Your Top Songs of 2008
 

Share your top songs of 2008!

Here are my top 10 songs of the year with youtube links.

1. Radiohead - 'All I Need'
2. Beck - 'Gamma Ray'
3. Lykke Li - 'I'm Good, I'm Gone'
4. Santogold - 'LES Artistes'
5. Beck - 'Orphans'

6. MGMT - 'Electric Feel'
7. Black Keys - 'Psychotic Girl'
8. The Breeders - 'Bang On'
9. White Denim - 'All You Really Have To Do'
10. Deerhoof - 'The Tears and Music of Love'

:D

Number one by a country mile: Aeroplane ft. Kathy Diamond, "Whispers"

And the rest...

Jonas Bering, "I Can't Stop Loving You"
Black Ghosts, "Some Way Through This"
Dizzee Rascal & Calvin Harris, "Dance Wiv Me"
Gentle Touch, "On the Verge of Tears"
Jose Gonzalez, "Killing for Love" (Todd Terje Brokeback mix)
Matthew Herbert, "The Yesness"
Mystery Jets, "Young Love"
Neon Neon, "Dream Cars"
The Raveonettes, "Lust" (Trentemoller remix)

1. Shearwater: "Rooks" Driving and powerful folk rock. This track has stayed with me since I first heard it. Uneasy, stressed-out and somewhat scary, but still beautiful and controlled. Song of the year, IMO. Reminds me of "Forever Changes" era Love.

2. The Bug: "Poison Dart" Apocalyptic dancehall featuring a ferocious vocal and a skittering dub beat. I liked every track on this album, this one is particularly strong.

3. Torche: "Across the Shields" (sorry, no proper video, this is a live version) Catchy, instant classic pop-metal single. Pushes all of the pleasure buttons, shoulda been a hit.

4. MGMT: "Time to Pretend" Easily one of the best songs of the past few years, IMO. Epic, sloppy, euphoric psychedelic pop. I love the lo-fi distored analogue synths.

5. The Hold Steady: "One for the Cutters" Another album where pretty much every track is good, but this one is my personal favorite. Unexpected harpsichord, an evocative lyric (it's been my sig for pretty much this whole year) and a nicely building arrangement.

6. TV on the Radio: "Lover's Day" Unabashedly horny, catchy, head-bobbing. It's got it all.

7. Vampire Weekend: "Kids Don't Stand a Chance" I love the stripped down, almost Police-like groove of this track. The afro-pop guitar hook is just about perfect. A great summer song.

8. Cut Copy: "Unforgettable Season" New Order-esque electro-rock glide par excellence. Features possibly the best bass line of the year.

9. Sigur Ros: "Inní mér syngur vitleysingur" A track that sums up everything that's great about Sigur Ros: nostalgic, child-like, powerful, joyful, catchy... I love this band.

10. Hercules and Love Affair: "Blind" Great disco bass line, Brit-pop horn charts, Antony's vocal just nails it. This is an anthem.

Bonus #11 selection:
11. Justice: "Phantom Pt. 2" (Live) (so re-configured that it might as well be considered a new track) Holy shit! Speaker-busting, smash-shit-up, dance-your-pants-off mayhem.

I'll second MGMT's "Time to Pretend" even though the song was released last year, not this year.

My favorite track of the year is, handily, <a href="http://www.prefixmag.com/news/vampire-weekend-walcott/16556/">"Walcott" by Vampire Weekend</a>. According to Last.fm I've heard it over 100 times. :lol:

A very close runner up is <a href="http://gvsbchris.com/chalodemo.mp3">Esau Mwamwaya's "Chalo (Demo)"</a>... One of the brightest, happiest songs I've heard this year. And you won't understand a single word of it, since the singer is from Malawi. (This song may have been recorded in 2007).

