should prove to be a timeless album that solidifies his place in hip-hop lore (as if A Tribe Called Quest didn’t do that already). Production help from Mark Ronson and the late, great J Dilla certainly doesn’t hurt.
Favorite tracks: Move/Renaissance Rap, Life is Better, Dance on Glass.
VIDEOS: Q-Tip | Move and Renaissance Rap

4. BON IVER: For Emma, Forever Ago (Jagjaguwar)
So what if this album, a majority of which was written and recorded in an isolated cabin in Wisconsin, was technically self-released in 2007? Its reissue via Jagjaguwar rightfully introduced Justin Vernon to a wider audience, his soaring falsetto and delicate melodies deserving a place on this year’s lists.
Favorite tracks: Skinny Love, Creature Fear, For Emma.
MP3: Bon Iver | Skinny Love

3. THE HOLD STEADY: Stay Positive (Vagrant Records)
Another album that does nothing to harm the Hold Steady’s reputation as the best bar band in America. If he hasn’t already, singer Craig Finn is becoming a spokesman for an indie generation.
Favorite tracks: Slapped Actress, Yeah Sapphire, Stay Positive.
VIDEO: The Hold Steady | Stay Positive

2. ELBOW: The Seldom Seen Kid (Fiction Records)
A long overdue Mercury Prize for The Seldom Seen Kid confirms what we already knew: Elbow is reaching great heights with its highly stylized indie-rock noir. It may be a tad bloated, but this album is rich with depth, storytelling and grace.
Favorite tracks: One Day Like This, The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver, The Bones of You.
MP3: Elbow | One Day Like This

1. FRIGHTENED RABBIT: The Midnight Organ Fight (Fat Cat)
It’s the mother of all break-up albums, feelings ranging from rage to sorrow to self-pity. Through his thick Scottish accent, Scott Hutchison’s detailed commentary of love gone wrong is at times painful, agonizing and somehow endearing.
Favorite tracks: Keep Yourself Warm, The Twist, Good Arms vs. Bad Arms, Old Old Fashioned.
MP3: Frightened Rabbit | Keep Yourself Warm

The next five (in no particular order): Damien Jurado, Caught in the Trees (Secretly Canadian); The Walkmen, You & Me (Gigantic); Wolf Parade, At Mount Zoomer (Sub Pop); The Roots, Rising Down (Def Jam); The Dodos, Visiter (French Kiss).

Albums I may soon regret not including on this list: The Gaslight Anthem, The ’59 Sound; The Kills, Midnight Boom; Kanye West, 808s & Heartbreak; The Mighty Underdogs, Droppin’ Science Fiction.

Related:
Favorite songs of 2008.
Favorite albums of 2007.
Favorite album of 2006.
Favorite albums of 2005.

I didn’t want to let myself pick two songs for favorite song of the year. Frankly, it’s a cop-out. Ties are for the weak, like in soccer. Nobody loses! Everybody wins! Lame.

But then I was thinking about these two tracks, the two children I was forced to choose between: One Day Like This by Elbow and Keep Yourself Warm by Frightened Rabbit. Love is the common thread here – its beautiful beginnings (Elbow) and sometimes bitterly destructive end (Frightened Rabbit). If two songs ever matched those polar-opposite emotions, it’s this pair.

Much as I wanted to write off One Day Like This as over-the-top fluff, it became increasingly difficult not to succumb to singer Guy Garvey’s almost-confused admissions to love (“What made me behave that way? / Using words I never say”) and the song’s instrumental swells (aided immensely by a string section). I’ve been told (maybe as a joke?) that I have a heart made of stone, so to hear a writer/singer I admire drop his guard like this certainly offers me a lesson in how to be vulnerable – or at least to show me that there’s a sunny side to all that sad-bastard music I listen to. Call it corny if you must, but One Day Like This works only because it does go over the top, similar to U2’s Beautiful Day; a half-assed effort wouldn’t have cut it.

So if One Day Like This is the first kiss, the butterflies in the stomach, then Keep Yourself Warm is the devastating breakup and the avalanche of emotions that comes with it. It’s hard to put in words any more clearly than singer Scott Hutchison does what a gut punch this song is (though I enjoyed my friend Casey’s description of it as a “withering assault on an ex”). I’d challenge anyone to find a more powerful and forthright line than this: “It takes more than fucking someone to keep yourself warm.” (Perfect for sing-alongs!)

I’m not sure why some people think this song is about casual sex and/or one-night stands. It seems obvious to me that Hutchison is tormented here, but the song also serves as his cathartic release, as he mocks his ex in a fit of fury: “Can you see in the dark? / Can you see the look on your face? / The flashing white light’s been turned off / You don’t know know who’s in your bed.”

Ain’t love grand?

• Elbow | One Day Like This
• Frightened Rabbit | Keep Yourself Warm

I also really liked these songs:
The Baseball Project, Past Time (mp3)
Birdmonster, Born to Be Your Man (mp3)
The Black Angels, Science Killer
Bon Iver, Skinny Love (mp3)
Born Ruffians, Badonkadonkey
The Broken West, Perfect Games
Cadence Weapon, Real Estate and Getting Dumb
Calexico, Writer’s Minor Holiday
Damien Jurado, Dimes and Trials
Death Cab for Cutie, Cath
Destroyer, Blue Flower/Blue Flame (mp3)
The Dodos, Fools and Jodi
Elbow, The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver
Fleet Foxes, Drops in the River, Mykonos and White Winter Hymnal
Frightened Rabbit, Good Arms vs. Bad Arms
The Helio Sequence, Keep Your Eyes Ahead
Her Space Holiday, The Truth Hurts So This Should Be Painless and No More Good Ideas
The Hold Steady, Slapped Actress and Yeah Sapphire
Kidz in the Hall, Drivin’ Down the Block
The Kills, U.R.A. Fever
The Knux, Cappuccino
Magnetic Morning, Spring Unseen
Menahan Street Band, Make the Road By Walking (mp3)
Miniature Tigers, Dino Damage and Tell it to the Volcano
Murs, Can It Be
My Morning Jacket, I’m Amazed
Nada Surf, See These Bones (mp3) and The Fox
Plants and Animals, Bye Bye Bye (mp3)
Q-Tip, Move/Renaissance Rap
Radar Bros., Pomona
The Rosebuds, Bow to the Middle
School of Language, Rockist Part 1 (and Parts 2, 3 and 4, for that matter)
Silver State, Faith You Changed Your Name (video)
Vampire Weekend, The Kids Don’t Stand a Chance
The Walkmen, In the New Year
The Whigs, Right Hand on My Heart
Wolf Parade, The Grey Estates

Related:
Favorite song of 2007
Favorite song of 2006
Favorite songs of 2005