If there was an award for label of the year, it would have to go to Jagjaguwar. With already 3 records on our top 15 list (#5, #6, #14), the fourth and final Jagjaguwar release on our list comes in as our third best record of 2008.

For Emma, Forever Ago is one of the most authentic, original and organic folk albums in recent memory. Justin Vernon (aka Bon Iver) captured, with staggering perfection, the sound of a cold, isolated winter in Wisconsin. Undeniably, the story of his retreat into solitude has been romanticized to a certain degree, but it is not difficult to hear this landscape in his music. Vernon’s evocative lyricism and minimalist melodies made For Emma feel intimate, even conversational at times (“in the morning I’ll call you”). The album flows with a narrative trajectory and each song tells its own story. From the cathartic yelps of “Skinny Love” to the collected resignations of “Re: Stacks”, Vernon poignantly reflects the universal need for self-reflection. His humility only enhanced the mystique he constantly shrugged off and Bon Iver’s live band incarnation saw every track reaching new heights. For Emma may not be a pioneering effort musically, but the final product is one of extreme integrity and severe beauty. –Michael Cranston

Jagjaguwar

It’s hasn’t even been two years since Phil Waldorf left Misra Records to form Dead Oceans alongside Secretly Canadian and Jagjaguwar, and in the past six months Dead Oceans has added four bands to its growing and increasingly impressive roster of artists. The latest to jump on board is Akron/Family, who previously recorded for Young God.

The band will release its still untitled fourth album, the follow-up to 2007’s Love is Simple, in April. The album will mark the band’s first studio recording as a three-piece following the 2007 departure of Ryan Vanderhoof to, apparently, join a Buddhist commune. Bassist and multi-instrumentalist Miles Seaton said the record is “not too heavy and not too clever.”

It started out being really inspired by American soul and West African music. We’re all still in love with American classic rock music, but [the new record] is inspired by many different directions. I’m really excited about the shifting voice of the narrative on this record. The lyrics, thematically, are shaped in this really organic and natural way around what is happening — something that is very real and true to us.

Seaton said it’s by no means a new Akron/Family, but that the album represents some extremes they haven’t before explored. The band will play some shows to celebrate New Year’s beginning December 28 in Boston, and closing out the year at The Knitting Factory in New York.

Akron/Family
Dead Oceans