lucky young matador

welp

2009-03-04T16:50:00.003-05:00

All my files were deleted and I can't upload anything else to hotlinkfiles. Balls. Gonna have to either use imeem or actually pay for a host, which means I'll be using imeem. balls balls balls balls balls balls balls balls balls balls balls

Broadway was waiting for me

2009-03-02T01:25:00.006-05:00

Pilot Speed - Fairytale of New York (The Pogues)
Pilot Speed - Fairytale of New York (The Pogues)

Pilot Speed, previously known as Pilate (got sued by Pontius HAAAA) are a Canadian band that, as far as I can tell, doesn't have any female members. So I apologize for having absolutely no idea who the girl dueting with lead singer Todd Clark is. Especially because she's the best part of the song.

Fairytale of New York is, without a doubt, the greatest Christmas song you'll ever hear. I've heard a lot of covers, and most of them are completely boring. This one isn't. This one is fantastic, even though it doesn't really change the original formula much (if at all).

Everything's a bit slower, a bit more brooding--its sadness might fit the song's lyrical content better than the original (though I don't think that's necessarily a good thing). Clark and Mystery Girl's vocals drag every single word and I can't help but get dragged into it, if that makes sense. Their rendition of the chorus is what makes this version for me. They stretch "NYPD choir" into the most beautiful four seconds of nearly-dissonant harmony.

We never posted any Christmas music during Christmas so we're just gonna spread it out throughout the year, woooooo

Pearl Future (i cannot stop listening to this song)

2009-02-19T03:11:00.010-05:00

Pearl Future – Shop Song
Pearl Future – Shop Song

So I'm not sure why I know this song. I think it was Popjustice's song of the day a few weeks ago… apparently Pearl Future is one of the millions of pop singers who are trying to make it through Myspace, and they usually sing over generic pop songs made by a low-rate producer trying to create a marketable gimmick. Pearl Future has 15,000 Myspace friends, and I have no idea if that's good or bad, but she doesn't have a Wikipedia entry and it's impossible to find much info on her, so I'll assume her career hasn't really "taken off" yet.

The point is, I WANT IT TO. This is the first song I'm just gonna get 10000% behind, I'm gonna gush about it until it's a Top 40 hit. I think this is actually my favorite song of the year so far. It's so good, and it'll never be popular because it's a song about shopping and we're in a fucking depression. They're apparently angling it for a summer release, so I'm thinking there's a small chance this song was commissioned by Obama to help people do the right thing with their stimulus money. Also, this is like one of two places you can actually download this song in its entirety. Listen to it. Love it. I'm going to hype it up as much as all the movie blogs hyped up Slumdog and I am going to win this song an Oscar.

"Shop Song" by Pearl Future, ordered from best parts to worst parts:
1. Organ!!
2. Percussion! thump-CLAP thump-CLAP. Absolutely perfect.
3. Pearl's singing/vocals. She's really fantastic.
4. The dinkly little synth popping around in the back.
5. The lyrical content of the song.
…
…
…
…
…
252. The lyrical content of the song.
253. It's pitch-perfect timing. EVERYONE IS GOING TO HATE YOU

BONUS REDEPRESSION MUSIC
Stone Road – Fuck the Re-Depression
[via captain is dead]

Reposting dis

2009-02-17T19:06:00.004-05:00

Blogger keeps kicking my butt about this entry, so I'm reposting it without the Veronicas song. I guess if you wanna hear it, just turn on your radio, or search hypey, or search youtube (don't search youtube), or search imeem, or any of the millions of other places you can hear it for free.
---------------------------------------------------------

So, every year around Christmastime, I go on a binge and read as many "best songs of the year" lists as I can. Honestly, this is where the majority of my musical discoveries come from in a given year. It's like waiting for Oscar season, right? Because of this, I find a lot of songs that I would've included in my own list, had I heard them a long time ago. Here are some of those songs.

Also, yes, we will spend the rest of 2k9 discussing the best songs of 2k8. 2k9 songs will come in 2k10.

The Veronicas – Untouched
~~mp3~~

It's kind of creepy that The Veronicas seem to be exclusively marketed to tweens as a teen band, even though they're like 24 and this song is about fucking.

It's SO GOOD THOUGH

Ignore the verses. Most of the verses. "I go ooh-ooh you go ah-ah" might perhaps be the nadir of Australian civilization… but, admittedly, I love the moments in which both the girls harmonize the speak-singing and use full syllables, almost too quickly for the beat.

The point though, is that guitar. That beautiful, slimy guitar in the chorus, which barely even sounds like a guitar and I'm not sure if it's actually changing chords or what. What a strangely ballsy move for a song like this. You can tell it's a song that's trying to pop-ify the Evanescence sound for a "wider" market, but with that guitar juxtaposed with the Veronicas' vocals, it ends up being much heavier than anything any nu-metal band can ever write ever.

The vocals are the second-greatest thing about this, particularly when Veronica #1 joins Veronica #2 in the repetition of the chorus, and her voice piques up into a yelp during "right NOW" and "someHOW." And then there's the Young Turks synth and the gump-ass grimy synth and whatever more synth that I just haven't heard yet. And then there's the strings. And a million other things that make this song so unbelievably worth it if you have it in you to get past that first verse.

The Mae Shi – Run to Your Grave
The Mae Shi – Run to Your Grave

The Mae Shi is an "experimental punk" band according to Wikipedia, and I'll use that definition because I like them too much to call them indie. "Noise" fits too, even though they aren't really noise. They wrote a "religious album" called HLLLYH which is pretty much the most typical name you can expect for a religious album by an LA noise band.

I actually spent a tediously long time trying to figure out what "religious album" meant. Is it gospel or anti-religion or is it just about religion? Which begs the question of religion's place in the alternative world, whether the idea of a god is accepted or rejected in that environment. The lyrics here are, on the surface, extreme gospel. But it's the fact that The Mae Shi have been so warmly accepted by the hipster/alt community that made me wonder if the band is generally interpreted as being ironic. And every review would pretty much begin and end with "religious album about religion."

But I guess that's just it. The quality of these lyrics, what makes them so damn intriguing is the fact that it's ambiguous, that it seems to be simultaneously wary and celebratory, praising the great and despairing over the bad.

This song confronts death with the most serious of tenors, and the whole thing is sung with such gleeful choir sensibilities. The vocalizations of the verses have such consistency, and the weight of the lyrics is never really expressed. To someone who tends to gloss over lyrical content, this song probably just sounds really, really happy.

And emotion is a simple test to the synapse
Don't let it fool you into thinking that you got brains
The more you feel the more you will take with you
So cut the flesh and let your blood flow to the drain

It's all in the delivery. This song is happy, it is celebrating these ideas because goddamn, you just can't deny such a genuine glee. But instead of irony, it's painted with an undertone of fear and uncertainty. And it's one of the most emotionally-engaging songs I've heard this year.

This song also has many instruments; in this entry I will

EXCLUSIVE GRAMMYS COVERAGE

2009-02-09T13:20:00.001-05:00

Darlene Love - All Alone on Christmas

2009-01-26T16:19:00.003-05:00

This song/video is the combination of my two favorite things in the world (Bruce Springsteen and Home Alone 2):

Macaulay Culkin dancing on Clarence Clemons' shoulders. holy shit

But this song is seriously awesome. Darlene Love (who looked like a cross between the two Aunt Viv's) just belts this shit so beautifully. The song (written by Steven Van Zandt) is even parts Springsteen and Spector and Little Steven's lyrics do a great Bruce impression. Macaulay Culkin dancing on Clarence Clemons.

This has unironically become one of my favorite Xmas songs.

Still Great in 2008: Part VII

2009-01-24T19:12:00.004-05:00

Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Part VI

7. Portishead – Machine Gun

This is the one song that everyone (and I mean everyone) had on their Top 5 Songs of '08 list, so naturally, being the contrarian I am, I wanted this to suck. Of course, it didn’t. Sounding more like Low had they been produced by Trent Reznor than the trip-hoppy Portishead everyone (read: me) thinks of, Machine Gun is pretty much the definition of the word “tense.” Like really, when I hear this song, my muscles clench and I get cold shivers and stuff. It’s like that. This is the kind of song that you can’t listen to when it gets dark or else you won’t sleep for the rest of the night. Thank god the next song I’m reviewing is by TI or else I would probably be in a funk all day. Damn.

*** It should be noted that I went this entire paragraph without once mentioning the “industrial” “grime/dubstep” “machine gun” drum beat. H8 u p4k.

6. TI feat. Akon – Hero

LIGHT UP THOSE BLUNTS
AND GET READY TO INHALE THAT SOUTHERN SMOKE

I’ll be the first to admit it: I’m a sucker for TI. I think he’s great. I think he makes great songs. I think he produces great albums. I think he should be able to have as many machine guns as he wants. I think it kinda sucks that the first google result for his name is Texas Instruments. In a perfect world etc etc etc.

Anyway, I’ll also admit that “Hero” is not TI’s best song. His rapping seems a bit uninspired, and the lyrics are kind of ridiculous (“I’m the man it’s apparent/Even when I’m running errands/Got to beat a Mclaren on what I’m wearing/ Got ‘em starin’/Bitches I share ‘em/If they in my harem” etc.), amongst other complaints. Thankfully, though, where TI falters, Akon really steps up to the plate. The hook to this song is just sick - there’s no two ways about it. He really sells it. Akon can get a bit annoying at times, or be a downright dick at others, but for what it’s worth, he saves this song. I guess there’s hope for him after all?

5. Weezer – Pork and Beans

I DON’T GIVE A HOOT ABOUT WHAT YOU THINK

4. Young Jeezy feat. Kanye West – Put On

Reasons This Song Rules:
1. Jeezy’s intro. Hooooly shit. Hits you like a ton of bricks.
2. Food rap. (“Big wheels, big straps, you know I like it super sized/Passenger's a redbone, her weave look like some curly fries/Inside fish sticks, outside tartar sauce/Pocket full of celery, imagine what she tellin me/Blowin on asparagus, the realest shit I ever smoked”)
3. The theremin. Yeaaaaaaaaaah.
4. “Call me Jeezy Hamilton”
5. Kanye wearing that Palestinian scarf in the video
6. The heaviness of the beat. Seriously, this single probably weighs like 100 lbs.
7. The fact that Kanye feels that there are women out there that “owe him sex.” LOL take that feminists!

The Very Best/Those Dancing Days

2009-01-24T04:07:00.003-05:00

The Very Best (Esau Mwamwaya and Radioclit) – Boyz
The Very Best - Boyz

The Very Best released one of the very few albums that I listened to in its entirety in 2k8, because I just don't listen to full albums anymore. So I can say without prejudice that it's absolutely one of the best albums I've heard in 2k8. I admittedly only listened to it because it's available for free on myspace, and after hearing one song how can you not wanna listen to the whole thing? The gimmick involves production team Radioclit joining up with Malawian bro Esau Mwamwaya to remix popular songs that blogs like. What resulted is a bunch of songs that are so purely enjoyable and danceable that you'll never want to hear the boring originals again.

They took a fantastic MIA song and made it so I never want to listen to it again. It's amazing what a giant bass drum can do to a song. Esau's Akonbro vocals are beautiful, and the song just SOARS. I try listening to the original but it just sounds dead and flaccid by comparison. SHIT MAKES U DANCE + PRETEND UR FROM MALAWI (is that a real place)

Those Dancing Days – Run Run
Those Dancing Days – Run Run

1. Those Dancing Days are from Sweden.
2. They sound like they're from Portland.
3. Lead singer Linnea Jönsson sounds way too much like Fiona Apple for me not to have originally thought this was a Fiona Apple song.
4. Fiona is great!
5. THAT CHORUS.
6. I have no idea what is IN the chorus. I don't know what those sounds are or how they're made. It sounds like there's a million synth melodies piled on top of each other and for the life of me I cannot figure out what any of them would sound like separated. The threads are all so intertwined with each other that it's just this beautiful mess of sound.
7. I love a band that knows its strengths. They repeat the boring verse twice, and at the 2:00 mark they just kind of give up trying find something else to stand up to the chorus. So there's a dinky, lazy, completely ignorable diddling guitar solo that separates the choruses. Because that's the cheapest thing they can stick in there.
8. The lead singer has much better hair than Fiona Apple.

