Best Music of 2008

I'm just about ready to begin the countdown of my top 40 albums of 2008. Since I've already written a little about most, if not all, of these albums in my Frequent Spins series throughout the year, it will be a challenge to write something different about each as I count them down. So, don't expect any critical insight--not that you necessarily get that from my Frequent Spins write-ups anyway. I may have a tendency to lean a little more towards what each record actually meant to me--or just something interesting or completely random.

So, stay tuned, as beginning today or tomorrow, I'll be posting an entry every other day or so that will include 6 to 8 of the year's best--in my opinion.

Flight 45

The Houston Astros' all-time leader in games pitched, Dave Smith, died this week at age 53. Smith, a two-time all-star who also is second on the Astros' career saves list, apparently died of a heart attack on Wednesday. He is remembered by those who played with and against him as a fierce competitor, and by teammates and friends for his generosity and zest for life. Giants third base coach and former big leaguer Tim Flannery, who also served on the Padres' coaching staff with Smith from 1999 to 2001, called him "...the most giving, unconditionally compassionate man anyone ever came across..." and fondly remembers him "...reaching into his pocket and pulling out $100 to give to someone selling newspapers for a quarter".

Personally, I remember Smith for the part he played in what I recall as the most exciting baseball post-season I've ever witnessed. During my sophomore year in college, I was part of a group of haters who rooted passionately against the 1986 Mets of Gary Carter, Keith Hernandez, Lenny Dykstra and Ray Knight, even going so far as to cheer for the Red Sox in the World Series.

Somewhat ironically, I no longer am the typical New Yorker who loves his team and despises their crosstown rivals, but 1986 is still one of the primary reasons I hate the Red Sox to this day. That is, the one time I rooted for them...well, you know what happened. Despite the fact that the '86 Astros were essentially a one-man show, and broke my heart by nearly toppling the vaunted Mets, I still have a soft spot for them, for the valiant effort they put forth against a team they had no business believing they could beat.

Smith didn't pitch very well in that LCS, most notably blowing game three by yielding a 9th inning game-winning two-run home run to Lenny Dykstra, and ruining the Astros' chances of going up 2-1 on the Mets with Mike Scott--the aforementioned one-man show--throwing the next day. However, he was as much a part of that team as Billy Hatcher, Glenn Davis, Charlie Kerfeld and Alan Ashby. Actually, as I peruse the box scores of that series, I realize that he was probably the biggest reason his team lost, but I love the '86 Astros, and Dave Smith was loved by his teammates.

Rest in peace, Flight 45.

Frequent Spins (2008.9)

It's that time of year once again. As 2008 winds down, I present you with the year's final installment of Frequent Spins. More importantly, though, it's time to revisit my favorites for the year and start putting together the list. I shifted to the top 40 format last year, and I think I'm going to stick with it. I feel like the back end of this year's top 40 is a little stronger than last, but it's going to be a little weaker at the top. In fact, 2008 may be the most lacking in truly great albums of any year in a while.

Bound Stems - The Family Afloat
Frequently throughout this album, I have to stop and think of what indie rock band they remind me of, but most of the time, that comparison eludes me. Maybe that's because, while far from completely unique, this band just isn't that easy to pigeon-hole. Catchy throughout, but frequently leaving you wanting just a little bit more, and not necessarily in a bad way, this is a strong set of pretty straight-up indie rock/pop.

French Kicks - Swimming
The French Kicks have always been an enigma to me, curiously so considering this is their first album that I've listened to. They've been an enigma based solely on reputation. Are they over-rated indie rock pretenders akin to the Liars, or truly worthy of comparisons to bands like The Strokes and The Walkmen? Obviously, I never bothered to make my own determination until now, and considering I'm including them here, I'd say they're much closer to the latter than the former.

Los Campesinos! - We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
This high energy Welch indie-pop seven-piece was one of the busiest acts in the business this year, releasing two full-length albums. Hold on Now, Youngster... was a solid effort, but We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed, their second release of 2008, is even better.

Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Cardinology
The former Whiskeytown frontman's latest hasn't been well received by the critics. Safe, lackadaisical, self-indulgent, uninviting...I'm sure Adams has heard these all before. While it may be a drop-off from last year's Easy Tiger, which I consider to be his second best solo record, it still has all the elements that have always appealed to me about his stuff. Who else could cover ground ranging from the gentle reminder of "Go Easy" to the bitter ill wishes of "Fix It", all by the album's third track?

The Rural Alberta Adantage - Hometowns
I discovered this one on eMusic, as it's been at or near the top of their charts for a little while now. They cleverly refer to this album by the description, "In an aeroplane over Alberta...", but I'd call the Neutral Milk Hotel comparison a bit of a stretch. Quite a bit less quirky, and a little more rootsy, than Jeff Mangum's troupe, The RAA still deliver a fine first record, one that ranks among my favorite debuts of the year.

Also spin-worthy
Jay Bennett - Whatever Happened I Apologize
Pelle Carlberg - The Lilac Time
The Tallest Man on Earth - Shallow Grave
Kanye West - 808s and Heartbreak
Neil Young - Sugar Mountain Live At Canterbury House 1968

Oh, and don't forget to stay tuned here for my Best of 2008 countdown, which should kick off about a week from now and run through New Year's Eve.

Neil Young, Wilco @ DCU Center

Saturday night's Neil Young show at the DCU Center quite possibly ranks as the best concert I've ever attended that I didn't know I was going to until a couple hours prior to its start. It also ranks as one of the best Christmas gifts--presentation included--I've ever received.

My new lady friend pulled off quite the feat in getting me to head out towards Worcester with her on a late Saturday afternoon. The plan was that we were heading to dinner at an old favorite of hers, a family chain of restaurants prevalent out west, but of which there are few locations back east, none closer than a 45-minute drive from Boston. After that, we were going to check out some Christmas village to get a taste of the holiday season. Or, so I thought.

While at dinner, she said she had an early gift for me. I opened the box she handed me, and was almost speechless to find an e-mail confirmation of tickets to the show, with the words "WANT TO GO?" written on it. Do I want to go? If you don't know the answer to that question, you only have to read this to find out.

I had originally decided not to go to this show because most of my friends balked at the venue and the ticket prices, and I regretted this decision a little more each time I received an email reminder from Ticketmaster or Live Nation. So, to find out I was going to the show less than two hours prior to its start was pretty incredible.

Wilco's set was solid, as they played mostly material from Sky Blue Sky and A Ghost is Born, but the highlights were "I'm the Man Who Loves You" and "Jesus, Etc." from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Somehow, it didn't feel quite right not having them close the show with "Misunderstood", and with Jeff Tweedy belting out repeatedly, "I'd like to thank you all for nothing at all", at the end of the song. But, he probably figured that wouldn't be as well received from a crowd that probably wasn't there to see his band.

Neil started out strongly, putting the place on notice that he was there to rock, with show opening renditions of "Love and Only Love" and "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)", before transitioning to one of my personal favorites, "Everybody Knows This is Nowhere". Speaking of which, the set also included my two favorite guitar anthems, "Cortez the Killer" and "Cowgirl in the Sand", the latter being a little less than spectacular with no Danny Whitten or Poncho Sampredo to dual it out with him.

An extended string of a couple songs from last year's Chrome Dreams II and a few from what I could only assume is a forthcoming release lost my interest briefly, but the show ended the way it started, with an audience-rousing version of "Rockin' in the Free World". An encore of "A Day in the Life" wouldn't have been my choice, but overall Neil proved himself to be as vital as ever at age 63.

Big Apple Second Chances, Vegas Style

With the winter meetings in Las Vegas coming to an end this week, there's no question that the Yankees and the Mets stole the show. With each team making two key additions to address their respective areas of greatest need, they virtually assured that there will be a Subway Series in 2009. Alright, let's not get carried away here, but the two teams from New York were clearly the clubs looking for redemption, following disappointing 2008 seasons, in the "Capital of Second Chances".

