a.m.p.m. favourites of 2008

Squeezing as many songs as possible into 80 minutes in order to summarise the best of a whole year of music is a pretty daunting task involving tough decisions and regrettably obligatory omissions. But after much deliberation, here are my favourite tracks from 2008:
01 Why? - Fatalist Palmistry
02 Amadou and Mariam - Sabali
03 Born Ruffians - Kurt Vonnegut
04 TV on the Radio - Family Tree
05 The Walkmen - In the New Year
06 Titus Andronicus - My Time Outside The Womb
07 Islands - Creeper
08 Laura Marling - The Captain And Hourglass
09 Fleet Foxes - He Doesn't Know Why
10 No Age - Eraser
11 Crystal Castles - Courtship Date
12 Lykke Li - Dance Dance Dance
13 Shearwater - Rooks
14 White Denim - I Can Tell
15 Little Joy - Keep Me In Mind
16 Frightened Rabbit - The Twist
17 Foals - Cassius
18 Love Is All - Wishing Well
19 Times New Viking - Drop-Out
20 Ratatat - Falcon Jab
21 Chad VanGaalen - Willow Tree
22 Grand Archives - Sleepdriving
23 Jay Jay Pistolet - Friend

The whole kit and caboodle: ampm2008mix.zip

Thanks to Andy Gilmore for the cover art.

a.m.p.m.'s favourite albums of 2008

Aside from the obvious quartet of MGMT, Bon Iver, Vampire Weekend and TV on the Radio, here are 10 albums (in no particular order) that knocked my socks off in 2008:

1. Born Ruffians - Red Yellow and Blue
Born Ruffians - Badonkadonkey

2. Why? - Alopecia
Why? - These Few Presidents

3. Titus Andronicus - The Airing of Grievances
Titus Andronicus - Arms Against Atrophy

4. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes - Tiger Mountain Peasant Song

5. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
Crystal Castles - Air War

6. Grand Archives - The Grand Archives
Grand Archives - The Crime Window

7. Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight
Frightened Rabbit - Old Old Fashioned

8. Lindstrom - Where You Go I Go Too
Lindstrom - Grand Ideas

9. Chad VanGaalen - Soft Airplane
Chad VanGaalen - Cries of the Dead

10. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
The Hold Steady - Constructive Summer

Remix....Day

A pretty heavy weekend work schedule always foils all of your other weekend plans. You know what I'm talking about. Here are a few remixes from all over the map for this week that I tend to rock during my 6 am walk / bus ride.

Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal (Telemitry Remix)

- I'll just rack this one up to the hundreds of club "bangers".

First Aid Kit - Tiger Mountain Peasant Song (Fleet Foxes Cover)

- Yes I know, not a remix, but a great rendition by these two young Stockholm girls, recently picked up by The Knife's Rabid Records.

T.I Feat. Trina - Whatever you like (Remix)

- I have nothing but love for you T.I. As you over expose yourself before you head to the slammer. Oh the new album? Meh. You were alright on Entourage though champ.

More Sweet Sweet Video

No Age play in the backyard.



Fleet Foxes crank out the claymation.



Junip, older but overlooked... and Swedish, so you know it must be at least mediocre. Let's play guess the singer!



No Age - Things I Did When I Was Dead
Fleet Foxes - Mykonos
Junip - Turn to the Assassin
Junip - The Ghost of Tom Joad

- BA

Black Cab Sessions

Fleet Foxes and Sunset Rubdown are just two of many bands to jump on the Black Cab Sessions bandwagon. The premise? Indie artists jump in the back of one of London's iconic black cabs and play a stripped down track while getting a ride around the city. Recent participants have included The National, Bon Iver, Spoon, The New Pornographers, Cave Singers and Lightspeed Champion.

Robin of Fleet Foxes contributing an excellent cover of 'Crayon Angels' while cruising around the streets of Holborn a few weeks ago:


3/5 of Sunset Rubdown performing an unreleased track called 'You Go On Ahead' before their gig at the Luminaire last month:


Lykke Li with 'I'm Good I'm Gone':


- a.m.p.m.

Fleet Foxy

Their sound has been compared to Band of Horses, My Morning Jacket and Neil Young, but I think there is something truly special about Fleet Foxes. So did Pitchfork, when they gave the band's Sun Giant EP a lofty 8.7/10 a few months ago and the packed-beyond-capacity crowd at Hoxton Bar and Kitchen on Thursday night strengthened my conviction that this is a band on the brink. The Seattle 5-piece brought their 4 part harmonies and bashful charm to London as the extremely poorly concealed "secret" special guest for the last Moshi Moshi night until September, performing alongside F. Lunaire, White Williams and thecocknbullkid.

The Foxes' amazing live presence, the completely enraptured audience and the sheer quality of the band's music wowed everyone in the place and triggered "that's the best show I've seen since yadda yadda yadda" comments from the majority of the crowd. Copies of the EP and new album (not officially released until June 3rd on Sub Pop) were snapped up in record time post-performance. I felt a bit sorry for thecocknbullkid, technically the headliner, as 93.2% of the audience flooded out after Fleet Foxes. And really, their set was not to be topped.

White Williams - New Violence

Fleet Foxes - Mykonos
Fleet Foxes - Your Protector
Fleet Foxes - Oliver James (live)
High-five to Ohmpark; they've got an entire live set in stellar high quality here.



- a.m.pm.