I am not going to be verbose about two songs that are this short

2009-01-20T00:48:00.002-05:00

The Death Set – Impossible
The Death Set – Impossible

RIGHT YOU FALL INSIDE
MIGHT SEE A LIGHT RIGHT
FIGHT CHOKE AND DIE NOW PICK A
SIDE AND FIGHT TONIGHT

Vampire Weekend – I Stand Corrected
Vampire Weekend – I Stand Corrected

I stand corrected about you, Vampire Weekend!

Sike I got sick of this song after a week but that was a good week for this song. Enjoy it when it's still interesting!

Still Great in 2008: Part VI

2009-01-13T15:38:00.003-05:00

Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V

10. M83 – Kim & Jesse

I tried to avoid this album for the longest time. Even though I really liked Dead Cities, Red Seas, and Lost Ghosts (best night bike riding album EVER. Really. Try it), I was kinda wary of M83’s new image (ie. hipsters in suburbia) and the oft-used music critic claim that M83 was “bringing back new wave,” was, as I'm sure I don't need to tell you, really lame. Well, if there’s any one theme in my posts here at LYM, it’s that I’m almost always wrong (about everything). This time was certainly no exception.

“Kim & Jesse,” one of the two singles off of Saturdays = Youth (an album I’ve come to love over the last couple months) sums up perfectly the overall feel of the work. Existing as a fond memory of a time when things were simpler, cleaner, and more meaningful, Kim & Jesse describes young love in all its heart-racing, sweaty palmed glory. And maybe it’s just me here, but the music really seems to fit. In his review of the Mystery Jets song, Zach mentioned that he felt M83 was parodying the 80’s. I’m inclined to disagree. If anything, Kim & Jesse exists as a celebration of what many of us would otherwise dismiss as “cheesy” or “plastic.” There’s nothing ingenuine about the Flock of Seagulls synth line or the cavernous drums – on the contrary, each element has been carefully added in order to more accurately induce a feeling of nostalgia for those times in the listener. M83 never purported to be an 80’s band (the critics took care of that), and as a result, there’s a modern edge to the record that may be interpreted as “snobbish.” That said, there’s nothing snobbish about what M83 was trying to convey – a feeling of tender reminiscence for a time when everything seemed just a little bit more magical. What a great song.

9. Britney Spears – Womanizer

Oh jeez. What can I say about this that hasn’t already been said? While SOME people hate the chorus for its monotone delivery and uninspired subject matter (all of which I can’t really argue with), I love it for its stutter, slip, and syncopation (lol alliteration). The proto-industrial beat and alarm in the background really seem to work too, for some inexplicable reason. And yes, the bridge sucks. I know. But who the hell listens to a Britney Spears song for the bridge, anyway? This is as good a comeback as she could’ve hoped for, and how dare you try to take that away from her?

8. Erykah Badu – Honey

Yeeeeeeeow. Awesome, awesome, awesome production by 9th Wonder reminiscent of (dare I say it?) the late god J Dilla. But that’s only scratching the surface. What really makes this song is Badu’s characteristic clothes-pin-on-the-nose singing. The lazy summer afternoon vocalization, the nasal syncopations (“Sugar got a long way to catch you…”), the crooning backup singers – everything comes together until you can almost see the golden-brown honey oozing through your speakers. This is a perfect example of a song that is greater than the sum of its parts. I’m in love with this woman.

Still Great in 2008: Part V

2009-01-10T23:36:00.005-05:00

Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV

13. Mates of State – The Re-Arranger

For the longest time I thought that the Mates of State were an 80’s band. I have no idea why - it just seemed right. Men at Work, Mates of State, Men Without Hats, Mystery Jets, Megadeth, etc. 80's = M, right? Wrong! Hoo boy have I got a lot to learn.

Ever since "The Re-Arranger" showed up on my hypemachine a few months ago I've been in love. Light and breezy male/female vox, a keyboard intro that sounds like it was taken straight from Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone, and a bridge that is a serious contender for best sing along of the year – I mean really, what more could you possibly want? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had the part between 2:30 – 2:45 stuck in my head.

And if you really wanna shake it off
You're gonna re-arrange re-arrange us.
Just stop and shake it off
You're gonna re-arrange re-arrange us.

There’s just something about that chorus that makes it too damn catchy for words. Luv this song.

RE-ARRANGE US

12. Ida Maria – Oh My God

I saw the music video to this before I actually listened to the song and now I always think of whatsherface’s twitching whenever this comes on. Ugh. Despite Ida Maria’s overall creepiness, though, I’ve gotta admit that this song is just all around awesome. And it turns out I’m not the only one to think so (take that, Zach).

I think what really makes this for me is the overall sense of horror movie claustrophobia that builds throughout the verse, culminating in the chanted “Oh my god/Oh you think I’m in control?/Oh my god/Oh you think it’s all for fun?” of the chorus. Although Ms. Ida wasn’t exactly “stable” at the song’s beginning, by the end she’s unrecognizable, having been reduced to a nervous wreck screaming, shouting, and, er, twitching her way into yr brain. As she becomes progressively more agitated, so do you, until you’re practically rolling on the floor by the 2 minute mark rockin yr head clean OFF. Take note, indie rockers – this is how it's done.

11. The Chromatics – Running Up That Hill

I love Kate Bush. I really, really do. Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) is seriously one of the creepiest, heaviest, most intense songs I’ve ever heard, and it takes a lot to make a cover that accurately captures the spirit of the original. Thankfully, where many have failed, the Chromatics have succeeded. Off of their criminally underappreciated electro debut Night Drive, the Italians Do It Better darlings seem perfectly suited to sing Kate, with a seriously beautiful lead singer capable of making flowers wilt and old women cry using the power of her voice alone, and two dudes that play some pretty scary synth washes/basslines and try not to get in her way. Man, I get chills every time I listen to this song. They may not have improved on the original (which, of course, would in itself be complete blasphemy), but who cares - this is basically an excuse for me to talk about Kate Bush on a 2008 list. Thanks guys.

Also, according to last.fm (the authority on all things music) the Chromatics used to be a no-wave band? wtffffffff

Still Great in 2008: Part IV

2009-01-07T10:46:00.004-05:00

Part I
Part II
Part III

16. Alphabeat – 10,000 Nights (Of Thunder)

Alphabeat is the Disney Channel. Family friendly sing-alongs with male/female duets about true love and a made-for-TV image that just screams teen musical. Although on the surface “10,000 Nights” might seem to be the most risqué song in Alphabeat’s catalogue, the title is pretty deceiving – this song is about as squeaky clean as it gets. Even the refrain (“You give me 10,000 nights of thunder/But I would give them all back to you/Cause you’re oh/So ah/So cool”) sounds more like it’s referring to a fulfilling game of Scrabble than it is to anything remotely sexual. The lead singers, both pale 20-something Danes with about as much sex appeal as your parents, are perfect too, singing things like:

I was not looking for arty farty love
I wanted someone to love completely
Someone
More than weekly

with genuine sincerity. I guess that’s just the way they make ‘em in Denmark.

15. Al Green feat. Anthony Hamilton – Lay It Down

I got a lot of flack (read: two people emailed me) about the fact that I didn’t include Lay It Down in my top albums of the year post. And trust me, if the rest of the album had been like the title track, I would have. “Lay It Down” stands as a testament to the fact that the Reverend, despite some missteps in the past, has still got everything that made him the greatest southern soul singer of the 70s. Sure, he’s aged, and the fire that used to be there has cooled to a smolder, but the song is that much more meaningful for it. After some 40 odd years of wild parties and high-living, “Lay It Down” seems to be both an acknowledgment and a celebration of the fact that Green is no longer the 20-something sex symbol he once was – a dignified entry into middle age without sacrificing the sensuality that made him who he was in the first place.

I think “eamongllman” on youtube said it best:
“I am a 21 year old, heterosexual male. I can honestly say that if Al Green came to my house and sang that song.....?”

14. The Magnetic Fields – Drive On, Driver

Drive on, driver
There's no one home
You've waited hours
She didn't come
It's such a pretty little end
But it doesn't mean anything
Drive on

After listening to this song on repeat for about 3 months, I’ve decided that Stephen Merritt is probably the only dude I would want around me when I have my heart broken. “Drive On, Driver” exists as a window into the mind of Randy, a guy who’s just been stood up by the girl he loves. An internal dialogue goes on between the “driver” (the part of Randy still aching to stay just a bit longer in the hopes that his girl might show up) and his common sense, urging him to cut his losses and run. Add to the struggle some muddy guitars and a drum beat that sounds like it came straight from a Tears For Fears song and you've got what I'm pretty sure is the definition of melancholia. For anyone out there who’s ever been in Randy’s position, this song will cut right to your core.

A song they missed

2009-01-06T15:11:00.003-05:00

Hey y'all. It's me, the rarely seen or heard from Fuzzy Slippers. 2008 was a fun year wasn't it? As I'm last minuting a few "best of 2008" lists I noticed that my friends here at LYM missed a very important song/video on the best song lists. This song deals with perhaps the most important issue of 2008 and perhaps my entire lifetime. The Election. Also, the video stretches the limits of science at about the 1:40 mark. Please enjoy.

Mkay, so now that that's out of the way... here is what you have to look forward to from me.

Top 3 Future Entries by Me.
1. Best Albums of 2008
2. Best Movies of 2008
3. The 1st Annual Fuzzy Slipper Awards

Songs I Missed: Mystery Jets/Wild Beasts

2009-01-05T02:47:00.007-05:00

So, every year around Christmastime, I go on a binge and read as many "best songs of the year" lists as I can. Honestly, this is where the majority of my musical discoveries come from in a given year. It's like waiting for Oscar season, right? Because of this, I find a lot of songs that I would've included in my own list, had I heard them a long time ago. Here are some of those songs.

Also, yes, we will spend the rest of 2k9 discussing the best songs of 2k8. 2k9 songs will come in 2k10.

Mystery Jets – Two Doors Down
Mystery Jets – Two Doors Down

I'll never get your name wrong again, Mystery Jets. Granted, it's a horrible name and "Flaming Jets" sounds much better… and while their cover of "Bleeding Love" got the 60-spot on my favorite songs list only because I was so sick of the original… this is the song that earns them my respect. Which I'm sure they've been aching for.

So the 80s were pretty big in 2008. And by that, I mostly mean "M83 released an album that sounds like the 80s this year." The thing is, I didn't really like the M83 album too much. It took me until I listened to "Two Doors Down" to figure out just why: the album was kind of condescending. It's like M83 looked at John Hughes soundtracks for inspiration and filtered it all through the past twenty years of development, as if to say "the 80s had some great music, but I can do better!" That's a bit jerkish, I think. The 80s, thanks to Rubik's Cubes and stuff like that, will always be the comedy decade that people recall for irony's sake or party themes. The fact that there really was some unironically fantastic music from the 80s is hidden underneath Michael Ian Black.

And that's kind of why I'm so against Saturdays=Youth. M83 could fight the VH1ism, but not all the way. He would be… only post-post-post-80s, in which post-80s is the 90s (of course), post-post-80s is Michael Ian Black's commentary on snap bracelets, and post-post-post-80s is M83 going "hey guys, maybe it wasn't that bad."

Which makes "Two Doors Down" post-post-post-post-80s, or the Mystery Jets saying "M83 doesn't have any balls, the 80s were awesome." They literally went back in time, forgot everything they've listened to over the past twenty years, and wrote a song that would've been a huge hit in 1985, without a hint of irony. And it's amazing.

