For more of the Top 10 Tracks of 2008, click here.
10. T.I. ft. Rihanna. "Live Your Life." Admittedly I’m not crazy about T.I.’s verses, but if you didn’t sing along with Rihanna’s angelic chorus at some point this year, you missed out.
9. Yael Naim. "New Soul." Sure, it makes for a catchy Mac ad. But Naim’s girl-in-the-Big-City/Garden-of-Eden story of a new soul entering this strange world and her slightly choked confession of “making every possible mistake” (specifically the one following the bridge) are as real as it gets.
8. Vampire Weekend. "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa." Any song from this groundbreaking album could be on here; however, “Cape Cod’s” minimalist lyrics paint an iconic picture of sweaters, linens and Louis Vuitton that makes this album worthy of its hype.
7. Black Kids. "I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You." Is there anything cooler than the image of a smooth-dancing hipster hopelessly in love with “the girl she’s been dreaming of ever since she was a little girl” while she's with some clumsy bro?
6. Noah and the Whale. "Mary." The warm strings and gentle melodies would make this song the perfect lullaby if it wasn’t about two people painfully realizing they're not in love.
5. Kanye West. "Street Lights." The tender climax of a stunningly emotional album. Kanye’s auto-tuning creates a fog that fills our chests and weighs us down as we aimlessly jog down a cold and deserted city street in our full-length black wool coat and leather gloves.
4. The Hood Internet. "Frozen Age." A mash-up that surpasses it’s original material is something. When the original material is TV on the Radio and T-Pain, it’s incredible. One day I will have the balls to ask a girl to a semi and remind her to “bring your dancing shoes and something to tie your hair.”
3. TV on the Radio. "Lover’s Day." On the last track of this incredibly modern, yet danceable album, Kyp Malone succeeds in creating a "sex-positive, gender neutral love song that [expresses] the potentialities of joy inherent in erotic experience." Giggle giggle. But seriously, go break the bed/futon/loft.
2. Bon Iver. "re: stacks." Remember that day in middle school when you woke up after a good dream to a foot of snow that canceled school and you went ice skating with the girl you’ve had a crush on all year? Listening to this song is like holding her knit glove.
1. MGMT. "Time to Pretend." My grandpa is an awesome guy, and so is every WWII vet I’ve met. But in this Post-Brokaw world, my competitive nature yearns to make our generation the greatest ever. True, we have no Great Depression to overcome (fingers crossed) and no world war to fight. With basic needs fulfilled, how will we assert our greatness?
Two arrogant Wesleyan grads have proudly given us the answer: escaping reality by driving elegant cars, marrying beautiful models and choking on vomit. “Yeah it’s overwhelming but what else can we do? Get jobs in offices and wake up for the morning commute?!” Hell no, we are fated to a hedonism of living fast and dying young, burning cash and hunting zebras in our new world order. I'd be OK being remembered for that.
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