Posted January 3, 200916 yr BASICS My computer broke and I lost my top 100 and thus had to re-do it all (the chart positions, the write-up, etc.) so I narrowed it down to a new top 35 as I "CBA" doing the whole shebang again. Do enjoy. xo 2008 #026 MSTRKRFT 'Vuvuvu' ◦ #027 Noah and the Whale 'Shape of My Heart' ◦ #028 Playdoe 'It's That Beat' ◦ #029 T.I. ‘Whatever You Like’ (Remix Ft. Flo Rida & Ludacris) ◦ #030 Heads We Dance 'Love in the Digital Age' ◦ #031 Ida Maria 'I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked' ◦ #032 Designer Drugs ‘Xmas Fun Time’ ◦ #033 The Count & Sinden 'Hardcore Girls' ◦ #034 Empire of the Sun 'Walking On a Dream' ◦ #035 Justice 'DVNO' ◦
January 4, 200916 yr Author #035 Justice ‘DVNO’ http://www3.hmv.co.uk/hmv/Large_Images/HMV/BEC5772330.JPG ‘DVNO - four capital letters printed in gold cause details make the girls sweat even more’. But they are so much than 4 letters, where would we be without DVNO? Well probably still basking in the wonderful warmth of the ‘†’album to be perfectly honest. 1 and a half years on and it’s still as encapsulating as ever (whereas ‘Attack.Decay.Sustain.Release' sounds worn to pieces by now, eh eh?). Alas I digress. Without this track I would have a huge void in my build-up-to-summer playlist. No track to push all the buttons ‘D.A.N.C.E’ did in the summer of 2007. No memories of sunbathing in Taylor Park with one earphone in wondering how I’m going to pass my A-Levels when I’m concentrating harder on appearance than education. No memories of streaming into college 20 minutes late in a cheap, nasty banger of a car with this blasting out so loud the windows should technically sha-tah. No memories of sitting around whilst my mates get smacked up to fuck on nasty drugs with me thinking “this really would be a great song to lose your head to”. Maybe it is more the memories attached to this song that make it so good? Maybe it was the timing of the release of this song in my life that makes it so special? Maybe I’m going too far with the patterns of 3? Regardless this song quite simply is ‘el divino’. ____________________________________________________________________________ #034 Empire of the Sun ‘Walking On A Dream’ http://www3.hmv.co.uk/hmv/Large_Images/HMV/EMPIRESUN.JPG This managed to pass me by completely upon its initial release at the end of October, well not pass me by but I showed a severe distaste for it. I’m not sure whether it was because it was almost too sickly-sweet/the lyrics being too cool for its own good; or whether my anger at it not being released 3 months earlier in the heights of ‘summer’ over-rode the actual quality of track. When sifting through 500+ shortlist candidates mid-November however it become apparent that this song really is very good, passive but still very good. Not one to be discounted from my top songs of 2008 because of my minor spat with it that’s for sure. “We are always running for the thrill of it, thrill of it”. Really doesn’t get much more intense than that. ____________________________________________________________________________ #033 The Count & Sinden ‘Hardcore Girls’ (Ft. Rye Rye) http://www3.hmv.co.uk/hmv/Large_Images/HMV/RUG290T.JPG I remember listening to this for the first time earlier in the year and thinking it was the sickest song ever in existence. Hardcore girls do in fact keep it lockin’ but when you look past the tough exterior of this song this really is just a 17 year-old MC from the States giving the same largey-large lyrics that she gives on every other track she’s associated with. That’s no slant on the track however (or Rye Rye for that matter, I think she’s ace <3 etc) it’s still a track representative of 2008 for myself. If I were a DJ it would certainly be spinning away every time I set up my gear. Three weeks at number one during September really does speak for itself. ____________________________________________________________________________ #032 Designer Drugs ‘Xmas Fun Time’ http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/5990/designerdrugsjh4.jpg I mulled the idea of Designer Drugs’ inclusion in the YTD over in my mind for a good few minutes, 10-20 in fact. Having only heard this track for the first time around three weeks ago there’s always the danger that it’s a ridiculously instant song that’ll go flat after so many listens (any CSS track please take a bow at this point) but I’m willing to take the