(Maybe there's a little bit of irony, but only in the lyrics, which would've also been ironic enough in 1985.)

That chorus. Holy shit, that chorus. I can't even describe it. If I had listened to it in time, that chorus would've gotten this song into my top ten, Q-Tip be damned. I don't even wanna talk about it anymore, it's something so pure and holy I shouldn't be allowed to even think about it.

And that sax solo sounds enough like Clarence Clemons for me to already love it unconditionally. God damn.

I think this post is technically post-post-post-post-post-80s, right?

Wild Beasts – Brave Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants
Wild Beasts – Brave Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants

I came for the video:

I stayed for Hayden Thorpe's voice. From what I've heard on their myspace, he tends to spend a lot more of his time in falsetto, which is a real shame. The best part about "Brave Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants" is the moments in which he digs below the clouds and goes into that growl. It exists somewhere between Isaac Brock and Antony. did I just say that

Unfortunately the song is about a minute too long.

Welp!

Still Great in 2008: Part III

2009-01-04T09:49:00.015-05:00

Still Great in 2008: 25 Songs We Missed on the First Rundown
Part I
Part II

19. Hot Chip – Ready For the Floor

Hot Chip is a perfect example of a band that I’ve hated for the longest time without knowing a thing about their music. Their entire image (Amy Winehouse remixes, ‘zany’ glasses, Heath Ledger, etc.) just really rubbed me the wrong way. Didn’t really help their case that dudes have almost as many remixes on hypey as they do songs. H8 that. Anyway, imagine my surprise when I actually heard their music!! “Ready for the Floor” is decidedly not the refried electro banger I was expecting, having both an actual melody (this is key), and a real bonafide hook. What’s cool about this song is that despite the fact that it was clearly intended for the dance floors, the chorus is smooth enough to make it completely tolerable (dare I say even catchy) outside of that context. Plus, I gotta admit, I’m kinda partial to whatshisface’s dancing in the video. Shit.

18. Beyoncé – Diva

There are rare instances in which the beat for a song can completely overcome any other imperfections associated with the track itself.
The beat for “Diva” is one of those beats.

Things that make the beat to Diva good:
1. BASS BASS BASS BASS. Unrelenting heart thumping license plate rattling bass
2. Those horror movie violin jabs. V. scary
3. The claps. I don’t know. The claps just seem to hold everything together for me. Go figure.

Things that almost ruin Diva:
1. Beyoncé (because let’s be honest – Beyoncé is just not capable of delivering a convincing rap about sticking someone up for their “paper”)
2. That annoying troll sample

Also the video to this song is one of my favorites ever. Beyonce’s “glasses” (this term is used very loosely) are some of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever seen, and the dancing in it makes me want to become a choreographer.

17. Kardinal Offishall feat. Akon – Dangerous

Heard this song over the summer and fell in love. The chorus pretty much makes the song, esp. the “Watch out I’ve seen her type before/That girl is so dangerous/Dangerous” part where the synths kick in and Akon really starts to belt it out. Also Kardinal’s delivery is really weird but it'll grow on you if you listen to the track 5 times a day for 3 weeks (trust me).

Happy New Years from LYM

2009-01-04T09:03:00.006-05:00

I’ll be back soon to post the next installment of Still Great in '08, but until then, yall can relive the greatest moments of 2008 with VA rapper Skillz. Enjoy!

Wayne sold a milli in a week
Within 7 days I got sick of the A Milli beat

Zach's 20 Favorite Songs of the Year

2008-12-31T04:58:00.005-05:00

i wrote a lot

Part 1: Songs 60-51
Part 2: Songs 50-41
Part 3: Songs 40-31
Part 4: Songs 30-21

20. John Legend – It's Over
John Legend – It's Over

A man more discerning than I would probably call this song over-produced. And that man would deserve a butt-whupping.

I don't even know how I know this song. It's not a single and I haven't heard any of the other songs from Evolver. It's just in my iTunes for some reason, and it's worthy of the 20-spot. (I'm not even sure what's going on with the lyrics here: in the chorus, he asks "what do you keep calling for," followed by the first verse line of "In the back of my mind I question why I keep calling." Is John playing the part of both man and woman in this piece? And if so, where does Kanye fit in?)

Like Pamela Anderson's career
Except without the titties

Give Kanye a Pulitzer. That's up there with the "blond dyke" line in "Stronger." Man.

(h8 u kanye)

19. Q-Tip – Won't Trade
Q-Tip – Won't Trade

Now that I know what it is, boy
I wouldn't trade him for nothin'

It's amazing how, over the span of three years, Kanye went from being a pretty good writer/rapper to a complete piece of rapping shit… while Q-Tip, over the span of TWENTY YEARS has remained consistently incredible. My favorite Kanye song, in terms of writing, is "Home"—which didn't make the College Dropout cut in 2k4, but was adapted into "Homecoming" last year—a song that follows the wonderful hip-hop tradition of The Really Big Metaphor That Lasts Throughout The Entire Song. In "Home," Kanye used a woman to represent Chicago; in "Won't Trade," Q-Tip uses SPORTS (all of them) to represent a woman. I love these songs.

I also used the same metaphor throughout eleventh grade, so this song resonates.

Oh yeah, the sample is SPLENDID.

(h8 u kanye)

18. The Metro Stations – Shake It

Do you watch The "N"? The "Degrassi?" DO YOU? Shit, I do. Degrassi, like Kanye West (this is now a Kanye West blog) is now utterly terrible at everything, but christ if I could ever stop watching it, and thus, listening to this song constantly in every commercial for Degrassi, which is now just a big commercial for "Shake It," a song by popular pop-pop band MetroStations.

I'll never get sick of it. Shit, I probably stuck with Degrassi's horrible stories (about hot, controversial teen issues like planned marriage and stem cell research) just so I could keep hearing this song in the commercials (and thereby avoiding all that annoying questioning I get from people who don't understand how I could love a song by Miley Cyrus's kid brother or something OUR LOVE IS NATURAL).

SHIT this song is so good. It's constant build-up. The verses are completely unimportant build-up. The bridge is 100% build-up. The first eighty percent of the damn CHORUS is build-up, all leading towards

SHAYKE SHAYKE, SHAYKE SHAYKE SHAYKE ET
SHAYKE SHAYKE, SHAYKE SHAYKE SHAYKE ET

The rest of the song is an amalgam of complex, layered electro-pop with all sorts of everything going all over the place, and I can't say it doesn't have a really nice result… but that climax at the end of the chorus, where all the layering falls away and Billy Ray Cyrus Jr. just yelps his ass off with a single guitar and some fake drums… that gets The Metro Stations in the top twenty.

Cyrus is a guitarist and vocalist in the electropop band, Metro Station.[4] He started the band with Mason Musso in early 2006 when their mothers set them up to do a jam together,[4]

17. Wale – The Crazy
Wale – The Crazy

17b. Wale – The Freestyle (Roc Boys)
Wale – The Freestyle (Roc Boys)
Wale is from the District of Columbia, which means that everyone here is required to love him. It sure is a good thing that he's GREAT AT EVERYTHING. Wale's seriously the most relevant performer to come out of DC since Chuck Brown (take that Ian MacKaye, the one other dude!).

So here I include two songs, but in reality I want the 17 spot to go to the entirety of The Mixtape About Nothing (actually just wanted to use both those pics), which is a concept mixtape about Seinfeld. The fact that it's about Seinfeld has basically endeared Wale to the entire hipster community. Entry suggestion for the guy who does StuffWhitePeopleLike: "When Black People Enjoy Traditionally White Entertainment." Or most "white" things, really.

But anyway, most other lists pick "The Kramer" in their songs lists because I suppose it's the most "hot controversial issue"-ish or whatnot, but is it more deserving than anything else on the record? Nah. "The Crazy" is a powerful, heavy beat, and features another Big Musical Moment, and this one's actually a moment: in the first line of every verse, when the beat kicks in. It's just so utterly massive.

But I felt that including a song primarily for its beat wouldn't be, in any way, an accurate representation of the greatness of Wale, so I'm including "The Freestyle" in order to show you all how great Wale is at freestyling. And even with that, we're still skipping over his best quality, which is his writing. Regardless of the beats and the freestyling, when it comes down to it, and I say this without any regional bias (hopefully), Wale is the best lyricist in hip-hop right now.

16. Yelle – Je Veux te Voir
Yelle – Je Veux te Voir
1. I love Je Veux te Voir.
2. Je Veux te Voir wasn’t released in 2008. It wasn’t released in 2007. It was released in 2006, which is about 40 blog years ago.
3. It was included on the album Pop-Up, which was recorded and released, in France, in 2007.
4. Pop-Up was released digitally in the UK in 2007, and physically in 2008. It has yet to be released in America. I think.
5. Je Veux te Voir was re-released as a single in 2008. It was a French #1 hit in 2006. I first heard it about a month ago.
6. Amerie’s album, Because I Love It, was released internationally in 2007. It wasn’t released in America until 2008.
7. We decided not to include Because I Love It in our 2008 lists. If it were included, it would be LYM’s collective #1 record because we love the shit out of that album, and this singles list would be populated with 13 Amerie songs.
8. I really love Je Veux te Voir.
9. Yelle was included in this song:

10. lol

I know you all worry a lot about this controversy. I'm sorry for any confusion, and I hope I don't get tons and tons of emails about this, but jeez, I'm sure I will, what with our devoted readership. The point is, I don't give a shit when this song was recorded, I want it to be here.

I love this song. I've listened to it about a kabzillion times. INTENSE. I love Yelle's voice. I love Yelle, but especially her voice. And I love how, with foreign music, the voice is allowed to be acknowledged purely as an instrument, which is exactly how Yelle uses her voice.

But really, the reason I love this song most is the breakdown. It kind of slogs for the first 2 minutes, but at 2:20 about, the breakdown begins, and it's beautiful. The climax, beginning, at 3:23, is just plain fantastic noise. It's extremely grimy, but it always sounds clean. <3 u yelle.

15. Alphabeat – What is Happening
Alphabeat – What Is Happening
Alphabeat is like a younger version of ABBA. Or an older version of S Club 7?

And they write great choruses. Amazing choruses. Much like the Britannia High song, it's often the only real high point in the songs. I've found myself trudging through the verses in "What Is Happening"—mostly because, for some weird reason, they decide to repeat everything twice. But the chorus is worth the wait.

Sames with "Fascination," but I first heard that song in 2k7 so it isn't eligible.

14. Fleet Foxes – Ragged Wood
Fleet Foxes – Ragged Wood
"Ragged Wood" is a sandwich, but you like the bread the best. "Ragged Wood" is an Oreo cookie, but you only like chocolate and not white stuff. "Ragged Wood" is an apple that is delicious until you find a worm in the middle, but then the worm falls out and you use the apple seeds to plant apple trees and the core can be used for other arts and crafts. "Ragged Wood" is like when a song starts out really great, and then gets really boring in the middle, and then ends really great. Metaphors!

Lie to me, if you will
At the top of Beringer Hill
Tell me anything you want
Any old lie will do
Call me back to, back to you

This is a great song.

13. Passion Pit - Sleepyhead
Passion Pit - Sleepyhead
Passion Pit has pretty much appeared on every single "Hot Bands to Watch Out For in 2k9" list, even though "Sleepyhead" is already on a bunch of songs lists, etc whatever. I'm guessing this song is gonna make a lot "Best Songs of 2009" lists too (next year's "Skinny Love").

I'm also guessing that this song is their peak and they'll never live up to it again. I hope I'm wrong… but it's the only song they've released so far that hasn't collapsed under its own cuteness (granted, we've only heard like, four songs).

The kids could be contenders though. Sleepyhead is so great because that thumping bass drum is so damn PWRFL, something that shouldn't be so rare in indie/electro-pop. Passion Pit has the balls to go for it. Balls that are too cute.

Passion Pit toured with Yelle! Oh Ye(lle)ah!

