#7 -- Best Songs of 2008

GfC by Albert Hammond, Jr.

This song is all about the great rift that opens the song and never really goes away. The rift is melancholy and tired—something someone started picking out at 4 in the morning after a long night of drinks and maybe even heartbreak. It's beautiful.

But at the same time, this song sounds like an old rock song with those bruising attacking guitars. But we're always taken back to that late night 'what happened tonight?' rift.

How does this fit into 2008? I'm not sure. And maybe that's okay, maybe I should just let this song be. Close my eyes and let that rift take me away. It's been a long few years, and this song captures that better than most songs. Not in what it is saying, but rather in how it sounds. And that's why it sounds so good. There is no political statement, no anti-Bush message; it's how Hammond plays his guitar. The notes he plays sum up the last few years better than almost everyone else.

#8 -- Best Songs of 2008

Love Dog by TV on the Radio

Is this song sad? Or is it just tired? Or is it some how hopeful? Or maybe it's all of this in one.

With what happened in October and then finally in early November, this albums got a lot of press from music critics saying that it was "hopeful" and some how represented the end of the Bush Era. But this song doesn't have that feel. This song, while full of wonderful sounds that mix and swirl, reaching out and attempting to touch the clouds in the sky, isn't what I'd call hopeful.

The album is filled with sort of hopeful sounding songs that sound great (check out "Shout Me Out" or "Golden Age"). But every time I listen to this album, I'm brought back to "Love Dog". Lonely, lost, and crying out—also howling "Hallelujah". And as the song nears its end, things seem to open up, to clear up, and the fog that had been preventing our lonely little love dog from finding itself lifts as the strings seem to announce a new day. But it's a cautionary tale and sound. And I think we all need to be mindful of that as we head into 2009. Sure things are looking up for the first time since 2000... but let's be cautious and look before we leap.

#9 -- Best Songs of 2008

Dance, Dance, Dance by Lykke Li

Every time I make a year end list like this, there is one song that starts at about #22 and ends up in the top ten... this year's winner is... Dance, Dance, Dance

This song has it all. That methodical, hard working beat which doesn't allow us to dance to this song on our own—rather you have to find a partner and it becomes a slow dance in the process. Hands on hips, flirty looks in each others eyes... dance, dance, dance...

Li's voice is shy, like the lyrics in the song which features one of those great lines that are easy to over look:
My hips they lie 'cause in reality I'm shy, shy, shy
In other words—Suck it, Shakira.

You never hear great dance songs that are so shy, so unsure of oneself... but when you think about it, most of us can't dance. Most of use don't dance unless we're at a wedding, where our self-consciousness is thrown out the window. Why we don't think like this at the club, I don't know, but it be what it be. Anyway, what's amazing in all this is that most of the time it's easier to dance than it is to talk... cus most of us are better dancers than talkers (and yes, this is an indictment on society). Dance, dance, dance...

And I liked what Pitchfork had to say about this song, so I leave with that:

Suggesting something can be so much more effective than coming right out and saying it. On this Youth Novels single Lykke Li uses movement to overcome her shyness and compensate for inability to explain herself. "Having trouble telling how I feel," she sings, "But I can dance, dance, dance." The song's music is equally understated and demure: a sliding bassline on an acoustic guitar, some mumbling sax, eventually a few backing voices to fill in the spaces. It builds, but only a little, and even at its peak it's a long way from abandon. For a while this year I kept hoping that "Dance, Dance, Dance" would get a massive remix, something that gave the hypnotic repetition and Li's purring coo the surging beat they deserved. But eventually I realized that the low-key production is a virtue. Your mind fills in everything that's not there, which further reinforces the song's focus on subtle communication: "When I'm shaking my hips, look for the swing/ The words are written in the air." --Mark Richardson

#10 -- Best Songs of 2008

Bassment Party by The Cool Kids

What a great name for a band/group.

The easy thing to do would be to compare the Cool Kids to Obama, seeing that both are products of the South Side. Both have huge white, upper-middle class followings, the kids love them, especially the cool kids, and even blacks have started to get down with them. But their careers are totally different... I find it hard to believe that right now some 12 year old, black male is thinking about becoming the Cool Kids one day. Sure maybe by the time they're 19 or 22 and they've been north of Madison Ave, you might even find them doing something in some club in Wicker Park on a Friday night... but at 12? Nah, no way.