risk. Purely as my love for Designer Drugs right now seems to be everlasting. Along with Fake Blood they’ve sent so many infectious remixes through my ears into my brain this year and for that reason alone they deserve to be in my 2008 chart. They rep like no other for the year 2k8. ‘Xmas Fun Time’ isn’t anything different or out the ordinary, in fact it’s all pretty standard for DD. But any song that can manage to capture the essence of Christmas in a steaming mess of bleeps, tings and pops whilst still conveying a strong sense of self-worthiness about the whole concept of the song is certainly a winner in my book. Huzzah to you Designer Drugs and may 2009 be just as productive. ____________________________________________________________________________ #031 Ida Maria ‘I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked’ http://www3.hmv.co.uk/hmv/Large_Images/HMV/88697336467.JPG Oh how I loved this little song in the summer. It’s tacky and nasty and conceited and brainless but my it’s as catchy as any mainstream pop ditty or blog-hyped electronica track from the year 08. Embarrassed to like this song? Yes slightly, but when a song becomes so anthemic for your summer months it really doesn’t matter whether the song is deep and intricate or, in this case, utterly trashy with a dodgy Scandinavian accent being a little too top-heavy over the backing track. There’s not really a lot more I can say about Ida Maria. I hate all her other material and have very little interest in her away from this song. I know nothing more of her apart from she’s a feisty Norwegian living in Sweden. Oh and she has an album hitting the US of A in 09, lucky them...
January 4, 200916 yr #035 Justice ‘DVNO’ http://www3.hmv.co.uk/hmv/Large_Images/HMV/BEC5772330.JPG :heart: :heart: #031 Ida Maria ‘I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked’ http://www3.hmv.co.uk/hmv/Large_Images/HMV/88697336467.JPG DVNO, probably my fave Justice's tracks :wub: Edited January 4, 200916 yr by Nick F1
January 5, 200916 yr #035 Justice ‘DVNO’ http://www3.hmv.co.uk/hmv/Large_Images/HMV/BEC5772330.JPG ‘DVNO - four capital letters printed in gold cause details make the girls sweat even more’. But they are so much than 4 letters, where would we be without DVNO? Well probably still basking in the wonderful warmth of the ‘†’album to be perfectly honest. 1 and a half years on and it’s still as encapsulating as ever (whereas ‘Attack.Decay.Sustain.Release' sounds worn to pieces by now, eh eh?). Alas I digress. Without this track I would have a huge void in my build-up-to-summer playlist. No track to push all the buttons ‘D.A.N.C.E’ did in the summer of 2007. No memories of sunbathing in Taylor Park with one earphone in wondering how I’m going to pass my A-Levels when I’m concentrating harder on appearance than education. No memories of streaming into college 20 minutes late in a cheap, nasty banger of a car with this blasting out so loud the windows should technically sha-tah. No memories of sitting around whilst my mates get smacked up to fuck on nasty drugs with me thinking “this really would be a great song to lose your head to”. Maybe it is more the memories attached to this song that make it so good? Maybe it was the timing of the release of this song in my life that makes it so special? Maybe I’m going too far with the patterns of 3? Regardless this song quite simply is ‘el divino’. #031 Ida Maria ‘I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked’ http://www3.hmv.co.uk/hmv/Large_Images/HMV/88697336467.JPG Oh how I loved this little song in the summer. It’s tacky and nasty and conceited and brainless but my it’s as catchy as any mainstream pop ditty or blog-hyped electronica track from the year 08. Embarrassed to like this song? Yes slightly, but when a song becomes so anthemic for your summer months it really doesn’t matter whether the song is deep and intricate or, in this case, utterly trashy with a dodgy Scandinavian accent being a little too top-heavy over the backing track. There’s not really a lot more I can say about Ida Maria. I hate all her other material and have very little interest in her away from this song. I know nothing more of her apart from she’s a feisty Norwegian living in Sweden. Oh and she has an album hitting the US of A in 09, lucky them... :wub: :wub: :wub: The new version of Oh My God by Ida Maria is good though, the first time i heard it it was far too shouty.