12. Rihanna – Don't Stop the Music

MA MA SE MA MA SA MA MA COO SA
MA MA SE MA MA SA MA MA COO SA
MA MA SE MA MA SA MA MA COO SA
MA MA SE MA MA SA MA MA COO SA
MA MA SE MA MA SA MA MA COO SA
MA MA SE MA MA SA MA MA COO SA

There might not have been a more addicting, ambient, SOUL-EMCOMPASSING dance beat. It wraps around you and strangles you (in a good way).

11. Empire of the Sun – We Are the People
Empire of the Sun – We Are the People
The best songs make you wait. I can't explain exactly why… maybe it's because you get to spend that much more time in anticipation, with the hook being dangled in front of you like a carrot on a stick. And if the payoff is good enough, the build-up is more than worth it.

Empire of the Sun makes you wait. Not til the end of the song, or even close… they make you wait a minute and a half, through some really boring stuff, to get to the chorus. According to a Korn music video or something, 99% of all songs get to the "hook" in the first four seconds. "We Are the People" waits a long minute and a half and then beats you with it over and over and over again, because the band knows what you want to hear, and they know exactly how to make me come back to this song over and over and over again.

10. Q-Tip – Life is Better (ft. Norah Jones)
Q-Tip – Life is Better (ft. Norah Jones)
The best songs make you wait.

In this installment, we wait a bit longer. The beat's nice, but it's not Top-Ten-Song-of-the-Year-worthy. So we slog through it, and we slog through like an hour of Norah Jones being boring and entirely unnoticeable.

And then Kamaal the Abstract gets in his one and only verse, and good god, it is worth it. It lasts exactly a minute, and it's largely monotone. Like the chorus of "Womanizer," except Q-Tip's voice is good enough to be expressed in monotone. I'll say it again: Q-Tip has the best voice in hip-hop. This song doesn't need words. It can just be a really long groan. It'd sound like baseball cards in the spokes of a bike. It's a sound I could fall asleep to, it belongs in one of those "ocean sounds" things they used to sell at Brookstone, it can soundtrack entire films.

It's not like the verse is anything to sneeze at either, even if it's just your typical "shouting out every single person in hip-hop" deal. But he breaks the laundry list two times to ask "Where my nigga Dilla at?" There have been a lot of tributes to J Dilla since he died, but none of them hit so hard as that line, because it's just thrown in the middle of everything and Dilla probably worked with Tip more than anyone else. I remember another blogger comparing it to Pimp C unexpectedly throwing "I really miss Robert Davis" in the middle of a verse. Stuff White People Like: rappers being really earnest and heartbreaking.

9. Late of the Pier – The Bears Are Coming
Late of the Pier – The Bears Are Coming
The first minute and thirty-four seconds of this song is great, the next thirty seconds is AMAZING, and the rest of the song I've never heard because I always restart the song at that point and listen to those two minutes on repeat.

Actually that's a lie, the rest of the song is great, too. There's the humorous little call-and-response between the fuzzy synth and maracas/triangle? And then there's the breakdown in the last thirty seconds, which is holds its own next to the other high points. It's just a great song duders.

8. Beyonce – Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)

Oh god.

Single Ladies is the one song that is on every single blog's year-end list, kind of the official "pop inclusion to show everyone that we don’t discriminate" pick of the year. That song is always real deserving, though (last year was Umbrella!).

When I first heard Single Ladies leaked into Hypey (i get scoops, you see), I honestly didn't think it'd be a big hit. It doesn't sound radio-friendly. I didn't pay attention to the lyrics, really. I knew that "If you liked it then you should've put a ring on it" is an awesome, embraceable line… but the beat, man. It's WEIRD. It's just a weird beat. That's the best word to describe it. It's anything but compact, it's like if you took apart a motorcycle and dropped all the pieces into a swimming pool (i'm auditioning for pitchfork, you see). There are goofy little blips and whistles scattered throughout, with not much of a pattern, especially that little synth-curl that doesn't fit into the beat anywhere.

And then there's the fact that the whole thing ends up sounding, of all things, sinister. In the tail-end of the chorus, when the DARK AS SHIT synth just waltzes into the song and towers over everything else, it sounds strictly villainous. And then there's the final thirty seconds, which introduces the turntable scratch which actually makes it sound like the songs falling into little black holes.

Does anyone actually need to be convinced that this song is great? I should be saving this energy for the Jesse McCartney song.

7. Sons and Daughters - Chains
Sons and Daughters - Chains
The first thirty or so seconds of "Chains" includes just about everything I normally can't stand about indie music, but when I get to the chorus, I just lose my shit. Adele Bethel's belting of There's a river running through me! almost kills me (that's an allusion ;) )

I found this song while searching for covers of the classic King/Goffin track of the same name. That one's still better than this. But it was a pleasant surprise.

6. Lil Wayne – Mrs. Officer

In which Lil Wayne spends an entire song making puns about having sex with a cop.

And all she want me to do is fuck the police

The embarrassing thing is, when I first heard this on the radio, I didn't know it was a Lil Wayne song (Lil Wayne being in a song this summer meant it probably wasn't a Lil Wayne song), and I couldn't remember much, so I had to search:

lol

5. Jesse McCartney – Leavin'

YEAH BITCH THAT'S RIGHT JESSE MCCARTNEY AND I DON'T GIVE A SHIT

(beat is incredible, was produced by tricky stewart and the-dream, DEAL WITH IT)
also mashes up perfectly w. sexy can i, the other song on this list that needs to be defended the most

4. of Montreal – Nonpareil of Favor
of Montreal – Nonpareil of Favor
The first of Montreal song I heard was "Tim I Wish You Were Born a Girl". I listen to that now and then listen to "Nonpareil of Favor" and wonder just what the hell could've happened in between the writing of both of these songs. They went from cute little acoustic indie pop to this. And apparently the new album was a big disaster or something, I dunno cause this is the only song I've heard. And I've heard it over and over and over again.

There's nothing wrong with the first minute and a half of Nonpareil of Favor. Except the lyrics, but whatever. It all sounds really nice as it goes through its eight or nine shifts and whatnot.

What matters is what happens after the 1:44 mark. You should know that I like noise, a lot. I love bass drums. A whole lot. I LOVE the next two minutes of this song. It's the most beautiful white noise you will ever hear in your life. It's not really possible to describe why I like something so completely aesthetic, so all I can really say is that it's beautiful. It sounds great in my car speakers, somehow, and it makes driving feel like I'm being escorted by a giant vibrating sound box of noise.

I love how there are three legitimate points in this song where you can honestly say to yourself, "this HAS to be the high point, there's no way it gets bigger than this" and you'd be wrong each time.

I love how when it's all over, the sound all dies away and leaves this airy, milky melody that sounds like things sound when you've just left a concert after spending the whole night next to the speakers (like you got cottonballs in your earholes!). I have no idea if it's actually produced to sound like that or if it's just a result of the really loud noise, and I'll never find out, cause for the life of me I'm unable to skip over those two minutes.

3. T.I. – Whatever You Like

Okay, so this is the other "song every blog includes in their year-end lists," even though Pitchfork left it off entirely for some incredibly stupid reason that makes me lose any respect I had left for them (i am dramatic about whatever you like).

Lt Mou: QUESTION: WHAT IS THE BEST PART OF WHATEVER YOU LIKE
Fantasticdan300: best parts are
Fantasticdan300: 1. The joke about the girl that gives such good brain he can tell she went to college
Fantasticdan300: 2. THE BEAT (this should obviously be #1)
Fantasticdan300: 3. THE BEAT
Fantasticdan300: 4. the fact htat TI is offering this girl bentleys and private jets just so he can have sex with her
Lt Mou: THIS IS ENTIRELY WRONG
Lt Mou: the beat is like the most inconsequential and generic part of the song, BITHC
Lt Mou: the best part of whatever you like is the manner in which t.i. raps
Lt Mou: and the fact that he's actually rapping in a full southern drawl
Lt Mou: and all the words lean on each other and it's the most melodious rapping ever
Lt Mou: most singalongable rappin evr
Lt Mou: he literally sings the entire song

what follows is a lot of arguing about a t.i. song. (i won)

2. Lykke Li – Little Bit
Lykke Li – Little Bit
We love Lykke Li around these parts, but really, everyone seems to like Lykke Li… a little bit! Wink! Really though, that's an accurate description of the general indie opinion of Lykke Li. Everyone liked the album a whole lot and she's a female/foreign/cute/not like Uffie, so she automatically appeals to everyone. But you won't find her at any #1 spots, and the album still never got the amount of respect it deserved. So it's kind of poetical that I pick "Little Bit" for the number two song of the year. I didn't catch that when I first made the list.

(I also apologize for not including "Dance Dance Dance," I have no idea why I left it off.)

I don't have much to really say about "Little Bit." I just plum love it. Best moment, besides the chorus, is the second verse: there's a little dramatic beat/cymbal hit after half the lines (I would do it/push a button/pull a trigger/climb a mountain), kind of like she's catching her breath, until the end, where she just gets so flustered that she ends the line halfway through with a "Ha hm!"

love u a lil bit lykke li

1. Pink – So What
Pink – So What
YUP.

I feel like everyone's gonna give me shit for this. But that's okay. Well, it isn't. This is a list of my personal favorites, I won't try to argue that So What was the GREATEST SONG OF 2008 (you can't do that with music anyway, silly!), I can only say that it's the one song I came back to the most, the one song I looked forward to listening to the most when my time was occupied by something else, the song that sent my heart all a-flutter when I listened to it for the first twenty-or-so times.

I love the HOLY BALLS out of So What.

If you've read the rest of this list up until now, you've probably realized that I have a nasty tendency to tear apart songs into different aspects and just concentrate on the good stuff. I don't think it's a bad thing. I try to treat people the same way: love the good parts and forgive the bad parts. With music, if you ever want to get really get an appreciation for pop music, you've got to learn to forgive, babies.

But if you have to forgive a song for anything, you can still have trouble treating that song as your favorite of the year, right?

Not in the case of So What. I'll admit, the hook in the beginning, the na-na-na's, they're pretty annoying—and without the fantastic percussion that backs it up, it'd be unbearable. I'd still give that part, I guess, a 70%. I'd give the verses a 90%, just because the beat is still so great. And I'll give the chorus as high a rating as you can possibly get. On a Pitchfork scale of 0.0-10.0, the chorus gets A ZILLION. It is undeniably infectious, ejaculatory, orgasmic, other words that can relate it to sex. The guitars in the beginning of the chorus, that's enough. That'd still get it to a 10.0. But when the synth comes in? Oh, holy shit. I first heard this song on a radio station that was far away and filled with static, and through all of that, the chorus still sounded incredible. It was love at first radio.

And the thing is, I don't like Pink! I've never enjoyed her songs, she has a personality that gets in the way of any quality the song might have. Even the fact that she calls herself a "rock star" when she's the very definition of a pop star, it's pretty silly. But I still have an appreciation for these lyrics, especially.

It isn't often that a pop star is willing to write lyrics in the first person. Even if it's just a song about a breakup or a new crush, the "I" will never be the pop star, because the pop star will never admit to being a pop star. It isn't relatable. If the pop star DOES write a song from the perspective of his or her rich self, it'll be in the extremely annoying "I'm so sick of the paparazzi ruining my lunch!" mode.

Here's a song in which Pink admits to being filthy rich and famous, and indulging in it. "So what, I'm a rock star" takes on a double meaning: in a standard pop song, this is the anthem, this is what teenage girls are supposed to sing along to after they break up with their boyfriends. But it's also meta-pop, in which a girl has the gall to admit to being a star in an obsessive American society that feeds on the insecurities of its rich female icons. This, in itself, is much more feministic than any of the "I hate girls with breast implants!" songs Pink has written in the past.

