Top Songs of 2008
[graphic by Ian Zuppan]
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[list by Jon Behm]
#1) Department of Eagles “No One Does it Like You” (album review)
Undeniably catchy yet not overly poppy. Just a weirdly brilliant song.
Purchase | Official | MySpace | Wikipedia
Department of Eagles “No One Does It Like You” [MP3]
#2) Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds “Midnight Man” (album review)
I could list about half of Dig on here but if I had to settle on a favorite it would be “Midnight Man” on which Cave and his band are at their spooky best.
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#3) Fight Bite “Swissex Lover” (album review)
Fight Bites pain is our gain—sounds like some serious tears went into this song and I love it.
Purchase | MySpace
#4) Nas “Queens Get the Money” (album review)
The old Nasty Nas of Illmatic may have only returned for one song on this year’s record, but its one of his best.
Purchase | Official | MySpace | Wikipedia
#5) Gnarls Barkley “Whose Gonna Save my Soul?” (album review)
Cee-Lo at his finest. The guy is obviously a little messed up, but damn can he sing!
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#6) Quiet Village “Free Rider”
I am surprised how much I got into some instrumental-only stuff this year. This song stuck with me more than most.
Purchase | MySpace
#7) Flying Lotus “GNG BNG”
The best song off of a masterpiece. Not sure what it has to do with gang banging and I am not sure I want to know…
Purchase | Official | MySpace | Wikipedia
#8) The Black Keys “Psychotic Girl”
The Keys are back! Finally something I like almost as much as Rubber Factory.
Purchase | Official | MySpace | Wikipedia
#9) Q-Tip “Won’t Trade” (album review)
This song keeps growing on me— smooth rhyming over a great old soul sample. Lil Wayne: you could learn something from this.
Purchase | Official | Twitter | MySpace | Wikipedia
#10) Shad “The Old Prince Still Lives at Home” (album review)
Terrific song, as well as best music video of the year.
Purchase | MySpace | Wikipedia
Honorable mentions: The Muslims “On My Time,” Horse Feathers “Curs of the Weeds,” Janelle Monae “Many Moons.”
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[list by Chris DeLine]
#1) Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds “Albert Goes West” (album review)
Just as firey as 2004′s “Nature Boy” – another one of my favorite Bad Seeds songs.
Official | MySpace | Wikipedia
#2) M83 “Kim & Jessie” (live performance review)
This is the best proper single of the year; despite it sounding so familiar I’ve never heard anything like it before.
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#3) Drive-By Truckers “Daddy Needs a Drink” (album review)
One of the most powerful songs from an album dripping with classics.
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#4) Nas “Black President” (album review)
Nas’ best effort at securing the position off Secretary of Illness in the new administration.
Purchase | Official | MySpace | Wikipedia
#5) T.I. feat. Rihanna “Live Your Life”
Take an internet meme and combine it with two of the year’s biggest pop stars, and you get the surprisingly fantastic “Live Your Life.”
Purchase | Official | MySpace | Wikipedia
#6) Al Green “Lay It Down”
Best slow-jam of the year, slightly edging out Green’s “No One Like You.”
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#7) School of Seven Bells “Chain” (artist interview)
My favorite track from a highly under-appreciated album.
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School of Seven Bells “Chain” [MP3]
#8) Beck “Gamma Ray”
Modern Guilt was a little too hit or miss for my taste, but “Gamma Ray” was definitely a hit.
Purchase | Official | MySpace | Wikipedia
#9) The Game feat. Lil Wayne “My Life”
My favorite track from The Game this year… and mark my words, this Weezy character is going places.
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#10) Conan O’Brien & The Max Weinberg 7 “Blue Moon”
A moment of genius during the writer’s strike, Conan jumped on the mic and blew me away. I knew he could play, but I didn’t know that his charisma would transfer as well as it did.
Official | Wikipedia
Conan O’Brien & The Max Weinberg 7 “Blue Moon” [VIDEO]
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[list by Josh Keller]
#1) Grizzly Bear “While You Wait For The Others”
If this stunning song is any indication of the direction that Grizzly Bear is going, we are all in for a treat from their upcoming LP that is due in 2009.