Others:
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaUpkFyAqYg">Kings of Leon — "Notion"</a>
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4nBwwUufWE">TV on the Radio — "Halfway Home"</a>

And the best guitar of solo of the year is in Amadou & Mariam's "Masiteladi":

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My official Favorite Cuts of 2008 Playlist, including guilty pleasures, in no particular order:

1) "Another Way to Die" - Jack White & Alicia Keys
2) "Love Song" - Sara Bareilles
3) "Cheater, Cheater" - Joey + Rory
4) "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven" - George Strait
5) "Little Toy Gun" - honeyhoney
6) "Johnny and June" - Heidi Newfield
7) "I Only Want to Be with You" - Shelby Lynne
8) "Honey Bee" - Lucinda Williams
9) "Girls in Their Summer Clothes" - Bruce Springsteen
10) "Outlaw S***" - Waylon Jennings
11) "She Left Me for Jesus" - Hayes Carll
12) "Merry Christmas Baby" - Elvis Presley & Gretchen Wilson

Let the snobbism commence! ;)

Whoops. Forgot to add <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPJJSCFdVd0">Portishead's "The Rip"</a>!

Fun to see a lot of these also represented in Pitchfork's Top Songs of 2008:

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/articl...of-2008?page=1

And no need to talk about elitism. Beyonce's "Single Ladies" is on the list. :lol:

I swear to god I didn't read that before posting. Wow. They even used some of the same language I used in describing "Poison Dart". Looks like I need to go get more ringer t-shirts and Buddy Holly glasses...

The Raconteurs - "Carolina Drama" (album didn't even make my Top 20 of the year, but this may be my favorite song of 2008)

Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - "Trouble"
Jenny Lewis - "The Next Messiah"
Drive-By Truckers - "Daddy Needs A Drink"
Calexico - "Slowness"
Elbow - "Grounds For Divorce"
The Black Keys - "Same Old Thing"
Weezer - "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived"
Felice Brothers - "Tip Your Way"
Frightened Rabbit - "Old Old Fashioned"
Kings of Leon - "Crawl"

Well, I guess my tastes are off the beaten path a bit, but I classify "best song" as the catchiest, most memorable, most toe-tapping tune I've heard...and one I play constantly more than any other album track:

1.) I Hate Kate - "Then You Kiss" (this song was destined to top modern rock radio..but somehow this band was overlooked...pity, given it's the most fun I've had with a song in years.)
2.) IAMX - "Spit it Out" (technically released in Europe a couple years ago but here in the U.S. this year. What a chorus. Chris Corner is a god.)
3.) Bloc Party - "Your Visits are Getting Shorter" (modern synthpop the way it was meant to be...my favorite electro bass line of the year and a snappy tune to dance to)
4.) Kaiser Chiefs - "Never Miss a Beat" (another chorus you simply can't NOT sing along to...incredibly catchy)
5.) The Airborne Toxic Event - "Does This Mean You're Moving On?" - (mmm, this track makes me salivate...the whole album is a pearl, but this one stands out...)
6.) Innerpartysystem - "Don't Stop" (THE electro anthem of the year...great lyrics, incredible emotion.)
7.) Hollywood Undead - "This Love, This Hate" (sure, it's white trash rap but damn is this song a gem..)
8.) Infadels - "Free Things for Poor People" (a criminally overlooked British band...please people, check these guys out and this song in particular.)
9.) The Offspring - "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" (the most mainstream of my choices, but it's such a catchy, hummable song, it's silly...)
10.) Hypernova - "Fairy Tales" (an all Iranian band making a big splash in the U.S. - check this track specifically...lotta fun to be had *wink*)

My Top 10:

1. Portishead - "The Rip" / "Machine Gun" / "Magic Doors"
2. TV On the Radio - "DLZ" / "Love Dog" / "Lover's Day"
3. Bon Iver - "Skinny Love"
4. Beach House - "Gila"
5. Department of Eagles - "No One Does It Like You"
6. M83 - "Kim and Jessie"
7. Grand Archives - "Sleepdriving"
8. Santogold - "L.E.S. Artistes"
9. The Mountain Goats - "Sax Rohmer #1"
10. Blitzen Trapper - "Black River Killer"