That's not even it, either. You can still sense the insecurity in this song: it's in the tail end of the chorus, when she's just SCREAMING, "I'M ALL RIGHT/I'M JUST FINE!" There's such an earnest sense of pure insincerity here, and the song suddenly shifts from a half-serious breakup anthem to a multi-dimensional emotional outburst which, compared to the rest of the Top 40 canon, is as confessional and authentic and true as I've ever heard. She sets out to write a song about getting over her ex, and shares with the world the fact that it's killing her. The song could've been a ballad about her pain, and it would've been terrible.

At this point you should realize that I'm not joking about this being my favorite song of the year.

--------------------------------------------------------

That's it. Here's what we've learned (because what I say matters): give in to pop music. Sweden is great. Rest in peace Stylus Magazine, my popspiration. Eat more trans fat.

Still Great in 2008: Part II

2008-12-30T19:43:00.017-05:00

Part I

22. Black Milk feat. Royce Da 5’9 – Losing Out

I’m a sucker for this track. I can’t help it. It’s not the sample (lol Kanye). It’s not the beat. It’s not even the verse (summary: Detroit = #1/don’t mess with Royce). It’s the transitions. There’s just something about how Cross cues up his intro (“Who’s the most underestimated/Plus underrated city in this hip hop game…”) with the drop, the way Royce syncopates his verse perfectly with the bass, and the way the beat changes to the lub-dub heartbeat bumps in the verse that makes this song so damn catchy. This track is more a testament to Milk’s production than it is to his rapping, but oh well. Still gives me chills.

21. Janelle Monáe – Many Moons

I have the biggest crush on Janelle Monáe. Maybe it’s the pompadour. Maybe it’s the white tux. Maybe it’s her dancing. Maybe it’s the fact that she recorded the perfect companion piece to “Hey Ya” and this time white people haven’t ruined it (yet). Who knows. The important thing, though, is that Many Moons is one of the best pop songs to grace radio waves this year. Monáe crafts perfect PnB (pop n’ blues to those uninitiated) magic, with a shake rattle n bang drumline (complete with requisite gong), a church organ hook that sounds like it was recorded by Charles Earland on coke, and a chorus that won’t leave your head for daaaays (trust me). Plus, the video (I've watched it at least 1000 times and have no plans to stop anytime soon) features a cameo by that dude from Heroes, Big Boi from OutKast, and the masks from The Knife (the holy trinity – mainstreamers, hip hoppers, and indie rockers). Janelle sure knows the way to my heart. Call me!

20. Pwrfl Power – Alma Song

Yep, this is the guy from those eSurance commercials. Shut up. It's good. Same deal before (twee as fuck croonin' with only an acoustic guitar as accompaniment), but this time he talks about love and money and other important stuff. Gives hope to all the "not that attractive" girls with small boobs. This is the feel good song of 2008.

Still Great in 2008: Part I

2008-12-29T23:35:00.017-05:00

Since Zach is having a mid-blog crisis and may never actually complete his Top 50 Songs of 2008 (what a tease), I’m going to take the opportunity here to post a little list I like to call:

STILL GREAT IN 2008 – THE FORGOTTEN 25
25 Songs We Missed On the First Roundup
Lets get started

25. Arthur Russell – I Couldn’t Say It To Your Face

I guess it’s cheap to start a ‘best of’ list with a song that wasn’t even technically recorded in 2008, but I don’t care. This song is terrible and awesome and just all kinds of mean. Damn, Arthur.

I needed a place, so I walked in the door,
I couldn't say it to your face, but I won't be around any more.
It's my world, it's my song -
Didn't ask you to sing along.
In my arms, you girl, you won't be here to say I'm wrong.
I couldn't say it to your face but I won't be around any more.

Like P4k said, though, “getting dumped via song probably stings, but it beats a text message.” Always gotta look on the bright side, yall. This is by far the saddest song on my list, and also probably the one I’ve listened to the most. Still luv u Arthur.

24. Busy Signal feat. Rye Rye & MIA – Tic Toc (Remix)

This is a perfect example of how an amazing beat can save an otherwise mediocre song. Although Rye Rye (born and raised in Baltimore yall!) has the voice of a 12 year old and I love it, her verse along with MIA’s are both pretty forgettable. Thank god for Busy’s production. The trip and stutter of the chorus (tic tic tic tic toc…), Busy’s own (absolutely unintelligible) shouting, and that effing awesome dulcimer (???) sample are exactly what makes this song so memorable. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had this song stuck in my head over the past year. Take a tic yall.

23. Metronomy – A Thing For Me (Breakbot Remix)

If I had to give one example of how indie pop has survived into the 21st century, this would be it. “A Thing For Me” just OOZES sunshine, lollipops, ice cream, and walks in the park. While Metronomy’s original track is pretty mediocre, the Breakbot remix really cuts to the song’s core, bringing out the Saturdays=Youth vibe (more on THAT later!) and cutting out that godawful electro beat in favor of a lazy bumblebee bassline and some big ol sloppy pastel synth blurps. If this song doesn’t give you butterflies, there’s no hope for your soul.

Tonight she'll take my heart home with her
But I'm not ready to let it go now,
Oh how long have we got?

h8 u web sheriff

2008-12-27T04:24:00.010-05:00

First and foremost I think a ‘thank you’ [via HRO] is in order to those dopey dudes from Baltimore that just increased our site’s hit count by approximately a kajillion percent over the course of 24 WILD hours.

Now that that’s all over with, though, we can finally get back to what’s important over here at LYM: gettin all misty-eyed about top blogosphere songs from 2008 that nobody actually cared about except for us.
LYM = 2008 THE BLOG.

FantasticDan300: we are going to do best songs of 2008 for the entire year
Lt Mou: lol ya
FantasticDan300: like our blog will only be about the best songs of 2008
Lt Mou: best blog evr

SO FASTEN YALLS SEATBELTS FOR:
1. The finale to Zach's "Top 50 Songs of 2008"
2. Dav's Top 25 2008 Trax
3. A lot of neato videos (we've been collectin' em)
4. AND MUCH MUCH MORE

Here's a little somethin to hold you over till then (complete with claymation fish n gross dancing):
[video may not be viewable in some RSS feeds!]

ANIMAL COLLECTIVE MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION LEAK LISTEN HERE DAMMIT

2008-12-26T02:26:00.005-05:00

edit: welp, looks like that letter to quietus was a fake. fun while it lasted! this got us a LOAD of traffic that we haven't had before (mostly because we didn't get any traffic before). and web sheriff sure is polite.

HI HI HI I only see three of these songs on hypey so far, so we're gonna assume that LYM is BREAKING THIS SHIT YEAH. Which is awesome cause we're infants in blog years. And we also really hope that this'll show the hype machine how awesome we are and let us on. right?

Here are the songs listen to them quick cause web sheriff is gonna kick our butts real quick.
Edit: Geologist called last week for a full-album leak, so no prooooob

~~ANIMAL COLLECTIVE - MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION~~

~~1. In the Flowers~~
~~2. My Girls~~
~~3. Also Frightened~~
~~4. Summertime Clothes~~
~~5. Daily Routine~~
~~6. Bluish~~
~~7. Guys Eyes~~
~~8. Taste~~
~~9. Lion in a Coma~~
~~10. No More Runnin'~~
~~11. Brothersport~~

~~Full Album~~

~~Enjoy!~~ Briefly!

Zach's fav songs of 2k8 pt 4: Don't Make Me Whup Your Butt in Front of a Church

2008-12-19T00:20:00.003-05:00

Note: imeem tracks won't show up in some RSS feeds!

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

30. Rick Ross – The Boss (ft. T-Pain)

Let's not fool ourselves into thinking Rick Ross "The Boss" Springsteen is by any means good at rapping. Most of the time, he's kind of annoying. He was by far the worst part of "Blow," which, thanks to the heaviest beat ever, was also one of the best songs of whatever year it came out in. "The Boss" is also saved by the beat, given to us by crosseyed Italian "Bachelorette" contestant J.R. Rotem (who also gave us Rihanna's "S.O.S." and all the good Sean Kingston beats). This song isn't saved by heaviness, but the heavenly, ethereal synth that runs through it. I think this one legitimately gave me chills the first few times I caught it on the radio, namely thanks to the low-high two-note elevation during the chorus. It's also great because "I'm the biggest boss that you seen thus far." Rick Ross might not be good at rapping, but he is good at making sure no one's gonna be able to say "I told you so" when they inevitably locate a boss that is bigger than he.

The video also has Snoop and Slim from The Wire, which I guess makes it THE GREATEST MUSIC VIDEO OF ALL TIME

29. Brazilian Girls – St. Petersburg

it's really hard to find pictures of brazilian girls (the band) on google

Everything about the instrumentation in "St. Petersburg" sounds great, with the whistling and the samba drums (I'm going to assume that's what samba drums sound like), and the little guitar twinkles in the chorus. But I love this song so much for one reason, and it's another Big Musical Moment. It occurs right after the first chorus and before the second verse. It's a little 10-second break that imitates the secondary melody of the verse, and it sounds like the most fragile, loopy theremin there ever was. I've listened to this song dozens of times, often on repeat, only to get to those ten seconds of glorious theremin.

26/27/28. Kanye West – Streetlights/Coldest Winter/Robocop

I knew these three songs would all be on the list, but when it came time to construct the list and separate everything into these different tiers, I found myself constantly juggling them around each other. I really just couldn't figure out which ones I like more. So they're all tied.

I'm a pretty decent 808s and Heartbreak apologist, at least compared to the legions who seem to loathe it. I was honestly considering adding Love Lockdown, which I loved at first and got quickly tired of (thanks mostly to a dorm neighbor blasting it on repeat for days and days and days and days), as well as "Paranoid," and "Amazing," and "Heartless." Strangely, given all of that, I still wasn't TOO crazy about the album. Dawwwww.

The version of "Robocop" is the "demo" version, or whatever you call the first one that Kanye leaked. The studio version completely covers up (with doofy strings) the best part of the song – the verse beat, which sounds kinda like a song you'd hear in the level of Mega Man when he's jumping on clouds and crap like that (I don't remember Mega Man).

I think this is also the first version of "Coldest Winter," which sounds a lot more like a disintegrating demo tape than the official version. I love that. The chorus has such a great melody and is so filled with genuine passion, it's probably the best reason for Kanye to not go back to just producing (this is too self-referential for a blog no one gives a shit about). Also, I think we all miss Kanye's mom. I'm not being ironic here, Hey Mama has always been one of my favorite Kanye songs, and now I just can't listen to it the same. It's another reason I'm forgiving to 808s: it's Kanye's own For Emma, Forever Ago, his completely passionate, messy burst of post-tragic coping. Except… his girlfriend didn't dump him, his mom died in a freak accident. Come on, man.

"Streetlights" is basically Kanye doing his best impression of Keane.

25 . Department of Eagles – In Ear Park

Sometimes lyrics just creep up on you, long after you've given into the music of the song itself. This song was placed at #25 a while before I actually gave the words a real listen and realized just how much more tender the song is when you put the sounds in context.

All of us walk alone, steady line
And now that you're gone
I have nothing but time
To walk with your bags
Down to the docks
And sit in the grass
Right in your spot

I dunno man. I'm about to cry. Department of Eagles is a side project of Grizzly Bear, sort of, or Grizzly Bear is the side project, I dunno. But apparently this was the stuff that was "too personal" for the G.Bears, and it kinda shows.

Oh, live edit: according to SongMeanings.net, the ultimate authority on truth in music, this was written about lead singer/songwriter Daniel Rossen's father, who died last year. He should do something with Kanye.

The original reason I was turned onto "In Ear Park" was, of course, another little moment: the climax of the song, that kind-of-sinister-but-still-pretty piano lick. So check that out.

24. The Roots – Birthday Girl

What's the best way to follow up two songs about the death of your parents? A song about girls turning eighteen so you can finally have sex with them!!! ^_^!!!

