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My top five list of best albums of 2008
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David Gilmour
From swinging Cuban son to fiery urban sounds, my Top Five list of Best Albums of 2008 features an array of old and contemporary styles, but there’s one obscure, yet highly successful, genre stuck amid disco’s heyday.
1. “Buena Vista Social Club, Live At Carnegie Hall,” Buena Vista Social Club (Nonesuch) – Long overdue, this double CD live set is packed with electrifying performances by the legendary Cuban ensemble. A must-have album in any serious collection of Latin music. Kudos for the band - and Ry Cooder.
2. “Rio,” Aterciopelados (Nacional Records) – The powerful duo of Andrea Echevarrrí and Héctor Buitrago continues making great inroads into the alt-rock scene with an album filled with honesty and wittiness.
3. “Los de atrás vienen conmigo,” Calle 13 (Sony International) – Though it lacks the dark humor found in its previous release, the duo’s newest outing takes listeners on a wild ride through diverse styles like New Orleans’ Dixieland and through mean, witty lyrical voyages.
4. “Talento de Barrio,” Daddy Yankee (Machete Music) – The self-proclaimed King of Reggaetón returned to the scene in July with a new movie that he starred and produced and a soundtrack featuring a string of original and provocative new songs.
5. “Live in Gdansk,” David Gilmour (Sony) – The legendary former Pink Floyd guitarist/vocalist presents some of his most amazing performances ever of the band’s hits, including “Wish You Were Here” and “Comfortably Numb.” Any Pink Floyd fan would consider it a collector’s item. The package also includes two or three DVDs, depending on how much money you want to spend.
With so much going on in the world today (global financial meltdowns, a scarily rising U.S. unemployment rate and both the housing slump and the credit crunch), I feel guilty every time I listen to music. No, seriously. When that happens, I’m thinking that I should be glued to the tube watching CNN or reading the day’s top news stories online all day long, as if that were to bring about change in some way.
Eventually, though, I come to terms with the reality – and absurdity - of the situation and I go back to my old musical self. But this time around I’m glued to my laptop tickling the keys while listening to a playlist on ITunes. When I’m finally set to step into musical heaven, however, my five-year-old son, Noah, turns off my laptop and begs me to play with him - so much for musical bliss.
And now with the recent arrival of another son, Erik, who’s only two weeks old, I guess that my music-listening days will be as frequent as a lunar eclipse. But hey, it’s all about sharing and compromising, right? I can listen to a bit of Héctor Lavoe and then switch to a Sesame Street theme from Putumayo’s “Sesame Street Playground” so my kid is happy, cool.
It’s incredible that another year is about to wrap up, bringing to a close an historic election year marked by numerous socio-economic challenges and cries for change and a better future. Many around the globe will remember 2008 – in a way like 9/11 - as a turning point in our history, be it for the economic crisis or for the election of the first black president of the United States, Barack Obama.
Either way, many non-Latin and Latino music fans will welcome 2009 with great new music in their IPods, and that’s good enough a reason to celebrate. And celebrate big.
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