A.V. Club's top Madison records of 2008

It’s impossible to wrap up the whole year in local music with just five records and a few honorable mentions. Decider heard plenty of deserving local music throughout the year, and even then, CDs aren’t the half of it. That’s why we’re putting up more year-end local-music coverage, including a more inclusive mixtape (downloadable and streaming) of Madison artists’ songs. That said, a certain few albums and EPs found their way to the top of our list. (Of course, feel welcome to tell us which Madison releases you enjoyed this year, in the comments.)

1. The Takebacks, Call Collect Ask For… The Takebacks and Vid Libert, A Return To Mayaguez (Tie)
The Takebacks got a lot busier this year, and their first release picks up on the resourceful sonic experiments of dub and reggae, leaving all that wannabe-Rastafarian nonsense behind. The trio’s songs do yearn for love, peace, and spiritual healing, but the thoughtful high gives way to punk-rock anxiety. Takebacks guitarist and basement engineer Vid Libert put out another album of memorable songs with a lo-fi twist this year under his own name. A Return To Mayaguez finds him getting philosophical and layering on fuzzy guitars, keyboards, samples, and melodica. This time, he relies more on his acoustic guitar and folk-based melodies. Amid all the little sonic experiments, songs like “In Twilight,” “Maybe That’s Enough,” and “In Due Time” handle death, morals, grief, and love in a refreshingly direct way.
See also: This Bright Apocalypse’s Afrobeat-meets-post-punk tunes on Asumaya; Time Since Western’s atmospheric A Sun Goes Down; and Spires That In The Sunset Rise’s left-field take on international folk music on Curse The Traced Bird.

2. Stink Tank, Books On Tape
Rapper Laduma Nguyuza and producer Man Mantis crammed a whole cast of fictional MCs, vague storylines, and even the voice of James Baldwin into an album that turned out surprisingly compact and consistent, especially for a hip-hop release. The fact that Stink Tank’s debut album Books On Tape gets all over the place is one of the best things about it: It’s not too wrapped up in its own little world, not too heavy-handed when it comes time to talk politics and race. Bouncing deftly between such personae as gangsta-goof Jimmy French Fries and the more versatile Dudu Stinks, Nguyuza complements the variety and playful bounce of Mantis’ beats. Whether the whole concept is gimmicky or not, it gives Nguyuza the chance to prove, as he does in the hip-hop band Dumate, that he’s one of the best rhymers in town.
See also: The spirited rhymes of Rob Dz’s The One Man Hustle.

3. Jentri Colello, Bird Of Prey EP
There’s a lot of tweaked-out noise and sonic adventure on this list, because Decider likes it that way, but one of the year’s best local records thrives on understatement. On record and onstage, singer-songwriter Jentri Colello sounds like she’s revealing just a little and leaving the rest to be discovered. Her voice drives this EP’s five songs, but she’s not one to break into that crowd-pleasing, held-for-20-counts high notes crap, either. Colello’s bandmates are equally important when it comes to setting the mood, though. Josh Harty’s guitar leads quietly edge into “Cannonballs” and “Daisies,” using the volume knob to create the chilly likeness of a pedal-steel. It’s good music for sharing your troubles, but even better for a lonely listen.
See also: Whatfor’s Sooner Late Than Never, another singer-songwriter disc that goes off in its own eccentric directions.

4. Dick The Bruiser, Severe Songs EP
Madison’s feisty, if small, post-punk scene turned out at least two characteristically dark and complex releases this year—from Colony Of Watts and The United Sons Of Toil—but Kevin Wade and Tony Sellers, a.k.a. Dick The Bruiser, threw out the real wildcard. They debuted with a string of local shows and five Severe Songs (released by way of fancy digital download cards) that are actually among the more fun tunes Madison produced this year. Wade’s distorted bass and Sellers’ drums are certainly nasty and ominous, yet the two leap into something that sounds like a wild breakdown in the middle of an old-school funk song. Especially on “Wannabe,” Wade channels just a bit of James Brown in his own cranky vocal.
See also: Colony Of Watts’ Thunder Rock EP and The United Sons Of Toil’s Until Lions Have Their Historians, Tales Of The Hunt Shall Always Glorify The Hunter.