The 25 Best Things in Music: 2008 Edition
25. Leftovers! MGMT hit it big this year, but their album came out in 2007. So, as much as I would love to put "Electric Feel" higher up on this list, it has to hang out on the bottom for technical reasons. Also getting a lot of play in my car this year but not technically eligible for 2008 prizes? The New Young Pony Club album, and two terribly catchy earworms by Paramore: "That's What You Get" and "Misery Business". I want to hate Paramore, but I can't.
24. "URA Fever" by the Kills. Featured in an awesome moment on Gossip Girl, following which the rest of the season went downhill. Similarly, the rest of the Kills album was not too exciting. But Gossip Girl got better again in the second season, and even more awesome songs were played! Some of them will appear elsewhere on this list! I'm Chuck Bass!
23. Robyn's album finally came out! I kinda feel like I shouldn't specify singles on here, because all of the songs on this album have been floating around for years now, but I'm glad they were finally collected and released here in the states. Now, other people can sing Crash and Burn Girl with me, and I won't feel insane (or possibly Swedish) -- because they played it on Gossip Girl! Note: Segev hates this album.
22. "A Milli" and "Got Money" by Lil Wayne. Lil Wayne likes to talk about how much money he has. He often does it in relatively catchy ways. This pleases me. I think he is hugely overrated as a rapper, but I still enjoy the beats.
21. "Move (Cut Copy Remix)" by Cansei De Sur Sexy. I like the Cut Copy remix of this better than the original.
20. "Paris is Burning (Cut Copy Remix)" by Ladyhawke. I have not heard the original version of this, but I like the Cut Copy remix.
19. "Hearts on Fire" by Cut Copy. I like Cut Copy.
18. The Ting Tings. The Ting Tings confuse me. They had a song on Gossip Girl -- but it was probably my least favorite song of theirs ("Shut Up And Let Me Go"). They have some songs where the big popular remix is awesome while the original kinda sucks ("That's Not My Name"), and some where the original is great and the big popular remix is a big letdown ("Great DJ"). Maybe next album will give me a little big of consistency? Because the raw material is totally there. Good luck, Ting Tings!
17. "Down to Earth" by Peter Gabriel. God knows I'll take whatever little Peter Gabriel scraps get served up to me these days -- but the fact that this song accompanied the most amazing credits sequence in any movie ever makes it more than just a scrap. How crazy is it that in possibly the best movie of the year, possibly the best animated film of all time, the Peter Gabriel-scored credits is the part that made me cry?
16. Santogold. I didn't think her album was terrifically consistent, but I definitely dug pretty much everything she touched this year. Best songs, probably "Creator" (as featured in a Sandra-Oh-dances-around-in-slow-motion sequence on Grey's Anatomy) and "L.E.S. Artistes", but various collaborations with Amanda Blank and Jay-Z were pretty tops, too. And, again, yes, featured in a fabulous Gossip Girl scene. (Yes, Dan Humphrey, Serena DOES think you're a joke. So SHOVE IT.)
15. "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You" by Black Kids. I heard a remix of this first, which I liked, but which sounds so dissimilar to the original that when I finally HEARD the original, I thought it was the Cure doing a remix of that dance song Abby had sent to me. Oops! Nope! As far as I know, this song has NOT been played on Gossip Girl, but another song by them, "Partie Traumatic", has.
14. Hard Candy - Madonna. Seriously, people, it's crap but it's GOOD crap, if that makes any sense. Favorites of mine include "Devil Wouldn't Recognize", "Dance 2Night" and "Miles Away" -- basically, it's one of those rare albums where the second half is actually BETTER than the first half, so when you get irritated about three songs in, you miss the good stuff towards the end. I am also trying not to let Madonna's new Jocelyn-Wildensteinian facial structure ruin my ability to appreciate her music.
13. "Toil and Trouble" by Say Hi To Your Mom For Me. I discovered this song through Pandora, and I am just so happy that there's a band with this name that I felt the need to include it on this list. If only there were a band called "Say Hello To LUMBERG For Me!" then my life would be complete.
12. Does It Offend You, Yeah. Another great band name, and a bunch of fun songs. My two faves are "Epic Last Song (Lifelike Remix)" and "Being Bad Feels Pretty Good". Nothing about this band stands out, but their music is dancey and listenable and made my car a happier place to exist for multiple hours every week.
11. "From the Top of the World" by My Brightest Diamond. I listen almost exclusively to dance remixes, hip-hop, pop, and upbeat indie. But My Brightest Diamond's bizarre swoopy art-rock just mesmerizes me. This was the best song off her most recent album. There is also an album of remixes that came out last year (LEFTOVERS!), but most of them kinda suck. I guess you can never completely take the Tori out of the girl...
10. Gutter Twins. Oh, Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan. I never seriously thought you guys would REALLY TRULY FINALLY make that album you'd been talking about for like a decade! But you did! And it was OK! Not great, but pretty good! And I went to see you in concert, and Lanegan DOES NOT HAVE EYEBALLS! All of these things make me happy.
9. "A Thread Cut With A Carving Knife" by Stars. Stars continues to be my #1 choice for soaring power pop. I wish they had come out with a full album this year, but this song off their tour-only EP will have to suffice.
8. "Jizz In My Pants" by the Lonely Island. Andy Samberg and his buddies write a better bridge than anyone in the business today.
7. "Talons" by Bloc Party. The entire Bloc Party album is superlatively great, on par with their first album rather than their disappointing second. But "Talons" is the song I can't stop playing. Something about Kele Okerere asking his (male) love interest, "When did you become such a slut?" is a real kick in the pants.
6. "After Hours" by We Are Scientists. Made me a little wistful for being young and drunk in late night New York City. But not that much. Just enough to make the song ring kinda true.
5. "I Will Possess Your Heart" by Death Cab For Cutie. I was underwhelmed by their album as a whole, but this song is just...amazing. It takes a full FOUR AND A HALF minutes for Ben Gibbard to even start singing, and the buildup is almost cinematic. They just added this song to the playlist at my store, and it makes me all swoony.
4. "No Sex For Ben" by the Rapture. Hey, a song from Grand Theft Auto made it into my top 5! That's kinda weird. Whatever. *bootyshake*
3. "Love In This Club (MSTRKFT Remix)" by Usher. The original version of this song is super slow-jammy and lame and pretty much sucks. (Although I have a little bit of a soft spot for it based entirely on the video embedded below.) But the MSTRKFT remix is AWESOME and makes me sing along like a crazy person and makes my HUSBAND sing along like a crazy person and then all of a sudden the backing track is some weird clavier version of LAYLA and it's fabulous. The end.
2. "Everyone Nose (Remix)" by N.E.R.D. Abby hates the new N.E.R.D. album. I think any album that has a song on it where Kanye calls out Hollywood cokeheads by name can't be ALL bad. And it's syncopated in a way that hits my happy buttons.
1. Feed The Animals - Girl Talk. Ludacris rapping over Temple of the Dog? Busta Rhymes vs "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic"? Missy Elliott works it out to Nu Shooz? I hope this guy never gets arrested for violating the Millenium Copyright Act and just keeps making silly silly albums for me to dance and laugh to.
24. "URA Fever" by the Kills. Featured in an awesome moment on Gossip Girl, following which the rest of the season went downhill. Similarly, the rest of the Kills album was not too exciting. But Gossip Girl got better again in the second season, and even more awesome songs were played! Some of them will appear elsewhere on this list! I'm Chuck Bass!
23. Robyn's album finally came out! I kinda feel like I shouldn't specify singles on here, because all of the songs on this album have been floating around for years now, but I'm glad they were finally collected and released here in the states. Now, other people can sing Crash and Burn Girl with me, and I won't feel insane (or possibly Swedish) -- because they played it on Gossip Girl! Note: Segev hates this album.
22. "A Milli" and "Got Money" by Lil Wayne. Lil Wayne likes to talk about how much money he has. He often does it in relatively catchy ways. This pleases me. I think he is hugely overrated as a rapper, but I still enjoy the beats.
21. "Move (Cut Copy Remix)" by Cansei De Sur Sexy. I like the Cut Copy remix of this better than the original.
20. "Paris is Burning (Cut Copy Remix)" by Ladyhawke. I have not heard the original version of this, but I like the Cut Copy remix.
19. "Hearts on Fire" by Cut Copy. I like Cut Copy.
18. The Ting Tings. The Ting Tings confuse me. They had a song on Gossip Girl -- but it was probably my least favorite song of theirs ("Shut Up And Let Me Go"). They have some songs where the big popular remix is awesome while the original kinda sucks ("That's Not My Name"), and some where the original is great and the big popular remix is a big letdown ("Great DJ"). Maybe next album will give me a little big of consistency? Because the raw material is totally there. Good luck, Ting Tings!
17. "Down to Earth" by Peter Gabriel. God knows I'll take whatever little Peter Gabriel scraps get served up to me these days -- but the fact that this song accompanied the most amazing credits sequence in any movie ever makes it more than just a scrap. How crazy is it that in possibly the best movie of the year, possibly the best animated film of all time, the Peter Gabriel-scored credits is the part that made me cry?
