The Top 7 Songs Of 2008

2008 is drawing to a rather climatic end as the flurry of manic activity threatens to distract me from the important things in life. I'm putting it as vaguely as possible just for content and dramatic effect; I'm not really overly distracted. Except from homework. But that's a given.

Okay on to the entry. 2008 was a fantastic year for music - every year has been fantastic, truthfully, ever since The Beatles became a band. But if I were to say that year in, year out it would be very boring now, wouldn't it? Okay straight to point. Here are the top 7 songs released in 2008 (to me).

Chasing Pavements - Adele

This song has been Grammy-nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal but my friends at TOWNs have categorised it as "another one of Suff's merepek songs". I think they're grossly mistaken, as this song features so many winning elements: brilliant, moving lyrics, Adele's black-girl-powerful-soul voice (she's white though), a ceremoniously charming melody and a thought-provoking music video, which I have put below, thanks to Youtube.



I'm Outta Time - Oasis

Oasis is my favourite fucking band of all time. This year, they released Dig Out Your Soul with comparatively subdued marketing and promotion (though they had very awesome promotion methods in the UK - spraypainting "vandalism" that promote the album on random walls). Which is a pity, because it a seriously awesome album that harks back to the glories of Definitely Maybe and (What's The Story) Morning Glory? This song, I'm Outta Time, is a very personal tribute by Liam to John Lennon - his hero, idol and role model. The video, lyrics and song arrangements combined for an Oasis anthem that will reverberate across arenas the world over. Sally can wait some more.



Diamond Hoo Ha Man - Supergrass

Okay this choice could be borne out of nostalgia - ever since Supergrass released Alright and Pumping On Your Stereo 13 years ago, I've been expecting them to follow through with something almost similar in standard and verve. But then they underwent that weird depression all British bands seem to go through in which they release weirdly morbid, depressing tracks (see Travis when they released Re-Offender, Blur with 13 and Radiohead after OK Computer, to name a few). But Diamond Hoo Ha (the album) heralds a return to old form, and the first single (Diamond Hoo Ha Man) has all the elements of the old Supergrass sound - upbeat tempos, catchy clapping solos and anthemic lyrics that would greatly appeal to young indie afficianados in Britain and the world over.



Dawn Of The Dead - Does It Offend You, Yeah?

Does It Offend You, Yeah?, at first listen, might seem like yet another English dance punk band in the mould of Justice or Simian Mobile Disco or Digitalism............. And unfortunately, they do sound like another British dance punk clone. Only one song of theirs, to me, could make it into the top 7 of 2008, copycats that they are. That song happens to be their solitary foray into melodic indie rock. And it's called Dawn Of The Dead. Oh and yes, that's how it appeals greatly to me - the music vid is an homage to George Romero's zombie classic.



Can't Say Goodbye - Snoop Dogg and Charlie Wilson

Cordozar Calvin Broadus, Jr. (a.k.a Snoop Dogg) released Ego Trippin' this year, and the only hype that came from there was Sexual Eruption/Sensual Seduction. Now that weird, sexual song does not do justice to a man who has come so far in the business. Though I must add that a lot of people don't do justice to the song on dance floors. Okay digression aside, I say the nicest song to come out from Snoop D-O-double G's latest album is the song he has yet to release as a single - Can't Say Goodbye, which beautifully samples the piano piece in That's Just The Way It Is by Bruce Hornsby. Snoop and Uncle Charlie did perform the song on American Idol, though...



Great DJ - The Ting Tings

The Ting Tings burst into 2008 with riotous indie dance masterpiece, That's Not My Name. But I think the song from their 2008 album, We Started Nothing, that truly established Katie White and Jules De Martino's status as talented indie dance tunemakers would be Great DJ. Catchy, addictive and not as irritatingly-commercially-overplayed as That's Not My Name, Great DJ would be THE dance track of the year for indie boys and girls, ah ah ah ah ah ah-ah-ah-ah.



Lost! - Coldplay

Arguably the best track to come out of 2008 would be Lost! by Coldplay. I've been a rather subdued fan of Coldplay after Parachutes. I found that nothing Chris Martin wrote could instigate such emotion in me since Yellow. I've enjoyed Don't Panic and Shiver, but after that, I found his songs mellow clones of one another. With the release of Viva La Vida, I expected another Fix You clone with self-indulgent piano pieces and falsettos. And I was severely, and very pleasantly, disappointed. Viva La Vida had some of the most beautiful soundscapes I have heard in mainstream alternative music, and the epitome of that would be Lost!



Of course, this list is heavily biased and is based solely on my personal opinion and preference (I can hear Grace screaming for The Killers in the background). But these 7 songs have undoubtedly moved me in 2008, and left me in awe of the genius and talent of the above-mentioned musicians.