Christmas has ridden a sleigh straight into my heart, holly leaves and all (PAINFUL), and those tidings of good cheer remind me to begin the exciting task of putting together my Top New Songs from 2008 and Top 10 Albums of 2008.
Here are some rules:
- Some of the songs may be from albums released last year, but re-released this year (most likely because they are from overseas).
- Beirut’s album The Flying Club Cup was released in fall 2007, but I discovered them right around New Years, therefore missing my cutoff date for LAST year’s list. They appear on the 2008 lists.
- If you fact check me, I will hunt you down.
- I know you guys really don’t give flying-triple-nickles about my rules.
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TOP 30 NEW SONGS 2008
^^The title is a link to these thirty songs in a playlist from my iMeem account! You will need to create an iMeem account to listen! FREE.^^
#30 COPELAND “THE GREY MAN”
I don’t really know who the “grey man” is, but this song reminds me how when you lose someone in any kind of relationship, the world feels a bit colorless. Wow, what a DOWNER to start it off! Sorry!
#29 KEANE “PERFECT SYMMETRY”
Classic Keane – they know how to attach apocalyptic lyrics to an upbeat song. It makes me wonder if they think that at the end of the world we’ll all be dancing in the sky as the sun explodes.
#28 SIGUR RÓS “VIÐ SPILUM ENDALAUST”
A driving beat? Check. Happiness? Check. Hopefulness? Check. Iceland? Check. Lyrics I sung in a language I don’t understand? Double check. I love this band.
#27 LIGHTSPEED CHAMPION “GALAXY OF THE LOST”
You want to see something bizarre? Do yourself a favor and click on this link to see his video for “Galaxy of the Lost”. This song encapsulates the quirky and catchy weirdness British songwriters come up with and I still have no idea what he’s getting at.
#26 BEIRUT “THE PENALTY”
Gypsy music. Yep, that’s the only descriptor you need.
(On my playlist this song shows up as “Forks and Knives” for some reason. “Forks and Knives” is also a song off of The Flying Club Cup, but my playlist definitely plays “The Penalty)
#25 BRANDON HEATH “LONDON”
London. I love London. This makes me want to go to London. I found this song the day after I started planning a London trip for next Christmas.
#24 BAND OF HORSES “NO ONE’S GONNA LOVE YOU”
I loved this song from from the first time I heard the first line’s melody – “It’s looking like a limb torn off“. Right at “off” I was sold.
#23 FLEET FOXES “RAGGED WOOD”
Fleet Foxes shows up three times on this list. Their music stole my heart when I first heard it. It is one part folk, one part medieval chant, and one part Beach Boys. If that combination doesn’t pique your interest then I quit.
#22 HOUSE OF HEROES “IN THE VALLEY OF THE DYING SON”
I thought I had written off most pop-punk music in my life, but this year I was proven wrong. House of Heroes is smart, topical, and musically adept. This song is an epic story. Love the bass too. They always record it so powerfully.
#21 NEWTON FAULKNER “AGEING SUPERHERO”
Another import from across the sea, Newton Faulkner made me want start writing songs again. His mature voice and finger-picking abilities are second to none.
#20 SHE & HIM “I THOUGHT I SAW YOUR FACE TODAY”
Remember Zooey Deschanel from the movie Elf? Remember when she was singing with Will Ferrel in the locker room? Yeah, we all thought, “She’s got an amazing voice!” Well, here she is finally.
And yes, I have fallen in love with her.
#19 THE WEEPIES “ORBITING”
Promoting themselves as a happy married couple who write music out of a deep love for each other and the world, The Weepies embody the pure musicianship of the independent scene. The chorus in this song stuck with me for weeks, with wife Deb Talan’s comforting voice singing like a lullaby.
#18 RADIOHEAD “ALL I NEED”
This song builds and builds until it melts your brain at 2:56. Beautiful.
#17 GLEN HANSARD “SAY IT TO ME NOW”
This song SHOCKED me when I first heard it. This song can be found on the soundtrack to the movie Once. Check the movie out. It’s rad. Anyway, Glen is singing this song on the street at night and when he goes ballistic at 1:11 my eyes literally widened. His emotion captivated me.
#16 LIGHTSPEED CHAMPION “TELL ME WHAT IT’S WORTH”
“Crack open the good times… on a street corner bustin’ rhymes…” Yep, that did it. I just love this guy. He’s so weird.
#15 COLDPLAY “LIFE IN TECHNICOLOR ii”
The opening track on Coldplay’s new Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends was amazing. Flash forward several months and they release their Prospekt’s March EP, add lyrics to the original version, and bless my ears with it. Done.
#14 FLEET FOXES “WHITE WINTER HYMNAL”
Oh Fleet Foxes. I love bands that I just stumble across. I honestly can’t remember how I heard about these guys, but finding them was like being healed of blindness.
Most discussions I’ve read online about the song meaning are ambiguous to say the least. But the lyrics are very interesting nonetheless and the uniqueness of this song is only exaggerated when you watch their video:
#13 THE LORD OF THE RINGS MUSICAL “THE ROAD GOES ON”
Right when my family’s Lord of the Rings fanaticism was at an all-time low, my mother happens to hear the show tunes of a Lord of the Rings musical on a classical radio station. Thank GOD.
Nerds everywhere, REJOICE WITH ME! This musical is heading to the States in 2010.
It was early fall when I heard this song and I would have moved to the Shire if gas prices hadn’t been so high hahaha.
I’m so lame.
#12 M83 “WE OWN THE SKY”
The French seem to come up with some of the best synth music. M83 have created an album that is the perfect soundtrack to the 1980’s. I mean, just LOOK at their album cover for Saturdays = Youth. Is that Molly Ringwald? Come ON.
