THE 2008 REVIEW: David Abravanel

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Posted on Dec 21st 2008 08:21 pm

Filed in Albums,Best Of The Year |
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The 2008 Review

My 2008 best-of list is one of the more eclectic I’ve assembled.  As usual, I owe much to themilkfactory writers and readers for introducing me to some delightful sounds, including Leila, Alexandre Navarro, and Minilogue.  Other factory favorites just missed the top 20 and bear honorable mention, including Ólafur Arnalds, AGF, and B12 and The Black Dog.

2008 was a good year for interesting surprises, from the hard data dots of Ryoji Ikeda to Hauschka’s gentle prepared-piano pieces.  A number of old favorites came through again as well, from Jamie Lidell’s soul-stomping Jim to Jason Pierce’s gorgeous meditations on Spiritualized’s Songs In A&E.  Perhaps the best story comes from Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, who many-times-upped Radiohead by releasing The Slip, easily his best record since 1999’s The Fragile, for free, in a multitude of high-quality formats.  Rounding everything out are the playful albums, The Dream seeing the Orb return to silly form, and Supreme Balloon charting Matmos’ lush, synthesized excursions.  In the end, Italian producer Populous and his understated emotional pieces, with Doseone-esque vocals from Short Stories, takes number one.

Populous With Short Stories: Drawn Basic1.

POPULOUS WITH SHORT STORIES
Drawn In Basic
Morr Music

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Wire: Object472.

WIRE
Object 47
Pink Flag

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Leila: Blood, Looms & Bloom3.

LEILA
Blood, Looms and Blooms
Warp Records

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Mercury Rev: Snowflake Midnight4.

MERCURY REV
Snowflake Midnight
V2 / Yep Rock

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Kenny Larkin: Keys, Strings, Tambourines5.

KENNY LARKIN
Keys, Strings, Tambourines
Planet-E

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Hauschka: Ferndorf6.

HAUSCHKA
Ferndorf
Fat Cat Records/130701

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Gaiser: Blank Fade7.

GAISER
Blank Fade
M-nus

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Autechre: Quaristice8.

AUTECHRE
Quaristice
Warp Records

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Spiritualized: Songs In A&E9.

SPIRITUALIZED
Songs In A&E
Sanctuary Records

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The Orb: The Dream10.

THE ORB
The Dream
Liquid Sound Design / Six Degrees

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The Matthew Herbert Big Band: There's Me And There's You11.

THE MATTHEW HERBERT BIG BAND
There’s Me And There’s You
Studio !K7

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Various Artists: Ambient Not Not Ambient12.

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Ambient Not Not Ambient
Audio Dregs

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Jamie Lidell: Jim13.

JAMIE LIDELL
Jim
Warp Records

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Ryoji Ikeda: Test Pattern14.

RYOJI IKEDA
Test Pattern
Raster-Noton

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Mercury Rev: Strange Attractor15.

MERCURY REV
Strange Attractor
V2 / Yep Rock

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Minilogue: Animals16.

MINILOGUE
Animals
Cocoon Recordings

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Alexandre Navarro: Arcane17.

ALEXANDRE NAVARRO
Arcane
SEM

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Luomo: Convivial18.

LUOMO
Convivial
Huume Recordings

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Nine Inch Nails: The Slip19.

NINE INCH NAILS
The Slip
The Null Corporation

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Matmos: Supreme Balloon20.

MATMOS
Supreme Balloon
Matador Records

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Icon: arrowTHE 2008 REVIEW

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