BEST ALBUM OF 2009?

The new U2 album, No Line on the Horizon, is out March 3 and the new single "Get on your boots" is out today!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdpDoYISWoE

The cover of Horizon (by Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto) is easily the band's weirdest since 1993's Zooropa. I'm not sure what that means, exactly, but this thing is already looking better than 2004's below par How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. And, based on a recent Rolling Stone preview, No Line On The Horizon has the potential to be U2's oddest-sounding LP in more than a decade. Along with the requisite stadium anthems, there's some "choral music" and a "seven-minute-long track." Generally speaking, U2 are most interesting when they step out of their comfort zone, so the un-U2 art and relatively risky musical ideas seem promising.

NEWSFLASH!!!

So it turns out U2 aren't the first musicians to use Japanese photographer calming "Boden Sea" for their album cover. Sound artists Richard Chartier and Taylor Deupree also featured the photo on the front of their 2006 LP Specification.Fifteen, an album inspired by Sugimoto's Seascapes series. And Deupree isn't too happy about it!!


New Suit On The Horizon?

AND YOU THOUGHT IT WAS OVER?

So if The Globe Awards picked their winners, The Oscar nominations will be announce on Thursday, The Village Voice is ready to present its Pazz & Jop list 0f 2008 and The Grammys hopefully will ignore Lil' Wayne in a couple of weeks, why not close this 08' chapter with the selection of my favorite things of last year.

Here's to you, THE BEST OF EL OCHO: BEST OF THE REST

TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2008

10.Son of Rambow

9.Man On Wire

8.Iron Man

7.Rachel Getting Married

6.The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button

5.Happy Go Lucky

4.The Dark Knight

3.Wall-E

2.Milk

1.Slumdog Millionaire

What I feel for this movie isn't just admiration, it's mad love. And I couldn't be more surprised.

The chai tea found love and the great Danny Boyle finally gets the recognition for an amazing and brilliant work, bollywood style.

Boyle is the Irish-Catholic working-class Brit who put his surreal mark on zombies (28 Days Later) and smack addicts (Trainspotting), and made us see ourselves in their blood wars. Those movies were so potent, as was his 1994 debut, Shallow Grave, that we looked the other way when Boyle went Hollywood with The Beach and screwed up with A Life Less Ordinary. Somehow we knew that Boyle had the stuff to work miracles.

The no-bull honesty of Slumdog Millionaire hits you hard. It's the real deal. No cheating.

TOP 10 TV SHOWS OF 2008

10. The Life & Times Of Tim, HBO

9. Ugly Betty, ABC

8. Desperate Housewives, ABC

7. 30 Rock, NBC

6. The Office, NBC

5. Saturday Night Live, NBC

4. Weeds, SHOWTIME

3. Little Britain USA, HBO

2. Summer Heights High, HBO

1.True Blood, HBO

Alan Ball told The New York Times that after all the doomy gloom of his series Six Feet Under, he was ready to do ''something that was a little more fun.

His new adventure is a Southern/absurdist/goth/civil rights horror show: Folks acknowledge that vampires exist; they just don't want 'em moving into their neighborhood.

True Blood is a great show even when I still sense some homophobia. Let's wait until season 2.

TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2008

10. 19, ADELE

9. Feed The Animals, GIRL TALK

8. Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends, COLDPLAY

7. Only By The Night, KINGS OF LEON

6. Oracular Spectacular, MGMT

5. Third, PORTISHEAD

4. The Odd Couple, GNARLS BARKLEY

3. The Seldom Seen Kid, ELBOW

2. Fleet Foxes, FLEET FOXES

1. Vampire Weekend, VAMPIRE WEEKEND

In a time when other populist groups like Death Cab For Cutie, Arcade Fire, and Spoon-- potential radio staples at certain points in rock history-- have commercial ceilings somewhere between "an appearance on 'SNL'" and "gold record," I can't find myself rooting against Vampire Weekend's relative success. At the end of the day, all they've done is craft an album of crisp, endlessly replayable guitar pop songs with expressive, detail-heavy lyrics and charming music that serves as a welcome antidote to today's more overly compressed sounds.

TOP 10 BEST NEW ARTIST OF 2008

10. Katy Perry

9. Hercules and Love Affair

8. Lykke Li

7. Santogold

6. Duffy

5. MGMT

4. Adele

3. The Ting Tings

2. Vampire Weekend

1. Fleet Foxes

There is no lead singer in Fleet Foxes. There are guitars, bass, drums, an electric piano, the occasional cello or string of chimes, and many voices. Everyone's voice is an instrument. It's Robin Pecknold you hear most often in songs like "English House" and "Drops in the River," but it's the layers of dense harmonies sung perfectly that make the band's baroque compositions magnificent and vivid.

On the song "White Winter Hymnal" specifically, you can't help but think of a bunch of guys sitting around a campfire. The band takes the listener with them out among the trees. While round-robin vocals playfully sing about the river and snow and sun, their big voices reach up to the sky. Fleet Foxes conjure this scene without any irony.

Please just don't call them hippies. Fleet Foxes will keep it Zen. Right. Because keeping it Zen is what not hippies do.

MY FAVORITE CONCERTS OF 2008

10. Duffy, ALL POINTS WEST Festival - NJ

9. Crystal Castles, Philadelphia - PA

8. Julieta Venegas (Mexico), CENTRAL PARK SUMMERSTAGE - NY

7. Babasonicos (Argentina), HIGHLINE BALLROOM - NY

6. Adele, JOE'S PUB - NY

5. The Verve, THE THEATER @ MSG - NY

4. The Cure, MADISON SQUARE GARDEN - NY

3. Girl Talk, ALL POINTS WEST Festival - NJ

2. Radiohead, ALL POINTS WEST Festival - NJ

1. George Michael, 25 LIVE - NY, MA, FL

Not only one but THREE times I said goodbye to Georgie. I got free tickets for the NY show, traveled my way to Boston for a ticket that cost me a quarter of my rent and finally flew for a weekend in Florida for the final "Hasta La Vista".

The Faith Tour was probably the most succesful but for me 25 Live was the most special since it was my first George Michael concert.

