WEWOREMASKS END OF THE YEAR LISTS (2008)

without further ado, the panda and the grizzly present to you the year-end lists of 2008. the year was somewhat like any other year, jerome and i (grizzly) have compiled the standard bs lists you've grown accustomed to on every site.

GRIZZLY/ROSHAN:

i'm not sure if my list will suit many, as i couldn't give a shit less about what genre is acceptable to choose, what's credible and what's not. i listen to what moves me and have never limited myself to one genre, the underground, or what is unacceptable for any blogger or music fan to like.

here's my list. if you have any gripes with it, listen to track 5 on justin timberlake's justified and GTFO of my face:

tv shows:

honorable mention:
the life and times of tim (season one)

5. entourage (season five)
4. how i met your mother (season four)
3. prison break (season four)
2. it's always sunny in philadelphia (season four)
1. lost (season four)

note: sorry i don't watch ______.

top 10 live shows (all in houston, unless otherwise noted):

honorable mention:
portugal. the man, wintersleep@ the meridian

10. tokyo police club @ the meridian
9. atmosphere @ fun fun fun fest; austin, tx
8. gym class heroes, estelle @ the meridian
7. girl talk @ warehouse live
6. the souled out tour - common, n.e.r.d. @ verizon wireless theater
5. clipse @ fun fun fun fest; austin, tx
4. the mars volta @ verizon wireless theater
3. 2k sports bounce tour - q-tip, the cool kids, the knux @ warehouse live
2. alkaline trio, thrice, the gaslight anthem @ house of blues
1. the glow in the dark tour - kanye west, rihanna, n.e.r.d., lupe fiasco @ the woodlands pavilion

note: i mean 10-2 were great shows, but fuck every concert/show/festival that has ever existed in 2008. glow in the dark is and will forever be the business.

top 10 mixtapes:

honorable mention:
charles hamilton - sonic the hamilton grab.

10. asher roth - the greenhouse effect vol. I grab.
9. dj benzi - the new deal grab.
8. the cool kids - that's stupid grab.
7. colin monroe - ...is the unsung hero grab.
6. mick boogie and terry urban - viva la hova grab.
5. dj benzi and plain pat - sky high mixtape grab.
4. clipse - play cloths grab.
3. nas - the nigger tape grab.
2. kid cudi - a kid named cudi grab.
1. wale - a mixtape about nothing grab.

note: many of these were better releases than a lot of the albums released, namely the top three. nas' nigger tape showcased some of what didn't and wouldn't make the cut for untitled, and in many cases, (see: be a nigger too) the reasons were apparent. cudi signed to g.o.o.d., worked with ye, and will undoubtedly blow up in 09. likewise with wale. the mixtape about nothing is easily one of the hottest releases/mixtapes/LPs in a long time. i mean concept albums are one thing, but this dude's dropping concept mixtapes. AND it's incredible.


top 15 EPs:

15. 65daysofstatic - the distant and mechanised glow of eastern european dance parties
14. manchester orchestra - let my pride be what's behind
13. the cambiata - "to heal"
12. person l - initial
11. the carps - waves and shambles
10. deas vail - white lights
9. the alchemist - the cookbook
8. coldplay - prospekts march
7. third eye blind - red star
6. the jealous sound - got friends
5. passion pit - chunk of change
4. looking glass wars - a place in a parlor grab.
3. the gaslight anthem - the senor and the queen
2. eye alaska - yellow and elephant
1. moving mountains - foreword stream.

note: easy choice. moving mountains are mindblowing. their debut lp pneuma was incredible, and this is no different. each song plays like a movie, with the typical post-rock crescendo/climax/decrescendo style. however, the vocals add that certain element that allows you to be more attached to what you're actually listening to. make sure you give this EP a chance.

top 10 disappointments:

honorable mention:
colour revolt - plunder, beg and curse

10. ratatat - LP3
9. stars - sad robot
8. minus the bear - acoustics
7. fear before - fear before
6. the re-up gang - the clipse presents the re-up gang
5. norma jean - the antimother
4. thursday/envy - split
3. death cab for cutie - narrow stairs
2. the faint - fasciinatiion
1. common - universal mind control

note: common -- i'll tell you what you should (did) do: dumb it down.

top 40 albums of 2008:

honorable mentions:
45. ne-yo - year of the gentleman
44. lykke li - youth novels
43. sophia - my morning; migration review.
42. alive in wild paint - ceilings review.
41. bloc party - intimacy

40. kidz in the hall - the 'in' crowd
39. 88 keys - the death of adam
38. this town needs guns - animals
37. santogold - santogold
36. lil wayne - tha carter III review.
35. sigur ros - með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
34. snowgoons - black snow
33. usher - here i stand review.
32. cut copy - in ghost colours
31. young jeezy - the recession
30. city and colour - bring me your love review.
29. doomtree - doomtree
28. q-tip - the renaissance
27. looking glass wars - the musician
26. portugal. the man - censored colours
25. vampire weekend - vampire weekend
24. tiger lou - a partial print
23. underoath - lost in the sound of separation review.
22. coldplay - viva la vida or death and all his friends review.
21. the roots - rising down
20. the fall of troy - phantom on the horizon
19. mgmt - oracular spectacular
18. flight of the conchords - flight of the conchords
17. n.e.r.d. - seeing sounds
16. wolftron - flesh and fears
15. ludacris - theater of the mind
14. alkaline trio - agony and irony
13. gym class heroes - the quilt review.
12. the knux - remind me in 3 days
11. innerpartysystem - innerpartysystem review.
10. tokyo police club - elephant shell
9. the game - l.a.x. review.
8. the mars volta - the bedlam in goliath review.
7. atmosphere - when life gives you lemons, you paint that shit gold
6. lydia - illuminate review.

