#55: "I'll make tiny changes to Earth..."

#55.



The Single: Head Rolls Off
The Artist: Frightened Rabbit

(NOTE: Often, the first time I see a music video for the song is when I find it to put up on the blog. I just saw this video 5 minutes ago... and it is adorable)

From a band that I'm more than just a little crazy about comes a song about: love, charity, self-discovery, hope, desire, and magic... It's hard not to gush over a piece of art like this.

#56: "Before the cool done run out, I'll be giving it my bestest..."

#56.





The Single: I'm Yours
The Artist: Jason Mraz

Another appearance from someone I really don't care for. Clearly inspired by that ukelele version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow", perennial ass-clown Mraz gets all cutesy with his lyrics and tries to win you over with pure charm. But this time... it works. When he sings, "open up you plans, and damn, your free", you can't help but think, "Hey there, sir. Maybe you're on to something. Maybe you're not such a douchebag after all." Every now and then, you find a diamond in a turd... I don't expect to find another one from him.

#57: "I ain't got a thing to prove to you..."

#57.



The Single: Pork And Beans
The Artist: Weezer

First off, it's super-ironic that first 4 links I found on youtube for this video didn't allow me to embed them, because without the massive array of people willing to share youtube videos, this music video wouldn't even be possible. So screw you, Weezer & Universal Records. You really should know better.

When you have a song that doesn't really make sense ("I eat my candy with the pork and beans..."), it's best to do what you know. For Rivers Cuomo and Weezer, that means big fat 90's hooks, crunchy guitars, and surfer-harmonies. It's a welcome return from the band who brought us "We Are All On Drugs" a few years ago... a very welcome return.

#58: "No time for question asking/ time is passing by..."

#58.



The Single: Run
The Artist: Gnarls Barkley

The message from Gnarls Barkley is very simple... be afraid, be very afraid. There's some sort of monster on the loose. The children are screaming. Cee-Lo is doing all he can to keep it back, but he can only hold out for so long. Seriously, ignore the funky music; get the hell out of here! For those of you sticking around, I guess all I can tell you is to just enjoy the music. It will all be over soon.

#59: "Shoot em up! Bang Bang!"

#59.



The Single: Another Way To Die
The Artist: Alicia Keys & Jack White

I like this song because it's like a James Bond song thrown into a blender. All of the components of a Bond theme are there: big name celebrities, massive horns, silly lyrics. Yet there's something about this song that's slightly off. Maybe it's the fractured piano trying to tinker out the famous James Bond theme, maybe it's the way Keys croons over White's manic's guitar solos. I know the frantic percussion helps makes this feel like no other song which has come along in the Bond franchise... and that makes it interesting and crazy and a whirlwind of interesting.

#60: "Love is a time machine/Up on the silver screen..."

#60.



The Single: The Shock Of The Lightning
The Artist: Oasis

In the interest of full disclosure, I have a blindspot for the Oasis of the 90's. When the Gallagher brothers were telling us that they wanted to live forever and that I was a wonderwall, I absolutely bought it hook, line, and sinker. After a series of meh albums, they've gone back to doing what they do best: monster guitar sounds, blatant Beatles ripoff (actaul lyric in the song : "Love is a movie screen/ A MAGICAL MYSTERY"), and fantastic songwriting. I mean, come on; when you're ripping off the best band in the world, you'll do all right.

#61: "You gotta spend some time, love..."

#61.



The Single: I Will Possess Your Heart
The Artist: Death Cab For Cutie

Look, no one hates singles that are eight and a half fucking minutes more than me. Who are you, The Grateful Dead? Save that shit for the back of the album when people have stopped listening. And yet, Death Cab For Cutie has changed my mind here.

For a song with lyrics this creepy, you first need to lay the creepy groove down, and that's just what these guys spend the first five minutes (or so) doing. Pianos and a walking bass set the table so that when Ben Gibbard comes in ("How I wish you could see the potential/the potential of you and me"), you're off-put enough to not really know what's going on. This is not the Death Cab we've been familiar with. This is dark and moody and not mentally well-balanced. It makes the song interesting... and a little frightening.

#62: "I never really got there/ I just pretended that I had..."

#62.

The Single: Jigsaw Falling Into Place
The Artist: Radiohead

Before we get into it, let me just state my opinion for the record: Thom Yorke's lyrics mean nothing. Yorke has been on the record (repeated times) saying that he puts certain words or phrases in songs because he likes how they sound. However, because his lyrics mean nothing, that allows them to mean everything.

That being said, certain phrases in this mid-tempo rocker absolutely destroy my face. The quote mentioned above, as the same with this one:
"Before you run away from me
Before you're lost between the notes
Before you take my mic
Just as you dance, dance, dance"

What is there to say about it?

#63: "Recognize the poison in my heart"

#63.