Michael's vocals and physical presence were strong--although, he admitted, he did, in fact, need a little help from the crowd. Most of the songs sounded just as they did on record.

In addition to his backing band, Michael was accompanied on stage by six background singers. The pair of multilevel, balcony-like structures that housed the musicians were positioned between three giant video screens that provided stunning images to enhance Michael's performance.

The distinguished crowd of chubby single ladies in their 30's and gay men of all ages never sat down and everyone was screaming ,singing and dancing and having a great time.

Thank you George for 25 years of excellence. And even when you turned 45 while touring in America, there's no doubt that the older you get, the better you get.

Thank you for a great concert, I will never forget it. I'm going to miss you...

God Bless you always!!!

To be continued...

THEY'RE BAAACK!!!

America, get your vote on!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70f0chZVudA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raCjgMoGkPE&feature=related

BEST OF EL OCHO: THE GREATEST SONG OF 2008

1

Time to pretend - MGMT

"I'll miss the playgrounds and the animals and digging up worms

I'll miss the comfort of my mother and the weight of the world

I'll miss my sister, miss my father, miss my dog and my home

Yeah, I'll miss the boredom and the freedom and the time spent alone"

Browsing through all the inevitable year-end best-of lists and seeing MGMT hanging out at the top of so many of them makes me feel like a bit of a toolbag for putting “Time to Pretend” at the top of my singles list. But this song is everything that a good pop song should be: It is musically innovative while at the same time being easy to listen to and even something you can sing along with. So what if it’s a trend, I can’t help it. I like MGMT. Everyone else seems to, so it can’t be all that wrong.






It's a challenge to communicate one simple emotion in a pop song, let alone two complicated ones. The achievement of "Time to Pretend" is that it's simultaneously detached and wrenching. Brooklyn duo Benjamin Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden mock their own rock star ambitions ("I'll move to Paris, shoot some heroin, and fuck with the stars/ You man the island and the cocaine and the elegant cars") while a space-pop melody with a Ziggy Stardust-worthy keyboard riff builds and swirls around them, gradually overwhelming all the irony until what started as a joke of a song ends in genuine sadness.


'This is our decision, to live fast and die young/We've got the vision, now let's have some fun,' sang VanWyngarden with dreamy insouciance on this satire on – or anthem to? – rock's most shameful excesses. When he wrote the track with Goldwasser in 2004, both were two wide-eyed Wesleyan college kids in Connecticut. As it turns out, Time to Pretend (originally titled The Mantis Sailing Home) proved less the in-joke and more a prophetic heralding of their future. Genre-blending psych-pop, the track became a freakbeat theme for the Skins generation. Then Radiohead and Oasis and rock fans (including myself) everywhere discovered the tune, too.




"I was at a yard sale and there was this old wooden model pirate ship. On the boat was this giant preying mantis so I bought it. It was a great pet to have. It's actually the state insect of Connecticut. We would have dance parties and she loved to dance. Her favourite song was Overpowered by Funk by The Clash.

It was a party house that we were living in, with five good friends. Ben made a loop of music that was inspired by the movements of this preying mantis. He played it to me and I thought it was cool and initially it was called The Mantis Sailing Home. It was like a joke song. We performed it like that a couple of times and then we had access to a school studio and we decided to record a couple of tracks. That song, Time to Pretend and another song called Boogie Down. I wrote new lyrics talking about a joke fantasy of us becoming rock stars and getting really famous and becoming huge touring musicians. It was funny that we were just these two kids in Connecticut. We hadn't played a show outside our tiny little campus. We played it a few times at the end of the year. Then we put it on an EP. An intern at Columbia passed the EP onto an A&R woman and she liked it. That's the reason we got signed I guess.


It feels like a cheesy movie when, every night, we're going on stage singing this song. It's like a rock star movie because we're singing a song about touring and becoming rock stars and every night the shows get a little bigger. "






"One of my pals, Ray Tintori made the video to make the video. He's a really brilliant filmmaker so when it came time to make the video we thought it would be really good to stick with people that really understood us. He saw some of our first shows and has known MGMT's music for a long time. He understands the spirit of the band really well. Making that video was a really amazing process. It was the summer of 2007 in New York. There was 25 or 30 people. Everyone was acting crazy. We took one day, and went up to Rockaway beach in Brooklyn without a plan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVnRzEjpUmE

The opening shot of a pagan-looking ritual was thrown together at the last minute. Just when the sun was setting, we made up some symmetrical looking weird things. We had a big bonfire and teepees. Nobody got any permits or anything but the authorities didn't stop us."

Andrew VanWyngarden

Thanks to you again my good friend who introduce me to this band and the ORACULAR SPECTACULAR cd. I forgot your name but I remember that you used to work as a Server Assistant in Tabla during the summertime and you were the good Nate's cousin.


I also remember that the reason that you leave the restaurant was because you got an awesome job opportunity in "Corporate America land". Hope you haven't change kid, Don't let them!!

This is our decision, to live fast and die young.

We've got the vision, now let's have some fun.

Yeah, it's overwhelming, but what else can we do.

Get jobs in offices, and wake up for the morning commute.

Forget about our mothers and our friends,

We're fated to pretend

To pretend

We're fated to pretend

To pretend

BEST OF EL OCHO: THE GREATEST 10 SONGS OF 2008

10
Chasing Pavements – ADELE
Adele explained to the Sun newspaper that "Chasing Pavements" is about splitting up with her ex and having her heart broken for the first time:


"That song is about should I give up or should I just keep trying to run after you when there's nothing there?

I was only with him for four months but when I signed my record deal I had to write an album, as I hardly had any songs, so I wrote about him."She then revealed: "I couldn't write songs for ages because I found it really hard writing songs for fun or writing them because someone had invested a lot of money and time in me. I just couldn't do it.

And then I met my ex-boyfriend and it was great to begin with and then it was really sh---y. And then I wrote about ten songs in about five weeks. I love him still and I got an album out of him. I used him more than he used me. And he loves it. It's not bitter.


