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Amadou and Mariam

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Great Malian-British Collaboration

Amadou & Mariam with Damon Albarn on “Sabali”



Gorillaz and Blur frontman Damon Albarn adds some fetching synth sounds to Amadou & Mariam’s intoxicating Malian Afro-blues making for a world beat record that’s irresistible. (Douglas Newman)


Radiohead

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Great Festival Appearance

Radiohead at All Points West, Liberty State Park, NJ



There really isn’t much to say here except for attending my first Radiohead show at Liberty State Park was possibly one of the greatest things I have ever done/will ever do. (Nadia Collado)


The Cool Kids

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Great Indie Hip Hop Album

The Bake Sale by The Cool Kids



Straight from Myspace, a pair of Midwestern twenty-year-olds released the best rap album of 2008. Its stripped down production recalls the electro eighties to the point of abstraction, with a special affiliation with Mantronix and Kraftwerk. (On “What up Man,” the Cool Kids replace the bass and clapping with the words “bass” and “clap,” a move they might have swiped from “Musique Non Stop.”) It was sweet music if you think that rap is best made by young people who have little time for dogma but plenty of time to party. (Rick Sawyer)


Airborne Toxic Event

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Great Rock Song

“Sometime Around Midnight” by The Airborne Toxic Event



This song is the ultimate rubbing-salt-in-the-open-wound-of-a-breakup song (even if the breakup is largely imaginary because you haven’t actually physically met the person you’re breaking up with—ahh, Internet romance). (Nancy Litchenstein)


Vampire Weekend

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Great Album by The Next Big Things

Vampire Weekend by Vampire Weekend



As much as I wanted to dislike this album for all its pre-release hype, it was impossible not to return to it over and over and over again. The lyrics are cheeky, not snide or cheesy and the Afro-beat references aren’t too referential. As a major fan of Graceland and Rhythm of the Saints, I never found myself preferring to listen to those albums while getting to know Vampire Weekend. (Lauren Maas)


Spiritualized

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Great Near Death Experience Music

Songs in A&E by Spiritualized



A brush with death (from a rare form of pneumonia) seemed to have done wonders for re-kindling J. Spaceman’s creative fire because Songs in A&E (A&E – Accident and Emergency ward – is the English equivalent of the ER) is his best collection of songs in nearly a decade. It’s a more subdued than previous Spiritualized records, but no less harrowing. In fact, “Death Take Your Fiddle” sounds like it was recorded from Pierce’s deathbed. (Douglas Newman)


Melpo Mene

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Great Use of a Song in a Car Commercial

“I Adore You” by Melpo Mene



Somewhat catchy, ultra-relaxing, it makes you want to drift out to your Volvo dealership and get a C70. Luckily, the economy trumps commercial songs as the determinant to car buying. Or maybe it’s not so lucky. (Hieu Tran)


Portishead

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Great Comeback Record

Third by Portishead



I had serious doubts about whether Portishead could reclaim past glories with their first studio album in over ten years. Amazingly, they exceeded my expectations ten fold, releasing a stunning record that stands as the band’s best collection to date. Fiercely direct and hard-hitting, with Third Portishead does not re-hash the seductive trip-hop of the past, instead opting for a raw industrial sound that will undoubtedly prove to be as timeless as Dummy. (Douglas Newman)


Girl Talk

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Great Mash Up Take 2

“Play Your Part (Pt. 2)” by Girl Talk



Gregg Gillis ends his second LP, Feed The Animals, with this track that blends 13 different rock and rap songs from artists such as Lil Wayne, AC/DC, and Soulja Boy. It’s given an epic finish with Journey’s “Faithfully.” (Julianne Agno)


Erykah Badu

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Great Neo-Soul Album

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



This single-challenged album was the best kept secret of ‘08. Mark my words: this will be one of those records that didn’t do much upon initial release (when you consider that she’s well known and proven) but will be getting more play in in the future than most albums that sold big. (Clint Schaff)


M.I.A.