Patrick Stump sings the chorus here and it's awesome. Except there's a bit of confusion with the whole age thing. Old enough to see the R-rated show? That's 17, sir. Old enough to buy a gun? That's 18. Age of consent? ROOTS DON'T KNOW AND NEITHER DOES PAT STUMP AND THEY DON'T GIVE A HOOT

23. Walter Meego - Forever
Walter Meego - Forever
Yeah. This is the song from that beer commercial.

And it was an annoying beer commercial, wasn't it? It was horrible. I don't even know what was happening, something about beer, and a girl with a gap in her teeth. I hereby distance myself from that commercial entirely.

The crazy thing is, though… the commercial contained precisely the first thirty seconds of "Forever." And "Forever" becomes a really good song JUST after that thirty second mark. I couldn't tell until I listened to it in my car, and the bass came out, and, somehow, it sounded wonderful in my crapass speakers. It's a bit soft at times throughout, but the chorus? This song is a BANGER. It's incredible. Just gotta listen to it when it isn't coming out of a TV set.

22. TV on the Radio – Crying

TVOTR doing what TVOTR does best, makin real fuzzy funky music that sounds incredible in cars. Really, you can't comprehend how important it is to my subjective ears that a song sounds good in a car.

This song is basically a string of great moments that all work to lead up to this great climax that's entirely magnificent and dramatic, but in a relatively low-key, restrained fashion. Everything that's going on, these complex lines of melody, are still being drowned out by the percussion, and the full array of sound never really attacks your ears. Everything that happens from about 3:05 on is entirely too much for my poor little heart; the synth line and the horns are so wonderful I just listen to it over and over again. And it's one of those cases where, when you try skipping to that point, it just doesn't carry the same weight. So I've listened to this song a lot. In my car.

21. Ray J – Sexy Can I (ft. Yung Berg)

Oh, Sexy Can I. I've read, I think, every year-end songs/singles list that Large Hearted Boy posts… and I'm pretty sure I'm the only one to include Sexy Can I. Which baffles the crap out of me. Even the MTV/Rolling Stone lists, the lists with all sorts of pop, skipped it.

Sexy Can I was the summer of 2k8's silver medal winner, and by extension, the forgotten child, the Jan Brady of 2k8. It was all over the radio, played nearly as much as Love in this Club, and everyone loved it. But it still never hit #1, and it never felt like a #1, like LitC and Single Ladies and Whatever You Like did. So while every reputable and non-reputable list includes those obligatory Top 40 hits, they always forget the silver medalist (and Jesse McCartney).

And it sucks, because this song is really irresistible. It's pure bubblegum pop… even if it's about sexing a stripper or whatever, this is 100% bubblegum. I could listen to the beat for days. I could listen to Ray J's chorus for days. How can anyone not fall for that melody? Or that totally weird horn crescendo at the end of every chorus? Love in this Club got tiring really quickly, because it was absolutely everywhere for a few weeks, and it just didn't have the same staying power/immediate palatability as Sexy Can I, a song I will NEVER get tired of. And Love in this Club (Marsha) ain't making my list, jerks. The underdog wins.

Zach's fav songs part 1 AGAIN.

2008-12-18T23:58:00.003-05:00

Hi! The first time I posted this entry, it got deleted by the man. So I'm posting it again, now hopefully without any copyright infringement. or the copyright infringement is youtube's/imeem's fault. they can't get me for that, right?
----------------------------------------------
YO.
So here’s the first installment of my favorite 60 songs of 2008. I think this is what I was meant for in life.
There were some stipulations that might separate this from some other song lists. If I heard the song in 2007, it doesn’t count. A lot of people are listing Skinny Love and Kids… I first heard both of them on Best of 2007 lists. Yall crazy!! Also, if a song was released in 2007 but wasn’t released as a single until 2008 (and assuming I hadn’t heard it in 07), it’s eligible. Here are some of the big songs that weren’t eligible and where they would’ve placed:
Bon Iver – Skinny Love (top 15)
MGMT – Kids (top 10)
MGMT – Time to Pretend (top 40 ish)
Alphabeat – Fascination (top 20)
MIA – Paper Planes (everyblog knows this isn’t an 08 song but if it were it’d be top 5)
Amerie – anything from her last album (all over the damn place)

And here were some runners-up!
Lloyd – Girls Around the World (ft. Lil Wayne)
Neon Neon – Dream Girls
Okervil River - Lost Coastlines
Mates of State – The Re-arranger
Paramore – That’s What You Get
Lykke Li – Breaking it Up
Sean Kingston – There’s Nothing
Ne-Yo – Closer

LET’S BEGIN, and keep in mind that I listen to top 40/R+B radio like it’s my job.

yeah that's how we're gonna start things out
60. Mystery Jets - Bleeding Love [Leona Lewis]

There was a point in mid-summer when this song was entirely unavoidable. Malls, grocery stores, Chinatowns, ballparks—on July 20th, every ballplayer was required to use it as their at-bat song, until they eventually just stopped playing and repeatedly watched the video (the one where Leona Lewis has an intrusive face) on the Jumbotron—and then there were the ringtone commercials, in which you could text “BLEED” to 56756 to have the song play every time someone calls you to talk about Leona Lewis and her face.

But for a brief period, I really liked this song and was gleeful when it popped up on the radio.

Now, there’s no way I’m downloading it because I never want to hear it again. So here’s a version from a bunch of white guys in scarves and hair. They were a band who, up until a few minutes ago when I actually uploaded their song and saw their name, I called “The Flaming Jets.” Whoops yall.

59. Craig David – Where’s Your Love (ft. Tinchy Stryder)
Craig David – Where’s Your Love (ft. Tinchy Stryder)

My love for this song exists entirely within that beautiful sample of “Hold On” by Colours, an old 90s UK garage song. (“Craig David is thought to be paying homage to the genre that made him a star. The original UK Garage track was made by a group called Colours & its called Hold On.” [citation needed])

Anyway, I really don’t care about anything but the beat, and I’m not really sure if there is anything more than a beat cause I never listened that hard.

58. Sigur Ros - Gobbledigook

In which Sigur Ros does their best Animal Collective impression.

Honestly, I don’t really listen to Sigur Ros, but David told me their last album was basically just AC, and there hasn’t been any AC LPs this year, which made me sad and lacking in hyperbole. So here’s this. More tolerable than a good deal of AC songs, because you can’t tell what they’re saying. And the drums in the last 22 seconds are delicious etc.

and the music video has a ton of naked people!!!!!!!!

Also worth mentioning is “All Alright,” a song I got into very recently, after I finalized my list (it’s a grower). It’s their first English-language song and you still can’t tell what he’s saying but it’s the most heartbreaking thing.

57. Beyonce - Radio
Beyonce - Radio
In which Beyonce romances and beds a piece of mechanical equipment (it’s implied).

Most of what I like about this song shows up in the first second:
1. This is the first time in which I’ve given a damn about Beyonce’s voice. It’s noticeable and sort of… over-dialectical, which I love (radi-OWWW). This is going to sound clichéd, but it makes her sound like a real person and not singer/songwriter/actress Beyonce Knowles (Austin Powers, The Pink Panther i think, 2Fast2Furious). Or maybe it’s just SASHA FIERCE, in which case I wouldn’t mind if she just adopted SASHA FIERCE as her base personality.
2. That sprawling, sharp, TRASHY synth. It’s beautiful.

This was produced by Jim Jonsin, who also did “Whatever You Like,” but he also did “Lollipop,” and I guess this song is somewhere in between. Jim Jonsin is also a very rich man.

Also there is no way in hell this song won’t eventually be a single, so HEARD IT HERE FIRST, FOLKS, unless you actually bought that album. FIERCE

56. Radiohead – Nude (Hipster Runoff Remix)
Radiohead – Nude (HRO Remix)

There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that Hipster Runoff (NSFW ever) is the blog of the year. It basically does everything Stuff White People Like tries to do, except with more self-awareness and hilarity and less anger (most of the time), and it has single-handedly impacted the way David and I speak to each other on AIM more than anything else has.

Lt Mou: r u dumb
Lt Mou: it's SINEFELD
FantasticDan300: no i get it but wtf
FantasticDan300: Y SINEFELD ZORCH
FantasticDan300: also I'd say the firstone
FantasticDan300: more recognizeable u kno
FantasticDan300: altho the second one is coolar
Lt Mou: did you not listen to it?
Lt Mou: omg
Lt Mou: dizz dawg
Lt Mou: u gotta listen to it and then edit yr list thusly

HRO is basically the best thing ever and I’ll spend the rest of this list referencing it and making it less cool.

Anyway, “Nude” was the only song on In Rainbows that I really liked, and that’s only because it was actually written in like 1996. CRLS’ remix gives me the laffs. It’s basically just a standard HRO blog post being recited over the song. The remix itself isn’t bad either.

Sometimes when I close my eyes I see the music video to “Karma Police.”

55. Britannia High – Changing Man

Every time I look at my list, I wonder why in the balls I’m including a song from Britannia High, which is THE BRITISH HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, except it’s in t.v. show form. And then I listen to it and I remember: holy balls, this song is incredible.

This is one of the several discoveries I made from Pop Jousteece, a great pop-centric music blog. This is what they said about Britannia High, and it certainly applies 1000% to “Changing Man”:

Britannia High happily revels in songs with terrible intros, terrible first verses, terrible bridges and then AMAZING CHORUSES...

That’s all there is to it. Everything about this song is terrible and annoying until you get to the chorus, which makes everything better. Literally: the horns in the verses sound corny and jarring, but they sound beautiful in the chorus. Same with the vocals. I’m pretty sure the dancing gets better too. That’s the power of a sweet melody.

Other observations:
-I’m guessing that Britannia High is almost exactly like High School Musical except with accents and a plot primarily concerned with Britain’s rigid class structure.
-what the fuck is happening at 1:56, were they paying too much attention to leona lewis vids (lol that was a ref to a previous statement get it )
-I hope kind-of-cool-but-down-to-earth-and-probably-artistic guy (named “Fuschia”) and feisty-but-cool-and-probably-kind-of-cynical girl (named “Bella”) stay together in the end.
-Girl-with-egg-beater finally makes her star turn!
-so do they like, all try to hide the fact that they’re singing and dancing from the adults or something?

One day I will actually listen to the High School Musical soundtrack, enjoy two or three tracks and never tell anyone about. For now, I’m allowed to talk about Britannia High cause it’s foreign and thus at least somewhat cool.

54. Stephen Colbert and Elvis Costello – There Are Much Worse Things to Believe In

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

A Colbert Christmas: Colbert/Costello Duet

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

This is from the very recent Colbert Christmas Special, and I’m including it primarily because it made me, a guy with Jew horns, all teary-eyed. I think comedy writers are just generally better at moving people in general. Tears and laughter are really just two sides to the same coin etc.

Call me silly, call me sappy.
Call me many things, the first of which is “happy.”

53. Kings of Leon – Be Somebody
Kings of Leon – Be Somebody

Kings of Leon is one of those bands that have kind of been trying to make everyone forget their beginnings as a pseudo-bar band with long greasy hair and leather jackets, and the shift into “palatable indie” was pretty harsh and… obvious. I’ve still liked most of what I’ve heard from their past few albums. But at worst they can still sound like a rich man’s Nickelback.

“Be Somebody” kind of suffers from that. Actually, in most part, the song IS that. But, for some reason, I gave it enough of a chance to get to the chorus, and that was enough to win me over. Lead singer whatever-his-name-is throating “Given the chance, I wanna beeeeeee somebodehhhhh, if for one dance, I’m gonna beeeeee somebodehhhhh” is just so earnest and completely lacking in irony, I love it. If they were actually good at being an indie band there probably wouldn’t be that earnestness and the song would suck.

