SYP Says

Best Songs of 2008: Week of 12/22-12/29: I'll Roll with You by Eli "Paperboy" Reed

"I'll Roll with You" by Eli "Paperboy" Reed

Eli "Paperboy" Reed sounds like a classic soul singer from the '60s, but he's a young white kid from Boston. Nevermind--once you hear him, you'll be a believer. Eli and his band, The True Loves, deliver, as Rolling Stone puts it, "horn-heavy R&B soaked with the blues of Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf." He has an amazing voice. This is a must-have and, unbelievably, my last song of the week pick for 2008. 

BTW, my list of the Top 25 Songs of 2008 That Didn't Make My Best Song of the Week is finally here.

Here's Eli "Doin the Boom Boom". Enjoy and happy new year!

Top 25 Songs in 2008 That Didn't Make My Best Song of the Week List

As many of you know, every week, I make a Best Song pick and post it on my blog, but invariably there are songs that just don't make the cut, not because they're not worthy, but because I choose based on my mood and frankly there is just too much good music!

Ergo, here are the Top 25 Songs in 2008 That Didn't Make My Best Song of the Week List. I know it's a mouthful.

The rules: The song must have been released in 2008 and I didn't repeat any songs from artists I had already highlighted as a Best Song of the Week. So, if you are wondering where Girl Talk, TV on the Radio, Elbow, Vampire Weekend, etc. etc. are, they were all picks on the original list.

NOTE: The title of each song below links to a RealPlayer clip, ideally, or a location where you can hear the song. The artist name links to MySpace.

25. "Shake A Fist" by Hot Chip
Witty electronic disco club pop, London-style. Click here for a sanctioned free download of the title track from their latest album, Made in the Dark.

24. "Miami" by Chin Chin
Fusion of funk, soul and electronic dance music from Brooklyn. Love the '70s salsa groove of this song. Their EP, Go There With You, is available as a free download for a limited time. 

23. "La Femme Parallel" by Thievery Corporation featuring LouLou
DC's most famous downtempo duo is back with more lounge tunes perfect for hanging out late in dark rooms with big couches.

22. "Electric Feel" by MGMT
Psychedelic, electrorock for the 21st century by way of the '70s/early '80s. Put on those parachute pants!

21. "The Step and the Walk" by The Duke Spirit
Fuzzy British garage rock fronted by tough girl, Liela Moss. If you like The Raveonettes, you'll like The Duke Spirit.

20. "Victor Jara's Hands" by Calexico
Indie rock band with a Southwestern and Mexican influence. This song makes me want to ride horseback through the countryside. Yes, imagine me, dusty-faced, with a big 'ol cowboy hat, and a faraway look in my eyes.

19. "Nag Nag Nag Nag" by Art Brut
Art Brut's sound is a bit like if Jonathan Richman fronted a punk band. Their latest album is not as laugh-out-loud funny as previous ones, but still relatable.

18. "Undertow" by Stars
Canadian indie pop band. Several members are also part of the band, Broken Social Scene. This song is particularly melodic and moody.

17. "Youthless" by Beck
This catchy song just makes me want to dance. The entire album from Beck and superstar producer, Danger Mouse, is only 33 minutes!

16. "A Chacun Son Zion" by La Casa Bancale
French reggae band known mostly for live performances.

15. "Move" by CSS
Brazilian indie electronica band aka Cansei de Ser Sexy (Portuguese for Tired of Being Sexy). Pointless dance fluff. In a good way.

14. "I Was Made for You" by She & Him
Actress Zooey Deschanel and indie singer/guitarist M.Ward collaborate on an innocent, gentle folk album made up mostly of songs written by Deschanel herself. This song has a fun sound that harkens back to the girl groups of the '60s.

13. "Pretty Bird" by Jenny Lewis
Rilo Kiley's lead singer breaks out on her own with an alt-country/folk album. This song is spare and lovely with M.Ward doing a guest turn on guitar.

12. "Lucid Dreams" by Franz Ferdinand
This rockin single from Scottish alt rock band Franz Ferdinand's upcoming 2009 album has a Turkish-sounding guitar hook I really like. It's available on iTunes now.

