Paste Magazine counts down their top 50 CD releases for 2008. Their # 1 pick was, She & Him:
Maybe it’s just a sweet little folk record—a tiny, flawless diamond. Or maybe it’s a pristine distillation of harmony and craft; 50 years of songwriting experience served up on a spinning silver platter. Either way, it’s our album of the year. Produced with touches of girl-group splendor and arranged with a dreamy, old-fashioned vibe, She & Him’s debut couldn’t be more adorable.
Check out the complete list HERE.
This is a great choice for people who like the Carpenters. For the rest of us there were way better CDs that didn’t even make your list: Consolers of the Lonely by the Raconteurs, Attack & Release by the Black Keys and The Living and the Dead by Jolie Holland, just to mention a few. The funny thing is She & Him Volume 1 isn’t even the best male/female collaboration: that would go to either Rattlin’ Bones by Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson or Dirt Don’t Hurt by Holly Golightly & the Brokeoffs (a.k.a. Lawyer Dave).
Good job on including the Fleet Foxes and the Raveonettes, though. Paste, like most music mags is way too accepting of anything Lucinda Williams puts out, however. I know she’s the critics darling and everything, but Little Honey is no Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, Sweet World, self-titled, or even Happy Woman Blues. Ryan Adams CD was better, but he’s the critics punching bag. Oh, well.