10 Great 2008 Debuts, Starring Fleet Foxes

As the calender turns over t'wards December, the natural need for reflection on the passing of time manifests itself in a taking-stock of the year that's been. Music-lovers the world over usually treat that reflective opportunity as the chance to take stock in a most mathematical way: numbered lists. True to such: this week I'm counting down an array of countdowns in the year-is-ending spirit.

Having already entertained you with a dozen thus-far shadowy albums deserving of a spotlight, the 2008 listmakery rolls on with a litany of 10 Great Debut Albums that were sent out unto the world this here year.

Leading the charge is Fleet Foxes, those charming young chaps mixing cooley high harmonies and countrified psychedelia amidst a bristling sea of facial hair. Since Sub Pop turned out their debut LP in May, a veritable cult has grown around the quintet's magical mountain music, whose Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young-inspired four-part harmonies are so fertile they can make flowers bloom and mushrooms sprout, no matter how unconvincing a plasticine beard might look.

“There’s something really human about just singing; it’s almost like spiritual in a non-religious way,” Fleet Foxes' 22-year-old leader, Robin Pecknold, told me back in April. And Fleet Foxes aren't alone. Joining them amongst the list of debutantes are an array of records whose grandness borders on religious experience.

Photo © [David Belisle]