11. "Sax Rohmer #1" by Mountain Goats
Singer-songwriter/guitarist John Darnielle is known for his lyrics and this song has an epic feel to it.
"Sailors straggle back from their nights out on the town
Hopeless urchins from the city gather around
Spies from imperial China wash in with the tide
Every battle heads toward surrender on both sides"
Full lyrics here.

10. "Followed Path" by Karl Hector & The Malcouns
Afro-funk jazz band from Germany. This has the vibe of '60s Mulatu Astatke. Great great stuff.

9. "The Clockwise Witness" by DeVotchKa
I am really into this gypsy band from of all places, Denver, CO. Their sound is a wonderful mix of Eastern European, punk, folk, Bolero, and more. You've probably heard their song, "How It Ends" on the TV ad for the game Gears of War 2.

8. "Life Like" by The Rosebuds
Indie rock band from North Carolina. I really like this dreamy, yet ominous sounding duet with its droning guitar.

7. "Holly" by Starfucker
Portland, Oregon indie pop trio--I don't know what it is about this music, but it really sticks in my head.

6. "What New York Used to Be" by The Kills
Garage Rock duo between an American vocalist and a British guitarist. I love this gritty song as it's about New York, natch.

5. "Paris (Aeroplane Remix)" by Friendly Fires
This dance remix with vocalist Au Revoir Simone is even better than the original. One day I'm gonna live in Paris, I promise! Thanks to JeffM for turning me on to this tune. Download it for free here.

4. "Maintenant" by Rupa & The April Fishes
World fusion music from San Francisco via France and India. I must have been a gypsy in a prior life. SF Weekly says if Rupa were a movie, she'd be Amelie meets Women on the Verge of a Nervous breakdown meets Latcho Drom meets Do the Right Thing. Can't beat that!

3. "Where Do You Run To" by Vivian Girls
Brooklyn-based post-punk + '60s girl guitar group. Fuzzy hipster heaven.

2. "Lights Out for Darker Skies" by British Sea Power
Indie band from England--epic, sweeping, majestic guitar rock.

1. "Right As Rain" by Adele
Adele may have lost the prestigious Mercury Prize to Elbow (a band I LOVE), but her voice puts Amy Winehouse to shame.

CLICK HERE for the tunes that made the list--The 52ish Best Songs of the Week in 2008. Courtesy of me. :)

Best Songs of 2008 from musictodiefor

Fellow music blogger Nicholas Wall at http://musictodiefor.wordpress.com emailed me recently that his Best Songs of 2008 listing is live. I am way behind on my round-up, so until then, enjoy Nick's Top 50 of the year.

Lots of great tunes to check out on his list. Love Thao, Santogold, Frightened Rabbit, Black Keys...and Elbow's "Bones of You" is one of my favorites of the year. I just can't seem to get on the Sigur Ros bandwagon though. Have to give that another try. And Nick's #1 from British Sea Power isn't one I know, so I need to get on that too.

BTW, it is my birthday! Just had to throw that in. :)

Best Songs of 2008: Week of 12/15-12/22: Music Takes Me Up by Mr. Scruff featuring Alice Russell

"Music Takes Me Up" by Mr. Scruff featuring Alice Russell

Popular British DJ and electronic musician, Mr. Scruff (aka Andy Carthy), teams up with British blue-eyed soul singer sensation, Alice Russell, for a groovy mantra on the uplifting nature of music. Now, who can complain about that. This is a great tune for keeping your holiday party from becoming a stiff-fest. (Please, back away from that Bebel Gilberto CD!)

Cheers!

P.S. If you like Alice Russell, check out her new album, Pot of Gold.

Best Songs of 2008: Week of 12/8-12/15: No Pause by Girl Talk

"No Pause" by Girl Talk

Girl Talk is the pseudonym of DJ, remixer, reigning mashup extraordinaire, and former biomedical engineer(!), Gregg Gillis of Pittsburgh, PA. His latest album, Feed the Animals, is essentially a 50-minute "supermix" made up of mashups from over 300 samples and is ideally meant to be listened to as one continuous song. From a recent interview, he says, "It's always been about recontextualizing familiar pop songs" and that, he certainly does.

