This is what May 2008 sounds like.

“Rising Down”, The Roots (feat. Mos Def and Styles P)
It’s good to hear Mos Def sounding like himself again. This is the first track on rising down, and it reinforces something that makes the Roots so distinct from their peers- the first voice you hear on the album isn’t a member of the group. There’s little ego in what they do, at least not the kind that overwhelms the music. There’s that undercurrent of paranoia and tension that defines 2008 music for me carried throughout the track, and that only gets more intense as the record continues.

“Goliath”, The Mars Volta
You could be forgiven for thinking that it was Tom Morello on guitar when the song starts. These dudes used to be in At The Drive-In, and they were a hardcore band. For a seven minute song, there’s no fat, just a sustained burst of rock and roll fun with a hook that doesn’t quit. It’s still the Mars Volta- there are multiple guitar solos and everything, it’s not a genre-pastiche like “The Widow”, but it’s them at their very best.

“Idle Hands”, The Gutter Twins
saturnalia from the Gutter Twins was meant to be my favorite album of the year. It maybe is now, but it took awhile. This one hooked me from the beginning, with that overblown chanting at the beginning and Mark Lanegan rumbling his throat until he starts singing like he’s Satan doing a guest spot on american idol.

“In The Rushes”, Islands
Islands are one of those bands I never listened to because I resent sometimes when there’s music that I know I’m supposed to like- if you’re a twenty-seven year old white dude with a full bookcase and an interest in indie rock, you should be into Islands. But I’m contrary, so I decided they sucked without ever listening to them. But I was trying to be less judgmental in my old age, so I checked out their new album- lo, it’s brilliant. This song is dramatic and poppy and creepy, until it hits the final section, at which point it incorporates a version of “A Quick One While He’s Away” by the Who into its general theme of creepy poppiness, which turns out to be one of the recorded highlights of the year so far.

“Dance With Me”, The Old 97’s
The Old 97’s have a nice-guy image because they’re friendly dudes in their late thirties from Texas who say things like hi, gang! to the audience from the stage at live shows. But there’s an intensity to their music that’s always appealed to me, and “Dance With Me”, the first single from their new album, is a vaguely haunting surf-rock song about the end of the world. When Rhett Miller does the do- you- want- to- dance- with- me thing in the hook, you know that no isn’t really an option.

“The Waitress”, Atmosphere
Atmosphere finally made a good record! “The Waitress” is smart, like most of the new stuff they’ve been putting out. There hasn’t been an Atmosphere single that hit as hard as “Trying to Find A Balance” since 2002, but the albums they’ve put out since have been listenable all the way through, which is a fair trade-off. “The Waitress” is clever. You think he’s just being creepy and stalking this woman, but then the end hits and you realize that this song is smarter than you think.

“Cursed Reform”, Indian
Indian rules. If you liked the other songs on this list, you probably won’t like this one, but it’s because you’re wrong. I met these guys in 2004 when I was on tour with Beyond Gods and Empires and we both showed up at the Dixie Taverne in New Orleans because neither of us had a show booked that night and we were hoping that we might be able to jump onto whatever bill they had planned. It turned out that the band who was supposed to be playing canceled, and so the bill became Beyond Gods and Empires, Indian, and me. It’s always exciting to see that people you remember are doing well, so even though this song’ll scare some of you, it’s an optimistic note for me to end on.