Filed under: lists, music | Tags: 2k8, clinic, euros childs, flo rida, ravage! ravage!, stuart staples
So, the radio station I DJ at is part of a university that’s spontaneously closing for Christmas early on account of the festive economy. So I may not be able to count down my Top 50 on the air this week after all, because the radio station’s in a building that they’re locking up for two weeks. Yay.
More on that as I find out more (because nobody from the station’s actually told me anything yet…) In the meantime, here’s part deux of my favorite singles from 2008. (I’m also adding a couple of mp3s to yesterday’s post, so you might want to check that one again.)
90. The Rosebuds, Cape Fear (mp3)
Surprisingly rockin’ after their moody and wonderful Night of the Furies album, Cape Fear is the most immediate standout on Ivan and Kelly’s Life Like album (which I need to listen to more.)
89. Clinic, Free Not Free
Speaking of albums I should listen to more, Clinic’s Do It! was actually very good, although it sort of got lost in the mix of great spring releases. The first single’s quite killer, though.
88. Tindersticks, Boobar Come Back To Me
It seems like every British group out there is suddenly releasing singles as limited-to-500-copy 7-inches. I haven’t heard the single version of this, actually, though the album version from earlier this year is really nice in an old-fashioned Tindersticks sort of way, though the group has fewer than half the members it used to.
87. Ravage! Ravage!, Substance (mp3)
Dutch act Ravage! Ravage! returned this year with a new track, released in October as a mailing list exclusive. It’s a lot of fun, in a clubby Pet Shop Boys sort of way.
86. Ipso Facto, Six and Three Quarters
Stylish London quartet Ipso Facto had a big breakthrough this year, largely because of this militaristic-sounding song. I have no idea what it’s about, actually, but it’s super-catchy and I like their aesthetic.
85. Dragonette, The Boys
While I’ve always thought Calvin Harris was kind of a boring turd, I really like what Martina and Her Dreamy Male Friends did to his song The Girls. This was released as a bonus track on the American edition of their album, which came out last month, approximately sixteen months after it should have.
84. Flo Rida, Low
This song was very, very, very hard to escape, but I actually liked it. Sure, the lyrics were kinda stupid, and there’s really nothing less hot than baggy sweatpant/furry boot combos, but this song totally bent my will and made me cry for mercy. (Okay, and it didn’t hurt that I liked Flo Rida’s facial hair attempts and the surprisingly hot-looking cast of Step Up 2: The Streets, a movie I came very close to seeing in theaters thanks to hunky Robert Hoffman.)
83. The School, I Want You Back (mp3)
Okay, so they basically sound like Camera Obscura and nothing else. But so? Camera Obscura are really awesome! And the super-catchy I Want You Back, the first single from this Welsh six-piece, really made my day a few times this fall.
82. Paula Abdul, Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow
I totally forgot this song existed until I just went sorted all the mp3s on my computer by date. Maybe it’s something about the badly-ripped radio mp3 I have, but the tinny vocals on this piece of foof are actually appealing in a naive sort of way, especially paired with the clunky 1990-era drum machines. [Whimsically, the Wikipedia entry for this song keeps getting defaced. The word 'pooperhead' is in there, as well as a note that the drumline from her Super Bowl performance have yet to be paid for their services. Oops!]
81. Euros Childs, Farm Hand Murder (mp3)
Wonderfully eerie death-folk from the frontman of Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci. His album Cheer Gone got good reviews but I haven’t had a chance to pick it up yet, something I might rectify if Santa and/or my relatives decide to give me any spending money for Christmas.
