The criteria for these lists were:
1) The overall beauty and spectacularness of the music
2) How massive of a song/album it was
3) How many times I listened to it during the year (according to iTunes)
4) Any interesting quirks about the song, album, or artist that I found endearing
5) Had to be originally released in 2008 (thereʼs some gray area here with promo releases, internet leaks, and new remixes of older songs, but Iʼm generally very strict)
Top 50 Best Songs of 2008 (that I heard)
1.
M83 - We Own The Sky
2.
Gnarls Barkley - Whoʼs Gonna Save My Soul
3.
MGMT - Electric Feel (
Justice Remix and Original)
4.
Adele - Chasing Pavements
5.
Sam Sparro - Black & Gold
6.
Fleet Foxes - Blue Ridge Mountains
7.
David Byrne & Brian Eno - Strange Overtones
8.
Erykah Badu - Soldier
9.
Empire of the Sun - Walking On A Dream
10.
The Whitest Boy Alive - Golden Cage (
Fred Falke Remix)
11.
Michael Cassette - Shadowʼs Movement
12.
Jamie Lidell - Green Light
13.
Coldplay - Viva La Vida
14.
The Black Keys - Psychotic Girl
15.
Friendly Fires feat.
Au Revoir Simone - Paris (
Aeroplane Remix)
16.
Jazzanova feat.
Ben Westbeech - I Can See
17.
Walter Meego - Forever
18.
Raphael Saadiq - Love That Girl
19.
Emiliana Torrini - Birds
20.
Sebastien Tellier - Look
21.
Crystal Castles - Magic Spells
22.
Thomas Bronzwaer - Certitude
23.
Cut Copy - Far Away
24.
Santogold - L.E.S. Artistes
25. Adele - Tired
26.
Beyonce - Halo
27.
The Juan Maclean - Happy House
28. Coldplay - Lovers In Japan
29. Empire Of The Sun - Country
30. Empire Of The Sun - Half Mast
31. Jamie Lidell - Wait For Me
32. Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal
33.
Kid Cudi - Day ʻNʼ Nite (
Crookers Remix)
34.
The Walkmen - On The Water
35. Erykah Badu - Telephone
36.
Portishead - Threads
37.
Little Boots - Stuck On Repeat
38. Coldplay - Lost! (and Lost?)
39. Cut Copy - Lights & Music
40.
Brazilian Girls - St. Petersburg (esp. the piano version they played on MBE)
41. Gnarls Barkley - Blind Mary
42.
Beck - Gamma Ray
43. M83 - Too Late
44. Portishead - The Rip
45. Sam Sparro - 21st Century Life
46. Aeroplane feat.
Kathy Diamond - Whispers
47.
Amadou & Mariam - Sabali
48. Gnarls Barkley - Surprise
49.
Passion Pit - Sleepyhead
50.
Does It Offend You, Yeah? - Epic Last Song (
Lifelike Remix)
Top 10 Best Albums of 2008 (that I heard)
1. Empire Of The Sun - Walking On A Dream
2.
Flying Lotus - Los Angeles
3. M83 - Saturdays=Youth
4. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
5. Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple
6. Erykah Badu - New Amerykah: Part One (4th World War)
7. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
8. Coldplay - Viva La Vida
9. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
10. Sebastien Tellier - Sexuality
Notes: Wow, itʼs five months into 2009 and Iʼm finally finishing up my Best of 08 list. Every year the list gets bigger and it takes me longer to put it together. There was so much great music released in 2008, and I listened to so much of it, that it was necessary to expand the list to fifty. I could have easily done a Top 100, but I felt such a large selection would lessen the prestige of making it onto my list.
• While 2007 produced a list with record-breaking international representation, this year was dominated by the United States - nearly half of the songs on the list are American.
• 2008 served as a coming out party of sorts for the Australian electro and synth pop scene, with Empire Of The Sun, Sam Sparro, Cut Copy, and
Midnight Juggernauts all delivering excellent albums (The Midnight Juggs album was originally released in 2007, making it ineligible for this list).
• My favorite artist/group M83 released the critically acclaimed album
Saturdays=Youth. I thought it was decent, and I was proud of the growth and maturity of Anthony Gonzalez as an artist, but I didnʼt think it was as good as some of his previous albums. Nonetheless, the album featured a gem of a track in Song of the Year
We Own The Sky. Itʼs the type of song that grabs hold of you from the very first note, and then proceeds to go from strength to strength. M83 was also magnificent when I saw them perform live at the Echoplex.
• Like
I:Cubeʼs
Live at the Planetarium in 2006, this year
Los Angeles by Flying Lotus made it onto the Best Albums list without having a single track on the Best Songs list. This was because, despite being a solid album from top to bottom, there werenʼt really any standout tracks that I could justify including on the list. The one song that I seriously considered was “Parisian Goldfish”, but in the end there simply wasnʼt space for it.
• Empire Of The Sun, Gnarls Barkley, and Coldplay are the most represented artists on the list, each with three songs and an album. Adeleʼs two entries, at #4 and #25, are the highest ranking pair for any artist on the list.
• Artists that narrowly missed having a song featured on the list include
Deerhunter,
Katy Perry,
Ne-Yo,
Buraka Som Sistema,
Sia,
The Verve,
Kraak & Smaak,
John Legend,
Sigur Ros,
J-Live, and
Toumani Diabate.
Kraak & Smaak
