‘Shallow Grave’
by The Tallest Man on Earth
label: Gravitation  Records
genre: folk
suitable for: saying goodbye to 2008
A totally stirring album by this Swedish folk singer, “Shallow Grave” was released earlier this year overseas but did not see wide release in the United States. I wonder if that’s because The Tallest Man on Earth, a.k.a. Kristian Matsson, plays American roots music better than any American in recent memory. There’s plenty of pluck and twang on these lo-fi recordings, making Matsson’s songs more Mississippi than Scandinavia, but most of all there is a ton of soul. With a booming, gravelly voice, Matsson rips through 10 tracks with grit and wisdom, just like the best bluesmen, and ends up with some of the most emotional music of the year.
This is one of the best albums I heard this year. It has the feel of a contemporary indie-folk record (he toured with Bon Iver earlier in the year) but nails the sound of the old South without sounding archaic. Kind of stunning, actually. Limited edition label Mexican Summer is issuing an LP version of “Grave” in early 2009. Can’t wait.
Visit www.thetallestmanonearth.se.

‘The Breadwinner’
by Graham Lambkin and Jason Lescalleet
label: Erstwhile Records
genre: pots & pans
suitable for: fixing the boiler

Easily one of my favorite albums of the year, “The Breadwinner” is either very dull or very intense, depending on your perspective. This is pretty much a recording of everyday sounds moving through open spaces, but it’s the way in which these two draw out the beauty in those common sounds that is so compelling. Like an inviting old chair, this record just feels right. And I’d like to sit in it all day.

Graham Lambkin (formerly of The Shadow Ring) and Maine-based sound artist Jason Lescalleet recorded this over two days at Lambkin’s home in upstate New York. Door hinges, spoons, snoring, creaky floorboards, wind blowing through empty rooms—these are the instruments the two use, recording each onto reel-to-reel and editing them into gorgeous vignettes. “The Breadwinner” is a celebration of ordinary life, a reminder of why we live the way we do even when it seems like the repetition could drive us crazy. Is this meaningless background noise or music? Why can’t it be both?
Visit www.erstwhilerecords.com/catalog/052.html.

‘Radioland’
by Stephan Mathieu
label: Die Schachtel
genre: a nice ride
suitable for: going to sleep before the ball drops

Stephan Mathieu captures shortwave radio transmissions and melds them into blissful drones for this disc, his follow-up to 2004’s computer music masterpiece “The Sad Mac.” Mathieu is a master of drone and “Radioland” is full of it. Tones transmit across the sound spectrum, tumbling into each other until they form a soothing stream of sound so crisp and clean, so expertly crafted that it’s actually easy to distinguish Mathieu’s drones from his less skilled counterparts.

Although it opens solidly, it’s actually after the so-called archangel suite (“Raphael,” “Gabriel” and “Michael” are the first three tracks) that “Radioland” turns the corner into greatness. Quiet and warm, the last half of the record kills you with beautiful fuzz and shimmering ambience before the whole thing fades out into dead air. On its second limited edition pressing, “Radioland” is kind of hard to find, but comes with artful packaging, the beauty of which rivals that of the music inside.

Visit www.bitsteam.de.

some other memorable music from 2008

Hospital Records put out two of the best albums of the year in quick succession, Burning Star Core’s “Challenger” (LP version was released on Plastic Records) and Kevin Drumm’s “Imperial Distortion.” “Challenger” is a cosmic, hallucinatory, and sublime album that, by displaying some serious composition skills, vaults Burning Star Core’s C. Spencer Yeh to a new level. “Imperial Distortion” is a two-disc set of meditative guitar drones by a master of the f’d up guitar.

One of my favorite artists, Tim Hecker, collaborated with fellow Canadian Aidan Baker, known for his work in ambient doom-metal band Nadja, on “Fantasma Parastasie” (Alien8 Recordings). Ghostly piano notes, swells of granular noise, distortion—pretty much classic Hecker. For those playing on the Baker/Nadja team, this project did have a nice dose of evil, with demons on the album art and the movements divided into 666 tracks across the CD. A good fix before Hecker’s next full-length, “An Imaginary Country”—which, based on an early listen, could be some of his best work ever—comes out on Kranky Records in March.

Not exactly under the radar, but Bruce Springsteen put out “Magic,” his best album since “Born In The U.S.A.,” and I also caught The Boss for the first time at Gillette Stadium this summer. Pretty awesome show, but a lot of drunks stumbling around—about 50,000 of them. And just in case he’s reading, here’s a special thank you to Joe Accountant, who was standing in front of me. Your pointer finger dance and sloppy make-out sessions with your wife were a great addition to the evening. I guess if you can’t cut loose at a Springsteen concert, where can you?

As for the best album of the year, I’m not sure there was anything better than Deerhunter’s “Microcastle/Weird Era Cont.” (reviewed in the last UTR). It’s just totally brilliant psych-pop stretched over two albums for the price of one, making it a smart choice in these tough economic times.