See, the Cool Kids are hipster rap. I don't care what Pitchfork says... they are. They appeal to white audiences for a bunch of reasons: The beat isn't too fast or too intense (something that seems to scare off white people after college), their lyrics are accessible, they sound and look retro.

Now does this take away from the fact that they sound pretty awesome? No. They lay down a nice little beat, rap with the speed of Ma$e and are completely and totally accessible to anyone over the age of 24. These guys are rapping about a party. And everyone loves parties. Even white males over the age of 40. And if you flipped this on, those Squares might even attempt to bob their head a bit... provided their boss isn't there.

#11 -- Best Songs of 2008

Sequestered In Memphis by the Hold Steady

Yeah sure I'll tell my story again.
In bar light. She looked alright.
In daylight? She looked desperate.

And it was over. I mean, as if Craig Finn ever need a little prodding to start telling a story. But hey, that's what he's here for, so...

What the Hell, I'll tell my story again.
In bar light. She looked alright.
In daylight? She looked desperate.

Jeff Tweedy writes lines that I'd kill to write, but Craig Finn is coming in a closer and closer second.

We all know this girl... and we all know the two guys in this situation: one of the guys will smile, and say, 'hey that's your problem darling'. The other will take full advantage of that desperation. The Hold Steady let our imagination run wild in these situations -- what does one do? Who does one end up with?

Personally, I miss Holly and the happenings at Penetration Park... but hey I'll take a rock anthem any day of the week. If life was a movie, we would all chant this song when it came on at a bar. "Subpoenaed in Texas, sequestered in Memphis!"

And I'd pay about a thousand bucks to listen to Bruce cover Hold Steady songs. That my friends, would be awesome.

Finally, in a year where indie band continued to suck, why can't they be more like the Hold Steady and other bands that don't try to reinvent the wheel? The Hold Steady know they're going to write amazing lyrics and tell great stories in their songs, so who cares what the music sounds like as long as it matches the mood of the words? The Hold Steady don't do anything Earth-shattering musicially, just nice riffs and a decent hook once in a while. And they sound great...

So what's wrong with music as the '00s end? Why have the bands moved away from the early decade simplicity of the Strokes, White Stripes, Hives, Hold Steady, even Belle & Sebastian and the Shins and so on and so on?

#12 -- Best Songs of 2008

Bruises by Chairlift

The iPod has changed music more than anyone will give it credit... I think you have to go back to the turn table or radio to find a device that has revolutionized music as much. The iPod allows us to create our own sound track to life, to completely detach ourselves from society, and live in our own world playing whatever song we want, where ever we want and whenever we want. I'm not sure this is a good thing, but it's changed how we listen to music. The iPod has further killed the album and made the playlist the 21st century mixtape... but only to one's own life.

And Apple has really good commercials featuring really attractive songs.

This song is no different. A nice beat, kick ass hook, the lead vocalist voice is pretty, the song sounds big and airy, expanding beyond Earth and space and everything...

It's funny, but what sort of ruins this song is the male vocalist towards the end. Why change up a good thing about a silly love song? Who doesn't love the "For yooouuuuuuuuooooo... so black and bluuuuuuueeee... for yooouuuuuuuuoooooo"?

After seeing a commercials like this, who doesn't want an iPod?

#13 -- Best Songs of 2008

See Fernando by Jenny Lewis

See Fernando - Jenny Lewis

or

There's is nothing quite like a song that comes out throwing haymakers. Usually only metal and punk bands (and Radiohead more that you'd think) use a technique like this because it's so hard to do... where do you go from there when you come out blasting, nearly out of control, attempting to knock out the listener? If you don't bring them in, the song will fail.

But Jenny Lewis and company does just that here... sure it takes a few measures before that guitar really starts going nuts with help from the drums, but she comes out punching. And it is wonderful.

In this some-how-underrated album Lewis might be at her best (how anything can be underrated in 2008 is beyond me, then again Jermaine Dye is still underrated). It's tough picking out just one song, but this song which sounds like a borderline country-punk anthem, puts Jenny and her friends at their best. They seem to be having fun, not trying to hard, just hanging out and playing some music. "Hey guys, let's turn up the amps on this one..." and this is what we got.