Awesome. (This is not a picture of M83 by the way. Just some kids reveling in TEENAGE ANGST.)
This song is intense and epic.
#11 VAMPIRE WEEKEND “THE KIDS DON’T STAND A CHANCE”
Vampire Weekend have lived up to all the hype. Their Afro-pop beats and classical string arrangements have fused together to create an album truly remarkable. Vampire WEekend consists of four college students from Columbia University. This song has the stink of big business pressuring students to join their ranks of office zombies.
Fight the man with Afro-beats and classical music, that’s what I always say. I mean really, I’ve always said that. Quote me.
#10 NEWTON FAULKNER “I NEED SOMETHING”
Newton Faulkner is very young. Probably only about 21. But already he feels the pressure to perform and the desire to believe in something. In my opinion he’s just calling out to Jesus, but maybe he doesn’t realize that. I think this song highlights the human condition very nicely. Great song.
#9 BEIRUT “CLIQUOT”
Written from a female perspective, this song tells a compelling story about a lover who dies from the Black Plague in France. This has a a classic French feel running through every note. Totally unique song.
#8 THE WEEPIES “ANTARCTICA”
This song is about our vast cousin continent due south of us. It causes me to pause and remember the mysteriousness and vastness of frozen Antarctica. This is the first Weepies song I ever heard and it is my favorite.
Oh, I can’t help but promote The Weepies’ website at Christmastime, especially when they have a hilarious snow globe on the main page. Click here to check it out.
ALSO, back in June my brother and I decided to enter a video contest for the song “Hideaway” off their new album. Pretty ridiculous. We didn’t win, but we had a blast making it. See below.
#7 SIGUR RÓS “INNÍ MÉR SYNGUR VITLEYSINGUR”
I love this song for two reasons. One: the piano. Two: how the whole song builds up to 3:33. It then explodes, producing a circus which marches out of a nearby tent and straight into your ears.
#6 FLEET FOXES “HE DOESN’T KNOW WHY”
My love affair with Fleet Foxes continues and ends at #6. What gets me about this song is the melody. I can’t get it outta my head. It’s constantly in there. Add the ethereal “ahhhhs” and Fleet Foxes has used some ancient magic to enslave me to their album.
#5 COLDPLAY “VIVA LA VIDA”
I have anticipated this album for three years and it outdid my expectations. When I heard that Chris Martin was dropping influences like The Arcade Fire in almost every interview prior to the release of Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, I thought, “This pleases me.” It is with those expectations in mind that I heard “Viva la Vida”. This song hooks you from the beginning and by the end of it you feel like you’ve listened to one of Aesop’s Fables.
#4 M83 “KIM & JESSIE”
The MINUTE I heard this song, I knew it would be near the top of this list. That was back in JULY. See how sick I am? I think about this list ALL year.
This song is pure 80’s. I can’t say anything other than that. If you love 80’s pop, you’ll love this.
#3 BON IVER “SKINNY LOVE”
Justin Vernon (under the artistic name of Bon Iver) spent months secluded in Wisconsin writing songs for his new album For Emma, Forever Ago. That alone had me interested in his music. When I heard “Skinny Love” the raw emotion of the song, which comes through the lyrics, the melody, and the guitar, gripped me. This song is undeniably evocative – it’s deep, rich, and each time you listen to it you glean something new from it.
#2 VAMPIRE WEEKEND “M79″
My brother said it best about this song, “You know, it’s fresh every time I listen to it.”
That statement sums up “M79″. It never gets old and you can’t help but adore it. If you don’t smile when you hear the opening thirty seconds then you must not have a soul.
A friend recommended Vampire Weekend to me and all she said was, “I heard them and thought, ‘This sounds like Carmello music.’”
Boy, was SHE RIGHT. This song is just about perfect.
#1 ONE NIGHT ONLY “JUST FOR TONIGHT”
Well, originally this song was #2… but the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was truly the song I listened to and impacted me the most this year. I remember thinking that it would be my number one song back when it was June…
Again, I am a SICK man.
No, I have no listened to the rest the album Started a Fire, nor have I truly listened to anything else that One Night Only has put out. I’ll try that out someday.
This song is my #1 for one reason – soccer. Before I left for Europe on June 26, I spent the entire month glued to a TV for upwards of six hours a day watching the European Championships taking place in Switzerland and Austria. While I was enjoying every minute of the tournament, this song came to me out of nowhere.
I was looking through highlight videos one night, intent on finding Holland’s 4-1 thrashing of France. I found an incredible video that used “Just For Tonight” as I was perusing. I must have watched that video at least 100 times since then. And lookee here, I have it for you all:
After this video I became obsessed with the song. I found it and, subsequently, it became the theme of my summer. It just reminded me of the Euros, of how much I love soccer, and all the passion the world has for the World’s Game. I blared it on the trains as I traveled over Europe (we literally left for the airport right when the Euro 2008 Final ended) and I blared it in my ears as I picked up an obsession with running when I got back to the States.
When I’m running, I usually only play this song hahahaha. It’s THAT motivational for me. Whenever I need a boost I think of that song and of Fernando Torres scoring the trophy winning goal for Spain in the Final.
I know, this is all crazy. But it’s the truth. Welcome to my world.
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Here are some links to my previous “Best Of” lists, dating back to 2005.
Oh and get this. This blows my mind hahahah… I was looking back at my lists and in my Top 20 of 2006 I wrote, jokingly, that next year I would find the music of Iceland my new obsession.
Well guess what, that happened. I found Icelandic band Sigur Ros early in 2007 with their song “Hoppipolla”.
Wow.
It Was the Year 2007 Part I: My Top Ten Albums
It Was the Year 2007 Part II: Top 25 New Songs
Top 20 Songs of 2006
Top 20 Songs of 2005
