Tiny Mix Tapes Favorite Albums of 2008...

22. Earth - The Bees Made Honey In The Lion’s Skull
[Southern Lord]
by Bryan Reed

The Bees Made Honey In The Lion’s Skull is not merely another Earth album; it might come to be known as the Earth album. At the very least, it’s the Earth album we’ll remember not for its heavy drones, but for its melodic finesse and its seamless intersection of sap-thick pacing, subtle twang, Gospel uplift, and jazz clarity. Talk all you want of the record’s subtle and masterful instrumental interplay: Adrienne Davies’ deliberate, understated, and rock-solid percussion; Dylan Carlson’s effortless melodicism and featherlight suspension of perfect riff after perfect riff, augmented magnificently with the periodic counterpoint of jazz guitarist Bill Frisell; Steve Moore’s warm organ comps; Don McGreevey’s full-bodied and, umm, earthy bass. Revel in the humid hum of Earth’s legendary amps, the juxtaposition of polish and grit and its reflection on the band’s simultaneously mournful and hopeful tone (see that Gospel influence in full-force, eh?). But forget not the truest test of a record’s universal merit: its immediacy — something that often lacks in downtempo instrumental work. And rest assured that this latest from Carlson and co. delivers its eased-in, slowly uncoiling enchantment from the start and never lets up in its seamless and effortless evocation of the spirits of American music.

Earth - Southern Lord - Album Review

Tiny Mix Tapes, 12/17/08 (also, see the other 24 albums of the year)

...individual list:

Bryan Reed:
25. Akimbo - Jersey Shores (Neurot)
24. The Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride (4AD)
23. The Rosebuds - Life Like (Merge)
22. Women - Women (Jagjaguwar)
21. TV On The Radio - Dear Science (DGC/Interscope)
20. Nachtmystium - Assassins: Black Meddle Pt. I (Century Media)
19. Johann Johannson - Fordlandia (4AD)
18. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III (Universal Motown/Cash Money)
17. Giant Sand - proVISIONS (Yep Roc)
16. Jenks Miller - Approaching The Invisible Mountain (Holidays For Quince/New American Folk Hero)
15. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes (Sub Pop)
14. The Foreign Exchange - Leave It All Behind (Hall of Justus/Nicolay Music)
13. Double Negative - Raw Energy EP (Sorry State)
12. Wale - The Mixtape About Nothing (self-released)
11. Bellafea - Cavalcade (Southern)
10. The Dodos - Visiter (Frenchkiss)
09. Grampall Jookabox - Ropechain (Asthmatic Kitty)
08. Fucked Up - The Chemistry of Common Life (Matador)
07. Harvey Milk - Life…The Best Game In Town (Hydra Head)
06. Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing (ATP)
05. Mamiffer - Hirror Enniffer (Hydra Head)
04. Nomo - Ghost Rock (Ubiquity)
03. Earth - The Bees Made Honey In The Lion’s Skull (Southern Lord)
02. WHY? - Alopecia (Anticon)
01. Mount Eerie with Julie Doiron and Fred Squire - Lost Wisdom (P.W. Elverum & Sun)