Yeah, I know. I'm jumping the gun a bit this year (I usually only post my year-end lists in the days leading up to New Year's). But that's all right. My song-listening is pretty much at a stand-still and my list has definitely been given time to solidify. Besides, all the cool kids are doing it now. How can I resist?
I couldn't do a top 10 list this year. I played with the idea, did some creative re-ordering, but ultimately accepted defeat. I couldn't do it. Or rather, I couldn't just do 10. As it turns out, I had 13 favorite songs this year, and the extra three would've gotten pissed off if I hadn't included them. So I just extended the list into a baker's dozen. (I suppose if you're a true purist you can just truncate the list at 10 and pretend I didn't do all that extra work, but you'd be missing out on some great music, so I wouldn't recommend it.) Again, all the usual disclaimers apply: true ordering of favorites depends entirely on mood and yadda yadda, so this is a rough approximation of the order in which I prefer these. I am fairly confident in my top 5, though, so you can rest assured the pinnacle won't be contested too much in hindsight.
Overall, 2008 was another strong year for individual tracks. I'd say, by comparison, the 2007 list (provided at the bottom for nostalgia and cross-referencing) might be a little bit stronger, but 2007 was also a watershed year. In that regard, '08 definitely held its own. Lots of these songs have become huge personal favorites, and when you get right down to it, that's all I really care about. So, yeah, I'm pleased with the list. Definitely.
Best Pre-2008 Song Heard: "Future Foe Scenarios" by Silversun Pickups. Furious, intense, melodic, and just about everything I could want in a 5-minute song, this would've been right up there with the likes of "Wolf Like Me" on my Best of 2006 list, had I been fortunate enough to hear it upon its initial release.
And now, without further ago, my votes for The Cream of the Crop:
13. Earlimart, "Face Down in the Right Town"
All right, let's get the blatant indie sadsackery out of the way first. (Which isn't to say there won't be plenty of other golden opportunities for indie sadsacks as the list progresses, but this may be the most obvious inclusion.) To deconstruct: this is an indie-pop song. It's downbeat, melancholic, unhappy. It's not really a lot of fun to listen to. But man, it's pretty. But man, it has a nice melody. But man, if you yourself are feeling downbeat, melancholy, and/or unhappy, there are very few songs released this year that will better suit your mood (provided, of course, you like indie-pop; and if not, why not?). I'm especially fond of the crescendo it builds to: it starts off pretty soft-spoken, but slowly rises into a flurry of infectious prettiness: the piano/guitar/horn overdubs, the "doo-doo-doo" vocal melody, the steadfast rhythm. Trust me, it works. Really, really well. Earlimart is one of those bands that should've probably received more love than they got this year, so here's my small contribution. It's a great song.
12. Late of the Pier, "Broken"
If, in typical high school yearbook style, I were to hold Senior Superlatives for the songs on this list, Late of the Pier's "Broken" would almost undoubtedly be voted Most Unlikely to Be Here. It's the kid in your honors class you know really shouldn't be there, but is. You're always left to wonder how this came about, knowing cynically (but truthfully) that all it had to do was smile at the right times and get the people in high places over on its side, and the rest is history. That's really the story of "Broken" and its inclusion. Maybe it is the odd man out -- it has problems, to be sure -- but it works for me and I enjoy it. It's an upbeat, catchy piece of dance-punk with a great chorus and a lot of energy. And while it does sort of go off the deep end in its final thirty seconds with a glitchy, almost Burial/dubstep-ish outro, by that point it's too late for me to care. It might not be destined to become a classic, but I enjoy it a whole lot. Works for me.
11. Frightened Rabbit, "The Modern Leper"
Like Voxtrot's similarly self-deprecating "Kid Gloves" last year, Frightened Rabbit's explosive album opener is the sort of dour indie-rock song that I find myself relating to perhaps more than is healthy, but nonetheless love in spite of (or possibly because of) this fact. I've heard band referred to as "The Twilight Sad without all the noise" (whether affectionately or not for either band, I can't tell; I like 'em both), which I suppose is a workable description. They're both bunches of moody Scotsmen with very prominent accents, but they seem to derive their intensity from different places. Whereas Twilight's force comes from the sheer wall of sound they can emit from their guitars, Frightened Rabbit's anguish seems much more introspective. "The Modern Leper," while by definition a rocker, is clearly the product of some significant emotional turmoil, and I think it's this fact that lends it its uncanny force. There's more feeling bottled up in this one little song than there was on many full albums this year; as a result, "The Modern Leper" is both an exhausting experience and a very, very touching one.