He loves it when the song comes on the radio. He says: 'It's about me.' And I'm like, 'It's a song about heartbreak, you fool!'"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz7vGW2_5c0




9
Mercy – DUFFY

Duffy’s debut album, Rockferry was the best selling album in the United Kingdom in 2008 and has sold over four million copies worldwide.

Mercy was #1 in 10 countries in total plus the Eurochart Hot 100. Among the territories this reached the top spot in were Germany, Greece, Holland, Ireland, Norway, Spain and Switzerland.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE2orthS3TQ

"I'd already written the lyrics to Mercy, it was like this melodic poem in my mind, which I just had to get out, and I knew exactly what I wanted it to sound like. Steve (songwriter) was very patient. He sat at the piano and put chords underneath it and we built the song from the bottom up. It's very important that my songs start from an organic source, rather than a drum loop. You can dress it up how you like but at the end it's about the strength of the song, the melody and the words. The lyrics were about having a feeling towards someone, whether it's a romantic feeling or just some chemistry that you don't want, and you desperately want to be released from that feeling. I'm very cautious about saying what a song is about, it's my issues and baggage and when someone else listens to the song it isn't about my baggage anymore it's about their baggage. I don't want Mercy to become more about the situation that inspired it than the song. The song does the talking.”

Duffy

The tiny welsh singer was another great act that I had the chance to admire during the summer of 2008.

In this video she seems a little scared/annoyed when she found out that I was recording the show.

8
The Rip - PORTISHEAD

"The Rip" seems to represent anything seductive and annihilating-- an ocean's undertow, psychological breakdown, destructive relationship, drugs, death (R.I.P. is, after all, the final rip).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeOGs05Z2Qc&feature=related


Recognizing a kinship in sound and sentiment, Radiohead covered the ominous dirge in concert this year. But ultimately, this is pure Portishead: Who better suited than the simultaneously cool and quavering Beth Gibbons to deliver these portentous opening lines "She walks in the room/ Centered and tall/ Hesitates once more" and still manage to avoid melodrama? Or carry on so elegantly after synthetic arpeggios, in a gutting seismic shift midway through the track, devour their guitar counterparts?


In a(nother) year when many young bands thrifted decades-old material with déjà-vu results, the Bristol trip-hop vets were among the very few making music that sounded both right-now and 10-years-hence.

7
I Will Possess Your Heart - DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE

A beautiful musical piece!!
This psychedelic song with its delayed vocal entry was a different style for the band.


"The single on our record is a work of fiction that was inspired by things that happened to some people close to me. It's called 'I Will Possess Your Heart,' and it's eight-and-a-half minutes long. It's five minutes of build and then a three-minute song.


The song is basically about a stalker. It's about this nice guy who wants this girl he can't have, and he believes they'll be together once she realizes how great he is-he just has to wait it out. That's the part that makes the song really creepy, the delusion of thinking that they were meant to be together. It's a really dark song."

Ben Gibbard

The video for this song won the 2008 MTV Video Music Award for Best Editing, and was also nominated for Best Cinematography.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uln8UxZz9Ys

Even when this song was never a big hit in Great Britain, I Will Possess Your Heart was named the iTunes UK song of the year 2008.

6

Black and gold - SAM SPARROW

"Black and Gold" is the lead single from Sam Sparro's eponymous first album and like Joan Osborne's One of us, Black and Gold is another song dedicated to the big chief.

The Australia born and LA-based singer and songwriter captured a moment of existential crisis.
He recalled to The Guardian February 8, 2008: "I was feeling totally lost. I was making cappuccinos when I felt I should be onstage singing. That track came from looking up to the stars and seeing myself as a tiny speck in this infinite solar-system."

Sparro also explained to MTV UK News that he didn't spend too much time writing this song:


"I wrote it in 10 minutes. It just came to me one night when I was feeling lonely and wondering if God exists. I picked up a pen and the first draft of lyrics is what is on the radio!"


The song is now in the running of a 2009 Grammy Award, nominated in the category of "Best Dance Recording", alongside Lady GaGa & Rihanna.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHuebHTD-lY

5
American Boy - ESTELLE FT. KANYE WEST

Young British singer Estelle struck gold with her first international single, which proved to be the perfect pre-summer hit.

The velveteen quality of her personable, laid-back vocals synched brilliantly with Kanye West's on-top-form cameo appearance, and the deceptive simplicity of the music with its clubby electro vibe offered an open platform for Estelle's distinctive voice to take center stage.

Refreshingly playful and uplifting, "American Boy" is an unpretentious and breezy party track that hit the right notes on both sides of the pond.

Estelle has admitted that when she was dancing with Kanye West in the song's video, all she could think about was whether she'd cleaned her ears. She told RealMusic Blog: "He was looking right in my ear and I was worried he'd go and tell his mates that I had dirty ears. I mean, what if I had one piece of errant wax… But I didn't ask him - I just went away with my obsession, told my friends and they laughed at me."

http://www.mtv.com/videos/estelle/212118/american-boy.jhtml

4
A-Punk - VAMPIRE WEEKEND

"We had a riff that sounded like a Punk song, but we played it on the high notes to make it sound more interesting."

Singer Ezra Koenig

This was the #1 song of the first half of 2008.
"A-Punk" has a "spunky drive, pogo-inducing rhythm, and subtle but hugely effective sonic accents". Perhaps not the best song from their debut album due to it being "a little too uptempo to let their disarmingly clever melodies breathe", but stated "for the flute-aping synths and bottled-sunshine guitars alone you need this in your life."

The song's "cool organ breeze and a shifting drum beat save the day", preventing "too much snark from being slung at their New York Times featured, digitally distributed exclusively by Other Music, Columbia University, golden boy asses."


Do believe the hype! A Punk is one of the most memorable songs of 2008!!


3
Paper Planes - M.I.A.

Kala is one of my favorite albums of 2007 and 3 songs from that cd were included in the Top 100 songs of that year. Even when most of the critics include this song in their lists of Best of 07', I never include Paper Planes in my countdown because I knew that the song were about to be huge in 2008.


I had so much faith on this awesome song...