Official | MySpace | Wikipedia
Grizzly Bear “While You Wait For The Others (live on KCRW)” [MP3]
#2) Why? “The Hollows”
This song is equally funky, weird and beautiful, and it sums up the best of what makes Why? such an interesting and worthwhile band. Their latest record, Alopecia, while not being their best, is still a great CD (and also features the equally great song “These Few Presidents”).
MySpace | Wikipedia
#3) No Age “Eraser” / “Teen Creeps”
Two of the many great songs from No Age’s sophomore disc Nouns. This is an album that was close to cracking my top ten and deserves most all of the attention that has been lavished on it.
Official | MySpace | Wikipedia
No Age “Eraser” [MP3]
No Age “Teen Creeps” [MP3]
#4) Jay Reatard “See Saw”
I honestly could have chosen 3/4 of the songs from both his Singles ’06-’07 and his Singles ’08 and they would have been worthy of being in the Top Ten. His sugar coated melodies are getting hidden less and less behind fuzzed out guitars with each release and his songs keep getting stronger and stronger.
Offcial | MySpace | Wikipedia
Jay Reatard “See-Saw” [MP3]
#5) Air France “Collapsing at Your Doorstep”
An amazing song that breezes along with sublime orchestration and the haunting samples of childrens’ vocals.
MySpace | Wikipedia
#6) The Very Best “Dinosaur on the Ark”
The Very Best, the name of the Esau Mwamwaya + Radioclit, came together to make a highly energetic and entertaining mixtape this year, with this song being the best and most uplifting on the whole disc.
MySpace
#7) Plants and Animals “New Kind of Love”
The best song on an album full of highlights, this is a six minute long epic that shows the versatility of a band that should have an amazing future.
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#8) The Walkmen “In the New Year”
I could have chosen many different songs from the Walkmen’s great return to form LP, You & Me, but this was the song that had the strongest first impression on me, so I decided to choose it.
Official | MySpace | Wikipedia
#9) Wolf Parade “Kissing the Beehive”
The closing song on the sophomore LP from Wolf Parade is the first time songwriters Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner collaborated on a song… and it is awesome. It is a ten minute, prog rock masterpiece that combines the two guys different lyrical styles to create a song that worked perfectly to close out both their latest album and their main set at First Ave.
Official | MySpace | Wikipedia
#10) Santogold “L.E.S. Artistes” (album review)
Each year I generally find on pop song that really gets me going, and this year it was the lead single from upstart artist Santagold, who followed this song with a great debut LP and the excellent Top Ranking mixtape with Diplo.
Official | MySpace | Wikipedia
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[list by Erik Thompson]
#1) Spiritualized “Soul On Fire”
All it took was one late night car ride around the lakes with the windows open wide for this track to become my favorite song of the year. A triumphant return from the depths by Jason Spaceman.
Official | MySpace | Wikipedia
#2) TV on the Radio “Shout Me Out” (album review)
A defiant call to arms, brazenly unifying, with a killer explosion of sound. “Lord, If you got lungs, C’mon shout me out.” Indeed.
Official | MySpace | Wikipedia
#3) The Kills “U.R.A. Fever”
Strident and sexy as hell, this song immediately sets the fuzzed out tone for one of the best records of the year.
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#4) The Muslims “Bright Side” (album review)
The band has now changed its name to The Soft Pack, and this track doesn’t seem to be available anywhere at the moment, but that doesn’t change the rough, catchy quality to this song that just begs to be turned up loud.
MySpace
#5) The Pigeon Detectives “Get Up, Get Out”
A bouncy, fun track from the band from Leeds, with a massive chorus and a Franz-like guitar riff. A Saturday night song.
Official | MySpace | Wikipedia
#6) Okkervil River “Lost Coastlines”
A lively and impassioned singalong between Will and Shearwater’s Jonathan Meiberg, with one of the best videos of the year as well.
Official | MySpace | Wikipedia
Okkervil River “Lost Coastlines” [MP3]
#7) Wolf Parade “Call It A Ritual”
A dark, piano driven melody guides the song to its inevitable chaotic finish. So good it makes me completely forget about the record’s terrible cover art.
Official | MySpace | Wikipedia
Wolf Parade “Call It A Ritual” [MP3]
#8) Vampire Weekend “Walcott”
Hard to deny the appeal of this jaunty song, which perhaps did more damage to the reputation of the women of Wellfleet than any song in recent memory. Which is good, they’ve had it easy for way too long.
