Brian’s Top 10 Songs of 2008

Why am I writing this? I realize that no one cares but perhaps this will dispel the fallacy that all I listen to is 80’s music!

10) M83 – “Kim & Jessie”. It could be 1984 all over again thanks to this lush song by French electronic group M83!

9) Wiley – “Wearing My Rolex”. Wiley is a pioneer of “Grime”, a genre unto itself which is a combination of UK garage and hip hop music. I detest hip hop, but when I lived in the UK I gained an appreciation for this east end London sound, which is much more interesting and listenable than US hip hop.

8) Annie – “I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me”. Pure, sweet, electronic, almost robotic, Norwegian pop. This is one of those songs that I hate myself for loving. What can I say?

7) The Ting Tings – “That’s Not My Name”. Hmmm. Another pop song that may erode the seriousness of this list? Oh well, this is catchy and has an early 80’s feel to it, so what’s not to like? This English group did a great cover of the Altered Images song “Happy Birthday” on the kid’s show “Yo Gabba Gabba” in September, further endearing themselves to me.

6) Goldfrapp – “Happiness”. Their 4th album, Seventh Tree, is a departure from their electronic-dance style, and is much more down tempo. Maybe their fans are getting old? This song is melancholy but lush and beautiful.

5) MGMT – “Time To Pretend”. Now that I’m a father, I should point out the irresponsible lyrics about doing heroin and cocaine…

4) Sam Roberts – “Detroit ‘67”. Ok, so maybe I bumped this song up the list a little higher than it should be, a) because it is still fairly new and fresh for me as I’m writing this, and b) because Sam is Canadian.

3) Slave To The Square Wave – “Sinners Of Saint Avenue”. Wow, back to back Canadian content! I don’t know much about Square Wave, but this is a cool song with a cooler video…probably doomed to never be heard or seen by the masses like so many other Canadian bands.

2) Santogold – “L.E.S. Artistes”. I think I bumped Santogold up because I could have easily put their song “Lights Out” here as well. The chorus sounds like a Police song, though I can’t put my finger on which one.

1) British Sea Power – “Lights Out For Darker Skies”. BSP’s 2008 release, Do You Like Rock Music?, is packed with anthemic, sweeping, guitar pop. This is the band that I imagine Coldplay wants to sound like.

That was easy, but I have to admit even a top 25 would be a stretch for me. I’ll give honourable mentions to Neon Neon for “I Told Her On Alderaan”, Empire of the Sun for “Walking On A Dream”, Be Your Own Pet for “Becky”, Airborne Toxic Event for “Sometime Around Midnight”, and Kate Perry for “I Kissed A Girl”, the greatest novelty song of the decade.