Top Twin Cities Albums of 2008

[graphic by Ian Zuppan]

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[list by Jon Behm]

#1) El Guante El Guante’s Haunted Studio Apartment

Yeah, Guante writes for Culture Bully and this is a conflict of interest, blah blah. I don’t care. This album is too good not to list, regardless.

Purchase | Official | MySpace

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#2) Dark Dark Dark The Snow Magic

There has been a big resurgence of old timey gypsy influenced pop folk this year and Dark Dark Dark did it the best. Great stuff.

Dark Dark Dark “New York Song” (mp3)

Purchase | MySpace

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#3) Doomtree Doomtree

Dessa in particular really carried this album to new heights for me in tracks like Sadie Hawkins and Dots and Dashes. The rest is great too.

Purchase | Official | MySpace | Wikipedia

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#4) Aby Wolf Sweet Prudence (album review)

My iTunes decided that it was going to rename this album itself since it didn’t recognize it – therefore it took me while to realize that all of Sweet Prudence’s titles had been renamed to Bonnie Raitt tracks (?!). Glad I finally figured it out though because Wolf is one of the Twin Cities’ most underrated artists out there today.

Purchase | MySpace

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#5) Private Dancer Trouble Eyes

My big regret this year is that I still have not seen these guys live. I will soon remedy that though, as this album is fantastic.

Purchase | MySpace

(Runners up: Lucy Michelle Orange Peels…, The Blend Losing the Game & Yer Cronies Yer Cronies.)

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[list by Chris DeLine]

#1) Gay Witch Abortion Maverick (album review)

The best heavy band in the Twin Cities – period.

Purchase | MySpace

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#2) A Night in the Box Write A Letter (album review)

A fantastic album with a cohesiveness that suggests A Night in the Box will be giving us great music for many years to come.

A Night in the Box “The Rich Man’s Table” (mp3)

Purchase | Official | MySpace

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#3) The Battle Royale Wake Up! Thunderbabe (album review)

Wake Up, Thunderbabe! perfectly translates the group’s attitude of carelessness, full of music as fun and unassuming as anything else in 2008.

The Battle Royale “Racecar” (mp3)

Purchase | Official | MySpace

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#4) Muja Messiah MPLS Massacre

The precursor to Thee Adventures of a B-Boy D-Boy, MPLS Massacre didn’t have enough time this year to be given the credit it fully deserves.

Purchase | MySpace

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#5) Nobot & the Estate Magical Remix Project

A reminder as to how fantastic split releases can be. If it were a full-length release, it could have easily been the biggest local release of the year.

Nobot: MySpace
Estate: Official | MySpace

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[list by Josh Keller]

#1) Crescent Moon Is In Big Trouble Crescent Moon Is In Big Trouble

A gritty and dramatic rap album with lyrics by one of my favorite MCs, Alexi “Crescent” Moon of Kill the Vultures fame, backed by Big Trouble, who are the guys from Heiruspecs. I just hope this leads to a full length.

Crescent Moon is in Big Trouble “Hunting Season” (mp3)

Purchase | Official | MySpace

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#2) Solid Gold Bodies of Water (album review)

Solid Gold’s electronic-tinged songs are epically dark and the band does not cut any corners in making this massive sounding album. It’s nice to hear a local group trying a genre outside The Replacements-aping alt-country-indie-rock and having such a resounding success.

Purchase | MySpace

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#3) Yer Cronies When I Grow Up

In a similar fashion to saying “they sound like the Beatles,” comparing a band to Radiohead is often a fruitless endeavor and does little to accurately describe a band. That being said, Yer Cronies sound like Radiohead. Their debut album also touches on Band of Horses sounding reverb heavy rock on their very impressive debut LP.

Purchase | MySpace

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#4) Private Dancer Trouble Eyes

Trouble Eyes shows Private Dancer at their loose, garage rocking best. Half of the song have silly lyrics and slashing guitars, while the other half are brooding, Explosions in the Sky type instrumentals. Both styles show the band in top form and put them in line to be one of the best local bands in the coming years.

Purchase | MySpace

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#5) Vampire Hands Me and You Cherry Red

Vampire Hands are one of the strongest and most consistent local bands of the last couple years. With their latest release, Me and You Cherry Red, and their always engaging live show, their Velvet Underground-like percussion heavy freak rock is always worth checking out.

Purchase | MySpace

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[list by guest contributor Brody McCoy]

#1) Caroline Smith and The Good Night Sleeps Backyard Tent Set (album review)

Caroline will be the next big thing to come out of Minneapolis, just wait…

Purchase | MySpace

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#2) Now, Now Every Children Cars

Driving at night? Whip this in.

Now, Now Every Children “Not One, But Two” (mp3)

Purchase | Official | MySpace

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#3) Flin Flon Bombers The Very Best of the Flin Flon Bombers

Classic Beatles album.

MySpace

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#4) Jeremy Messersmith The Silver City

“Franklin Avenue” sounds sooooooo good.

Purchase | Official | MySpace

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#5) Chris Koza The Dark Delirious Morning

Love his band live, love the record.

Purchase | Official | MySpace

Tags: A Night in the Box, Aby Wolf, Caroline Smith and the Good Night Sleeps, Chris Koza, Crescent Moon Is In Big Trouble, Dark Dark Dark, Doomtree, Estate, Flin Flon Bombers, Gay Witch Abortion, Guante, Jeremy Messersmith, Muja Messiah, Nobot, Now Now Every Children, Private Dancer, Solid Gold, The Battle Royale, Vampire Hands, Yer Cronies