10. British Sea Power, "Lights Out for Darker Skies"
Pitchfork's mocking rating of U.2 aside, there were very few bands in 2008 that did the whole "indie-mainstream crossover" thing better than British Sea Power. Sure, Do You Like Rock Music? (guilty as charged) was far from my favorite album of the year, and sure, the band isn't actually mainstream by any stretch of the imagination, but they sound like they could be. 2005's Open Season (which is a great album) was the sound of a tight band getting its bearings; Rock Music, then, finds them in full-blown arena-rock mode. The production is such that it's not difficult at all imagining the band playing these songs to entire stadiums filled with screaming fans. Its brightest moment is, curiously, "Lights Out for Darker Skies," an excellent two-part anthem that succeeds in both rocking (the first half) and wooing (the second). It maintains everything that was great about the band before while informing us that, yes, they really are ready to be propelled into the stratosphere.
9. Coldplay, "Viva la Vida"
Yup. You read that right. Coldplay. Uh-huh. You can laugh at me all you want, I really don't care. I'm not the biggest Coldplay fan in the world, but if there was ever a legitimate reason for the band's existence, this is it. Not only is it the best song they've written, it's the best song I can imagine them writing. Sometimes you can just never tell when something great will haphazardly slip into the mainstream. Not only is "Viva la Vida" a moving, tuneful exercise in heartstring-plucking, it's also one of the most popular songs of the year (but of course; it's Coldplay, after all). I can't even count how many times I heard this on the radio over the summer, but for once that doesn't bother me at all. It's slick, it's pretty, it's well written and well performed, it's memorable, and it's honestly quite excellent. At the end of the day, any of these things would likely place it head and shoulders above most other mainstream pop. By making "Viva la Vida" all of these things, they've also made it one of the year's very best four minutes. Bravo, guys. I honestly didn't know you had it in you.
8. dEUS, "The Architect"
"Ah, nevermind that space stuff; let's get down to earth!" intones the gruff vocal sample at the beginning of "The Architect," and nowhere on this list is that sentiment better applied. This song, one of 2008's greatest accidents (back in June, whilst downloading music just for the sake of finding something good, I stumbled across this track completely at random -- mission accomplished!), wastes absolutely no time proving that it is, in fact, more badass than you. But it's fun. Good god, it's fun. As you may have noticed or known from experience, most of my collection is comprised of what Jack Black in High Fidelity might call "old, sad bastard music." Songs like dEUS' charmingly uncharacteristic single provide a much-needed balancing-out. This four-minute shot of manic dance-punk energy is, from what I gather, their first foray into this kind of thing. They've already got it down: it's positively spilling over with hooks and genuine catchiness, and just begging you to get your ass out of that chair and dance it off a little bit. So, uh, what are you waiting for, exactly?
7. MGMT, "Time to Pretend"
I've said it on various occasions before and I'll say it again: the wait is over. About a year ago I was engaged in conversation with a co-worker and we were trying to figure out what song, if any, does for this generation what "Smells Like Teen Spirit" did for Gen X. The wait is over. The answer, I submit respectfully, is MGMT's wonderful "Time to Pretend." And much like "Teen Spirit," the song has almost singlehandedly propelled its respective band a hair's length away from the mainstream. A year ago: MGMT who? (Pronounced "the management," by the way. Don't make that mistake.) Today: oh yeah, I love those guys. It's hard not to. "Time to Pretend" encapsulates in four minutes all of today's helpless-romantic teen/twentysomething rock star dreams, but has the pensive insight to note that, in the end, "we're fated to pretend." It's one hell of a debut single, unexpectedly smart and perceptive in its subject matter, but also a bouncing good time musically (with more than a hint of melancholy, of course). Who cares if the rest of us are fated to pretend? These guys have already made it. For right now, that's definitely good enough.
