Music Under Fire

Missed our rundown of this year's best? See our top 30.

Many albums that didn't make our Top-30 list for the year, reached lofty places on other sites' lists. As our motto is, we won't saturate you with music we don't think is worth mentioning. The albums below were all quite good, but just fell below the best of the year.

MP3: Eureka Birds - Mars (buy)
MP3: Daniel Martin Moore - Stray Age (buy)
MP3: Deerhunter - Nothing Ever Happened (buy)
MP3: Nada Surf - Weightless (buy)

Here are MusicUnderFire's honorable mentions for 2008:

Eureka Birds - Eureka Birds
Not flashy. Not laced with catchy refrains. This Baltimore group caught our attention and has stuck with us since, thanks to a consistent debut album. We reviewed them and we liked them quite a bit. If you like an album off the beaten path, this is for you.

Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Taking the first major step of 2008 was VW. Songs such as "A-Punk", "Oxford Comma" and "Campus" certainly earned this high marks for many and would have been higher if not for some transitional drawbacks.

Daniel Martin Moore - Stray Age
The top singer/songwriter on our list for this year, Moore used his simplicity and songwriting talents only he could pull off. Although a heavy contender to make it in the top 30, Moore was found he could do only one type of songwriting style, but nail it every time. Stray Age was a cinch to listen through the whole way - perfect for a relaxing situation, not something you will want to put on your iPod to go to the gym. We particularly enjoyed "That'll Be The Plan". Outstanding effort by Sub Pop's newest songwriter.

Snow Patrol - A Hundred Million Suns
Snow patrol didn't particularly stun us this time around, but the album had enough versatility with some of their traditional poker hands to some longshots they took, which actually worked. If you've listened to SP as long as we have, "Chocolate" seems to be in heavier rotation than "Engines", but that could possibly change. Just like most Snow Patrol albums, this one is a grower. Many tracks veer in a different dirrection that their older albums, particularly their last track "The Lightning Strike: (i) What If This Storm Ends? / (ii) The Sunlight Through The Flags / (iii) Daybreak", a three part song, in which each part blends into the next. I'm not sure why they didn't do their whole album this way, but this is just one example of how the band is growing and reaching deeper into their creative interworkings.

Kings of Leon - Only By The Night
These youngsters are growing up quick, and as if you haven't noticed already, there's something special about them. Not only has the world of pop taken in "Sex On Fire", but the band managed to make a bit of consistency out of their name. Their listeners got another solid outing by Kings of Leon once again. Songs such as "Manhattan" and "Revelry" made this album that more intriguing. Although they did have some gems on here, KOL seem to have the same formula time and time again, when in fact we were never head over heels for it to begin with. This would be the only reason we could not keep it in with our favs of this year.

Greg Laswell - Three Flights from Alto Nido
An album laced with not just your run-of-the mill sappy singer/songwriter material, Greg Laswell had a bit of every emotion poured into his debut. Songs such as "Comes and Goes (In Waves)" are well orchestrated and much has to do with his classy label, Vangard. Laswells songs excelled in both the studio and on the road. There's not much to say about this album that hasn't already been said here.

Bloc Party - Intimacy
Where A Weekend In The City left off, Intimacy took that and notched it up ten times, in terms of sheer loudness that is. The albums glory may be captured in the club-friendly "Better Than Heaven", but this album had too many pitfalls to be considered for our top albums. What did make this album great is the unbridled feel to the songs. Tracks such as "One Month Off" made for a great anthem for this album as did many other songs that followed the same raucous attitude. Bloc Party continues to put out albums with a few likable songs on each album.

Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight
One of the most influential albums for the first half of the year, Frightened Rabbit used many unorthodox methods of song. Perhaps its their folk-pop appeal, or maybe we liked them because we love Scottish bands. But no, FR was something quite special this year, and this list of 'almosts' also serves a purpose to show that other albums did not even make it into our 'honorable mentions' list. The Midnight Organ Fight was driven by some nifty songwriting by Scott Hutchison and backed by a talented band (sans bass). This is a well deserved spot in the midst of many other talented bands we've heard this year. (if you're looking for a Christmas song from Frightened Rabbit, check our short list of Indie Christmas Songs.)

Deerhunter - Microcastle

Another album teetering on the brink of making it into our top albums of this year, Deerhunter put out a marvelous effort, yet didni't score enough songs for us to truly 'get'. Most notable from this album is "Nothing Ever Happened". It looks like this group's future is quite bright, so I would anticipate much to happen in their future.

Nada Surf - Lucky
Their latest album showcased why they are such a timeless group. Songs such as "See These Bones", "Beautiful Beat" and "Weightless" highlighted this addition to your Nada Surf collection. Nada Surf has quite a bit of experience and it shined on this album.

Snow Patrol have taken off with a bang with the release of their new album A Hundred Million Suns. Now with a few weeks under their belt getting used to the limelight once again, the band chose 'Crack The Shutters' as their second single ('Take Back The City' was their first). According to the band's MySpace page, 'Crack the Shutters' became a fan favorite during their Take Back The Cities Tour and decided to run with it given its popularity at their shows.

The single will be released in the UK on December 15th. Even more exciting is their cover of Elbow's (Guy Garvey) "One Day Like This" and the addition of an unreleased track called "Cubicles" that will be available on the single.

MP3: Elbow - Any Day Now (buy)
MP3: Snow Patrol - Run (live) (buy)

If you're looking to draw some attention to yourself and win some prizes, you can enter the band's contest and make a video about your hometown or the city you live in:

Snow Patrol are asking you to make your own video about your city. You can film anything about your city, what you do there, what makes it a great place, why you live there, anything! The best video will win the Grand Prize of New 13in Macbook & Snow Patrol Prize Pack (including a Hundred Million Suns CD, poster and Snow Patrol glow in the dark stars)! First Runner up will receive an 8GB iPod Touch & Snow Patrol Prize Pack! Second Runner up will receive an 8GB iPod Nano Chromatic & Snow Patrol Prize Pack!

How To Enter: Join the contest group on YouTube here and upload your video to the group. Then enter all your information and the URL of your video on YouTube to this registration page here.

So in case the news hasn't hit you yet, Snow Patrol's A Hundred Million Suns will hit the streets on October 28. With a tantalizing taste of what is in store, the group's single just released earlier this week - "Take Back The City".

The video has been out for a few days on MTV and since this is the clip from MTV, we think the quality is just peachy. Of course, if you want it from the horse's mouth, head here. We'll have more on the album as we find it out, so stay tuned to MUF.

MP3: Snow Patrol - Take Back The City (buy)

Snow Patrol's newest album, A Hundred Million Suns, will hit stores on October 27 (UK) and 28 (U.S.) with the single "Take Back the City" to release on October 13.

The album, which was recorded in both Ireland and in Berlin, Germany this summer, will be the group's follow-up to Eyes Open (2006),which sold around 5 million records. In response to the album, lead man Gary Lightbody said,

I'm so proud of this record. Everybody played out of their skin. Garret (Jacknife Lee) continued his progression from maverick genius to one of the best producers in the world. Musically, lyrically and sonically the best record we've made.