45 Crystal Stilts 'Shattered Shine'

// Taken from 'Alight of Night'; FeatheryTongue/Slumberland

 

Poetic licence is something Crystal Stilts affectingly use throughout their songcraft. Be it their album titles, lyrics and song titles themselves. 'Shattered Shine' is the perfect example of this. Alliterative yes but furthermore serves as the metaphorical basis for the track itself. 'Shattered Shine' is dominated by gloomy, dense instrumentation, the scuzz of guitar layers akin to the prog-rock of early 80s Manchester. With this track Crystal Stilts manage to evoke a lethargic doom: industrious in its sentiments but equally pure of heart. Dystopia lost me.

 

 

[16-06-05-05-08-15*]

 

44 Fleet Foxes 'Your Protector'

// Taken from 'Fleet Foxes'; Bella Union

 

'White Winter Hymnal' is without doubt, one of the most over-rated songs of 2008. I don't quite GET it. Is it obnoxiously charming video? It's quite twee-like length> Perhaps it's the chanting through the first verse? Either way, I don't understand. 'White Winter Hymnal' is far too OBVIOUS for me. 'Your Protector' stands as it's under-rated, vastly superior co-peer. From it's ambitious sentiments, emotional euphoria to general sense of good. It's a track that highlights why Fleet Foxes are so deservedly lauded.

 

[n/a]

 

 

43 Britney Spears 'Amnesia'

// Taken from 'Circus'; Jive

 

Following the stroke of accidental mastery that was 'Blackout', 'Circus' essentially took 5 year's worth of steps back putting Britney in the musical doldrums of circa '02. 'Out from Under' was as baffling as it was insipid. 'Amnesia' though broke the rule of thumb and proved to be one of the scarce moments of artistic progression on Britney's much pumped "comeback" (mk. II). Here's a track ambitious and pushing the mantra of pop into new territory. It's genuinely zaney trip-up lyrics, continuous stream of conscious form (to the point of near awkwardness) and unabashed drum-heavy 80s synth lines. "I get amnesia when I'm standing next to you-ou-ou". If only B, if only.

 

[n/a]

 

 

42 White Lies 'Unfinished Business (2008 7" Version)'

// Taken from 'Unfinished Business' 7"'; Chess Club

 

What are they good for? White Lies are fairly revolutionary without actually doing anything barely resembling revolution. Echo and the Bunnymen, Joy Division, Interpol, Editors and Simple Minds are bands which White Lies seem to have build a steady ring of hyperbole off of being not very orginal at all. Perhaps their big-money deal and obnoxiously inescapable marketing rollout has got them here. Three releases in and I struggle to take them seriously now. That said 'Unfinished Business' serves as their strongest and sole irrepressible moment yet. I have a thing for the slowly sung song verse and chorus lead-up, the atmospheric interludes. You know, we can all be suckers once in a while.

 

[32-10-01-04-06-05-06-12-20-29-39]

 

 

41 The Go! Team 'Milk Crisis'

// Taken from a free download on their website

 

You can see why Cartoon Network commissioned this song to be re-recorded with video across their US channels. The Go! Team exert unrefined sugary gloop into their music but usually with a little more restraint. The combination of English and Japanese makes it even more baffling and I haven't a clue what the chorus is on about. Go! are one of the most under-rated bands out there. They deserve more appreciation that they get. Hopefully their third record will get them the acclaim and love they deserve.

 

[22-06-02-02-08-10-06-08-09-12-22-30-37]

40 Shugo Tokumaru 'Parachute'

// Taken from 'Exit'; Almost Gold

 

It's a hard job to categorise Shugo Tokumaru. Is it twee? Weird? Japanese? It's all of these really. But most importantly it's fun. Blasting out any of Tokumaru's song is a totally uplifting experience. The combination of Japanese lyrics, twee instrumentation and western melodies works perfectly. 'Parachute' makes me shimmy and if something, anything makes me shimmy then that's a very good thing.

 

[34-39-40]

 

39 MGMT 'Time to Pretend'

// Taken from 'Oracular Spectacular'; Colombia

 

I am really not very keen on MGMT. I found the album and the other two singles (in original form at least) very lackluster but this...well this is different. I don't know what it is. Perhaps the quelchy synth in the intro. The LOL-worthy lyrics. The rather try-hard-but-still good video or the fact it reminds me of the best period of music this year? I love the constant energy it projects throughout. It never relents. It's a glorious hot mess. Oh and it makes me LOL that some of these lyrics once said in sarcasm have now come true. :*).

 

[27-15-07-05-01-01-01-03-12-23-32-39]

 

 

38 Invincible 'Deuce/Ypsi' (feat. Buff1, PL and SUN)

// Taken from 'Shapeshifters'; Emergence

 

"Invinsible is a lady with a lot to say". Probably the biggest insult you could offer Invinsible. Not only is it patronising, a little misogynistic but it belittles the cause she talks about, the cause she comes from. 'Deuce/Ypsi' juxtaposes Invincible's heritage and her present. Spitting rhymes of her reality in suburban crime-ridden Detroit over an idiosyncratic Arabic backing track. It's a track which tells her story, so many people's stories: "teachers who belittle you, claim that they liberal" / "by 14 many of my feminine schools raped". It describes the hellish reality so many suffer in the apparent world of the the fair. Invincible brings Hip-Hop round to where it came from and proves it can do something.

