Favorite edition 2008: Quarter third

Wow, third quarter, where did you go?

It’s now Q4, and the Favorite Edition list for 2008 is pretty much unchanged from Q2. I did spend a lot of last quarter listening to classical, catalog and reissues, but the release schedule for Q3 did seem a bit lightweight. If anything, the biggest releases of that quarter were catalog: a slew of remastered U2 and a b-side collection from Shiina Ringo.

Perhaps the biggest Q3 release — for this site, anyway — is one I’m a bit too broke to get: ZAZEN BOYS’ ZAZEN BOYS 4. Here’s hoping the banking crisis won’t cut too deeply into raises or profit-sharing this year. (Right.)

Onward to the list …

  1. MASS OF THE FERMENTING DREGS, MASS OF THE FERMENTING DREGS

  2. The Magnetic Fields, Distortion

  3. Emmylou Harris, All I Intended to Be

  4. ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION, World World World

  5. Chris Walla, Field Manual

  6. hey willpower, P.D.A.

  7. Bob Mould, District Line

  8. Leo Imai, Fix Neon

  9. Nico Muhly, Mothertongue

  10. Kylie Minogue, X

As for the Q3 releases themselves, a few might actually get promoted to the Favorite 10 the more I get to know them.

  • Spangle call Lilli line, ISOLATION I like Spangle call Lilli line, but nothing they’ve recorded so far has ever compelled me to buy their albums. This one might be the exception. The "Gothic classical" sound on this album is actually more late-Romantic/early-20th Century, just borderline Debussy. The piano work on "Inc." is quite stunning.
  • Samamidon, All Is Well Released in Q1, I didn’t hear it till Q3. Nico Muhly did the arrangements. It’s a perfect complement to Mothertongue, on which Amidon performs.
  • Hajime Chitose, Cassini The Ueda Gen-produced titled track demonstrates just how much he contributed to Hajime’s sound. It’s far and away the most sonically rich track on the album. Still, the set of songs collected on Cassini do feel stronger than the ones on Hanadairo.