Official | MySpace | Wikipedia
#9) Death Cab For Cutie “I Will Posses Your Heart” (album review)
Perhaps a couple minutes too long in the intro, this is still an ace single with fantastic production, as always, from Chris Walla.
Purchase | Official | Twitter | MySpace | Wikipedia
#10) Shearwater “Rooks”
Stopped me in my tracks the first time I heard it. Simply stunning and beautiful. I won’t ever tire of this song. The haunting live version from the Radio K archives is also top notch.
Official | MySpace | Wikipedia
Shearwater “Rooks” [MP3]
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Once again, my list gets pushed to the bottom? No love for the new guy, I guess
Great lists, fellas. And fantastic work embedding all the vids in for the songs, Chris. Classy and convenient. That’s what we’re all about here at the CB.
The key Erik, is boatloads of money. A little bribe goes a long way with Mr. DeLine.
B, D, K, T
It’s alphabetics, my friend.
Also, I don’t stand by my list in the sense that pretty much every track of my favorite albums could be up there… but I’m still diggin’ ‘em something fierce.
what… no Rockferry? no Chasing Pavements?
what do you guys have against all the great FEMALE UK acts of 2008????
No fair! Josh gets to list a track from an unreleased album! Seriously though, that GB track is great and I am guessing that next year´s album will be f-ing fantastic.
Erik, I didn´t know that the Muslims changed their name. I just don´t know how I feel about “The Soft Pack” as a band name. It implies…softness…?
slightly better than the alternative… The Flaccid Pack
but jon, “softness” is THE trend of 2008. you indie rock people go crazy over that stuff.
where’s M.O.P. on this list? haha.
I’m not even kidding with this… was gonna put 75 Bars by The Roots up there…
that song is ruthless –
http://www.culturebully.com/the-roots-75-bars-blacks-reconstruction-video
Total sales for Adele’s “19″ have now passed one million, Duffy’s “Rockferry” sales are over four million.
The total sales this year of
all top 4 picks here (Dept. of Eagles, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Spiritualized, and Grizzly Bear)for 2008 totaled exactly how many?
sound logic…
top album sales of this year:
AC/DC
Nickelback
Taylor Swift
Beyonce
clearly craig is onto something here DeLine…
Just asking again,
2008 total sales for the top 4 artists picks here were how many?
Craig, if you are curious about these band´s top sales numbers I would look elsewhere – I´m sure that Billboard or someone posts a “Top Selling Tracks of 2008.” Of course that isn´t the purpose of this post
Guante, I am going to have to chat with my “Indie Rock People” to find out how we got off course.
Is the implication that your personal taste influences the masses, or that the masses influence your personal taste?
I would have gone for the “they have boobs” argument… but that would include to Meatloaf, too… and there’s no way you’re getting me to listen to Bat Out Of Hell III again
Well, I already know the answer to the question (never ask a question that you don’t know the answer to) – Adele on her own this year outsold the combo of all four of the above artists.
I actually like all four of the artists, good top picks. But don’t be so arrogant to assume that successful sales figures means that an artist isn’t producing superior work. Sometimes it does (Led
Zepplin, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys,
Radiohead) and sometimes it doesn’t (Nickelback).
“But don’t be so arrogant to assume that successful sales figures means that an artist isn’t producing superior work.”
Pot, kettle, black.
“Pot,kettle, black” – that’s a great line from a Tilly and the Wall song this year!
We’ve got to play nice kids, or instead of Blur reuniting this summer we’re going to get a Creed reunion. Uh Oh. Too late.
sometimes great artists sell tons of records, more often than not however… they don’t
to use sales as an argument for an artists quality is just dumb, sorry Craig.
talk up their music on it’s own merit at least.
Actually I will use that argument – sales is a pretty good predictor of who will be remembered most in music history – Elvis, Patsy Kline,
Aretha Franklin, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zepplin,Beach Boys,Elton John,U2, Radiohead, and Frank Sinatra have all sold a ton of records in their career. They tend to get voted into various Halls of Fame for their accomplishments that reach a very large audiance and touch many lives.
Sorry, but the artists that sell 5,000 units a year, no matter how good, will soon be forgotten.
