Best Songs of 2008 - #40 - #36

2008 is quickly coming to a close and it's time for my annual music countdown. Despite the work, I had a lot of fun with this last year, so I thought I'd give it another go. Keep in mind, this is a very loose countdown. The numbering is pretty vague and doesn't really matter until about the top twenty or fifteen. The bottom half could easily bounce around in order given my mood, but I had to establish some kind of order.

Like last year, the songs selected are the ones that dominated my iPod over the course of 2008. Some songs may have been released in 2007, but got significant play via my outlets for new music: Sirius' Left of Center (now called Sirius XMU), Subterranean on MTV2, and the ever polarizing Pitchfork (and Pitchfork.tv). Enjoy!

40. "Paris" by Friendly Fires - We start off with a catchy little dance number. Excellent cow bell and drum work. Nice send up on the chorus and the chill out ending is a cool way to bring it all home for the last quarter of the song.


39. "Eraser" by No Age - It has a long intro, but the guitar/drums duo really kicks it into gear about halfway through the song. Lo-fi, but fun.


38. "A-Punk" by Vampire Weekend - Boy, didn't this band just blow up really quickly this year. I wasn't completely won over like a lot of folks, but I found their songs entertaining enough. A lot of Paul Simon/Peter Gabriel/world music influence here.


37. "Two Doors Down" by Mystery Jets - Talk about being unashamedly in love with '80s New Wave. Still, Mystery Jets take the aesthetics of Wang Chung, the Outfield, Tears for Fears, and other bands of the era and have written a really fun song.


36. "Right Hand On My Heart" by The Whigs - And the '80s gave way to the '90s. The Whigs have got that grunge era rock sound down. This song reminds me of the band Love Battery and the verse sounds like the melody of "Pepper" by Butthole Surfers.