One of my biggest surprises of 2008 was when I heard Paper Planes on the radio. The song began to achieve commercial success in June 2008 after appearing in the film trailer and TV spot for Pineapple Express.


"Paper Planes" was written and produced by M.I.A., her favorite DJ Diplo and producer Switch .Its main riff is sampled from the song "Straight to Hell" by The Clash and the chorus lyrics are borrowed from Rump Shaker by Wreckx-N-Effect.
Remember the All I wanna do is zoom-zoom-zoom-zoom and a boom-boom song?


Recorded near my frenemy Naomi's house in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, this tune includes kids from Brixton singing on the chorus.


In an interview in late August 2008, Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam described the song as being a satire "about people driving taxicabs all day and living in a shitty apartment and 'appearing' really threatening to society. But not being so.


Because, by the time you’ve finished working a 20-hour shift, you’re so tired you [just] want to get home to the family".


She added that she felt listeners could choose how to interpret the gunshots and cash register ringing in the song's chorus.


"People could say, 'Oh my God, this song is so violent,' but at the same time, there was a war in Iraq. I felt like certain people made so much money from selling ammunition and military weapons and stuff, and killed a million people, and it wasn't even an issue that was raised..."


M.I.A. (like me) has also expressed surprise at the song's wide commercial success, telling Rolling Stone in October 2008 "I always took pride in being a little underground — it really is a very unlikely record to cross over."


On December 3, 2008, the song was nominated for the Record of the Year at the 51st Grammy Awards.


I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you beautiful M.I.A.!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sei-eEjy4g

2
Viva La Vida - COLDPLAY

The runner up song of 2008 is the most popular song used by Apple for their TV ads. It is also the most succesful song for the british band when VIVA LA VIDA became the first #1 song of the band in both sides of the atlantic and in more than 25 countries during last summer.

It is the first song by a British group to reach number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 since "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls in 1997.

Somehow in 2008, Viva la Vida felt like the song that everybody wanted to write.


Coldplay were briefly accused of plagiarism of "The Songs I Didn't Write" by American alternative band Creaky Boards, for the melody of "Viva la Vida".


Creaky Boards' band member Andrew Hoepfner claimed that Martin had heard them playing the song at a live show in October 2007.


The band released a video clip, in which it compares sections of both songs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUhFLiw6h6s


Coldplay denied the claim; band spokesman Murray Chambers said Martin was working in AIR Studios in London at that time, having checked the singer's diary.


In addition, Coldplay had recorded a demo version of "Viva la Vida" in March 2007, long before Creaky Boards performed it live in October of the same year. Creaky Boards later retracted the accusations and speculated that both songs may have been inspired by the video game The Legend of Zelda.

In December 2008, American guitarist Joe Satriani filed a copyright infringement suit against Coldplay at the Los Angeles federal court.


The suit claims that "Viva la Vida" incorporates "substantial original portions" of his instrumental track "If I Could Fly" from his 2004 album Is There Love in Space?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLE5t1cl7sw


The band has denied the allegation, saying the similarities were completely coincidential.


Here's a question for you Mr. Joe Satriani?


Do you think that Chris Martin and company had time to listen to your records and steal your riffs while they were having an amazing creative session with the great Brian Eno while recording Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends?

What a perfect time to allege plagierism to one of your tunes and sue them after they got grammy nominations for Song, Record and Album of the Year something that you haven't achieved in your more than 20 years of music career.

I know for sure that Saint Peter won't call your name after this your tricky and sneaky move.

I'm with you guys!!!

Coming up, THE BIG CHEESE OF 2008!!

BEST OF EL OCHO: TOP 100 SONGS OF 2008 (50-11)

50
Nothing Ever Happened - DEERHUNTER
Delayed gratification, meet instant pleasure. "Nothing Ever Happened" it's the Deerhunter song you play for people who don't think they like Deerhunter.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1JHdSBibO8


49
Ready For The Floor - HOT CHIP



Hot Chip's singer Alexis Taylor gave an explanation about the use of the line, "You're my number one guy" in the song, and also explained how it visually impacted the music video: (Taylor is dressed as the Joker):

"I really like this line in the first Batman film, not the very first one that was made, but the first Tim Burton Batman film. Jack Palance tells Jack Nicholson, 'You are my number one guy.' And it's a completely false statement.

He says it in a really funny, mimicking way. I quite like it. He's not only mimicking the character in the film, he's also mimicking Jack Palance as an actor. He's mimicking his melodramatic style. That line has always stuck with me."

Hot Chip also has the hottest keyboardist on earth!!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW94AEmzFhQ


48
Aly, Walk With Me - THE RAVEONETTES
The music video of this tune is as dark yet cartoonish as the distortion-laden song in question, showing the group's Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo walking-- in bobble-headed paper-doll form-- against a starry night sky and a cityscape representing the city mentioned in the lyrics (Portland). After lots of walking, Foo gets some Vishnu arms on, and then butterfly wings, flanked by some skeletons. Whoever Aly is, she might be better off walking alone



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-3fmjjk4aA



47
So What - PINK
The f*&# you anthem of 2008 debuted at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it Pink's highest debut to date on the chart. The song has since peaked at #1, making it her first solo #1, and second overall after "Lady Marmalade", a collaboration with Christina Aguilera, Mýa, and Lil' Kim.





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bNDr1A6dTU

46

If I Were A Boy - BEYONCE'

"This is not a traditional R&B song. It's difficult to grow and to break out and do new things because people have strong expectations. I feel like at this point, I wanted people to hear songs with stronger lyrics and songs that made you feel. I love singing ballads because I feel like the music and the emotion in the story is told so much better. It's a better connection because you can hear it and it's not all these other distractions. I really wanted people to hear my voice and hear what I had to say."