And the song brings energy, and who doesn't love energy? (besides hipsters when they're hanging out around unhipsters of course). If 2008 differed from previous years in any way, it was that there was more energy this year. Things might not be looking up, but people were a little more excited about life, because when things do turn... it's gonna be great. Wanna have a good time? Wanna bottle up that energy and let it all out... well go see Fernando.

And who doesn't want to see Fernando? He buying the fucking beer.

#14 -- Best Songs of 2008

Fools by The Dodo's


According to everything I read about the Dodo's I wouldn't like them. But I heard this song on the Tripwire's podcast a few months ago and fell for it in the "I don't really like her but man she knows how to move her hips" kind of way.

The song doesn't come at you, rather it's there, but the drum beat is so damn intriguing that you're pulled in by it all. A cross between a fast moving locomotive and a horse, the beat never lets up even when the song is peppered with random guitar bursts and weird background vocals that seem to be more shouting than anything else.

But I come back to those drums every time I hear this song. "Fools" sounds much bigger than it actually is. And in 2008, this is a good thing. We believe that things are going to change, it won't be a 'meet the new boss, same as the old boss' situation. Rather, this is a year where we collectively decided as a country, as a society, that we wanted to be naive and to check or cynicism at the door. We wanted choose to believe, we decided that things were going to be different, even if they barely will be.

Does this song sum up 2008? Far from it, but it's the little song that could. It keeps chugging along with that enchanting beat, and solid guitar sounding like something that is much more complex than it really is. And let's face it, politically at least, 2008 was sort of like that.

#15 -- Best Songs of 2008

Nowheres Nigh by Parts & Labor

This song just sounds cool. I don't care what the band is singing about, I just like hearing them sound so friggin' awesome.

This was a year where image was more important that what was actually being said. There was a lot of hot air. This happens every time the U.S. holds an election for President, but this year seemed filled with more hot air than usual.

So what was the 'point' of 2008?

Why to be cool of course. To sound cool. To do the same thing but do it a little differently and call it change. And what's great about this song is that it starts off sounding like something you've heard before, only a little different. It brings energy and the amazing thing is that it manages to build on itself, to become even bigger than the listener ever thought possible.

By the end of the song, these guys are blowing you away because they took the song to a level that you didn't think was possible (it's like the anti-Dr. Dog song).

And in a year where society and the economy was taken to a level never thought possible (good or bad) this song oddly fits. It's bigger and brasher that anyone ever thought.

#16 -- Best Songs of 2008

Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? by She & Him

Playful like a Saturday afternoon in early June, flirting like a Friday night at 9:08p.m. at a friend of a friend's party, three drinks in, and finally having caught her eye...

That's what this song is. It's fun. It's unpretentious. And it flirts with you from beginning to end.

The rift is simple, the words straight forward, there are some extra things going on in the background, even backup vocals just to make you think, for a half second, that you are in one of those films where the main characters are the center of the universe in the "even the supporting characters stop what they're doing and break into song at the exact perfect moment" kind of way. [NOTE: Is there a 99% or a 100% chance that Zack Braff loves this song? And the narrator of this song is a Manic Pixie Dream Girl correct?]

But this song doesn't age well. Back during the summer this was a sure top 10, even top five song. But now, as the white of winter has laid down for a rest across the Midwest, I don't nearly get the same excitement out of this song. Instead when I hear this song I long for an afternoon reading a book at the Point.

Which isn't a bad thing, but at the same time, if I'm going to give Fleet Foxes shit, then I have to be consistent.

#17 -- Best Songs of the Year

The Rabbit, the Bat, & the Reindeer by Dr. Dog

I love the opening bars of this song... so much so that this song ultimately disappoints me. Every time that I think this song will blow me away, it gets a little boring. When the bridge kicks in and I get excited... only for the song to switch back to the main hook and it loses me again. The song drags on—it's thirty seconds too long.

This song has potential, but it wastes it. There is something missing, there is a direction that the song should go but it does not for some reason or other. Thus this song sounds more incomplete than anything else.

Unfair? Maybe. But most songs don't have potential, or at least they don't waste their potential. What's frustrating is that you love a certain point or part of a song with potential, so you can't fully 'break up' with the song since you want to hear that one part. You keep coming back for more even though it leaves you disappointed.