First the suggestion was issued that quality was related to sales volume. Duffy is better because she has sold more records than Department of Eagles. Sales alone are the litmus test for quality/talent.
Then immediately after reaffirming that, you suggest an error on our (my, someone elses?) behalf – claming a statement was made suggesting that album sales equate lack of talent. (gold and platinum selling records are represented on the list)
Now you’re here:
“To use sales as an argument for an artists quality is just dumb, sorry Craig.”
“Actually I will use that argument – sales is a pretty good predictor of who will be remembered most in music history”
The first question is, after collapsing on any sort of answer after suggesting that sales = good music, are you now saying that it’s not sales that = good music, but the idea of being “remembered” (whose memory?) in history which is suggestive of good music? Furthermore that a lack of album sales means that a piece of music won’t hold up to time… That any given music-related Hall of Fame is the chief definer of taste? That’s going back to another argument I remember which suggested that not being nominated for a Grammy meant the album was of less talent than those that were nominated, when in reality a Grammy holds up in terms of history, rememberance and quality about as well as a Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Award.
This is all important stuff, but how does any of it relate to a list of songs that has been assembled by a group of friends on the basis of personal taste?
Wow, who knew sales figures for music artists would be such a touchy, almost taboo, subject. Guess I ran across a raw nerve here.
Craig-I don’t thinks it’s a taboo subject, I just think you’re coming at it from perhaps a different angle/perspective than the rest of us. I’ve never viewed the Grammy’s or Billboard at being successful at gauging what my friends and I were listening too, and have always resented them for being viewed as some sort of barometer for taste/success. That’s why it was such a shock to everyone when Nirvana knocked Michael Jackson off the top of the charts. It seemed a bit unnatural, and we all knew it wasn’t going to last.
Granted, every artist wants/needs to sell records, but that shouldn’t ever be the criteria for whether or not a band has achieved anything memorable or lasting. Look at The Velvet Underground, The Ramones, The Replacements, Sonic Youth, etc…the list can go on an on. Those bands didn’t sell a whole lot of records (in the Smash Hit Record scheme of things), but most bands would kill to have their kind of legacy, right. And most of them, if not all, will end up in the Rock Hall Of Fame that you speak of. I never begrudge a band for finally selling some records and making some money (i.e. Modest Mouse), and I don’t dislike something simply because it’s at the top of the charts (Rhianna’s ‘Umbrella’ was a banging track, no matter how high on the charts it was.) But I’ll be listening to Pavement’s ‘Slanted & Enchanted’ until the day I die-it doesn’t matter to me that it never went Platinum or won a Grammy. It’s just an ace record, that’s all.
I, personally, just have a deep rooted hatred of Female UK singers.
Erik T OTM
Craig… if you go about your life only putting stake and trying to listen to those whom you deem will be “legendary”, you’re gonna miss out on a lot of great music.
also, maybe i’ll be proven wrong, but i’d argue that Duffy is more likely to be on a VH1 “I love the 00′s” in 10 years than anywhere near Hall of Fame-status. i know you love her, etc., but she’s kind of a dime a dozen imo. kinda of like Joss Stone (whom you may like, i don’t know), talented no doubt, but can’t write a good song on her own to save herself, and imo owes just about everything to Janis.
like Chris said, it doesn’t matter who is “remembered” in the grand scheme, it matters what music interests you most in the present. do i think Blitzen Trapper (who put out my #1 album of 2008) will be remembered 30-40 years from now by the general populous? hell no. will I still listen to the album fondly 10 years from now at least? i’d almost guarantee it.
p.s. the RNR Hall of Fame is kind of a joke in all honesty. i had a fun time visiting, but there’s a lot of political bullshit that goes into their nominations.
lol @ Josh
Craig, by your sales argument, Kid Rock, Britney Spears, Mariah Carey, Creed, etc. are all “legendary” artists too…
who cares if those artists will be remembered if they sucked to begin with?
The old art vs. commerce, art for commerce argument. Always a sticky wicket.
On a lighter note, thanks for reacquainting me with Walcott, Erik T.
The song takes me back to last spring. Boat shoes and those happy and irreverent vampires…
Not a good ranking……. I’m not over – Carolina Liar, Can you hear me – Enrique Iglesias Should have been in the ranking……….
Bad Romance of Lady Gaga…..