Thoughts on 2008: Slim Twig
1/2/2009

To tide us over while we indulge in the holiday spirit gorging on stuffing and egg nog, we asked a bunch of musicians to tell us their thoughts on 2008. Some of them replied with lists of their favourite music, some told us their fondest memories and some came up with much more creative ways to commemorate this past year.

Slim Twig reflected on his year and gave us three different lists of how he listened to music this year:

2008 was a big year for me, as it saw the release of music made by me but not released by me! This is still a very novel concept, and I am sooo crazy excited for my album to drop in April of 2009. It is a sample-based adventure into fog and depravity. Should be fun! I'm also a fairly avid list maker. I've divided the music that kept me inspired in 2008 into three separate lists: music released this year; older music I listened to a lot in 2008; and local music I love, circa '08.

FROM THIS YEAR: My favourite acclaimed record of the year would have to be Portishead's Third. My favourite under-appreciated album would be Metronomy's Night's Out. They are both impressively produced records but for very different reasons. I loved how textural and mysterious i>Third was, while the production on Night's Out is purposefully immaculate and totally arty. I also really enjoyed Eric Copeland's new twelve-inch, Alien In A Garbage Dump; Black Dice are probably my favourite band and in a year where they released nothing, this was more than consolatory. Lastly, Nick Cave's new album was pretty great. I saw him live in Toronto on the eve of touring and it left me depressed and inspired for our shows out West.

OLDER MUSIC: I've been a fan of the Country Teaser's Satan Is Real Again... for a minute now but just discovered the solo albums by that band's songwriter, B.R. Wallers. As the Rebel, he's released something like 28 solo albums, and I am thoroughly convinced the man is a genius. Brilliantly sardonic lyrics with a psychedelic lo-fi sensibility. Kind of like a cross between the Fall and early Beck, and as brilliant as those dudes. I've been hooked for a while now. I also rediscovered Bowie's Heroes this year. I've been obsessed with his albums on either side of this one but for some reason, this album had slipped between the cracks for me. It is disgustingly brilliant.

LOCAL MUSIC: My friend Anthony is in a band with one other guy; they are called Actual Water. They don't play live but Anthony seems to make about an album a month. The last one he gave me was called Double Negatives and it is pretty fucking stellar. It's basically a teenage music nerd's take on genres of music made in the late '70s that are prefixed with art or avant — noise punk, no wave, Krautrock and ambient are all taken a crack at through his garage aesthetic. Totally invigorating stuff. I also really enjoyed $100's album, Forest Of Tears. I'm not a huge traditional country fan but Simone's storytelling ability is really great and the band are awesome live. Lastly, even though their album isn't out yet, I really love the music of Brides. Can't wait till they finish recording.
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