Dec 10, 2008

Best Songs Of 2008

Then there they were. Those people, those men of super talent. Filling our lives with sounds of a glorious and triumphant nature. Any excuse to write about Wolf Parade, hey? Well, why not. They are supreme after all. After a three year wait, we received LP Number Two. But, I will be writing about this release in my upcoming Best Albums post. Right now I am here to write about my favourite songs of this year past. And guess what. Wolf Parade feature heavily. But to fair, I have only chosen one tune from "At Mount Zoomer". So, here will feature my other favourites. Songs that have moved me. Songs that I believe contain heart and beauty and hopefully will stand the test of time.

Kissing The Beehive-Wolf Parade
I could have easily chosen Dan's triumphant "Language City" or Spencer's shaking "California Dreamer", but I went instead for a combination of the two. The epic "Kissing The Beehive". Ten minutes of monumental goodness. Dan and Spencer intertwining for the good of music. Basically a big don't argue to the rest of the music world. You know, anything you can do, we can do better. Much better. Guitars mash, drums thump, voices wail and cry. It soars to great heights, pushes a bit further, collapses, rests, then pushes onto the epic climax. The ending kills me everytime.
"Johnathan, Johnathan
Waterfalls are running thin you know
Here's a holy grail for you to hold
Fire in the hole, fire in the hole, fire in the hole"

Lover's Day-TV On The Radio
An ecstatic call to love. A triumphant and unbelievably joyous ode to the complexity of love. A swooning statement, delivered with such beauty and passion. This song has an innate ability to make my heart stop everytime I hear it. The drumming is phenomenal, the soul is starkly great and the vocals go where few vocals are capable of.
"We could build an engine.
Out of all your rising stars."

Buriedfed-Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson
I love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, this song. I love its humanity. I love his voice. I love its grittiness. I love its determination. I love that people still write songs like this.
"This is my last song about myself, about my friends
Found something else to sing
Try and patch it up with tape and twine
Maybe I'll just break everything that's mine"

The Season-The Dodos
My favourite new band of 2008. Hands down. This song categorically exemplifies the strengths of this wonderful band. The amazingly rhythmical drumming, the throbbing guitar lines, the plaintive vocals and that incessant push and pull. This band's songs invariably fold themselves back onto each other, encircling till the tension explodes into a violent orgy.
"Miles until this desert brings me back to your face
Those eyes you know I think of them still sometimes
But you're away in Eden
And I'm still here the heathen
This times for real, we're even
We do this for the season"

Black River Killer-Blitzen Trapper
Broken dreams. Tumbleweeds. Deserts. Plains. Flooded streams. Woodchips. Rusty keys. Shots in the head. Blood. Sweat. Oh, sweet music. A glorious tune from a great album. You remember melodies? This band has them in spades. Spades.
"It was dark as the grave, it was just about three
When the warden with his key came to set me free
They gave me five dollars and a secondhand suit
A pistol and a hat and a worn out flute"

Slapped Actress-The Hold Steady
They write songs for the everyman and everyman should love them. Well, I do and this song is near perfect. Craig Finn snarls and spits over vicious licks. The sort of song that demands fist pumping and rump shaking. Glad to see someone is still doing it.
"Don't drop little hints, I don't want them to guess
Don't mention Tampa, they'll just know all the rest
Don't mention bloodshed, don't tell them it hurts
Don't say we saw angels, they'll take us straight to the church"

On The Water-The Walkmen
A sultry, delectable walk on the wild side. Mature music for mature people. Full of a dreadful kind of beauty. Hamilton Leithauser's voice sits astride, backed by incessant guitar and that metronomic drumming. A stunning song from a stunning album.
"Oh, you know I’d never leave you
No matter how hard I try
You know I’d never leave you
And that’s just how it is"

My Favourite Year-Destroyer
Well, it's Dan Bejar for starters. It's great for enders. And it's just all sorts of awesome in between. Complex, elegant, ambitious and majorly multi-layered. Another sure example of the genius of Bejar. If anymore was needed.
"You in white and me in gray go well tonight
So let’s linger here
This used to be my favorite palm tree
I was starving in that shit-house, the world"

Changing-The Moondoggies
Soulful, hard charging music never sounded better. Ringing guitars give way to hard driving melodies. This song howls with great authority and it just feels so good. So good. So natural.

White Winter Hymnal-Fleet Foxes
Sweet, sweet harmonies. Glorious and substantial. Those voices soar into the sky with effortless ease. Believe the hype.
"And, Michael, you would fall
and turn the white snow red as strawberries
in the summertime.. "

3 Comments:

  • At December 12, 2008 , Anonymous Anonymous said...

    i like it. i'd also throw in
    eraser - no age
    gobbledigook - sigur ros
    ask permission - lackthereof
    poke - frightened rabbit
    nothing ever happened - deerhunter
    water curses - animal collective

     
  • At December 13, 2008 , Blogger James said...

    Wayne,

    Congrats on a great year of music blogging!

    This is a cool list. Wolf Parade at #1, who'd of thought? And you even found a way to have Dan and Spencer represented!

    I'll have to check out the Moondoggies....haven't heard that one yet....

    MBAR - very nice choice there sir...

    Looking forward to your favorite albums. Have a feeling about your #1, but what could be #2???

    Happy holidays!

    James

     
  • At December 13, 2008 , Blogger Wayne Massingham said...

    Will, you have some great choices there. Especially the Lacktherof, Deerhunter and Animal Colletive tunes. All those are great.

    James,
    Thanks a lot.Yeah, WP was pretty predictable. But what can you do.
    Merry Christmas to you too.

     

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home