Beyonce

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVTyLqkez6A


45
Like You'll Never See Me Again - ALICIA KEYS
This song is notably influenced by Prince, which is one of Alicia Keys‘ most important influences. Like you'll never see me again is one of 2008's most beautiful unconditional love songs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-WZG-y2e9k

44
Wow - KYLIE MINOGUE

The funked-up electro sexiness of Wow may feel contrived, but its excitement is infectious anyway: It's great to hear Minogue having as much fun as she did on "The Loco-Motion" 20 years ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmYGVcWSGlU



43
Hot N Cold - KATY PERRY
The track was released as the album's third single. It reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100, making it Perry's second consecutive top three single, after her previous worldwide hit "I Kissed a Girl". The single has also become Perry's second top five single in dozens of countries around the world, including the U.K, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, as well as topping the charts in Germany, Canada and Denmark.

In Russia "Hot N Cold" became the third song by an American artist to reach number-one (the previous being Madonna with Hung Up).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X75mry1LcFg


42
Disturbia - RIHANNA
Originally written by Chris Brown and his team known as the Graffiti Artizts and considered for the re-release of his album Exclusive. However, Brown felt that the song would be better suited for a female singer; he then forwarded the song to his sweetheart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3znib5qZ2o

41

Moving to New York - THE WOMBATS

Great rock song by this powerful band from Liverpool.

They comprise two native Liverpudlians; Matthew Murphy, provider of vocals, guitar and keyboards, drummer and vocalist Dan Haggis and bass and vocalist Tord Øverland-Knudsen, a Norwegian who has made his home in the city. The band is known for their lively stage presence and their stuffed wombat mascot Cherub.

This song is taken from their debut album The Wombats Proudly Present: A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation release in late 2007.

For their next album it has been revealed that another Liverpudliann, Sir Paul McCartney will be in charge of the production.

Moving to New York was my "coming back to New York" anthem from my trip to the North West.

http://cereghinology.blogspot.com/2008/09/on-my-way-back-to-nyc-anthem.html

40
Closer - NE-YO
Best choreography on a video of 2008! "Closer" marks a musical departure for Ne-Yo, taking on a dance pop style over the more rhythmic and urban sound his songs usually possess. In the song, Ne-Yo sings of having an urging attraction to a woman he sees, having the desire to "come closer" to her. His attraction to her becomes stronger, and almost hypnotic-like, as he sings "And I just can't pull myself away, under a spell I can't break/I just can't stop."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUTh3OJjWjM

39
Sabali - AMADOU AND MARIAM
Amadou and Mariam are an amazingly talented duo from Mali who have been making music together since they met at the Bamako's Institute for the Blind in 1977. Their music combines all sorts of influences into a fresh sound that travels very well, something Mali is increasingly becoming known for. Manu Chao produced the breakthrough record Dimanche à Bamako-- an album that charted like crazy throughout Europe. Their latest album, Welcome to Mali, will feature tunes with Somali-Canadian MC K'Naan, Nigeria's blues/funk star Keziah Jones, Malian kora virtuoso Toumani Diabate, and Ivorian reggae singer Tiken Jah Fakoly, among others.



The first single off this record was produced by none other than Damon Albarn-- which isn't so weird, considering his melodica-driven Mali Music venture from 2002. The track, "Sabali", starts off sounding like a lo-fi radio broadcast but this gives way to echo, bass and electronics. The general result of this is not some kind of Brit-pop gone to Mali, but rather just an interesting use of voice and rhythm that could easily be a pop hit beyond the borders of France, where Amadou and Mariam have found their biggest success thus far.

Sabali is the last of 3 songs included in our countdown interpreted in a foreign language and also the #1 song of 2008 for my senegalese good friend Calin that works as a porter in Tabla restaurant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIZkCSfiP9o&feature=related

38
Grounds For Divorce - ELBOW
Acclaimed for their innovative sound and front-man Guy Garvey's candid, evocative lyrics, Elbow have received vast critical acclaim and been endorsed by major artists Radiohead, Blur, R.E.M. and U2 despite minor commercial success during much of their career.

In September of 2008, Elbow won the Mercury Music Prize for The Seldom Seen Kid.

The band plan to follow this success, by starting work on a fifth studio album, before their European tour in autumn 2008. They are also planning a side-project album of children's songs, to accompany an animated film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL4mywCOJXA


37
House Of Cards - RADIOHEAD
The awesome video for House of Cards was made without the use of conventional cameras. Performances by Thom Yorke, actors and extras were captured by using structured light and lasers.Sixty-four lasers were used in the Velodyne Lidar process, shooting 900 times a minute to capture large scenes, while structured light was used to 'film' close-up scenes.

Thom Yorke explained the band's decision not to use cameras, saying: "I always like the idea of using technology in a way that it wasn't meant to be used, the struggle to get your head round what you can do with it."I liked the idea of making a video of human beings and real life and time without using any cameras, just lasers, so there are just mathematical points - and how strangely emotional it ended up being."

House of cards is included in the list of my Favorite Videos of 2008.

http://cereghinology.blogspot.com/2008/12/best-of-el-ocho-music-videos.html


36
Pumpkin Soup - KATE NASH



One of many songs that makes me think of my beautiful papo. This is the one that we used to play in his car during the winter of 2008. It is also one the weirdest videos that I've seen in my life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH2yvdGM7YA

35
Scared Of Heights - ESPEN LIND
During the past few years Espen Lind has done a lot of writing and producing, most notably as co-writer of both "Irreplaceable" by Beyoncé and "With You" by Chris Brown. Together with writing partner Amund Bjørklund in the production team Espionage he has also written and/or produced songs for artists Jessica Simpson, Ne-Yo, Elliott Yamin, Leona Lewis and Jordin Sparks.

"I didn't think I'd meet someone who'd make me change my ways
Never thought I'd find someone who'd brighten up my days

Someone who made me forget my hands were tied my wings were clipped

Someone who made me believe that I could let go
You lift me up into the sky
I felt like I could fly
I was never gonna die n' I almost made it but not quite
you're flying out of sight and you know I can't come with you
'cause I'll always be scared of heights "

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1NU7Eb7ghA

34
Live Your Life - T.I. FT. RIHANNA
Probably one of the best use of a sample in a song for 2008. Live your life contains a rendition of the O-Zone song "Dragostea Din Tei,", a number one single throughout Europe but also known from the Numa Numa Internet fad.
The T.I. and Rihanna collabo debuted at #80 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart solely on airplay for the chart week of October 10, 2008. The following week, the song made history and broke several records when it skyrocketed from 80-1 on the Hot 100, setting the record for the highest jump to number one, a record previously set by T.I. himself only six weeks prior when his song "Whatever You Like" jumped 71-1 on the chart. However, this record was broken the following week by Britney Spears and her song Womanizer jumping from 96-1 on the Hot 100.