Click to view16. Santogold. I didn't think her album was terrifically consistent, but I definitely dug pretty much everything she touched this year. Best songs, probably "Creator" (as featured in a Sandra-Oh-dances-around-in-slow-motion sequence on Grey's Anatomy) and "L.E.S. Artistes", but various collaborations with Amanda Blank and Jay-Z were pretty tops, too. And, again, yes, featured in a fabulous Gossip Girl scene. (Yes, Dan Humphrey, Serena DOES think you're a joke. So SHOVE IT.)
15. "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You" by Black Kids. I heard a remix of this first, which I liked, but which sounds so dissimilar to the original that when I finally HEARD the original, I thought it was the Cure doing a remix of that dance song Abby had sent to me. Oops! Nope! As far as I know, this song has NOT been played on Gossip Girl, but another song by them, "Partie Traumatic", has.
14. Hard Candy - Madonna. Seriously, people, it's crap but it's GOOD crap, if that makes any sense. Favorites of mine include "Devil Wouldn't Recognize", "Dance 2Night" and "Miles Away" -- basically, it's one of those rare albums where the second half is actually BETTER than the first half, so when you get irritated about three songs in, you miss the good stuff towards the end. I am also trying not to let Madonna's new Jocelyn-Wildensteinian facial structure ruin my ability to appreciate her music.
13. "Toil and Trouble" by Say Hi To Your Mom For Me. I discovered this song through Pandora, and I am just so happy that there's a band with this name that I felt the need to include it on this list. If only there were a band called "Say Hello To LUMBERG For Me!" then my life would be complete.
12. Does It Offend You, Yeah. Another great band name, and a bunch of fun songs. My two faves are "Epic Last Song (Lifelike Remix)" and "Being Bad Feels Pretty Good". Nothing about this band stands out, but their music is dancey and listenable and made my car a happier place to exist for multiple hours every week.
11. "From the Top of the World" by My Brightest Diamond. I listen almost exclusively to dance remixes, hip-hop, pop, and upbeat indie. But My Brightest Diamond's bizarre swoopy art-rock just mesmerizes me. This was the best song off her most recent album. There is also an album of remixes that came out last year (LEFTOVERS!), but most of them kinda suck. I guess you can never completely take the Tori out of the girl...
10. Gutter Twins. Oh, Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan. I never seriously thought you guys would REALLY TRULY FINALLY make that album you'd been talking about for like a decade! But you did! And it was OK! Not great, but pretty good! And I went to see you in concert, and Lanegan DOES NOT HAVE EYEBALLS! All of these things make me happy.
9. "A Thread Cut With A Carving Knife" by Stars. Stars continues to be my #1 choice for soaring power pop. I wish they had come out with a full album this year, but this song off their tour-only EP will have to suffice.
8. "Jizz In My Pants" by the Lonely Island. Andy Samberg and his buddies write a better bridge than anyone in the business today.
7. "Talons" by Bloc Party. The entire Bloc Party album is superlatively great, on par with their first album rather than their disappointing second. But "Talons" is the song I can't stop playing. Something about Kele Okerere asking his (male) love interest, "When did you become such a slut?" is a real kick in the pants.
6. "After Hours" by We Are Scientists. Made me a little wistful for being young and drunk in late night New York City. But not that much. Just enough to make the song ring kinda true.
5. "I Will Possess Your Heart" by Death Cab For Cutie. I was underwhelmed by their album as a whole, but this song is just...amazing. It takes a full FOUR AND A HALF minutes for Ben Gibbard to even start singing, and the buildup is almost cinematic. They just added this song to the playlist at my store, and it makes me all swoony.
4. "No Sex For Ben" by the Rapture. Hey, a song from Grand Theft Auto made it into my top 5! That's kinda weird. Whatever. *bootyshake*
3. "Love In This Club (MSTRKFT Remix)" by Usher. The original version of this song is super slow-jammy and lame and pretty much sucks. (Although I have a little bit of a soft spot for it based entirely on the video embedded below.) But the MSTRKFT remix is AWESOME and makes me sing along like a crazy person and makes my HUSBAND sing along like a crazy person and then all of a sudden the backing track is some weird clavier version of LAYLA and it's fabulous. The end.
2. "Everyone Nose (Remix)" by N.E.R.D. Abby hates the new N.E.R.D. album. I think any album that has a song on it where Kanye calls out Hollywood cokeheads by name can't be ALL bad. And it's syncopated in a way that hits my happy buttons.
1. Feed The Animals - Girl Talk. Ludacris rapping over Temple of the Dog? Busta Rhymes vs "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic"? Missy Elliott works it out to Nu Shooz? I hope this guy never gets arrested for violating the Millenium Copyright Act and just keeps making silly silly albums for me to dance and laugh to.