If this year's debut releases are any indication, then the prognosis for music is excellent in the years ahead. The best debuts of 2008 — not counting great releases from Bon Iver or Vampire Weekend, which we included in our 2007 roundup — embrace a wide variety of sounds and styles, including indie-rock, pop, disco, hip-hop, folk, electro-dance and techno freak beats, as well as a healthy dose of '70s-inspired classic roots rock. All are worth checking out.
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1. Fleet Foxes
The Seattle band’s first full-length album is an utterly gorgeous set of ethereal, psych-tinged folk. Using rich melodies and heavenly harmonies to flesh out beautiful, free-flowing songs, the disc echoes The Beach Boys, Neil Young, Sacred Harp singing and British folk. All the while, the group still sounds like it's created a magical musical world of its own. This is a stunner of a debut.
2. Hercules & Love Affair
This New York project, led by DJ/producer Andrew Butler, blends straight-up disco and house music with beautifully arranged dance tunes; the results are as poignant as they are celebratory. Many guest vocalists are featured here, most notably Antony Hegarty, who sounds like a disco natural in the vein of Sylvester.
3. School of Seven Bells
Former Secret Machines guitarist Ben Curtis provides the thick layers of dream-pop that lie beneath the soaring vocals of twin sisters Claudia and Alejandra Deheza. The trio borrows from a broad range of sources, from early Appalachian folk to '60s Krautrock, while maintaining a contemporary, ethereal feel.
4. Friendly Fires
The young British trio makes its debut with an excellent album of new-wave-influenced dance-rock, which features funky dance-floor rhythms and pop melodies that bring to mind the work of Talking Heads, The Rapture, New Order and LCD Soundsystem.
5. Cool Kids
The Chicago duo plays enjoyable old-school hip-hop that showcases raw, sparse production, as well as irreverent lyrics which send up old-school rap conventions as much as they celebrate them.
6. The Grand Archives
The debut full-length from this Seattle band -- led by Mat Brooke, formerly of Band of Horses and Carissa's Wierd -- is a lovely set of gentle indie-pop. A variety of instrumentation and beautiful multi-part harmonies help flesh out Brooke's sweetly wistful songs, which range from soft folk-pop ballads to energetic rockers.
7. Noah and the Whale
For optimistic, life-affirming indie-pop, listen to this every day. You might not need to refill your prescription for anti-depressants.
8. Blind Pilot
At first, the songs on 3 Rounds and a Sound might seem mellow and hazy, even a little unassuming. Over time, though, they grow on you, and ultimately beat down any resistance to their power and beauty.
9. Santogold
Although the New York-based Santogold (a.k.a. Santi White) is often compared to M.I.A. -- they work with the same producers (Switch, Diplo) and maintain a similar multi-genre approach -- her self-titled album is much more pop-oriented. Straightforward song structures help Santogold hold together her genre-blending mix of new-wave synth-pop, reggae, hip-hop, electronica, R&B and rock.
10. The Moondoggies
With a sound that recalls The Band, Neil Young and The Byrds, this excellent young roots-rock group lends soulful three-part harmonies to catchy, well-crafted songs that stretch out at times, yet never engage in self-indulgent noodling. The Moondoggies' members fit right in to today's Seattle scene, nestled between the sublime folk-pop of Fleet Foxes and the earthier country-rock of The Maldives.
11. Joshua Morrison
Another sublime debut, this collection of low-key folk-pop from a previously unknown Seattle singer-songwriter combines sparse production, haunting melodies and whispered, airy vocals that bring to mind Sun Kil Moon's Mark Kozelek.
Copyright 2008 KEXP