When I compiled my original Best Of 2008 list last December, it was a snow day. The sky dropped about a foot, maybe a foot and a half of fluffy white stuff and we lowly sub-compact drivers could go nowhere. Between ranking albums and locating album art, I took a stroll around town with my camera. The above image comes from that trek. Overall, I was pretty happy with last year’s list but, in revisiting all the albums from 2008, I now see quite a few …

Written by bob_vinyl
We Brave Bee Stings and All by Thao With The Get Down Stay Down (MySpace) begins and ends like it may be a simple twee pop album. Both “Beat” and “We Go” have a thin, light pop sound that could be mistaken for a novelty. What happens between those two songs, however, is anything but. There is no doubt that a twee influence runs through the album, but there is so much more.

As Thao Nguyen (MySpace) took the Rockstar Stage at Bumbershoot, I had déjà vu. You see, one year ago, I attended Bumbershoot and witnessed St. Vincent play solo in this very spot. As I lined her up in my camera sights, I flashed back to the present. Thao’s music is quite different from that of St. Vincent, yet both dabble lightly in folk-pop.