But I'm being harsh. This is a good song, it goes a lot of places and does a lot of interesting things. Many songs can't say this. And again, those opening notes of the song are killer.

#18 -- Best Songs of 2008

Hands in the Air by Girl Talk

I love mash ups. I'm sure most mash ups suck big time, but I don't follow the mash up scene outside of what is popular in that indie sort of way AND whatever is being sampled by hip-hop artists these days. The idea of mash ups is perfect... instead of having to listen to some band TRY to sound like Wilco or Pavement or Jay-Z (I'm looking at you Pitchfork Band of the Week (PBW)), mash up artists (and hip-hop producers) say "Fuck it, let's just use what's actually good."

Is taking what's good and copying it/steal it supposed to be a bad thing? No. People are so obsessed with being "original" and "keeping it real" (welcome to White Suburbia!) that this miss a simple point: EVERYTHING IS STOLEN FROM SOMEONE ELSE. I think I realized this at like 20 years of age when my buddy who was an English major informed me that there are only seven stories/plot have ever been written, the only thing that changes are the names, location and time.

So note to D.J's and indie musicians everywhere in the world: don't bother being original because you'll be original by not being original AND people will like you.

(This is when you ask, Mr. Blogger Otter, do you like techno? I say no. You say 'why? It's sort of like mash ups', and I say, no it's not because the point of all techno music is to copy that same sound you heard in your freshman dorm where the room on your left two people were having sex and the room to your right was some rich white kid blasting 50 Cent).

So the song... okay we start with "Whoop! (There it is)", eventually we get some "Love Fool" remix, some Velvet Underground... but this song goes to the next level when he throws down the end of "Wanna Be Starting Something" into "Dance to the Music".

It's hard to pick just one song off this album because it's so much fun to listen to (and get five people and a few beers/gin and tonics and this album goes to a whole other level). But I can't get over the "Sunday Morning" sampling to go along with the Michael Jackson and Sly and the Family work he does near the end.

I think the video above broke every copyright law ever. Congrats!

Finally, I just have to say this but I got suckered into buying body lotion for men today at Target because it's winter in Chicago and I need something to keep my skin from flaking off... but damn this stuff makes me smell like a man. Women do not buy this.

#19 -- Best Songs of 2008

I Love You and Buddha Too by Mason Jennings

Simple, almost stupid (is that too harsh), this song is. But you know what, there is something so cute, so happy, so pleasant, so nice... that I can't help but enjoy it. Nothing about this song is all that insightful or intellectual, in fact Mason's struggle with faith at this point is sort of annoying since it's the same question, "Jesus, I love you, but where are you and what about all these other characters?"

You can also listen here.

But the beat, the back ground vocals, the Lennon/McCartney like ditty rises above all else in this song; and because it sounds like it was fun preforming this song makes it fun to listen to. And in an age where music isn't nearly as much fun as it used to be, I appreciate what Mason is doing here. I like how he seems to be having fun, the straight forward lyrics, and the attempt to make us all think about religion and love.

#20 -- Best Songs of 2008

The '59 Sound by the Gaslight Anthem

This was a good, but weird year in music. Like a sports draft of any sort, this year in music was very tier based. And right now we're still in a weaker tier... but by the end of this we're going to get to some kick ass songs.

This isn't to slam the Gaslight Anthem. These guys aren't bad. Since they're form Jersey I have to mention that they sort of sound like Bruce and they have a rougher edge to them. But is there anything about this song that makes anyone shout out and go, "hell yeah!"? It's got a nice intro and the hook isn't bad. But shouldn't I have just put another Vampire Weekend or even a Coldplay song on this list twice over these guys? But rules are rules (I only do one song per band), and sadly I think this is another song that will be forgotten in two or three years time, like The Cold War Kids or Band of Horses.

#21 -- Best Songs of 2008

A Few Words in Defense of Our Country by Randy Newman

The write up here is easy, I'll copy and paste the best parts in a second... but quickly—this song is genius. As the Bush Era comes to a close, Newman's fantastic attempt to defend us Americans by comparing U.S. to the worst leaders the world has ever seen. Newman and the song hits its fever pitch when he correct points out that under Bush we were supposed to be fearful of being afraid. And it doesn't get more unAmerican than that does it?

