Best Albums of 2008: #4: The Walkmen: You & Me

4. The Walkmen: You & Me

This is an album that sat on my shelf for awhile before I opened it. It was like this object that I approached with trepidation, because I knew there was something explosive inside that I needed to be ready to experience. One day, while drafting a pattern for a dress, I got out this old CD player, removed the shrinkwrap, and went to town with pink tulle.

It was an odd juxtaposition, I must say, but a romantic one. My stark dining room-turned-sewing paradise transformed into:
-a dreamy island at dusk
-a new year’s eve party in which I sat in a large ballroom full of people and felt completely alone
-a stage with blue and white lights. Bob Dylan’s hair. His voice and his guitar.

I know the Dylan reference is the #1 thing people notice about this band, but I can’t help but wonder what the Walkmen would be without that voice. There’s something so sexy about it, not only because of what it evokes but also because of what it promises—our own generational Dylan, our own generational musical genius. Sure, he isn’t as iconic and probably not as lyrically talented yet. But I am rooting for him and I can see this being a band that stays with me for a very, very long time.

And, a video from Vincent Moon:

The Walkmen - On the Water from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

Related posts:
Best of 2008: #5: Gentleman Jesse and His Men
Best of 2008: #6: Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes
Best of 2008: #7: Okkervil River: The Stand-ins
Best of 2008: #8: MGMT: Oracular Spectacular
Best of 2008: #9: Streetlight Manifesto: Somewhere in the Between
Best of 2008: #10: M83: Saturdays=Youth
Best of 2008: #11: TV On the Radio: Dear Science
Best of 2008: #12: Mount Eerie: Lost Wisdom
Best of 2008: #13: Cloud Cult: Feel Good Ghosts
Best of 2008: #14: Ratatat: LP3
Best of 2008: #15: The Submarines: Honeysuckle Weeks
Best of 2008: #16: Grand Archives: S/T
Best of 2008: #17: Yelle: Pop-up
Best of 2008: #18: Parenthetical Girls: Entanglements
Best of 2008: #19: The Gaslight Anthem- The '59 Sound
Best of 2008: #20: Billy Bragg- Mr. Love and Justice
Best of 2008: Intro