top songs 2008!

in no particular order:

Fleet Foxes – White Winter Hymnal
What do you get when take a menacing gothic poem, put it into a Baroque vocal round, mix in some dizzying four-part harmonies, a love-era sixties pop sensibility, a lone tambourine and a few lengthy beards? You get White Winter Hymnal – 2008’s most captivating song.

White Lies – Death
This epic, soaring rock song fills the room with crescendos of strings, an unrelenting bassline, and the very beautiful Ian Curtis-like baritone of singer Harry McVeigh. The foreboding subject of Death has never sounded so uplifting.

Electric Feel – MGMT
We’ve all heard it, but there is a reason why. Like a black hole in Deep Space you just can’t help getting sucked in by its dance-inducing force.

Bon Iver – Skinny Love
The most amazingly hushed and beautiful folk song from an album that was full to the brim of hushed and beautiful folk songs. Although the song is about falling out of love, we fell very much in love with Bon Iver in 2008.

Hercules and Love Affair – Blind
Straight up classic seventies-style disco that rivals Chylamidia in the catchiness stakes. With the incomparable Antony Hegarty on lead vocals you can’t go wrong. Think strobe lights, silver afros and platform boots at Studio 54.

Ladyhawke – Back of the van
Album of the Week has several writers – of both sexes, but I’m a guy and when I hear this track I picture myself as a heartbroken woman driving through the streets (and in slow motion, I might add) singing about my complicated love life wearing a killer denim jacket… And you know what? I love it.

Mystery Jets feat Laura Marling – Young Love
Adorable duet between power-pop youngsters Mystery Jets and folk singer du jour Laura Marling that proves once again that simplicity is often the key to a great pop song. Simplicity and an “aw shucks” rhyme like ‘Is that you on the bus? Is that you on the train? I wrote your number on my hand and it came off in the rain’.

Born Ruffians – Hummingbird Forget about the car ad. This is the best song from 2008 for jumping on your bed. Do it now. You’ll know exactly what we’re talking about.

Little Red – Coca Cola Like sculling the same famous brown fizzy drink that is the namesake of this ridiculously addictive song, this is a refreshing, cool and bubbly d-floor filler that goes down real well. Enjoy Coca Cola!

2080 – Yeasayer
The power of this song made me want to buy the entire album. Unfortunately the rest of the album didn’t really live up to this one track, but how could it? A devastatingly great song – it’s as simple as that.

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