I’d like to say a few words
In defense of our country
Whose people aren’t bad nor are they mean
Now the leaders we have
While they’re the worst that we’ve had
Are hardly the worst this poor world has seen...

A President once said,
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself"
Now it seems like we’re supposed to be afraid
It’s patriotic in fact and color coded
And what are we supposed to be afraid of?
Why, of being afraid
That’s what terror means, doesn’t it?
That’s what it used to mean...

The end of an empire is messy at best
And this empire is ending
Like all the rest
Like the Spanish Armada adrift on the sea
We’re adrift in the land of the brave
And the home of the free

Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye.

#22 -- Best Songs of 2008

RoboCop by Kanye West

First things first, I don't care if Kanye used AutoTune or whatever.

Now that's out of the way, why RoboCop over nearly everything else on this album? For me? The stings. I'm a sucker for strings and this song has 'em. And I love how the song wraps up with Kanye singing "L.A. girl... you need to stop it now... you're first good one in a while" as only the strings play.

Yeah, yeah, this is a heartfelt album and Kanye pours out his heart and all that good (or sad) stuff... and I know Kanye went though a lot breaking up with his girl and his mother passing away... but it's interesting that as the U.S. attempts to move past Bush and onto the more optimistic Obama, things are looking up (even if they're looking down). And here is Kanye feeling down.

The genius of Kanye is that he puts songs together so damn well—some may even say perfectly. This song is a fantastic example of how he can construct a song better than nearly anyone else out there. All the sounds, the lyrics, the strings, the beat... it all works. And it sounds so good.

#23 -- Best Songs of 2008

White Winter Hymnal by Fleet Foxes

For some reason when ever I hear this song, I think of Michigan. Not the eastern, down on its luck, out of options half; rather the western, lake effect snow, and dune lined beaches half. Western Michigan is beautiful, a forgotten part of America known only to a few in the Midwest.

This song is beautiful. There's no other way to describe it. It sounds rustic, older than it really is; yet the song isn't dated like so many bands that attempt to sound retro (see the Darkness or Wolfmother). But I guess I'm missing the point because Fleet Foxes aren't trying to be retro. They're just writing really pretty songs.

And oh yeah, Sufjan Stevens would kill to write a song this simple and beautiful.

So you're reading this saying, "Hey you like Sufjan and you think this song is pretty and good, so why is it coming in at #23?"

Well here in lines the problem with most indie music of the last five to ten years. It has no back bone. There isn't enough "eff you". There isn't enough of a beat, a let's forget life and dance our hearts out. And so sure, you get a ton of pretty songs like this... but they all end up being forgettable a year or two later.

And I fully expect to never listen to Fleet Foxes by the time Twenty-Ten comes around.

#24 -- Best Songs of 2008

Breakadawn by Rhymefest

Ugh. I sort of hate having any of Rhymefest's album/free download of Michael Jackson remixes on this list. It's a solid effort and the album is interesting at times. But upon listening it to again over the last few weeks nothing jumps out and moves me.

The idea behind the album/mix tape is pretty good: take Michael Jackson, a great song writer/performer in his own right, and give him a 21st century twist. But it's a better idea than it is actual music, most of the songs leave you wanting to hear Michael himself and few give the songs a new identity or complexity—like what Danger Mouse pulled off with Jay-Z and the Beatles.

For what it's worth, this might be the most interesting and unique song on the mix tape. And thus, it clocks in at #24.

#25 -- Best Songs of 2008

Dónde está la Playa by The Walkmen

Daunting, almost haunting, is the best way to describe this song. But then the song will swing, giving us a hint of optimism, only to shift back to the dauntlessness of it all. It's a powerful song, with cagey guitars and a rolling drum beat.

In a way, it's weird to kick off a best of list with a song like this, but it also makes sense. 2008 was an odd year—the pessimist and the optimist were both right and had a lot to live for—and this song is that balance. The pessimistic opening changes over the course of the song revealing a closing that is strangely optimistic—if only because what we know at the end sounds a lot better than what we heard at the beginning.

Best Songs of 2008

Coming soon (like in the new day or two) a run down of the best songs of 2008. Stay tuned!