52. Late of the Pier - Heartbeat

I guess Late of the Pier can best be described as a British rock band that’s really obsessed with American electronic music. At least I think so, I don’t think I can think of many British electronic/synth/dance-ish bands that have guitars and stuff. And at their worst—they’re really British, with annoying, grimy rockist melodies and lyrics, reminiscent of bands like Jet and the Vines (neither of which are British but still). They switch back and forth between being that band and being an MGMT-ish art band that is extremely enjoyable to listen to (we’re #1). The two modes don’t really mix as much as they alternate. “Heartbeat” epitomizes this: 35 seconds of synth, 20 seconds of rock, 25 seconds of really great synth, 30 seconds of rock, 45 seconds of synth, 25 seconds of rock.

51. The Streets – Everything is Borrowed
Streets – Everything is Borrowed
I remember, in the summer of 2004, when A Grand Don’t Come For Free was released and Pitchfork loved it (so I loved it natch), talking about The Streets to a couple friends… and learning that I was the only one that actually took him seriously. Back then “British rapper” was still a punchline to most people. I was all like “but he writes really nice and he spins a good narrative (p4k said so)” and they were all like “shut up zach you’re fucking stupid” and I never brought it up again. And now The Streets has been accepted as a legitimate human being (I guess?) and now everyone hates him anyway cause he’s become a cool dad or something. The new album is peaceful and happy and it has lines like “This life is the best” as opposed to being poor and conscious of the British class struggle and I DON’T GIVE A SHIT this song is so great.

Just when I discover the meaning of life, they change it.

I still got yr back mike.

Zach's fav songs of 2k8 pt 3: I JUST WANNA BEAT MARIAH

2008-12-16T01:45:00.000-05:00

Hi again! Lots of hip-hop this time. Enjoy?

Part One
Part Two

40. Camille – Money Note

So, originally, there was one very distinct reason I was going to include "Money Note" in my list; it stuck out so much to me so much the first time I heard it, that I knew it would end up on here (it is not difficult for a song to make my list). It might be a bit too long to be considered a "moment," but if I were making a list of my favorite moments of 2k8, it would be in my top 3. And if you want to know the way to my heart, just... make me this moment. It starts at 2:50 and ends at 3:23. It sounds like it's supposed to be the chorus, but it only happens once, for some ungodly reason. I don't know what it is about that chord progression… it's so utterly simple and common, but it just kills me.

But lately, I started listening to the song more and more. I would really only listen through it to get to that one brilliant cherry-in-the-middle, not really actively paying attention to the majority of the song, as I go along my way. And it's just amazing, how you can listen to a song ten or twenty times before you start to listen to the lyrics, and you suddenly realize: this is funny. After like three albums, Camille finally starts writing in English, and she ends up writing satire. What a joker!

The song is basically Camille making fun of North American singers for trying to hit extremely high notes during the climaxes of their songs, and then she makes fun of herself for not being able to reach them. Honestly, I have no idea how I didn't hear it: it includes a faux-Mariah verse and a guy whispering "she aimed for F-sharp 7/to take us all to heaven."

The video for Money Note is also fantastic and/but features a much-shortened version. NSFW if your work doesn't allow women dressed in nude body-suits.

39. Lil Wayne – A Milli

Fantasticdan300: what virus should I choose
Lt Mou: ebola
Lt Mou: uuuugh i dont wanna do an entry on a milli
Lt Mou: so sick of dat song
Fantasticdan300: 2. Chikungunya Virus (genus Alphavirus, family Togaviridae)

38. Ryan Leslie – Addiction (ft. Cassie and Fabolous)
Ryan Leslie - Addiction

What a chilly, arresting beat. What a beautiful chorus. What an entirely underappreciated song. Peaked at 115! Ryan Leslie is a very poor man.

Clipse hijacked it on their new mixtape because they actually sold cane, even though they rap about being addicted to rapping or some shit, whatever.

hi hi im, jayz, want2 kiss u ^_^;;;;
37. Jay-Z – I Know (ft. Pharrell)

So this is another entirely chilly beat. I have about as much to say about it as the last chilly song. I just enjoy chilly beats. Merry Christmas!

Someone mashed it up with Flashing Lights and it makes sense.

36. No Age – Eraser
No Age - Eraser

Simply put, there isn't a single second in this song that my ears don't like. A smorgasbord of raw, unfriendly sounds that are gorgeous in unison.

Fun fact: first heard this on MTV2. WTF MTV2? It just was like in 2k4 when everyone was all like "wtf is modest mouse doing on the radio." Except now that the mnstrm has had four years to take in the word "indie," I didn't expect to be shocked by something like that again. Out of all the bands, No Age gets MTV airtime. And it kinda sucked that as soon as Bmore became a huge musical epicenter, all that coolness immediately flew to LA. But the LA scene is really fucking good. ilu no age

35. T.I. – No Matter What
T.I. – No Matter What
This was T.I.'s forgotten stepchild of the summer. The kind of song that was really, really popular for about a week, and then Whatever You Like came out and I think I'm the only one who remembers this one. Got yr back TI/TIP.

Seriously, T.I. might be the most likable rapper/performer/singer/anyone right now. I just wanna be his friend. Wonder if he reads this blog. Pssh, nah, probably not. I mean, come on. I was just kidding. He probably doesn't read this. There's like, no way.

34. Lil Wayne – Let the Beat Build
Lil Wayne – Let the Beat Build
This song is one of the best arguments in support of Kanye returning to producing full-time. His last two albums would be reasons one and two, but this is number three. This song is Kanye completely showing off his mastery of the long-ass soul sample, and then bragging about it. Even though Weezy does show up for Let the Beat Build, this is the Kanye show.

33. Young Jeezy – My President (ft. Nas)
Young Jeezy – My President (ft. Nas)

Wow, if Barry didn't win the election, Young Jeezy sure would have some pie in his face! Would've immediately regretted not writing a pro-McCain song. Or maybe My President is about Cynthia McKinney? I can definitely see it.

So Young Jeezy and Nas set out to make one of the Great Obama Hip-Hop Songs of 2k8 That Will Be Remembered Forever, and they end up making one of the most addictive, replayable choruses of the year:

My president is black
My Lambo's blue
And I'll be goddamned if my rims ain't too

There's one line about Obama, and two about Jeezy's car. It doesn't matter. The best thing about Obama winning is this song.

32.Lykke Li - My
Lykke Li – My
hey wait this isn't rap

Basically, this song is here because there isn't anything about the chorus that isn't splendid. And it's a kind of wonderful expression of beauty in hopefulness/hopelessness etc. i lykke u lykke li.

31. MURS – Time is Now (ft Snoop Dogg)
MURS – Time is Now (ft. Snoop Dogg)
HEY I DID AN ENTRY ON THIS SONG

I feel the same way about it as I did then.

Zach's fav songs of 2k8 pt 2: John Lennon was assassinated on porpoise

2008-12-09T15:02:00.005-05:00

Part One

Hi! This installment seems a lot more respectable until you get to the end and lose your respect for me all over again.

50. The Killers - Spaceman
The Killers - Spaceman

So I don't think I've ever actively disliked a Killers single. "All These Things That I've Done," "Smile Like You Mean It," "When You Were Young," "Read My Mind" were all fantastic, if a bit stupid at times. Spaceman follows suit. follows spacesuit.

This is a song about being abducted by aliens I think. The lyrics sound okay until you actually listen to them, or read them:

Well now I'm back at home
And I’m looking forward to this life I live;
You know it's gonna haunt me,
So hesitation to this life I give.
You think you might cross over,
You're caught between the devil and the deep blue sea;
You better look it over,
Before you make that leap

no

Honestly, I've been listening to this song on repeat for an hour and it's not very noticeable. It's reliable. The chorus is nice. The Killers haven't changed much, and I really hope their idea of "growing as a band" isn't simply "writing songs about aliens." This isn't very enthusiastic. I guess I just wanted to use that picture. Still counts.

49. Q-Tip – Gettin’ Up
Q-Tip – Gettin’ Up

Three parts to this beat:
1. piano
2. drums
3. bass
Fantastically intertwined. This beat is gorgeous. Just a piano loop, a drum loop, a bass loop. No sample. And then there's Kamaal himself, who has one of my favorite voices in hip-hop, if not my favorite. Everything about the sound in this song is great. The lyrics aren't anything special, just a typical "settle down with me/have a lot of post-settling-down sex with me" jam, but there are some good lines in here:

I like to watch everybody gravitate towards you
Your magnetic presences make them come through
The same way you got them, you got me too.

48. Fleet Foxes – White Winter Hymnal
Fleet Foxes – White Winter Hymnal

This is a song that would be a lot higher (as it is on everyone else's lists) if not for the fact that the lyrics put me off so much. I hate how I seem to be splitting every song into little sections and weighing them against each other, but that's really it. It's just a bit too cute! We're living in the post-cute era.

I was reading a blog or something, that called the harmonies of Fleet Foxes one of the musical highlights of 2008, and I completely agree. I barely even notice anything else about them. The a capella break at the end is so great.

Also, the video for this is incredible and I guess I'll talk about it in my videos list if I make one.

47. Panics at the Disco – Nine in the Afternoon
Panic at the Discos – Nine in the Afternoon

TAKE IT AWAY, YAHOO ANSWERS

thank you, steve.

But not THAT talented.

46. Friendly Fires - Paris
Friendly Fires - Paris

Friendly Fires – Paris [Aeroplane Remix]

Every once in a while, Carles from HRO actually posts an mp3 and talks about it and he says it better than I can:

Yall. I remember I posted the rmx of this song, and I found it to be extra meaningful + applicable 2 my life. One day, I just want to live in Paris with some 1 who I authentically appreciate. We will live together, and achieve all of our dreams.

I think the original version is relatively conceptually satisfying in a ‘mainstreamish’ post-Rapture Cowbell Percussion kinda way. I feel like if I wuz still an entrylevelalt circa 2k4, I would have listened to this song a lot. (not sure if that’s good or bad).

I hated this at first. Just given the lyrics and the bored vocals (listened to the remix first) make it sound so unpleasant from all angles. It's about being one of those people who wants to move to Paris! And then it's also about people being too poor to fulfill their alt dreams. But it's all done with so much detachment that you don't really get the desire to relate to it: it becomes a portrait of someone else's hopelessness. It's also catchy as balls. The remix is great, but can you really call it a remix when it barely shares any of the elements of the original? It sounds like a straight cover.

45. The Hold Steady – Slapped Actress
The Hold Steady – Slapped Actress

This was another late edition, and the only song (so far) that I liked so much that it actually unseated and replaced the previous #45 ( It's For Real by MURS and 9th Wonder).

The Hold Steady is a band I've largely avoided, after being told by the entirety of the internet that they sound exactly like early Springsteen, listening to a few tracks from Boys and Girls in America, and deciding that that's entirely wrong and I hate you. (i'm the authority on this cause i named my blog after a springsteen lyric and you didn't, internet)

I still think they sound nothing like him except for the occasional inclusion of a couple similar instruments and "songs about young people" which is actually every rock song ever written. But I guess Slapped Actress might be the song that actually gets me to listen to them. Craig Finn is a really good writer, and how many of those are there right now? And that choir at the end. That's really most of the reason this song is on here.

Also, is that a harpsichord? I can't tell.

44. Santogold – L.E.S. Artistes
Santogold – L.E.S. Artistes

Another late addition, because I avoided Santogold completely up until a week or so ago. Whenever she popped up on hypey I just assumed she sounded like the Ting Tings or an electro remix group or something. I also don't watch The Hills?
Pleasant surprise! It's a great chorus, largely due to that ethereal gong-like… sound. And she's got a great voice.

There is still probably a 50/50 chance I never listen to another Santogold song in my life.

43. Vampire Weekend – M79
Vampire Weekend – M79

So they were the most hyped band of the year, and I think partially because of that, everyone listened to their debut once and jizzered in their pants, decided they're s0000 psymon/g-funkel cause of that one song, and then listened to it a few more times and got really bored. I did. So here's the obligatory VW pick! Listen to those strings! Look at that "we’re like The Strokes if they chose 'rich' as their gimmick instead! Everyone will love us because they miss having money!" attitude! This is an official LYM "BAND2WATCH" in 2k8.