"Live Your Life" also replaced "Whatever You Like" at number one on the Hot 100, making T.I. the ninth artist to ever replace themselves at number one on the chart, The Beatles being the first band to achieved this fact back in 1964.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0imFW-LNFI&feature=related

33
I Kissed A Girl - KATY PERRY
Hands down, the anthem of 2008 for being the song that will always be related to this fantastic year.

The thing that felt so wrong and at the same time it felt so right was to see a little 6 years old girl singing this song in the train during one of my early commutes last summer.

I wonder if a male version of this tune will ever make it to the #1 spot in more than 25 countries? Somehow I kissed a boy and I like it doesn't sounds mainstream to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAp9BKosZXs

32
Wearing My Rolex - WILEY

This is how hip hop music should be made. "Here's my number-- she already knows it": Wiley's MC persona is often an icy, defensive control freak, so no surprise that his pop breakthrough is about the horror of losing that control. He's in a club, drunk, short-term memory starting to go: What's he been doing? Why is everything repeating itself? Who has he just given his tremendously expensive watch to? The music, built on a sample of DSK's house classic "What Would We Do?", is a tight electro loop, keyboards arcing woozily upward, perfectly capturing a night out on the brink of disintegration. "Rolex" birthed a dance craze, an answer record (Mz Bratt's "Wearing His Rolex"), and gave Wiley a top 3 UK hit, but beyond the novelty it's his befuddled paranoia that makes it so memorable.
Another euro-weird music video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnezldGu7JU

31
Forever - CHRIS BROWN

Forever feels like your eternal prom night anthem, the one that I wish I would had dance to during that special night of my life back in 1990. "Justify my love" by Madonna and "Ice Ice baby" by Vanilla Ice weren't the perfect choices.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2IExa2A198

30

The Man Who Can't Be Moved - THE SCRIPT

I'm still here papo. And I'm not moving...

http://cereghinology.blogspot.com/2008/09/man-who-cant-be-moved-im-not-moving.html


29
Flashing Lights - KANYE WEST FT. DWELE
On Grand Theft Auto IV's Hot 97 clone, DJ Green Lantern introduces "Flashing Lights" as the song they won't stop playing even though you're sick of it. But "Flashing Lights" never really reached that level of ubiquity, possibly because of the way it nods toward Euro-club whoosh without ever quite committing to it.

The strobing synths and the house-thump drums are just slightly off, and the abiding mood is one of paranoid detachment, not ecstatic release.

The lyrics follow: When Kanye shows up to the club, he doesn't see pretty girls and free drinks; he sees the paparazzi (who, naturally, he hates "more than a Nazi.") He's kicking game to some girl, but he's never quite reaching her. "Flashing Lights" is a tweak on pop conventions evocative enough that its sticky bad feelings will linger on until we've all blessedly forgotten about, like, "Low".

http:/www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEccxPPwXmI

28
No One - ALICIA KEYS
Originally included in the Top 100 of 2007, No One became an massive hit all over the world during the last days of that year and the first months of 2008.

The song won Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song at the 2008 Grammy Awards on February 10, 2008. During the ceremony, Keys performed it in a duet with John Mayer. "No One" is also the most listened song on U.S. radio of 2008 with 3.08 billion listeners.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktUSIJEiOug

27
Love Song - SARA BAREILLES
And talking about most played songs on the radio...Aren't you sick of this one?

This was definitely the most played song on the radios in 2008.

This is not your typical love song. In fact the tune was written in response to her record label Epic requesting that she write a "marketable love song."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR5xv3pt7KI

26
Apologize TIMBALAND FT. ONE REPUBLIC

Another song included in the Top 100 of 2007.

Apologize was written by One Republic's frontman Ryan Tedder for the band's 2007 debut album Dreaming Out Loud. According to the band's MySpace site, the song "explores the personal pain of multiple relationships gone awry and the necessity of moving on". The song was the biggest radio airplay hit in the history of Top 40 radio in North America, with 10,331 plays in one week, until its record was broken by Leona Lewis's "Bleeding Love," which was also written by OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder.
The song charted strongly around the world, reaching number one in sixteen countries, including Australia, Austria, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Sweden, Egypt, Turkey, and the Netherlands, as well as staying at number one for eight consecutive weeks on Billboard's Pop 100.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_3XRx8EnuI

By the end of 2008 Apologize was named the #1 song of the year in The European charts.


25
Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) - BEYONCE
The sensational upbeat song was everybody's favorite during the last days of 2008 and Song of the Year for Rolling Stone magazine.
The best song from Beyoncé's misguided I Am…Sasha Fierce album is half "Get Me Bodies" half "Irreplaceable": a break-up song in going-out shoes. Maybe it wouldn't be as good without the video choreography-- and maybe Beyoncé's superstardom is able to will anything into a hit-- but credit goes to the song's agitated claps and ticks, to its purring keyboards hums and squiggles. Credit also goes to Beyonce's realization of a nearly universal desire-- to project ourselves onto a screen, even if that screen is a person (or persona). Her screen is called Sasha Fierce. Ours is called Beyoncé. Don't believe me? Just ask the hundreds of YouTube stars in heels and cut-up leotards.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VJFWH8vxcg

24

Little Bit - LYKKE LI
A shy-voiced Scandinavian pop songstress? Our hearts have been stolen before. With debut album Youth Novels and seamless live shows, Lykke Li showed she was for real, but it was "Little Bit" (originally from 2007's Little Bit EP) that suggested she could be more than another stranger in the night. If you haven't had your "I Think I Love You" moment with this song yet-- if maybe Li's vulnerable/eccentric persona reads too much like shtick for stoking feverish blogger-boy fantasies-- listen again. Producer Björn Yttling, of Peter Bjorn and John, does a lot with a little (bit): steel pan-like percussion, mandolin, a gently distorted beat. Li's voice, like a meaningful whisper in a mostly vacant room, completes the seduction.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpzX916i00U

And for you I keep my legs apart

And forget about my tainted heart

And I will never ever be the first

To say it's still a Game over

I would do it

Push a button

Pull a trigger

Climb a mountain

Jump off a cliff

Cause you know baby I love you

love you

A little bit

23

Bleeding Love - LEONA LEWIS
The best-selling single of 2007 in the United Kingdom became biggest selling single in America of 2008 according to Billboard. The track has sold 3,420,000 million digital downloads in the US.

