Year end lists are not an easy thing to do, and generally are of little interest outside of looking at others in hopes of justifying your own likes. Still, I enjoy the task and look forward to the end of each year to once again try and come up with something to share with anyone who chooses to peek. The biggest problem I run into each year (and something I hope to change in 2009) is that I never keep close track of my new discoveries each year. So, I am left to work off of my memory and take a look over what I reviewed throughout the year (and double checking their release dates). The end results for the 2008 campaign is a 22-album list. 

Something I noticed while going over my listenings is that I did not stray too far into esoteric stuff.

(More about ’2008: The Year in Music’…)

Patrick Wolf has teamed up with Oscar winning actress Tilda Swinton on his new album. Swinton appears on four tracks on ‘Battle’, which is set to be released later this year. The actress, who has appeared in ‘Michael Clayton’, ‘The Beach’ and ‘The Chronicles Of Narnia’, originally met Wolf after he approached her at the premier for her 2008 film ‘Julia’. Talking about working with Wolf, Swinton said: “My feeling is that we almost certainly come from the same planet: kith and kin. His music feels like the unexpressed soundtrack of a great film I want to see – and try to catch every night before I go to sleep. It’s a lovely thing to be a part of that magical landscape.” ‘Battle’ is Patrick Wolf’s first album to be released on his Bloody Chamber Music label.
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Just when I thought my holiday's were an official bust, I got a highly confidential phone call, that would change my maddeningly dull New Year weekend.

Instead of joining the SoCal ranks and hitting up one of the many New Year's Eve celebrations, I was the victim of a nasty headache. No, I am not usually prone to migraines. I guess I had way to much on my mind, as I waited for my family to return from their badly timed trip to Israel. More on that later…

After my long distance calls and night of CNN watching, my brain overloaded a bit and I had to pass on any partying. I had no idea how much I would make up for lost time!

The next day, my cell phone jumped to life, with a call from a good friend of mine.

(More about ‘Concert Review: George Clinton, Parliament/Funkadelic, 01/01/08 at Nokia Theater L.A. Live Center, Los Angeles, CA’…)

A few years back, multi-instrumentalist Hilary Noble brought his remarkable talents into a partnership with equally skilled pianist Rebecca Cline and formed Enclave, a group dedicated to their concept of an Afro-Latin/post-bop jazz fusion. The quartet's initial album, 2005's Enclave, found a receptive audience among jazz fans and critics and formed the basis for a follow-up, Enclave Diaspora, now out on the Enclave Jazz label. The new effort continues to present listeners with the opportunity to feel the heat with some of today's most exciting jazz sounds. Noble's sax and percussion talents are at the center of the group's music, but pianist Cline is an important factor too.
(More about ‘Music Review: Enclave – Enclave Diaspora‘…)

Rory Block is on a mission. She’s a missionary with a holy mission. She’s out to convince people to become more aware and appreciative of the Southern blues troubadours who started the Country Blues, the blues troubadours who made it famous, too, since they’re not always one and the same.

Rory Block Blues Walkin’ Like A Man is Block’s latest. Check that defiant look on the cover of this CD. The mocking smile just below the surface. Even Son House’s hat seems to be mocking, daring you to dispute.

There isn't anything on this disc that any blues fan hasn't heard before. Lovers of country blues, however, will greatly appreciate Block’s take on these Son House 13 masterpieces.

(More about ‘Music Review: Rory Block – Blues Walkin’ Like A Man‘…)

Since 2000, Musiq Soulchild has amassed seven Top 10 hits on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. And unlike many of his contemporaries, Musiq's chart dominance occurred quietly and with a humble air of confidence. Upon close inspection, Musiq's prodigious output places him in an elite crowd of R&B heavyweights. In fact, he is on an incredibly short list of R&B male artists who have been able to release five best-selling (and award-winning) albums within an eight year time span in the past 30 years. One of six, Musiq stands alongside Prince, Luther Vandross, Gerald Levert, R.
(More about ‘Interview: Musiq Soulchild – Singer and Songwriter’…)

Funk music in Rio de Janeiro is set to be protected by law – making it an official form of Brazilian culture, and making discrimination against it illegal.

However, critics who argue that funk encourages drug-taking, crime and underage sex are protesting against the country’s proposed legislation.

The Guardian has reported that a bill to outlaw “any type of social, racial or cultural discrimination against the funk movement and its followers” is set to be voted on in 2009.

Marcelo Freixo is the state official behind the bill, and told the paper: “There is huge resistance.
(More about ‘Brazilian funk to be protected by law’…)

Written by Fumo Verde

Ween fans will dig this one. At the Cat’s Cradle, 1992 is a two-disc set, the first a CD recorded live at the Cat’s Cradle in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on December 9, 1992. At this time the band included Gene Ween (vocals & guitar) Dean Ween (vocals & guitar) and at bass and drums Yamaha Digital Audio Tape Deck. That’s right, Ween fans, with Kirk Miller as live sound engineer and Paul Monahan as tour manager, this was one of the first tours after signing with Elektra Records and the band were still just Dean and Gene. The second disc is a DVD, which is one hell of a bonus. It contains shows caught live at Vera in Groningen, Netherlands and Staches in Columbus Ohio.

(More about ‘Music Review: Ween – At the Cat’s Cradle, 1992 (CD/DVD)’…)

‘X Factor’ winner Alexandra Burke has held on at the top of the UK Singles Chart tonight (December 28) to claim the last Number One of 2008. The singer remains top with her cover of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’. The track has also been crowned the biggest selling song of 2008, finishing ahead of the likes of Duffy and Katy Perry. The top ten singles of 2008 were: 1. Alexandra Burke – ‘Hallelujah’ 2. X Factor Finalists – ‘Hero’ 3. Duffy – ‘Mercy’ 4. Katy Perry – ‘I Kissed A Girl’ 5. Nickelback – ‘Rockstar’ 6. Estelle Ft Kanye West – ‘American Boy’ 7. Kings Of Leon – ‘Sex On Fire’ 8. Basshunter ft DJ Mental Theo – ‘Now You’re Gone’ 9. Madonna ft Justin Timberlake вЂ
(More about ‘X Factor’s Alexandra Burke stays top to claim 2008′s biggest single’…)

From Arctic Monkeys Alex Turner covering The Strokes with Lightspeed Champion in January, through Noel Gallagher and Jay-Z’s feud over Glastonbury in the summer to the recent ‘Hallelujah’ battle between ‘X Factor’, Jeff Buckley and Leonard Cohen 2008 has been a busy year for music news. Now with just a few days of the year left, we present the most popular NME.COM stories of 2008 – as read by you. Onstage attacks, big band reunions and even a bottle of bleach have made the Top Ten. Relive 2008′s most read moments again: 1.Russian officials try to outlaw emo as a danger teen trend. 2.Online hoaxers trick the world – well bits of it – into believing Lil Wayne has been shot dead.
(More about ‘Oasis, Kurt Cobain, Blur, Winehouse – NME.COM’s biggest stories of 2008′…)