42. The-Dream – I Luv Your Girl
The-Dream – I Luv Your Girl

Tricky Stewart is just such a great producer: he broke out last year with Umbrella, and has had four genuine REALLY GOOD (not that good) hits this year, with I Luv Your Girl, Leavin', Single Ladies, and Touch My Body. Tricky Stewart is also a very rich person (not that rich).

And The-Dream ended up writing a bunch of those. And this is actually a well-written song. I was told a long time ago that if I ever find myself defending a pop/R+B song, just cite the producer: "no man, it's cool, it's Timbaland!" (this was told to me in 2006). In this case I'd also cite The-Dream's writing. This song, plus the fact that he also co-wrote Leavin', suggests that the guy is really in love with someone else's girlfriend, and it probably tears him up inside (not that much tearing) and causes him to spend his nights eating ice cream (not that much ice cream) and not doing more co-production with Tricky Stewart (he also co-produced Single Ladies!)

Yes, I really like this song because of that one line towards the end.

Also it looks like he's doing a jig on the single cover.

41. Katy Perry – Hot N Cold
Katy Perry – Hot N Cold

Katy Perry – Hot N Cold [Yelle Remix]

Sry, due to my inability to look at the Japanese-made robo-sexdoll doppelganger manbeast that is Katy Perry and her stupid face, I've included a picture of Zooey Deschanel doing some of the many things Katy is unable to do (emoting, being able to sing, being likable). Also, for some reason, the cover of the single for Hot N Cold is a photo of her talking into a watermelon.

Things that don't suck about Katy Perry songs: her producers.

Things that suck about Katy Perry songs: everything Katy Perry is involved with, including the writing of lyrics, the vocal representation of those lyrics (can you hear her giggling inside when she says "like a bitch"? THE CASHIER AT SPENCERS LOOKED AT US LIKE WTF), and that MTV live performance where she walked around and awkwardly pushed the faces of all of the girls in the front row.

Also, the Yelle remix is INCREDIBLE. Mostly because once it gets to the chorus, Yelle just RIPS it from Katy and just starts singing a completely different song in French. <3uYelle

Dav's Favs 2008

2008-11-29T18:18:00.014-05:00

Drive By Truckers – Brighter Than Creation’s Dark

http://rapidshare.com/files/78559187/DRI-BY_TR.part1.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/78562976/DRI-BY_TR.part2.rar

Who knew you could do so much with just a Big Muff pedal and a bottle of Jack Daniels? Patterson Hood belts it out over (count ‘em) 19 songs chock full of the grit, grime, and southern hospitality that'll remind you exactly why you fell in love with the DBTs to begin with. Released in January 2008, and STILL nobody even came close to touching this album.

The Gaslight Anthem – The ’59 Sound

http://www.mediafire.com/?kqyg5mmxlyn

Despite a dumb name, the Gaslight Anthem managed to put together one of the most consistent albums of 2008. Perfect Born to Run-esque grit rockers interspersed with sing alongs raucous enough to make even the pop-punkers blush. The sincerity of punk rock coupled with the chops/hooks of R&B? Yes please.

Re-Up Gang – We Got It For Cheap Vol. 3

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=MZ4JZD4L

Hoooooly shit. This is so heavy. No more production by the Neptunes, but that’s not a problem for Pusha T or Malice. The flow is better than ever, and the beats are from all over (almost all of them recognizable). Never before has dealing coke sounded so attractive. BITCH I SELL 'CAINE.

Lucky Dragons – Dream Island Laughing Language

http://www.mediafire.com/?48i0avsbzp1

The title of the album says it all. This is a world music record recovered from some alternate dimension. Beautiful glitches, samples, and field recordings interwoven to create a vision of a world on the brink of self-actualization. Each song on this record is a living, breathing creature, existing as some strange manifestation of our collective unconscious. As gorgeous as it is troubling, as fantastic as it is organic, Dream Island Laughing Language is by far the Lucky Dragon's best effort to date.

Lykke Li – Youth Novels

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7TR1VBTF

This time it’s okay to believe the hype. A blogger fav for sure, Ms. Li manages to craft an altogether enjoyable dance pop album twee enough for the indie poppers but with just enough cynicism to make it palatable for the rest of us. Sugary sweet hooks, simple orchestration, and a super pretty voice.

Oasis – Dig Out Your Soul

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QSYQNSWC

Say what you will about Oasis (self-absorbed/racist/sexist/jingoistic/narcissistic assholes?), but the fact remains that they managed to come out with one of the best albums of the year. If you’re expecting another What’s the Story, you’re in for a bit of a surprise - this album is THICK. Remember that Simpsons episode where Bart and Milhouse get the squishee made out of straight syrup? Yeah. It’s like that. Dig Out Your Soul is instantly heavier, more drugged out, and dirgier than previous efforts, but just as sweet as Oasis has ever been. Reminiscent of Ladies and Gentleman-era Spiritualized or early Verve.

Blank Dogs – On Two Sides

http://www.mediafire.com/?yumuzyiz2j4

Great noise-pop out of Brooklyn. Perfect pop melodies hidden under a layer of android guitars, buzzy synths, and muttered vocals. Dude clearly listened to a lot of New Order/The Fall/Marc Almond while recording the album, and who can blame him? Blank Dogs recorded the best New Order demo tape of 2008. Certainly not for everyone, but then again, what is?

Caleb Stine and the Brakemen – I’ll Head West Again

http://www.myspace.com/calebstineandthebrakemen

Baltimore’s own Caleb Stine crafts gorgeous country-western ballads with a sincerity that belies the fact that he grew up miles away from the nearest cactus, and probably has never even seen a tumbleweed. Regardless, this album is roots rock at its finest, with a singer that has the ability to channel Merle, Conway, and the Louvins with equal success. This is by far the album I’ve listened to the most this year. Chicken soup for the urban cowboy in all of us.

Q-Tip – The Renaissance

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=23XDKX17

Six long years in the making, and well worth the wait. The flow is smooth as ever, and the beats are TIGHT. This is the Midnight Marauders of the 21^st century. Q-Tip can rap circles around just about any other hip-hopper out there, and can make it sound effortless in the process. This is the perfect summer cruisin’ album.

Foxboro Hot Tubs – Stop Drop and Roll!!

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RMFTXRU1

This album kills. Awesome garage-rock revival full of sneer, swagger and swank that pays equal debt to The Who as it does to Something Else-era Kinks. This album would be right at home on a Nuggets comp. Hard to believe that these are the same guys that wrote American Idiot.

Erykah Badu – New Amerykah Part One (4^th World War)

http://rapidshare.com/files/104830889/Erykah-Badu-New-Amerykah-Part-One--4th-World-War--2008.rar.html

Wow. Suuuuper drugged out, hazy, ethereal vocals with some serious beats and guest appearances by ?uestlove, Madlib, and 9^th Wonder, amongst others. Equal parts Curtis Mayfield as it is Georgia Anne Muldrow, this is an album that reveals itself through repeated listening. Too bad nobody even noticed. What a shame.

Paavoharju – Laulu Laakson Kukista

http://sharebee.com/ba8540b4

Gorgeous pop ambient from the brothers Ainala, Laulu Laakson Kukista is contender for best headphone album of the year. Beautiful songs that flow seamlessly from grainy crackles and hisses to the most blissed out, perfectly orchestrated soundscapes imaginable. This is an album of forgotten fairytales, fantastic voyages, and interrupted daydreams. Beautiful.

Honorable Mentions

Department of Eagles - In Ear Park

Sun Kil Moon - April

Al Green - Lay It Down

British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?

Times New Viking - Rip It Off

Spiritualized - Songs in A & E

Eat Skull - Sick to Death

preview

2008-11-28T18:45:00.002-05:00

MURS - Time Is Now

2008-09-21T20:27:00.005-04:00

Hello blorg!

I wonder if using a really long image will stretch the frame out a bit. (loool nope. learn from doing.)

MURS ft. Snoop Dogg - Time Is Now

Yeah you're gonna wanna listen to that song cause wow.
MURS isn't that wonderful of a rapper. The chorus is pretty bad:

It's goin' down
In the town

That is a rhyme people make when they're ironically making up a poem on the spot, right before they give up and burst out laughing at their own silliness.
But the point is:

THUMP
THUMP
THUMP
THUMP

Niggarachi's production here is magnificent. MURS has great taste in producers: he collaborated with 9th Wonder for his internet-only release, Sweet Lord, and the outcome was absolutely lovely ("It's For Real" might get its own entry soon).

"MURS For President" comes out September 30th on Warner Brothers blah blah blah I'm just doing it cause it's what all the other blogs do.

Hey I posted!

oh why hello there

2008-09-08T19:33:00.007-04:00

maybe i should update this little fellow

here's a song for you snitches

A.R. Rahman - Mitwa

it's from a wonderful little bollywood film called Lagaan. it's about cricket.

more in-depth and lovelier posts might be coming soon.

The Reigning Sound - Time Bomb High School

2008-07-22T03:35:00.007-04:00

Listen to this song and tell me it's not the Old 97s. Perfect country-fried pop from another phenomenal In The Red band. The Reigning Sound are goin' places.

07TimeBombHighSchool.mp3

I be your Noah, you be my Wiz

2008-06-18T04:22:00.000-04:00

Hello there. I'm Chris, but everyone calls me Fuzzy Slippers because of all the amazing stories I have about Pidgeon Mans and Stoop Kids. My mission on this mp3blog is to post a song and write something about it. Now... this song doesn't have anything to do with a giant fish named Big Caesar but I think I will do just fine.

"All I Need" - Wale and Tawiah

A long time ago in the year nineteen hundred and sixty eight a man (Marvin Pentz Gay Jr.) and a woman (Tammi Terrell) released a duet on Mowtown records entitled "You're All I Need To Get By". Twenty Seven years passed and another man known by many aliases, "Method Man" most commonly, and a woman (Mary J. Blige) re interpreted the song in a process that was so complicated that the final result had to have two different song titles smashed together. Then in the year 2007 Mark Ronson teamed up with acclaimed DC rapper Wale and Tawiah (a female singer from london) to re-reinterpret BOTH SONGS!

Daily Affirmation: "There are few things that's forever, my lady
We can make war or make babies
Back when I was nothin
You made a brother feel like he was somethin
That's why I'm with you to this day boo no frontin"

Prediction for the Future: Amy Winehouse will be the first earth woman to give birth to space alien children. They will grow up to record a reinterpretation of "All I Need to Get By"

alright fine.

2008-06-18T02:20:00.000-04:00

Hello monsters. I wasn't going to start this up for a while longer (prolly never) but David keeps pestering me about it so here it is.

This is an MP3 blog. Or it's going to be an MP3 blog once we start posting some MP3s.

My name is Zach, which all of you know because anyone who reads this is invariably already a friend or family. David Bourgin and Christopher Sisson (fuzzy slippers for some reason) will be assisting me in the posting of the music and the subsequent writing about the music.

One thing that I really don't like about many MP3 blogs is the inhumanity of it all, how many of them just vomit out nine or ten songs a day and leave it at that. This isn't going to be a blog that only exists to make the Hype Machine's library expand. I like to
slow
things
down
and meditate a bit on things and write a lot. Going on tangents is a hobby of mine.

So at most, there'll be two songs per post. Probably only one. Assuming we keep this up. Hopefully we will.

We listen to a lot of different music. Some features I want to include:

Full album weeks
Musical moments that are transcendent or at least wonderful
Top 40, or, Zach Chris and David talk about Alicia Keys
And much more!

So welcome to the mp3blog. Blogp3. Add us to your feeds NOW

test song! enjoy.

test song

http://www.hotlinkfiles.com/files/1468859_gsf7m/03TheClockwiseWitness.mp3

space savin with yer space savin net

2008-06-06T01:52:00.000-04:00

senorita spanish rose
wipes her eyes and blows her nose
uptown in harlem she throws a rose
to some lucky young matador