Lewis is only the third female artist from the UK to ever have a number one hit on the Hot 100 with her first single, following Petula Clark with "Downtown" in 1965 and Sheena Easton with "Morning Train (Nine to Five)" in 1981. In addition it is also the first U.S. number one song (debut or not) by a solo British female since Kim Wilde's "You Keep Me Hanging On" more than 20 years prior.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF84pIhP5UM

22

With You - CHRIS BROWN
There is something about the music of this song that makes me feel so emotional.

Chris Brown makes countless young fans swoon, but, until now, he has not yet released a top-notch romantic performance. With You is that performance. The lyrics may be a bit simplistic in the "you're everything, you make me swoon" style, but this sound is a great one for staring into your lover's eyes as you make your way across a darkened dance floor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6HYimHlj4E

21

Skinny Love - BON IVER

Like "The Boss" with Nebraska, The story behind the creation of this album is my favorite of 2008.

After the breakup of a band, relationship, and bout with sickness, singer Justin Vernon left Raleigh and moved back to Wisconsin spending three months in his father's cabin in the woods of northern Wisconsin. He did not intend to write or record any music during the time but rather to recuperate from the events of the previous year. Eventually a record began to evolve during this cathartic time of isolation.

Vernon played all the instruments during recording and each song was heavily edited with a large number of overdubs. He wrote most of the lyrics for the album by recording a word-less melody and listening to the recording over and over and writing words according to the sound of the syllables of the melody.

The record was almost not released and was originally intended as a group of demos to be sent out to labels and potentially rerecorded. But after getting very encouraging reactions from a number his friends, Vernon decided to release the songs himself in their present state. After significant positive reception, helped by word of mouth and its popularity throughout the blogosphere, Vernon decided to sign to the indie label Jagjaguwar which subsequently gave the album a proper release.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrMmr1oMPGA

For Emma, Forever Ago was received very well by critics and became one of the best albums of 2008.

20
Who's Gonna Save My Soul - GNARLS BARKLEY
The origin of this song was a 2006 James Brown concert in London, which the duo were offered the chance to attend by Brown's manager. However they were playing their own show the same night and the timing didn't work out, and the Godfather of Soul died a few months later.
Cee-Lo explained to Billboard: "It disappointed me so bad. It was almost like he was about to pass a torch to me. It's my assumption but that's also my aspiration. When I say, 'I lay my own soul down,' it's like, I will have to be my own hero. I will have to save my own soul. Therefore, it is very painful, but there's also a silver lining."

Danger Mouse added: "This song really showed that we had other places to go and things to do. We tried it a couple different ways, and each time it still had a really great impact."

19 TIE

I'm Yours - JASON MRAZ

His album We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things takes its title from a piece of art by Glasgow-based artist David Shrigley that Mraz saw in Scotland while traveling.

The Virginia-born singer-songwriter explained on his record label's website: "What I love about mankind is that yes, we sing and we celebrate and we dance when we're foolish and we steal things. It's hard to have a new idea in music, in fashion, the land we walk on. It's all recycled. I think to say we stole it is a lot more fun."

Shrigley, who is best known for his humorous cartoons was asked by Mraz to design the album art.

In I'm yours you can clearly hear the influence of the melodic sound of modern Scandinavian artists (check Espen Lind's music at #35 in the countdown).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65PwA6wmtI0

This popular o8' tune is about generosity. About giving yourself or your time to someone or something else

This Is The Life - AMY MCDONALD

"I saw Pete Doherty's first gig in Glasgow after he left Libertines. It was a great night - he did a little acoustic thing at the aftershow party too, and we got into that. Then me and my pals went back to someone's house and just sat, passing the guitar round, singing songs. It was a brilliant night. The next morning I wrote 'This Is The Life' about it, cause I realized, this is the life."

Amy McDonald

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6MRYLWJb1o


18

White Winter Hymnal - FLEET FOXES
Back in January, "White Winter Hymnal" was an intriguing and inviting introduction to the Seattle quintet, when they had just ridden a wave of MySpace success and signed with local label Sub Pop. Nearly a year later, it remains their perfect, triumphant moment, even after they've opened for Wilco, headlined their own tours to ever-larger audiences, and invaded the lower rungs of the Billboard album charts. Just over two minutes long, the song contains every element that would make their Sun Giant EP and self-titled full-length debut so entrancing: the intricate vocal arrangements highlighting their evocative harmonies, the way Sklyer Skjelset's clean guitar lines shadow Robin Pecknold's wordless vocals, the Edward Gorey imagery of the lyrics, the heartbeat tattoo of the floor tom. Its meaning may remain unclear even after so many listens-- something about the passage of seasons, which seems apt-- but its spell remains as strong as ever

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrQRS40OKNE

17
Nude - RADIOHEAD
Physically released in the dawn of the first day 0f 2008, In Rainbows is considered one of the best albums of this new millenium. Radiohead is by far the best live act in the world right now and that's something that I experienced last summer during their performance in the first ALL POINTS WEST festival in New Jersey.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxvsq-IluaA





"Nude" is one of many songs included in In Rainbows that were written in 1997 during the Ok Computer sessions. They have performed this song since the last 90's.

In April 2008 "Nude" became the first Radiohead song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 since 1995's "High and Dry" and their most successful on the chart since 1992's "Creep".

16

Sex On Fire - KINGS OF LEON

The kings finally conquered!!

