Best Albums of the Year 2008

OK, OK, off topic, I know. But there was some great music out there, and with me working out of a home office most of the time, the iPod shuffle is an important part of my work environment. With no further ado, then, here are the best albums I heard this past year.

1. Nomo, "Ghost Rock." Bleepy analog synthesizers, plinky homemade instruments, killer brass section. Funky as all get out. This album sounded like nothing else I heard last year. It has remained in my car CD stack since summertime.


NOMO Live session from Svetlana legetic on Vimeo.

2. The Helio Sequence, "Keep Your Eyes Ahead." I never figured out why I rarely heard any of these songs on the radio. They rock. Plus, there's a great countrified tune and a swampy-sounding song thrown in for good measure.



3. The Gaslight Anthem, "The '59 Sound." Driving power-pop, great lyrics, allusions to Tom Petty, Miles Davis and (of course) Springsteen, this Jersey band will be around for a long time.

Old White Lincoln


4. The Cat Empire, "So Many Nights." Quieter than their prior effort, less of a party album, more serious. But still a great listen from top to bottom. This Australian band effortlessly combines genres and keeps the foot tapping.

No Longer There


5. Fleet Foxes, "Fleet Foxes." A hint of Crosby, Stills & Nash; a taste of The Beach Boys. On one track they out-My-Morning-Jacket MMJ themselves.


White Winter Hymnal from Grandchildren on Vimeo.

Honorable mentions: REM's "Accelerate" (the best thing they've done since "New Adventures in Hi-Fi"), My Morning Jacket's "Evil Urges" (wanted to like it better than the last two great ones, but simply didn't), "Secret Machines" (ditto), "Vampire Weekend" (a few really catchy pop songs, and some filler. Will look forward to their next one), "Grand Archives" (ditto).

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best of, music, 2008

Best business books of 2008 (so far)

Click here for my end of year 2008 list. Continue reading for the half-year list.

It's been a great year for business books, in my estimation, so rather than hold off till the end of the year, here's a first-half "best of" list for your perusal:




"The Opposable Mind" - Roger Martin. How the greatest business innovators can resolve paradoxes and therefore create new markets.

"Presentation Zen" - Garr Reynolds. Radical rules for creating and delivering powerful business presentations.

"Rain Making" (2nd edition) - Ford Harding. Finally, a book about selling that doesn't shout, but quietly gives commonsense, useful advice on every page.









"Groundswell" - Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff. Describes the business impact of social media technologies like blogs, social networks, forums, etc. It would be important just for the subject matter. Delightfully, it's also very well researched, documented, and written.






"Senior Leadership Teams" - Ruth Wageman, Debra Nunes, James Burruss, Richard Hackman. Illuminating a hidden corner of company dysfunction--the leadership team that can't work together--and demonstrating the practices that can overcome it.






"Brain Rules" - John Medina. A delightful, story-filled book that illuminates how the brain works, and how we can change our behaviors to be nicer to our brain and to others'.

Tags:
reading list, best of, business, 2008

Best CD of the half-year

My favorite album, by far, of 2008 is Nomo's Ghost Rock. A concoction of dance-funk, electronica and horns, it's strong from start to finish--from "Brainwave," where the lead instrument is a bleep-bleeping analog synthesizer and the other instruments provide weird backup, to "Nova," a plinky dance track. And in between, the title track and "All The Stars" are standouts.

Great rhythms, improvisation, funky beats that will make you move your body. They're all here. But don't look for vocals, because there aren't any.

The band, nine strong, is from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Their earlier albums, "Nomo" and "New Tones" are also excellent. I had a chance to see some of their live show when they were in Philadelphia last week, and they absolutely rocked.

The best way to check out some of their music and see tour dates is to go to their Myspace page.