The Single: Machine Gun
The Artist: Portishead

With one of my favorite beats of the year, one of my favorite groups of the 90's creates one of my favorite albums of 2008. "Machine Gun" is the lynchpin of Third, a swirling mess of a pop song behind an assault of percussion. All the while, Beth Gibbons wails away. Is her voice a siren song or a cry for help? It's beautiful chaos, people. Drink it all in.

#64: "And soon they'll be flying..."

#64.


The Single: Kim & Jessie
The Artist: M83

In a simple song filled with 80's nostalgia, electro-wonders M83 takes us through a wonderous tale of... well, I'm not really sure what. But this song is so filled with lovely moves and swirling keyboards, I really don't care.

#65: "Partidario de acción democrática, revolución nacional institucional"

#65:



The Single: De Acuerdo
The Artist: Cafe Tacuba

I'll be the first to admit I have no idea what the lyrics in this song mean. But I know it rocks, and I love it. So... I'm okay with that.

#66: "Why do we like to hurt so much?"

#66.



The Single: That's What You Get
The Artist: Paramore

The quote I posted in the title seems like it's the emo mantra. Paramore is able (as the successful emo bands are) to take this misery and turn in into something that's not a completely depressing dirge or a scream-a-thon. It's pleasant... which is what makes it so curious.

#67: "No one likes to be defeated..."

#67.



The Single: Beat It
The Artist: Fall Out Boy (feat. John Mayer)

In a year when Thriller had it's 25th anniversary, the music industry marked the occasion with a special re-release of one of the best-selling albums of all time. On the second disc, there were Thriller songs re-worked by Akon, will.i.am, Kanye West, and Fergie... and they all sucked. Every fucking one of them.

It took the four whitest dudes in America (a.k.a. Fall Out Boy), and John Mayer (whom I have referred to as a "pale douche of Renaissance") to give on of Michael's best some teeth. Like the band or not, this is a fact... Patrick Stump can sing. And he uses his voice to attack this song like it actually means something. Why this song wasn't on the bonus disc, I have no idea.

#68: "When you're born in Chicago, you're blessed and you're healed/ The first time you walk down to Wrigley Field..."

#68.


(no official video)
The Single: All The Way (live in Chicago)
The Artist: Eddie Vedder


Some of my favorite songs are when artists sing about how much they love sports. The Hold Steady have a beautiful version of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame", Bob Dylan has a fantastic song about Catfish Hunter, etc. Eddie Vedder perfectly sums up how all Cubs fans felt back in September, when the north side was full of hope and awe and wonderment. And while it's no surprise that the boys in blue managed to blow it against the Dodgers when it mattered, this is a song which feels timeless. Hopefully, Vedder is right, and one day we'll all be drenched in beer, crying like babies, and seeing the Cubs win it all. I just hope I'm alive to see it.

#69: "You change your mind like a girl changes clothes..."

#69.


The Single: Hot N Cold
The Artist: Katy Perry

Liking singles like this always put me in quite the pickle.

There are so many things to hate about Katy Perry. In the press, she's irritating. Her hit single, "I Kissed A Girl" is an abortion of pop music. She's dating the lead singer of Gym Class Heroes, perhaps the 2nd worst band this decade (the worst being Nickleback, for those of you who are curious).

But in this song, you can kind of see why she's popular. This song is brassy and fun (I assume this song is played in every gay bar in America). It's got that 80's-Madonna vibe, back before she thought she was making "art". If Katy Perry made more songs like this, I wouldn't want to punch her in the vagina.

#70: "Are we human or are we dancer?"

#70.




The Single: Human
The Artist: The Killers

After creating Sam's Town, a mediocre album with 2 exceptional singles (2006's "When We Were Young" and last year's "Read My Mind"), Brandon Flowers and co. return going a little less the route of Springsteen and a little more back to the keyboard-infused dance-rock which brought people to them with "Somebody Told Me". Bombastic and lyrically stupid, it's a return to what made The Killers one of the most promising bands of a few years ago.

My 2008 EOY countdown.....

Okay, everyone. So here is where I'll be starting my 2008 EOY countdown. 70 singles, 30 albums. Let's do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it now.


I should say this. While this was a fantastic year for albums, I'm only giving you the best 30. However, this was a god-awful year for singles. I don't see a whole lot of these remaining if I put together a "Best of 2000-2009" list. The top two songs in the country this year (Lil Wayne's "Lollipop" and Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl") are completely unlistenable. We were also given piles of crap this year from The Pussycat Dolls, Kid Rock, and a large list of buffoons who don't even deserve my time to mention.

For those new to my EOY list, you may notice I love pop music, and so much of it has made my singles list. I've just grown past the point where I don't need to apologize for liking music, even if it is targeted at 14-year old girls.