5. thrice - the alchemy index vol III and IV: earth and air review.



note: it's no surprise that thrice is so high up on my list this year (just like every time they ever release an album. i just feel that they can do nothing wrong. the final two chapters in the alchemy index brought their experimental and ambitious project to a close, and together is one of the best collections of music that i've personally heard.

4. the gaslight anthem - the 59' sound



note: i was turned on to the gaslight anthem by a handful of people who nagged at me to listen to it. i'm not one to actually take the initiative on such a recommendation, but after seeing them live, i was sold. i spun all their albums, and the 59' sound is a modern day classic. i can see fans of literally any type of rock music getting into this.

3. t.i. - paper trail review.



note: i probably bumped this album more than any other album in 2008. was never die-hard about tip till i heard paper trail. king was my shit back in 2006, but this album took tip to a new level. touching base on everything from losing his best friend to his gun charges to flossin', paper trail has it all. this is easily his personal classic and his best album.

2. kanye west - 808s & heartbreak review.



note: 808s saw a heartbroken minimalist in kanye west, and thus 808s and heartbreak was born, which has easily his most critiqued and hated album. i find it hard to believe that anybody can listen to this album without feeling anything. this album proves yet again that kanye is an artist, and despite all of his shortcomings as an emcee/performer/human being/whatever you believe, he continues to push himself and expand his legacy, or at least what he came into the game for.

1. nas - untitled review.



note: after a few missteps, nas is back. everything surrounding this album was somewhat controversial, and all hype aside, i had very little doubt that this album would flop for me personally. although a bit moody, untitled touched base on everything that's going on with hip-hop, politics, and the trials, tribulations and the stereotypes of ethnicity/race. i might not have listened to this more than 808s or paper trail, but it was miles better.

and above all, this album was released on my birthday. it was fate for me to love it.

"hip-hop was aborted, but nas breathes life back into the embryo."
-nas, "queens get the money"

PANDA/JEROME:

i had just about every problem one could have with technology in '08, so there's probably a lot of things i missed out on. but i also spent much of 2008 drunk, so had i had a functioning computer, i probably would have missed out on a lot of shit anyway. here's a list of 50 things that made my taste better than yours in 2008:

50. the audition - champion
49. lydia - illuminate
48. not having vampire weekend or bon iver on my list.
47. ne-yo - year of the gentleman
46. neon neon - stainless style
45. eye alaska - yellow and elephant
44. wall-e
43. an albatross - the an albatross family album
42. michael jackson's 2008 demos/thriller 25
41. the new prince songs i haven't even heard yet.
40. lil wayne - tha carter III
39. cut copy - in ghost colours
38. looking glass wars - the musician
37. anything peter toh released in 2008.
36. young jeezy ft. kanye west - put on (song of the year)
35. wolftron - flesh and fears
34. santogold - santogold
33. 88 keys - the death of adam
32. gym class heroes - the quilt
31. tv on the radio - dear science
30. morrissey - that's how people grow up (single)
29. the all new adventures of us - best loved goodnight tales
28. N.E.R.D.- seeing sounds
27. yasutaka tsutsi - salmonella men on planet porno buy.
26. wale - a mixtape about nothing
26. martina topley bird - the blue god
25. jamie lidell - jim
24. the roots - rising down
23. boondocks (season 2) official boondocks website.
22. common - universal mind control
21. haruki murakami - after dark buy.
21. the knux - remind me in 3 days
20. gnarls barkley - the odd couple
19. kid cudi - a kid named cudi
18. the carps - waves and shambles
17. tgr lou - a partial print / the loyal
16. q-tip - the renaissance
15. john legend - evolver
14. ours - mercy (dancing at the death of an imaginary enemy)
13. innerparysystem -innerpartysystem
12. the dark knight
11. t.i. - paper trail
10. nas - untitled
9. the cambiata - to heal
8. tricky - knowle west boy
7. portishead - third
6. 2008 football season of the texas tech red raiders.
5. bloc party - intimacy



this album is legit, straight up. and the best songs are NOT the ones that resemble silent alarm. it's the ones where they took successful risks. they made a bold album, and it's proven to be their best thus far. they wrote better music, they performed it better, and best of all.. once again, they didn't make silent alarm part 2. deal with it.

4. lykke li - youth novels



you've probably read/heard a lot of hype about her late this year (late pass for other bloggers/magazines). this album is definitely worth the hype. believe it.

3. skins (season 1) skins official website.



between all things gordan ramsey, a few of my coworkers and this show, i've spent a lot of time listening to british accents this year. it's great to see a show about youth that doesn't patronize it's audience (cough disney cough). sex, drugs, alcohol, love, relationships, friendship, sex, drugs, alcohol...everything you want in a good tv show.

2. junot diaz - the brief wounderous life of oscar wao buy.



it was great to see my boy junot get so much praise for the release of his first novel. i'm a huge fan of his first book also, a collection of short stories called drown. this one is an incredible read. if you're a reader, i'm sure you've at least heard of this by now. get on it.

1. kanye west - 808s & heartbreak



at the end of the day (year), it doesn't particularly matter what any of us thinks he should have done on/with this album, but he made it. and it's intricate, flawed, detailed and simplistic. it's both aesthetically and musically, perfect.

that's it! congratulations if you've made it through both lists. hopefully we get off our lazy asses once the new year starts and move over to wordpress and will probably buy a domain for this little blog we've have started.

thanks to anyone who:
-reads on a regular basis.
-has us bookmarked as their homepage.
-sends us recs (even though we are too lazy and end up ignoring them)
-sends us cookies (no one has done this yet, and this needs to change)
-hates us.
-thinks we're ugly.
-thinks we're cute.

and until 2009, holla. have a safe, happy and inebriated new years.

love,
weworemasks
the panda and the grizzly