Yep, that's right. In the old days I would have said that Panic at the Disco's Pretty.Odd. was in my cd changer all year long. Let's just say that in 2008 it had the heaviest rotation on my various music devices. This was the year that I discovered The Ting Tings and Vampire Weekend (more on them in a moment), both with great debut albums. Architecture in Helsinki and Of Montreal were also new discoveries for me, and new albums from Tracy Chapman, David Byrne and Brian Eno, and the ever-fabulous Grace Jones also rocked my world.
But Panic was there all along as new albums came and went during the year. Pretty.Odd. is a mature second album. It's not cutesy like their debut effort. In all honesty, I thought of Panic as a group with music potential that made interesting videos. The new album confirms that. The album incorporates a huge range of musical influences in very creative and meaningful ways. It's engaging from start to finish, with the first two singles actually among the weaker contributions.
"When the Day Met the Night" was easily the most played song on my iPod. "Northern Downpour" is also terrific. I liked it over the summer. Pretty.Odd. was, indeed, the soundtrack to my summer. But by fall, I was loving it.
And so, my friends, think of this as a questionable choice, but appreciate my integrity. And most of all, give Pretty.Odd. an openminded listen. It's a great album.
And now back to Vampire Weekend. Their album was the first one I purchased in 2008, and it was a stunning debut. The group was all over the place in their debut year. A Saturday Night Live appearance was terrific and later efforts "Ottoman" and "Everywhere" (yes, that Everywhere) were also fine.
The album is well-written, well-produced, engaging, intriguing, witty and good good fun. And if that's not enough, I'm guessing this is the first group to ever sing about the Oxford comma. Vampire Weekend is another album well worth your time and worthy of that slot right up there with Panic at the Disco.
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