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Great Sample

“Paper Planes” by M.I.A. sampling “Straight to Hell” by The Clash



Technically released in 2007, but re-released and made popular in 2008 with its inclusion in the film Pineapple Express. Inspired use of the ominous riff from The Clash’s “Straight to Hell.” And the old shall be made new again. (Sandeep Ghael)


Mission of Burma

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Great Nostalgia Trip

Mission of Burma, Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA 06/11-06/12



When Mission of Burma performed its first two classic albums to a hometown crowd, within a few fistfuls of chords you could hear the birth and death of punk rock and pinpoint the moment when something more thoughtful, expressive, personal—yet utterly annihilating—took its place. (Rick Sawyer)


Black Joe Lewis

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Great Soul Revival Band That’s Not Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings

Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears



Black Joe Lewis is the James Brown for the 21st century, a righteously funky performer with an ace backing band. He put on a killer set at the Austin City Limits Festival and proved that Sharon Jones ain’t the only soul revivalist on the prowl. (Douglas Newman)


Beach House

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Great Indie Song

“Heart of Chambers” by Beach House (from Devotion)



Dreamy and ghostly – this love song sinks into your senses and is impossible to shake. Beach House lead singer Victoria Legrand is a modern American Nico with reverb, organ and slide guitar. (Lauren Maas)


Cocoa Tea

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Great Unofficial Campaign Theme

“Barack Obama” by Cocoa Tea



Our president elect has been the subject of more songs from overseas than any black American this side of Muhammad Ali or Marcus Garvey. Cocoa Tea’s one drop anthem celebrated the racial unity of Obama’s campaign, ruled the airwaves in Jamaica, and rocked house parties throughout the increasing number of blue states. (Rick Sawyer)


Charlie Louvin

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Great Late Career Renaissance Release

Sings Murder Ballads and Disaster Songs by Charlie Louvin



Joining Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Glen Campbell in startling late career country comebacks, the legendary Charlie Louvin released one of his finest collections this year at the age of 80. (Douglas Newman)


Jay-Z Santogold

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Great Hip Hop-Indie Collaboration

“Brooklyn (Go Hard)” by Jay-Z ft. Santogold



Gotta love how Jigga is partnering up with all this indie and hipster newcomers (i.e. Santogold, M.I.A.). Not a bad move for an aging businessman… ahem… rapper. I’ll continue to enjoy the benefits. (Clint Schaff)


Girl Talk

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Great Sure-Winner Lyrics

“I Kissed a Girl” by Katy Perry



Not exactly Bob Dylan, but “I Kissed a Girl” by Kate Perry plays off of Sappho-inspired experiments that have so intrigued men throughout the ages. It’s one of the reasons men bring beer to parties. And this song proclaims itself as the triumphant replacement of that beer. (Hieu Tran)


Acid Jacks

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Great Mash Up Freak Out

“Get Freaky House Party” by Acid Jacks



This is my (not so secret anymore) guilty pleasure of 2008. Don’t listen to this unless you want to feel a little dirty, but at the same time special, cause you’re in on some awesome practical joke played on the last 30 years of music. Who knew that N.W.A. would sounds so good with Daft Punk? DJ Assault, Phil Collins, 2 Bad Mice, Michael J, Joey Beltram to name drop a few more appearances. (Sandeep Ghael)


The National

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Great Concert

The National @ The National, Richmond, VA



The National played at an eponymous (and new) venue in my town. Besides being the most unassuming and entertaining band I’ve watched in a long time, their sound equaled the recording of Boxer, and they brought the house down after dedicating their amazing “Mr. November” to Obama. (Lauren Maas)


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Comments (3)

Add a Comment
COMMENTS (3)
Diego21 said:

One Day as a Lion by Zack de la Rocha and Jon Theodore description is doubled on Erykah Bahdu’s album comment on the first page

Heather said:

I don’t know about your iPod commercial song. I thought Bruises by Chairlift for the Nanochromatic was pretty good. It’s on my iPod right now. Great list though

Milena said:

That was a pretty fantastic list and I learned so much. Thank you for putting it up.
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