 

[n/a]

 

 

37 Duffy "Mercy'

// Taken from 'Rockferry'; Polydor

 

Duffy is a mass of contradictions, hyperbole and derailed-pathos. In fact she's proper weird. Her music is as a whole is patronising and insicere. I could continue but I won't. Because she did one thing right (well two but the 'Rockferry' single was last year); 'Mercy'. Playing on the nostalgic whims of Middle England it's cold driven melody works perfectly. The slow-cooked backing is straight out of the 1960s. The vocals obviously tailored to remind us of Dusty. It's a bit half-baked, a bit lazy pastiche but ultimately it comes out bold, hooky and no amount of suspicion or poo-pooing lessens the fact it's just a very good song. It's a shame about HER and her album.

 

[03-03-06-15-15-16-26]

 

 

36 The Bug 'Skeng'

// Taken from 'London Zoo'; Ninja Tune

 

'Skeng' was my first introduction to The Bug. I downloaded the album after finding it on a random blog. I hate listening to album in chronological order. I dive in randomly and track three; 'Skeng', was where I ended up. A combination of dubstep, grime and dancehall as many other genres I'm sure. It's dark, dystopic but most of all it's daunting. It strikes a sense of nervousness into me, puts me on edge. It's a track to think to, to worry to. It's pretty brilliant.

 

[n/a]

 

 

35 Kap Bambino 'Save'

// Taken from 'Zero Life Night Vision'; Altdel

 

Kap Bambino don't make a bit of sense. On record they're much like the live Crystal Castles experience. Martial shrieks her way over penetrating synth pulses over clangy symbol-ladden backing. It's skin raw and doesn't make any sense. But it makes perfect sense to dance to. Whenever I've included it in my DJ sets people hark: "That's like the best track Crystal Castles" have ever produced (though usually in a alcohol/drug-ladden-spew). I wish people could see 8-bit goes beyond the "almighty" pair...

 

[20-15-07-17-22-27-28-35-40-39]

 

34 Vampire Weekend 'The Kids Don't Stand a Chance'

// Taken from 'Vampire Weekend'; XL

 

I'm pretty much in a universal minority whereby I prefer the second half of the over-rated Vampire Weeekend debut record. The first half is all thrills and for me, no depth. I love the luxurious string sections, spaced out ethos to the second half and nothing is more representative of that than the regal 'The Kids Don't Stand a Chance'. It has the best lyrics of anywhere else on the album: "The devil's doing backstroke all the way from France" (oh so witty yah). It has that lovely instru-middle 8 where the keys come out and sound pretty lush. It's just a lovely sweeping little track and less try-hard than the rest of the record. Hopefully a track the band take with their next record.

 

[n/a]

 

 

33 Santogold feat. Amanda Blank 'I'm a Lady' (Diplo Remix)

// Taken from 'Top Ranking' (Mixtape); Mad Decent

 

The debut Santogold album whilst bursting with ambition misfired pretty much all the way throughout. I found it just...too focused. She's a try-hard and tried far too hard. That's not to say that under a different guise, a slightly different re-work her original material didn't have any potential. Bounds of stellar remixes have worked their way out this year with this one possibly being the best. Included in the rather brilliant mixtape 'Top Ranking' composed by both Diplo and Santogold, a guest rap from a surprisingly on-form Amanda Blank and random interjections of German, a snippet of some girl being barred from seeing some "rapper dude". It's all random and a bit cut and paste but nonetheless charming and possibly the best thing Santi's done. When she swoons in for the last section of the song...ahhh. Love.

 

[n/a]

 

 

32 The Ruby Suns 'Tane Mahuna'

// Taken from 'Sea Lion'; Vital

 

World Pop has seen a massive rise to fame in 2008. A trend which will undoubtedly continue in 2009. The Ruby Suns are a band who seem to be at the centre of it. 'Tane Mahuna' is without doubt the best song in their arsenal. A track built up of layers and layers of percussive sound and harmonising vocals. Sung in Maori it makes for an interesting, celestial listening experience. The sheer range of instruments make it all the more joyful. It all blends together so effectively. It's also like my sing-a-long anthem of 2008. An amazing song live too, I'm sure.

 

[n/a]

 

 

31 Animal Collective 'Water Curses'

// Taken from 'Water Curses' EP; Domino

 

The lead and only single to be taken from the 'Water Curses' EP (otherwise known as the 'Strawberry Jam' out-takes). It treads a similar path to many of the other songs in this section of my YTD: crazy, non-sensical and noisy. It's brilliantly upbeat and energetic and the fact it makes no sense only adds to making it all the more endearing. A track to spazz out to when totally off your face. Yah.

 

[09-07-04-05-14-26-33-38-39]

I Seen Beyonce at Burger King :heehee: