After a long holiday layoff, *bitter defeat* returns with the first installment in the 2008 edition of LISTMANIA. We begin with the 40 best songs of the year, a list that says far more about the author than it does about the actual musical landscape. Of course if you try to cover the actual musical landscape, you end up with something like Rolling Stone's mind-bendingly schizophrenic Top 50 Albums of 2008 list, which includes No Age, the Jonas Brothers, Jackson Browne, B.B. King, Metallica, and (SHOCKER!!) Bob Dylan. No single publication should attempt to simultaneously appeal to me, my mom, and my (imaginary) 11-year-old sister. Still, there is something to be said for balance, and I'll be the first to admit that I failed once again to really delve into hip-hop and "urban" music this year. Lil Wayne aside (and let's be honest here... Lil Wayne is this year's Hip-Hop Artist that White Indie-Rock Fans Like), my tastes ran to white, blogger-approved, guitar-driven indie music.
Admissions of White Liberal Guilt aside, there remains the usual raft of disclaimers, qualifications, and guidelines that go into any respectable year-end list. To begin with, for the sake of variety I decided to limit entries to one per artist. In addition, although most of these songs were, in fact, released as singles, that is in no way a requirement; album tracks are just fine. Additionally, a couple of tthese may technically have been released as singles in 2007, but if I first heard the song in 2008 and it was included on an album released in 2008, then it bloody well counts. Conversely, if the song was on an album released in 2007, but was released as a single in 2008...then give me a fucking break. In other words, no Radiohead songs came out this year, so Radiohead has no place on any 2008 best-of lists.
Since this intro was so damned long-winded, I'll also forgo lengthy commentary on songs 40 through 21.
NOTE: All streaming audio has been removed due to bandwidth issues.
40. "Salute Your Solution" – The Raconteurs
39. "Fatalist Palmistry" – Why?
38. "Shut Up and Let Me Go" – The Ting Tings
37. "Ready for the Floor" – Hot Chip
36. "The End of the Line" – Metallica
Great song, but we all know how these petulant dickheads get about the whole "sharing music" thing.
35. "Oxford Comma" – Vampire Weekend
34. "Elvis" – These New Puritans
33. "Death to Los Campesinos!" – Los Campesinos!
32. "Son the Father" – Fucked Up
31. "We Own the Sky" – M83
30. "Teen Creeps" – No Age
29. "Last Choice" – Love Is All
28. "Waving Flags" – British Sea Power
27. "The Arm" – Islands
26. "We Are Rockstars" – Does It Offend You, Yeah?
25. "Air War" – Crystal Castles
24. "Up All Night" – The Young Knives
23. "Standing Next to Me" – The Last Shadow Puppets
22. "Balloons" – Foals
21. "The Ark" – Dr. Dog
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