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 …

After receiving London Bridges in the mail from Ivy League‘s Ryland Blackinton, I excitedly ripped open the package to find an album with quite interesting cover art. My sole thought was this: how odd. But only after cracking the jewel case to find a web address for the artist, Hope Gangloff, did I understand the power behind the drawing.

This Is Ivy League can be credited as the first ever FensePost Feature Band. Of course, back then the group was simply called Ivy League. The change came later. After learning several groups carried the moniker and that one, a 60’s English pop group, was still in existence, they opted for a change; states Ryland Blackinton, “Too attached to the name, we knew we couldn’t let it go so we just augmented it.” Thus, they became This Is Ivy League.

I discovered Ivy League, as did many outside the New York region, when IndiePages featured them in their Demo of the Week section. And as the weeks passed, I listened to the songs provided for download and I longed to hear more. Shortly after the IndiePages feature, they signed to TwentySeven Records and, other than numerous shows in the New York area, little has been heard since.