Like Radiohead's In Rainbows, Feed the Animals is available for as much as you want to pay. If you give more than $5, you get a bonus of the entire album as one mp3 with all the tracks connected. Get it here. It's also available at eMusic.com.

Here's the sample list for "No Pause."  Listen to the song a few times first and try to see if you can guess any of them without cheating. Don't feel bad; I was only able to guess about 7 of the more than 25 songs listed for this track.

Girl Talk is also well known for his wild live shows. Want proof? See below. Warning: Explicit. And here's Girl Talk on MySpace.

Music video for "No Pause" made from footage of Girl Talk performances in Cleveland and Columbus, OH.

Best Songs of 2008: Week of 12/1-12/8: Gloves by The Horrors

"Gloves" by The Horrors

Stylish British garage band, The Horrors, really know how to rock. They're a bit eccentric and arty, a tad goth, with a dash of Frankenstein funhouse thrown in. If I were having a Halloween party, this is who I'd play, but The Horrors are a blast anytime of year. Nowadays, the world seems to be in dire straits, so there's nothing wrong with a good headbanging to cure your ills. C'mon, try it...everyone together now...

Here they are live in Norway last year. And here they are on MySpace.

Best Songs of 2008: Week of 11/24-12/1: Jungle Drum by Emiliana Torrini

"Jungle Drum" by Emiliana Torrini

Icelandic-Italian pop/folk/trip-hop vocalist Emiliana Torrini is well-known in Europe, much less so here in the States. She's got a unique, dreamy, sometimes almost breathy voice, that I like a lot. Her latest album, Me and Armini, has been enjoying constant rotation on my iPod the last couple of weeks. Every song on it is great, but this tune in particular is very addictive. It's the perfect get-your-butt-out-of-bed-and-dance song. 

Here's a bit of trivia--you've probably heard her voice, but not known it was her. She is the singer on "Gollum's Song" from The Lord of the Rings film. (I think it was the song that ran during the credits.) She's also sung with Thievery Corporation. 

Here is Emiliana performing the songs "Jungle Drum" and "Birds" live in Bristol last month. In searching for this video, I think I saw something about "Jungle Drum" being used on the TV show, Grey's Anatomy. This distressed me, but I am just going to pretend I didn't notice.

Best Songs of 2008: Week of 11/17-11/24: Honey Won't You Let Me In by The Tallest Man on Earth

"Honey Won't You Let Me In" by The Tallest Man on Earth

I randomly found this on emusic yesterday and love it. The folk singer/guitarist/banjo player behind The Tallest Man On Earth is Kristian Matsson of Dalarna, Sweden. His debut album, Shallow Grave, haunts with rugged, spare melodies reminiscent of early Bob Dylan. This is music perfect for big sky country. He's currently touring the States with Bon Iver, another folk fave of mine.

Live in Saratoga Springs earlier this year.

Best Songs of 2008: Week of 11/10-11/17: Olympic Airways by Foals

"Olympic Airways" by Foals

This post-punk dance group from Oxford, England owes much of its droning, yet upbeat and hook-filled sound to Bloc Party, but I might actually like the Foals better. NME's cover article on Foals earlier this year created buzz (regardless of your opinion of NME), but they've racked up other "next best band" hype as 2008 has moseyed on. When I listen to the Foals, it's like I can't decide whether to be depressed or cheerful, so I just hop around happily morose. Try them and let me know how they make you feel.

Best Songs of 2008: Week of 11/3-11/10: Vote Black President by Kokolo

"Vote Black President" by Kokolo (free download below)

NYC-based Afro-Latin jazz/funk band, Kokolo (aka Kokolo Afrobeat Orchestra), was really ahead of the curve when they released this song last year on their third album Love International which I can't find anywhere. I know it's from 2007, but it's so appropriate, I had to post it.

For a limited time, you can download this song for free here--click on the link that has the name of the song plus "(ysi)" after it--but if you do, please support them by downloading at least one other song of theirs from iTunes, eMusic, etc. The only reason I'm listing the song here for free is because I couldn't find any other paid option.

Their new album, Heavy Hustling, will be out February 2009. Catch Kokolo live--they are supposed to have a killer show. Tour dates are on their MySpace page.

Performing the song "Heaven" live in Cambridge, England with Gilles Peterson: