The 2008 Ho Media Awards
If I Make One Post Per Year, This Is It

Ready to learn about all the things you missed out on in 2008? Pencil and paper ready? Er...copy/paste and MS Notepad at the ready?

Website of the Year - ThaBombShelter

If you're constantly saying to yourself "Damn, this Josh guy really listens to some fantastic shit. Where does he find his inspiration?", head on over to ThaBombShelter and put something new and eclectic in your ears. Between last.fm and TBS, there are finally some decent sources for new music that aren't based purely on a sales-based metric.

Book of the Year - Neal Stephenson's "Anathem"

This book aggravated a number of Stephenson's closest followers because of its lengthy expositions into some pretty deeply philosophical questions. But for those of us who love both philosophy and science/math, this enormous tome was well worth the effort of learning all of the made-up words it contains. Challenging? Bring it. I'm still sitting on "The Baroque Cycle"; I hope to get through all three volumes before 2010.

Movie of the Year - The Dark Knight

The only other movie that even came close was WALL-E.

Discovery Artist of the Year - Andrew Bird

Is there any one man with a wider musical repertoire than Andrew Bird?

No? I didn't think so.

From the hot jazz and swing that influenced his band, the Bowl of Fire, to the soft acoustic guitars and tremulous whistling of his newer solo work, this man blows my mind. Even his live acts are amazing, and that can't be said for every one of my favorite bands; South, my big discovery last year, reportedly puts on a show that's mediocre at best. I'd go so far as to say he's probably not just the best thing I've found this year, but also in the last five years as well.

The UK band Embrace should be given an Honorable Mention, particularly for the album Out of Nothing, which I would consider one of the best 10 albums I've ever heard.

Album of the Year - Elbow's The Seldom Seen Kid

I expected this race to be a lot more difficult to decide, but the winner was already clear several weeks ago. The Counting Crows album was great, but a little schizophrenic. South's new album is probably their second best ever, but suffered a bit due to its lack of smooth flow. Dig Out Your Soul went down the same path - fantastic songs, but jolted out of rhythm by setting "I'm Outta Time" right in the middle of the record. And Coldplay's album, although much stronger than their last, just doesn't have the same emotional resonance as TSSK.

I saw Elbow for the first time this summer as well, back in April when they were in Chicago. One of the best live shows I've ever attended, even if the whole crowd booed me when I suggested to Guy that we all sing "Wonderwall" while they were off-stage before the encore. He still shook my hand afterwards though, as he thanked us all for coming out. Great show and phenomenal album.

Honorable Mentions should be accorded to each of the albums mentioned above, as well as Blind Pilot's 3 Rounds and a Sound.

Song of the Year - Coldplay's "Violet Hill"

This single got me excited for this album like I can't even describe. It had the same slow pounding rhythm that "Politik" had, which implied that maybe the band was aiming to refine and update the sound of their second album. While the rest of the album was quite a departure from this sound, VH echoes strongly enough of that legendary AROBTTH era that I'm declaring it this year's Song of the Year.

Playlist of the Year

A lot of artists get tragically ignored when each category gets only one winner. No category suffers as much as that of individual songs. This is a list of the best songs I've heard this year - some new to 2008, some just plain new to me. Burn some of your Christmas iTunes cards on some of this!

Tragic - Tom Baxter
Grounds for Divorce - Elbow
Death and All His Friends - Coldplay
Genesseret - Anathallo
Armchairs - Andrew Bird
Way Out West - Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire
My Body is a Cage - Arcade Fire
The Story I Heard - Blind Pilot
On A Tuesday In Amsterdam Long Ago - Counting Crows
Ashes - Embrace
Old Old Fashioned - Frightened Rabbit
Boy With The Blues - Oasis
The Turning - Oasis
Cry Til The Morning - Richard Ashcroft
California - Rogue Wave
Century Eyes - Shearwater
The Creeping - South
Every Light Has Blown - South

Looking Ahead: 2009

The outlook for the year is pretty weak. Andrew Bird's new album, Noble Beast, comes out at the end of this month. Doves and Starsailor both plan to release their albums around the end of Q1. Other than that, the year should be relatively quiet. Technically '09 will include '08 releases that I just recently purchase/received for Christmas, including Travis, Keane, and The Killers. NB is already a strong contender for Album of the Year 2009, so it's going to take some strong surprises to really shake things up.

Recession got you in a funk? Get the funk out and play some of these tunes. Happy New Year to all, and rock on 2009!