Wikipedia defines an EP as “a vinyl record, CD, or music download which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as an LP. Usually, an EP has around 10–28 minutes of music, a single has up to 10 minutes, and an album has 30–80 minutes.”

EPs are often the domain of little-known/unsigned bands, one-off projects, or filler meant to sate audiences between LP releases. Which is to say, EPs often aren’t the most essential listening you’re likely to find; however, we’ve heard more than a couple of great ones this year and would like to take a moment to share some of our favorites. Listed below, in alphabetical order by band name, you’ll find our selections for EAR FARM’s Top 8 EPs Of 2008.

• Animal Collective - Water Curses (MP3: “Water Curses”)
  Water Curses falls into the ‘filler meant to sate audiences between LP releases’ category of EP existence, yet it still retains all of Animal Collective’s exuberant charm and doesn’t feel like a potboiler of any kind. It’s largely comprised of leftovers from the sessions that produced the band’s Strawberry Jam LP but offers enough in the way of something new and different to believe that herein lie hints as to where the band is headed on next year’s Merriweather Post Pavilion… It’s like listening to the sound a crooked smile might make as it expands upon the face of a friend. In other words: wicked.
• Battle of Mice/Jesu - Split (MP3: “The Bishop” by Battle of Mice)
  This EP, comprised of two songs each from two different heavy-hitting bands, was a long time coming (being released roughly a year after it was announced) but definitely worth the wait. On it, Jesu continues to devolve towards their lighter side (but in a surprisingly good way) while Battle of Mice deliver two of their strongest songs to date. One of the year’s most criminally overlooked releases.
• Goes Cube - Not What We Thought (MP3: “Goes Cube Song 57″)
  On what would end up being their final release with song titles that include their own sequential numbering system, Brooklyn’s Goes Cube shreds to new heights that find the vocals a touch more forward in the mix. This is not, however, at the expense of any of their viscerally imposing power. Listening to this EP is a bit like waking up from a deep sleep only to find that you’re in the middle of being pushed out of an airplane at 10,000ft. The experience at first shocks you, then terrifies you; but once you’ve pressed play, it’s already too late. Traveling from listless melancholia to full bore sledgehammer assault in the blink of an eye is what Goes Cube does best… this one’s full of precisely that kind of music.
• Final Fantasy - Spectrum, 14th Century (MP3: “The Butcher”)
  Owen Pallett released two EPs this year under his stage/band name Final Fantasy, the stronger of which is Spectrum, 14th Century. On this record he finally begins to live up to the immense potential displayed (but never fully realized) on He Poos Clouds. Where before he’d concentrate on a singular violin hook, now Pallett opens up his, er, palette to include an array of sounds and arrangements befitting an artist about to truly define his own vision. Perhaps that’s exactly what Final Fantasy is going to do on the next LP, perhaps that’s what’s already been done with Spectrum, 14th Century. However you look at it, a very fine release.
• The Laughing - Jungle EP (MP3: “The Canopy”)
  Named one of our Top Breakout Bands for ‘08/’09, Austin’s The Laughing captures the smiling mope of The Cure and mixes it with heavy doses of primal thunder and late-career Talking Heads jungle love. It’s equally sexy and weird, catchy and danceable. Think Clap Your Hands Say Yeah mixed with TV On The Radio. Or perhaps, if David Cronenberg’s The Fly were a band, it’d be The Laughing. Decide for yourself if that sounds like something you’d like. Chances are you’ll fall in love immediately.
• Sean Bones - Easy Street (MP3: “Easy Street”)
  Call it the accidental EP of the year. Initially intended as an aural companion to S/S Friends’ debut clothing line (fittingly, summer shorts), the four-song Easy Street eventually preened and strutted towards its own share of deserved attention….and not just from us. Turns out the folks at Frenchkiss Records also fell head over heels for Bones’ throwback to the thick analog haze and squawking organs of reggae’s sound system heyday, signing him on the strength of this EP and ensuring many endless summers to follow. A perfect marriage of the lovely hiss of tape reels and chalky, stuttering guitars, an upbeat ode to city living, loving, and chilling, or, as Bones himself puts it, “a weird and winning study of early reggae styles and recording techniques.” All so casual too.
• Tanya Morgan - The Bridge (MP3: “The Bridge” (featuring Elucid))
  2008 was an unquestionably slow year in the world of hip hop that left many wondering if there was a single release worth praising. Some have said Q-Tip’s The Renaissance was the top rap record of the year, most others find themselves caught up in the group think that favors Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III. Yeah yeah yeah, wrong! In our opinion, the best straight up hip hop record of the year was Tanya Morgan’s EP The Bridge. It mixes lyrical aptitude with shake ya ass beats in a style akin to old school legends such as Eric B. & Rakim and/or A Tribe Called Quest. Word is this EP is simply a “bridge” between proper LPs, so be on the lookout for more from Tanya Morgan in the near future. Until then, jam on this.
• Violens - V (MP3: “Violent Sensation Descends”)
  Violens have already been pegged as an artist to watch out for next year by us and that’s largely due to the brilliance exhibited on this EP. It’s a brooding and nostalgic journey into urban psychedelia that should find many friends with fans of the sound The Rosebuds have been cultivating for years. Now, if they’d just find a way to incorporate some kind of psycho killer string section into the band’s live show I’d finally be able to do something with this phrase I’ve been keeping in my back pocket… “hold onto your Vaios! The violence incited by the violas and violins of Violens was, in a word, violent.” Shut up, you love it.

See also: EAR FARM’s Top Albums of 2008 & Top Breakout Bands for ‘08/’09.