6. Hercules and Love Affair, "Blind"
Imagine my surprise when Pitchfork, somewhat out of the blue, named this their #1 track of 2008. I can't say for certain because I don't remember past years too well, but I don't think their #1 song has ever even made my list, much less been a song I was absolutely positive would be included. "Blind" is, for lack of a better word, stunning. Yeah, sure, it's "gay disco," but so was "YMCA," and I don't hear you hatin' on that. The truth of the matter is, aside from just dismissing the song at face value, there aren't that many bad things that can be said about it. A couple years ago I got really turned off of Antony and the Johnsons because I couldn't stand the guy's voice; in one of the more unexpected 180-turns in my musical life, I'd be willing to say the reason why "Blind" is so excellent is because guest vocalist Antony Hegarty's singing is just so damn good. It's passionate, emotive, and tuneful. It's almost enough to make me wish The Johnsons had been a disco outfit to begin with. Either that, or Antony just teams up with H&LA producer Andy Butler and makes another two or three albums excactly like this. Because, man, it's good. You won't believe me until you hear it, of course, but it's something else.
5. Wolf Parade, "California Dreamer"
Spencer Krug can have my babies. I'm not ashamed to admit it at this point. This the fourth year in a row the man has gotten a song on this list. The fourth year in a row. Do you realize how crazy that is? No one out there is as restlessly productive, consistent, or flat-out amazing as this man. "California Dreamer," though inherently familar, doesn't feel like anything he's written before. While slyly namechecking The Mamas & the Papas' iconic 1965 hit, the song owes a much bigger debt both lyrically and musically to The Doors' "L.A. Woman": it's a dense, complex, but uncharacteristically accessible anthem that seamlessly blends Krug's effortless knack for amazing lyrical imagery ("I think I might have heard you on the radio, but the radio waves were like snow" may be the best single line from any song this year) with his keen ability to write affecting, haunted melodies. It was one of the few songs that grabbed me the first time I heard At Mount Zoomer; it still gets me every time.
4. Cut Copy, "Lights and Music"
Similar to the extremely even In Rainbows about 12-13 months ago, there never seemed to be any general consensus as to what the "best" track on Cut Copy's glorious In Ghost Colours is (and for the record, re Radiohead: "Reckoner"). Some prefer the straightforward dance of "Hearts on Fire," others the hard-edged but shimmering pop of "So Haunted." So it's not too hard for me to admit that, from the first time I listened to the album, I fell head-over-heels for "Lights and Music." It's an unconditional sort of thing. On an album where literally all of the other songs are objectively just as good, this is simply the one I liked the most. The song finds the band in the Depeche Mode phase of their album-long 80s pastiche, and it works so miraculously well that it's actually better than the majority of stuff the Mode recorded in their prime. It's also home to what may be the single most sublime sixty seconds in all of music this year: around 2:30, the first instance of the chorus dies out, the third verse comes in and slowly escalates (notice that added drumbeat around 2:47 -- great!) to an absolutely gorgeous Cure-esque guitar riff, before finally exploding into the chorus one more time. It's pure magic, the kind which I listen to so much other music just to get access to. The same, more or less, can be said both about the entire song and about the album as a whole.
3. Chris Walla, "St. Modesto"
2008 wasn't the best year for Ben Gibbard. Between the underwhelming Narrow Stairs and his recent proclamation that there will not, in fact, be another Postal Service album, things were already looking pretty grim musically. But to add insult to injury, Chris Walla -- indiedom's resident Boy Next Door -- had to go and release a solo album (Field Manual) that, frankly, is better than anything Gibbard has done in years. Not only that, but he had to stick "St. Modesto" on it, which -- yeah, I'll say it -- is actually better than anything that has ever appeared on a Death Cab album. No, really, I mean that. As much as I love some of the Cab's stuff, "St. Modesto" is one hell of a song. Walla's self-described tale of star-crossed meth addicts is really a very simple track: mid-tempo, moody, ethereal guitar-pop with some great, almost lullaby-ish vocals and evocative imagery (the San Francisco verse is incredible). It's not hard at all to be wooed by it, but it's also easy to expect more than the song is willing to give, and that's where many get lost. Walla isn't trying to change the world. He's not even trying to make a spark. He's just wants to make accessible, seemly pop music. That, my friends, is where "St. Modesto" truly excels.
2. Wolf Parade, "Kissing the Beehive"
Both Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner can write a damn good song. Between Sunset Rubdown, Handsome Furs, and Apologies to the Queen Mary, we knew this before 2008 even rolled around; it was apparent. What hadn't been tested was how well a Krug/Boeckner collaboration would work, and when it was announced that the last song on Wolf Parade's sophomore album was going to be co-written by the band's two frontmen, anticipation was naturally very high. Little did any of us realize that the result was going to be "Kissing the Beehive," a sprawling 11-minute epic that very easily ranks among the most impressive and intimidating achievements by a rock band this decade. Perhaps the most notable thing about it is just how well the two work together. Both come to the table with a wide variety of disparate ideas, but by either a miracle of co-operation or an instance of divine intervention, everything jells perfectly. The switching-off of vocal duties never gets distracting, the ever-changing melody always feels like it's moving in the right direction, and the combined wordplay of these two very literary dudes just works. It's also impeccably sequenced: starting off as a normal-sounding Wolf Parade track, it builds and builds and builds before exploding into an exhilarating instrumental coda that probably wouldn't have been out of place on an early-70s King Crimson album. And maybe I'm a man of simple pleasures, but I'm of the opinion that hearing Spencer Krug wail "FIRE IN THE HOLE!!" repeatedly is just about the best thing ever. So that, among other reasons, is why this is pretty much the most awesome song of all-time.
1. Electric President, "Ether"
This was never supposed to be my favorite song of the year. It wasn't. It was supposed to be just another decent song on just another okayish album that I downloaded illegally from some nameless torrent website. By all accounts, that Wolf Parade song should be in the top position where I am sure it was expected to be. But if there's one thing I've learned, it's that you just can't argue with your gut, and my gut tells me beyond a shadow of a doubt that "Ether" is my favorite song of 2008. And I'll tell you why. I'll be damned if this isn't the most pitch-perfect song about the inevitability of growing up I've ever heard. Perhaps it's a contexual thing. Maybe it has everything to do with the fact that I am at that critical point in my life where I'm finally forced to examine a future of adulthood and leave being a child -- the only thing I've ever known -- behind. Regardless of the reason, listening to this song has been a deeply moving experience for me.
Again, it condenses everything perfectly: there's a vague sense of mystery and excitement, but mostly it's wistful and unsure of itself. Its lyrics, when intelligible, faultlessly describe sensations I'm only too aware of feeling but can never find words for ("While we slept it off, all the money was lost / Now we can't stand up / Yeah, the blood in our guts just weighs us down. / We'll crawl along despite what goes wrong / 'Cause we're not that young / It takes more than your guns to scare us off now" -- it's impossible for me to say how goddamn perfect this is). And the music? Soft, dreamy, sad, relaxing, pretty, overcast, lovely. All of these words might be used to describe it, yet none of them seem to approach the final effect that listening to it has on me. It's a genuine dark horse: a song brilliant beyond words by an obscure band on an album that, frankly, doesn't come close to living up to the promise shown here. While I'm infinitely glad I found it, it also makes me wonder how many others I have missed. But that, I suppose, is a topic for another day. For the time being, I'll just switch this one on again.
Last Year's List:
Taken straight from the post I made last December. Twelve months on, I see some changes that'd have to be made (Stars' "The Night Starts Here," !!!'s "Myth Takes," and Streetlight Manifesto's "The Receiving End of It All" are all conspicuously absent, and I couldn't handle that were I making the list today), but overall this still hangs together very well. And that #1 song ... I'll be surprised if it doesn't make it into the Decade Top 10 a year from now. We'll see. It's a shoe-in for the Top 25, anyway. Seeing it performed in concert may well have been the best five minutes of my entire year.
10. Bloc Party, "Song for Clay (Disappear Here)"
9. Porcupine Tree, "Fear of a Blank Planet"
8. The Rosebuds, "Get Up Get Out"
7. Voxtrot, "Kid Gloves"
6. Arcade Fire, "Intervention"
5. Fujiya & Miyagi, "Ankle Injuries"
4. Of Montreal, "The Past Is a Grotesque Animal"
3. Mew, "Am I Wry? No"
2. Blaqk Audio, "Snuff on Digital"
1. Sunset Rubdown, "The Mending of the Gown"
Whew! See you folks next time!
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