January 8, 200916 yr Author #030 Heads We Dance ‘Love in the Digital Age’’ http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/2397/headswedancehg4.jpg Heads We Dance really impressed me in 2008. They excite me. It’s hard to really pigeon-hole what music Heads We Dance create but they’ve certainly captured my ears in the past 12 months, even if I am 2 years slow on hopping on the back of the old bandwagon. ‘Love In The Digital Age’ is a simple song. Non-so-glamorous, easy, danceable, romantic and all around fun. A lovely song that manages to tread the line between a dance-influenced indie anthem and a futuristic pop dancefloor filler incredulously well. Some of the remixes are of the same quality too, Tepr being particularly inspiring in that department. Maybe they’ll make the transition into the mainstream in 2009 or maybe they’ll stick with their underground following that’s hyped them up so much over the past 2 years. I can’t provide the answers but wherever they do go I’m certainly very interested. ____________________________________________________________________________ #029 T.I. ‘Whatever You Like’ (Remix Ft. Flo Rida & Ludacris) http://www3.hmv.co.uk/hmv/Large_Images/HMV/7567896981.JPG 2008 was another great year for ‘Rubber Band Man’. Another token number one album in the States and even a top 2 single over here, but the pick of the bunch from ‘Paper Trail’ came in remix form. ‘Whatever You Like’ was a good rap song no doubt about it, but when Flo Rida and Luda take hold of it and completely revamp the verses into something so catchy you wish you really could rap alongside to you realise they’ve done something special. The lyrics aren’t good - “liposuction, botox, breast implants just keep me company” – a big fat =/ at all of that, but when you’re remixing a song telling somebody that they need not worry for money there’s only so much scope you have, only so much you can actually rap about. Alas, aside from the dodgy lyrical content the song is as catchy as any other rap song you’ll hear this year. Shine baby shiiine <3 ____________________________________________________________________________ #028 Playdoe ‘It’s That Beat’ http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/8507/playdoepr4.jpg “It’s that beat. That made you quit your job, then you take a shit on your boss’s car, then you leave your wife, your kids, your dogs.” God, aren’t funky electronic songs with attitude amazing? ____________________________________________________________________________ #027 Noah and the Whale ‘Shape of My Heart’ http://www3.hmv.co.uk/hmv/Large_Images/HMV/1768177.JPG This song grew on me lots in the run up to summer. So much so it even got a week at #1 on my chart. I go in cycles with Noah et Whale though, as quickly as their songs grow on me they generally swiftly ‘grow off’ me aswell. The only songs from the album that I have true undying admiration for are the song in question and ‘Second Lover’. Sure there are lots of other nice touches from the album (‘Rocks and Daggers’, ‘Do What You Do’, ‘Jocasta’) but none that are particularly accessible at all times. I have to be in the right mood to listen to Noah unfortunately. ____________________________________________________________________________ #026 MSTRKRFT ‘Vuvuvu’ http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/5091/mstrkrftwv2.jpg MSTRKRFT are another musical collective that I only discovered through their remixes. The quality of their remix definitely had me in anticipation when discovering they had two songs on the cards very early on in January however. Sure enough ‘Vuvuvu’ and ‘The Bounce’ came along in April and while I found ‘The Bounce’ very uninspiring and hard to get into in a heard-it-all-before type of a way I found ‘Vuvuvu’ very refreshing. It’s the type of gradual song that builds up on you all the way to the very end seconds of the song and then has you realising when it’s gone off how intense it really was. There are hundreds of similar electronica tracks that I download year in year out, trying to tell a story through the medium of crashing snare sounds and choppy digitalised beats. 90% fail spectacularly, this just ‘works’. I look forward to ‘Fist of God’ (second studio album) in 2009 with both apprehensiveness and excitement. Could quite easily go either way.
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