Others:
The Kills - "Last Day of Magic," Women - "Black Rice," Air France - "Collapsing at Your Doorstep," Gang Gang Dance - "House Jam," Beck - "Chemtrails," The Hold Steady - "One for the Cutters," Wale - "The Kramer," Ladyhawke - "Dusk Till Dawn," Lykke Li - "Little Bit," MGMT - "Time to Pretend," The Dodos - "Joe's Waltz," The Gaslight Anthem - "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues," Shearwater - "The Snow Leopard," White Denim - "Let's Talk About It," Crystal Castles - "Courtship Dating," Hot Chip - "One Pure Thought," Deerhoof - "My Purple Past"

OMG too many to list lol. viva la vida kicked ass for sure

:up: By far, the best song on the album. I used to listen to the album on my way to work and ended up just replaying that song over and over again.

I went through a lot of artists on people's "Best of 2008" lists and also looking at Pitchfork's lists... they all seem to have something in common... they're pretty much all dance songs. Not that there's anything wrong that but so many of these artists sound so similar. Although, I discovered The Felice Brothers so that was different.

On that note, my favorite song of 2008 is Losing Touch by The Killers :)

Wow. This song is fucking fantastic:

<a href="http://downloads.pitchforkmedia.com/Crystal%20Castles%20-%20Untrust%20Us.mp3"><b>Crystal Castles</b> — "Untrust Us"</a>

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Best song of any year!

:thumbsup:
Bill Bailey is always brilliant.

For me, that stems from my feeling that many modern dance and electronic artists have trouble putting together great albums from end to end, so often managing a fantastic, infectious track or two while filling up the other 40-odd minutes with forgettable or much less interesting material. I'd be perfectly happy to get new Aeroplane singles a couple of times a year versus having them hunker down to make the inevitable full-length... Additionally, these same acts may be better at remixing someone else's work rather than making their own.

There were indie- and rock-oriented songs that I probably listened to more or may have liked "better" (which, even on a personal level, is awfully subjective) than some of what was on my top songs listing, but I like to spotlight as much different music as I can, and usually make a point of not including songs off albums that were also on my overall list -- the exception this year being Gentle Touch's "On the Verge of Tears," which is one of the best '80s songs that never was.

I suspect/hope that we're entering a period of more EPs than whole albums for this very reason. I think it's easier for artists to crank out EPs and support them--and satisfy the business need of putting product in fans' hands frequently--than to fill out an entire album each year. For artists that take care to craft entire albums, I want that form to continue. In all honesty, though, much of commercialized music centers around catchy singles and that really isn't a strong enough anchor for an entire album in too many cases.

My favorite in no particular order

Radiohead - Jigsaw Falling Into Place
My Brightest Diamond - Inside A Boy
The Subways - Girls & Boys
The Roots - Rising Down
MGMT - Time to Pretend
Foals - Balloons
The Stills - Being Here
The Last Shadow Puppets - Standing Next to Me
Bloc Party - Ion Square
Blacks Kids - I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance

That Pitchfork list is pretty cool. I like how they included some international tunes that I probably would have missed. That Amadou & Mariam song is nice.

There aren't many pop & r&b fans on this board. I'll have to put a list together later.

Maybe so, maybe so, but out of that 100, I've only heard (or heard of) maybe 20 songs. Out of that 20, I only like maybe 6. So most definitely nowhere near my tastes for what I like to listen to.

Some of mine, in no particular order, would be...

The Stills - "Eastern Europe"
Kings Of Leon - "Revelry"
Longwave - "Sirens In The Deep Sea"
Nada Surf - "Are You Lightning?"
The Gaslight Anthem - "The '59 Sound"
The Subways - "Move To Newlyn"
MGMT - "Kids"
The Raconteurs - "Carolina Drama"
The Kooks - "Do You Wanna"
Death Cab For Cutie - "Long Division"
The Verve - "Love Is Noise"
Locksely - "Don't Make Me Wait"

I'm not sure how much 2008 music I actually heard in the last year, but my favourite is probably:

The Breeze - Dr. Dog

Alpa Chino's Booty Sweat

That did have some great lyrics and a nice beat, didn't it? ;)