The Yankees' signings of CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett, while not necessarily the most economically sound moves, certainly have to make the rest of the league take notice. Despite missing the post-season last year with a payroll of over $2 million per victory, the Yankees still won 89 games while getting significantly less contribution from Chien-Ming Wang, Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy than was expected. They will most likely get more out of Wang and Chamberlain this year, and despite the retirement of Mike Mussina, the additions of Sabathia and Burnett should easily put them back in the playoff picture.

Don't expect them to rest just yet, either. By the time they're done maneuvering, the Yankees, whether deserved or not, will be the favorite to win the AL East and, probably, the World Series. That distinction, of course, will be based on how the team looks on paper. Translating that to actual success is the thing the Yanks have had difficulty with in recent years.

Since I brought it up, we all know that making economically sound moves is not the Yankees' modus operandi. In an era where it's believed that championship contenders are built through a balance of developing good young talent and making key acquisitions of proven veteran performers, fans have become increasingly interested in whether or not their teams are spending their money wisely. That is, all except Yankees fans. Milwaukee Brewers loyalists know that, if they had signed Sabathia to a four-year, $100 million contract, and if he ended up contributing significantly less than being the hero he was last year, the team would not be able to overcome this. Even Red Sox, Mets, Angels and Dodgers fans know that their teams can ill afford to make a monumental mistake with a long-term free agent contract.

Yankees fans do not have this concern. They do not need to care whether or not Sabathia will be overpaid in the 5th, 6th and 7th years of this $161 million deal. If he is anything approaching the Sabathia of 2007 and 2008 for two or three years, he gives them a chance to climb back to the top of the heap. The Yankees have had several bad contracts on the books for quite a few years now, yet last year is the first that they fell short of the playoffs, and, even so, were still in contention for most of the year.

With a team payroll of $201 million for 2008, the Yankees spent $2.25 million per victory. Even the Mets, Tigers and Red Sox, all with payrolls in the vicinity of $138 million, would have been as bad as the Seattle Mariners, the worst team in baseball, at that rate. Yet, if the Yankees improve this "efficiency" to $2 million per, that would translate to 100 wins. Only the three aforementioned teams, plus the Chicago White Sox, would have won as many as 60 games by that calculation.

I think you get my point. The Yankees don't have to spend wisely to win. They do have to make better personnel decisions, though, and this is something that has eluded them in recent years. Will the Sabathia and Burnett signings, and whatever they do next, continue that trend, or will they finally hit the nail on the head with their major free agent acquisitions? We'll have to wait and see, but I have to say that A.J. Burnett, who just agreed to a five-year, $82.5 million deal, somehow reminds me of a cross between Kevin Brown and Kyle Farnsworth. Again, we'll have to wait and see.

The Mets still have some rotation issues to address, including their new #1 priority--the re-signing of Oliver Perez--but they could not have done a better job of shoring up their major area of weakness. The Francisco Rodriguez signing--three years, $37 million--was a no-brainer. With the Angels never making a serious attempt to re-sign him, beyond the contract extension they offered last winter, his move to Queens was a foregone conclusion. The market for closers this off-season was clearly a buyers' market, and the Mets were the club with the most purchasing power.

The Mets have had a closer of Rodriguez's caliber for the past three years, though, so would the K-Rod signing be enough to address the area that, inarguably, was the reason the Phillies were better in 2008? Apparently, they didn't think so. The Mets had setup problems last year, even before Billy Wagner went down with an injury that will keep him out through the 2009 season, so just a day removed from acquiring their new closer, they traded for J.J. Putz in a three-way deal involving the Indians and Mariners.

The Putz acquisition shows that the Mets mean business about not letting last year's downfall repeat itself. Not only does he instantly become the favorite for the best setup man in baseball, but Putz provides them with an insurance policy they wish they had last year. Well on his way to becoming one of the best closers in the American League--in fact, take a look at the 2007 numbers and try to convince me he wasn't the best--until injuries set him back last year, Putz gives the Mets a backup plan that no other team has right now.

So, while the Yankees did the most spending--and, some will say, gambling--in Vegas last week, the Mets come away the biggest winners, by playing the percentages and knowing when to double down.