EPs are everyone's favorite format, and there are a few great ones from this year. I'll start us off, and you guys can continue this on.




Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele - A Brush With Velvet


This hipster bullshit out of Mississippi is the project of songwriter Dent May, who was recently signed to Animal Collective's Paw Tracks label for a February LP release, which will feature many of these EP tracks. Dent employs a Ukulele/acoustic guitar aesthetic, with some keyboard and sample elements to create that "quirky" style of songwriting. His vocal presence is strong, as a former choir boy. He writes about being in your early 20's, going to parties and losing love and being drunk in that self-aware, gay, indie way.

This EP is fantastic.



The Clientele - That Night, A Forest Grew


Easily one of the best indie-pop outfits going today, this EP has The Clientele a little more sunny that the rain-soaked dreariness of their many LPs. The basslines are funkier, the staccato guitars have them venturing into Vampire Weekend (lol) territory at times, but with that patented Clientele touch that is anything buy Ivy-league. There's a ton of wanky indie guitar solos on this disc. Like everything else, blame Brian Wilson for this EP.

a good teaser, which certainly served its role of exciting me for the ful length....

Great thread. Here are some obvious ones:



Fleet Foxes - Sun Giant


A wonderful EP with tightly arranged, full-bodied songs with more complex and enticing melodies, and more layered harmonies, than the studio LP. I much prefer this over the LP.



Zomby - Zomby EP
(link thanks to Bruegel)

Mind-melting hyperdub greatness.

Came in here to post the Zomby with the same stolen link!

Definitely worth checking out, no matter who you are.

Trail of Dead - Festival Thyme

Definitely a move back toward what I thought made them so good in the first place. If you like ST&C, you'll probably like this.

Weezer Christmas EP


the classics reimagined by Riverzzzzz

Great EP. I like this cover of Mykonos:

i can't think of any EPs right now... keep posting, people.

EPs!

Flying Lotus - LA EP 1X3




Flying Lotus - LA EP 2X3


Two great EPs that are basically like extensions of the album, with remixes..

why does the cover art on those things scare the fuck out of me?

i'm afraid to download that.

For fans of goofily enjoyable overly melodramatic indie SOFT RAWK (seriously this thing has two really great songs, and the rest is all good too):



Stars - Sad Robot


For fans of Simian Mobile Disco's Tits & Acid and Wooden and all the other instrumental tracks on ADSR, an EP full of harder dance tracks:



Simian Mobile Disco - Clock

For fans of mainstream SOFT RAWK:



Coldplay - Prospekt's March


I still don't know whether I like this one or not.

Mogwai - Batcat EP



IMO, this smokes the full-length album. 'Batcat' is a big, brawling opener, followed by the surprisingly pretty 'Stupid Prick Gets Chased by the Police and Loses His Slut Girlfriend', and closing out with 'Devil Rides' featuring Roky Erickson on vocals.

My favourite EP of the year, though I totally understand why everyone else hates it:



Smashing Pumpkins - American Gothic


Again, Again, Again and The Rose March are beautiful, amazing songs. Come on, that chord progression in The Rose March is mindblowing.

This one feels way too old to be 2008



Animal Collective - Water Curses

come on simakos, really? BLITZEN TRAPPER - EP3!!!! still prefer it to furr actually. i can upload it if anyone wants it.






intrigued i be. anyone else feel this way? i vaguely remember hearing some positive things about it when it came out...




anyone have throw me the statue's purpleface? tour only, but yeah....

Heretix, good call on almost all your mentiones (Simian, Stars, Flying Lotus). Good shit. Oh yeah, and Water Curses.

Check the black dog thread for ace 'detroit v sheffield' ep, another heroic broogz contribution

The pass on this is incorrect. In honor of my friend going to the show tonight, i'd like to listen...

edited post with new link:

Surprisingly I quite enjoy this. It sounds like old video games.

Thanks!

bump

my favorite

this is actually a demo, but whatever.. it's fucking great.

We Were Promised Jetpacks EP

I'm going to check this out solely because of their band name.

Those tracks are all so solid! Someone mentioned these guys this summer and the tracks are still spun here consistently. Any word on a new release?

Hot off the presses, a late contender for EP of the year, christ:
Cut Copy - Far Away EP



01 Far Away [Album Version] (no fade on this version!)
02 Far Away [Hercules & Love Affair Remix]
03 Far Away [Damn Arms Remix]
04 Far Away [Golden Filter Remix]
05 Hearts on Fire [Aeroplane Pop Mix]
06 So Haunted [Knightlife Sun-Soaked Reprise]
07 Sands of Time

Hercules & Love Affair remix is great as expected, Aeroplane remix is INCREDIBLE and Sands of Time should have been on the album, it's fucking amazing. Maybe a bit unfinished vocally/lyrically, but the synths.. oh, the synths.. .download this NOW.

The Midwest Beat

i've seen a lot of people recommended this to fans of the kinks and big star. i hear a little of that. i think they're just a good garage rock band. they're from milwaukee. they're on dusty medical. it's good stuff - definitely one of my favorite EPs (double 7") of 2008.

Obits - One Cross Apiece


someone who i have a really hard time listening to objectively is rick froberg. between drive like jehu and hot snakes, the dude pretty much gets a lifetime pass from me. obits is a bit more melodic than either dlj or hot snakes, but that fucking awesome rock'n'roll sound is still very prominent. if these two songs are a good indicator of what's to come from obits in '09, i'll be drinking that kool-aid.