"Sex on Fire" gave Kings of Leon their first number one single in Australia, Ireland and United Kingdom, charting at the top-spot in the UK singles chart on digital downloads alone, before its physical release. It has also gained significant popularity in the United States, reaching #1 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart and #56 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it their highest charting song in their homeland on both charts. Along with all of these achievements, in 2008, the song earned the band their first Grammy nominations; the song was nominated for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. In addition, the album earned a nomination for Best Rock Album.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHhhcKxflMY

15

Sweet About Me - GABRIELA CILMI
Thanks to the use of this song for a deodorant commercial, Australian Gabriela Cilmi became an overnight sensation in the UK with Sweet about me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElY5Gr845Fw

"Sweet About Me" has that same hypnotic feel that a rocking boat has. I was listening to a lot of early psychedelic music around the time I wrote it. The songs saying that were all going to make mistakes, so we might as well have fun while were making them."

Gabriela Cilmi

The song reached #1 in Gabriella's native Australia. After dropping from the top spot, it returned to the premier position, knocking the Queen of Pop, Madonna, off from the chart peak. The 16-year-old became the youngest Australian artist to reach #1 in their home country, beating the record held by Australian Idol winner Casey Donovan by 19 days.

14
Blind (Frankie Knuckles Remix) - HERCULES AND LOVE AFFAIR

Hercules and Love Affair is a musical project of New York producer/DJ Andrew Butler. The band name was inspired by the mythic tale of Hercules' search for his male lover Hylas.

"Blind" was influenced by Yazoo's song "Situation," which was originally the B-side of their 1982 hit "Don't Go".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb8S51M2GAc

Andrew Butler recalled to Mojo magazine February 2008 of how Yazoo's club-pop song was a formative experience when he first heard it as a ten-year-old:

"I'd force my parents to hear the cassette tapes I'd made up. I remember my mother once saying, in her straight, American Midwest way, 'I don't think you should be listening to this music, is this a man or a woman singing?' To which I replied (adopts whiny kid's voice), 'Why can't you just appreciate the beauty of the voice?' But I was as excited by the synth hook and the delay Vince Clarke put it all through as I was by Alison Moyet's singing."

Blind was considered the song of the year by many music critics and became 2008's disco music and gay domination undoubted high point thanks to its sturdy rhythm, infectious horn section, rumbling bassline, and an appropriately vampy vocal turn from Antony and the Johnson's diva Antony Hegarty (whose full-bodied belt, as it turns out, is perfectly suited for disco divadom)

The remix by the legendary Frankie Knuckles is simply infectous and gives a soulful feeling to the album version.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ6sLFDUPWg

13 TIE

Fascination - ALPHABEAT

Last time that I remember been insanely hooked on a song from a swedish band was when Ace of Base was the "it" band of 1994.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BOMhenAQcw

"Fascination" comes straight from a guidebook to great pop, its manicured and springloaded mid-1980s pop-rock groove falling somewhere between "Footloose" and Huey Lewis & the News, shot through with euphoric perkiness. "Passion is our passion," the punchably sincere boy/girl vocals squeal, before launching into skyscraping woah-ohs that light up like a garish shop display at Christmas.You'll love this song: no tune this year parades its pop craft so openly and gleefully, or puts so much on the line in the name of pure giddiness. Danish group Alphabeat know you want to hit them, but they don't flinch: They're confident that by the time they reach the end of their interminable but brilliant "The word is on your lips/ Say the word!" call and response, the hand that was raised to smack will have turned itself into an enthusiastic fist-pump.

Sandcastle Disco - SOLANGE

Sorry B, this year your lil' sista ended up in a higher position than your other songs (#46 and #25) in this music countdown. Love ya bitch!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCq71KGowNA

For an artist (still) looking for a big-moment star turn, Solange works within herself on "Sandcastle Disco", and her honey-lipped restraint is the strongest evidence yet that Solange is more permanent than her titular featherweight palaces. There's nothing wrong with big sis' rapturous declaration, "If you like it you should've put a ring on it," but Solange seems to understand that our relationship with her is still in the "if you like it" phase. So she sings soft and avoids uncouth innuendo, you know, keeps things ladylike. It's all very sweet.

This is my guilty pleasure song of 2008. It is so good and bad but it feels so good to dance to it and sing it specially if you found yourself all drunk up next to your favorite partner in crime on a late sunday night in Chelsea. By far my funniest moment of 2008. Good times Antweezle!!

12
Shut Up and Let Me Go - THE TING TINGS

Another great video of 2008.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r23cm7bL9E

Katie White on how the song came to appear on the Apple's ad:

"Well what happened was that we played at SXSW and we were doing three gigs a day and I was exhausted, and I actually fainted before we were due to play for the Apple people. I managed to play three songs, then we heard that they were interested in using the song and they sent a contract through. But we weren't sure if they were sending it to twenty different bands, or just to us, or whatever. We only found out we were on the advertisement when we saw the ad on YouTube, after it had been on TV! Apparently it comes right down to Steve Jobs deciding, on the day, that he wants it on his TV ad. But until we saw it on YouTube we thought we'd lost it."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcGD9J3pEtU


11
L.E.S. Artistes - SANTOGOLD
With a synth-freaked production from Switch and echo-drenched patois, Santi White had to know her debut single, "Creator", would unleash a deluge of M.I.A. comparisons that could potentially dominate all discussion of her work from here on out. However, the upside to being saddled with that recurring reference point is that it freed her up to mine other sources with less critical scrutiny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciJDA0tcQfs

White's singular résumé-- former punk-rock singer, one-time major-label A&R rep, and current song-doctor to the stars-- lends her a unique perspective to analyze Lower East Side scensterism, and her lyrics ("I'm trying to build a wall," "I don't need no one else") could be read as both a declaration of independence or a critique on the exclusionary politics that come with it. But that ambiguity is crucial to the song's success: In giving the middle-finger to the too-cool-for-school set, White ended up giving them a new favorite song to belt out in hipster hangouts around the world.

Coming up, THE BEST 10 SONGS OF 2008!