30. Sarah Connor, Under My Skin
German pop singer Sarah Connor has had lots of hits in her native land, almost all of which are really dreadful ballads. Her sole American hit, 2004′s Bounce, was an exception, but even that awkward yet fun track can’t compare to Under My Skin, a Pussycat Dolls-like song that, unlike recent PCD output, is neither ear-piercing nor terrible. (Seriously, I Hate This Part makes my ears hurt, even at a low volume.) Anyway, Connor’s not terribly original, but when I’m listening to songs like this innovation’s not necessarily an issue.
29. The Courteeners, That Kiss
UK group The Courteeners sort of passed me by until the recent release of That Kiss, a lovely ballad of the Richard Hawley variety that manages to mix schmaltz and standard Britpop vocals and not be totally embarrassing about it. It ended up being one of my favorite singles towards the end of the year.
28. Scarlett Johansson, A Town With No Cheer
Critically reviled, ScarJo’s collection of Tom Waits covers was actually pretty okay; the Bowie collaboration Falling Down didn’t wow me the way it should have, but A Town With No Cheer was downright beautiful, with Johansson’s dirge-like vocals resting atop a funereal backing track produced by TV On the Radio’s Dave Sitek. I don’t know why people hated this album as much as they did, except to say that people are apparently afraid of an actress who can sing songs that aren’t about, say, the perils of being a female celebrity.
27. Rihanna, Don’t Stop The Music
A year and a half ago I would have laughed if you told me that the best song on Rihanna’s third album was a Michael Jackson-sampling club anthem. I mean, the sample part wouldn’t have surprised me, because Rihanna’s career is largely built around samples of things from the eighties (or, on occasion, samples of Orgy covers of things from the eighties.) But Don’t Stop The Music is so very dancy and not R&B-like at all; while I don’t normally go for anything this clubby, the sound worked really well when paired with Rihanna’s thin voice.
26. Cloetta Paris, Broken Heart Tango
Speaking of thin voices, I was also pretty glad this year to come across Swedish duo Cloetta Paris. Riding the same wave of Italo disco revival as Sally Shapiro and the like, they released Secret Eyes, their debut album, back in April. The title track was very appealing, but I think I prefer Broken Heart Tango, one of those whispery dance tracks that I only wish I’d ever hear when I go out at night.
25. Ting Tings, Shut Up And Let Me Go
I have no idea why Blonde Lady Ting Ting and her partner, Douchy Aviators Ting Ting, elicit such polarizing opinions. But regardless, this song is wonderful. Since I don’t really watch TV, I had no idea it appeared in an iPod commercial until months later, when I was trying to figure out how a little hipster duo from the UK got nominated for an MTV award.
That’s Not My Name was the first track I heard, but the (much shorter) Shut Up And Let Me Go is more vampy and more fun, the kind of song I’d slink around to in twenties-style dresses while smoking and dramatically waving my arms around. You know, hypothetically. If I were a lady.
24. Il Genio, Pop Porno
If 2008 was the year of anything, it was the year of boy-girl duos. (See Crystal Castles and the Kills, as well as songs #25 and #26 on the countdown.) One of my favorites was Milanese duo Il Genio, who debuted this year with restrained electro-pop that sounded a little similar to all the Italo disco, with some difference. For one, singer Alessandra Contini doesn’t have the voice of a small child and, unlike any other Italo singers I can think of, she actually sings in Italian.
23. Ne-Yo, Closer
While I haven’t really gotten excited about any non-Chris Brown male R&B singers since like 1994, Ne-Yo actually managed to win me over this year. Closer didn’t really stand out much at first, except in the sense that it was on the radio a lot and I woke up to it every morning for about two months. But the thing that really made me love this song was seeing him perform it on Ellen; he didn’t sing the chorus at all and did some fancy dancing instead. Pretty classy, especially for a guy who managed to get heavy airplay on hip-hop radio. Which is not a classy place.
22. Erykah Badu, The Healer
Damn, that’s a bassline. If you like the cars that go boom you could do worse than to put on this track, which could make your jalopy and your bones both rattle until they break. It was hard for me to pick a favorite track from Badu’s wonderfully batshit New Amerykah album, but The Healer stands out because, like her earliest hits, it finds a groove and works it for a long time until you’re basically entranced.
21. Bloc Party, Talons
After the very, very, very, very, very disappointing Mercury, I had little hope for Bloc Party’s third album. But then came Talons, all angry paranoia and doom, and I knew they were back. While Intimacy’s not a great album, I can appreciate what they were going for, even with Mercury. (Though why anybody thought that should have been the first single is beyond me.) But Talons is the best song. The marching-army drums and lyrics about sluts and diseases coming in the mail build with an apocalyptic fervor that’s unmatched on the rest of the album and stands right up there with Banquet and Flux as one of their career bests.
