Just to preface our best of list of 2008: Some songs may deserve a higher spot than others, but the time it took just to compile our list should give each and every song on here enough deserved attention. We did our best to make a list of 100 songs we thought were great and left a lot of songs off we begrudgingly had to remove to abide by the 100 song limit. Our list is as accurate as we could make it, so song 100 all the way to number one represent our favorite songs and artists of this year.
We seperated our list into 5 parts because there was just too much to put onto one post. We hope you enjoy our favorite songs of this 2008!
Part 2: MUF's Top 100 Songs of 2008 (61-80)
Part 3: MUF's Top 100 Songs of 2008 (41-60)
Part 4: MUF's Top 100 Songs of 2008 (21-40)
Part 5: MUF's Top 100 Songs of 2008 (1-20)
100. Keane - Lovers Are Losing (buy)
Why: Spiraling struggled but the personal touch from this track mid-way through helped boost the overall album enough to make it bearable.
99. The Shore - Open Up The Light (buy)
Why: Coming back from a long wait, The Shore delivered a great album. Their most notable song won't be found here, but this one may be as perfectly chilled-out as rock comes.
98. Death Cab For Cutie - I Will Possess Your Heart (buy)
Why: Eight minutes and twenty-six seconds of cinematic gusto from a group that really doesn't have too many tracks longer than five minutes. Overall, a well thought-out song considering every instrument in the group grabs some of the spotlight.
97. Department of Eagles - No One Does it Like You (buy)
Why: Bass thumps and clapping ensues as the humble, yet budding group Department of Eagles made their presence known in 2008. Nobody does this like them in this gem with the harmonizing and the eerie playfulness of this song.
96. The Little Ones - Morning Tide (buy)
Why: Hearing The Little Ones and keeping a smile on of your face are synonymous with each other. "Morning Tide" clearly set the Cali natives back on track after their struggle to find a label and get their sound right.
95. Pictures and Sound - 100 Directions (buy)
Why: Luke Reynolds' latest project couldn't please fans more when transitioning from his older work. Now laced with some mild funk, "100 Directions" settles in behind light drum rapping and a heavy bass before slowly building up for a finale worth waiting for. Check out our live video of this song here.
94. Nada Surf - See These Bones (buy)
Why: Opening Lucky with their strongest song set the tempo for another great effort from Nada Surf. Perhaps this song layers a bit much as it goes on, but nothing takes away from the professional and well-timed shown here.
93. The Shore - Lose My Breath (buy)
Why: We doubled up listing the Shore in this section of our top 100, but that's okay since The Shore have so many good songs to list here. Neither this one or "Open Up The Light" could really be picked over the other, so really think of this as just another song you need to listen to and an album to own.
92. MGMT - Kids (buy)
Why: The main five-star songs on Oracular Spectacular flew across the blogosphere faster than the drug-inspired artists could imagine. "Kids" takes the teenage mentality of the duo along the same lines as the other greats on the album while still being incredibly original and addictive.
91. Kings of Leon - Sex On Fire (buy)
Why: The most pop-friendly song on this good effort and most listed throughout the blogsphere. That's not why we listed it however. The boldness of this song earned its place on our list. Saying someone's sex is on fire is quite a compliment to dish out, so kudos KOL.
90. French Kicks - With the Fishes (buy)
Why: Drowned out guitar meets sad, lonely singing. I don't know what does it for me on this song, but the chemistry is perfect, the guitar isn't too much and the vocals kill it every time. Everything down to the drums marks this album a materpiece in my mind.
89. Athlete - Flying Over Bus Stops (Acoustic) (buy)
Why: A song featured on their 2007 Beyond The Neighbourhood album, Athlete topped themselves with an acoustic version on their The Outsideres EP released earlier on this year.
88. The Notwist - Good Lies (buy)
Why: The Devil, You + Me opened with this low-key instrumentally and vocally sound track and the result helped the album as a whole. Seeing this song anywhere else in the Top 100 would be merited as it subtly speaks volumes to every ear that listens to it. Thanks to Pitchfork for the legal mp3.
87. The Republic Tigers - Buildings & Mountains (buy)
Why: Encompassing the ideals the Kansas City crew brought to Keep Color, this track harmonizes, entrances and hooks in like a cult does to its followers.
86. Greg Laswell - Comes and Goes (In Waves) (buy)
Why: Simple melodies and some nice harmonizing was enough to add this to our list. Laswell has sparked our interest this past year and this song was one of his most well-produced pieces.
85. Plants and Animals - Good Friend (buy)
Why: Parc Avenue's ground-work was put down here and the rest of the album benefited from it. "It takes a good friend to meet you in the park in the dark."
84. The Walkmen - In The New Year (buy)
Why: These guys went for a particular sound on thier album this year, and their nailed it with You & Me. "In The New Year" is something like we've never heard before with its rhinestone jangling riffs and slack-jawed singing. Where else could you find a better song with featuring an organ?
83. The Kooks - Always Where I Need To Be (buy)
Why: Konk would not be found anywhere near our top albums of this year, but our beloved UK rockers did score one song we couldn't resist to list here. They've once again managed to feature one song bound to be syndicated all over God's creation.
82. Elbow - Weather To Fly (buy)
Why: The Mercury Prize winners in 2008 claimed their spot on our list, particularly with one of their magnificently assembled songs listed here. Elbow didn't just surpass all of their previous albums, they made a name for themselves in 2008. This song shows everything we love and have loved about Garvey and Co..
81. Beck - Gamma Ray (buy)
Why: Beck highlighted this song on his website which promoted Modern Guilt and it fit perfectly for any returning fan as maintains the zany vibe Beck had back when he released Midnight Vultures almost ten years prior. Saying it is the best on the album isn't entirely accurate although it could be the addictive ingredient Beck albums consistently contain.
Missed our rundown of this year's best? See our top 30.
Many albums that didn't make our Top-30 list for the year, reached lofty places on other sites' lists. As our motto is, we won't saturate you with music we don't think is worth mentioning. The albums below were all quite good, but just fell below the best of the year.
MP3: Eureka Birds - Mars (buy)
MP3: Daniel Martin Moore - Stray Age (buy)
MP3: Deerhunter - Nothing Ever Happened (buy)
MP3: Nada Surf - Weightless (buy)
Here are MusicUnderFire's honorable mentions for 2008:
Not flashy. Not laced with catchy refrains. This Baltimore group caught our attention and has stuck with us since, thanks to a consistent debut album. We reviewed them and we liked them quite a bit. If you like an album off the beaten path, this is for you.
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Taking the first major step of 2008 was VW. Songs such as "A-Punk", "Oxford Comma" and "Campus" certainly earned this high marks for many and would have been higher if not for some transitional drawbacks.
The top singer/songwriter on our list for this year, Moore used his simplicity and songwriting talents only he could pull off. Although a heavy contender to make it in the top 30, Moore was found he could do only one type of songwriting style, but nail it every time. Stray Age was a cinch to listen through the whole way - perfect for a relaxing situation, not something you will want to put on your iPod to go to the gym. We particularly enjoyed "That'll Be The Plan". Outstanding effort by Sub Pop's newest songwriter.
Snow Patrol - A Hundred Million Suns
Snow patrol didn't particularly stun us this time around, but the album had enough versatility with some of their traditional poker hands to some longshots they took, which actually worked. If you've listened to SP as long as we have, "Chocolate" seems to be in heavier rotation than "Engines", but that could possibly change. Just like most Snow Patrol albums, this one is a grower. Many tracks veer in a different dirrection that their older albums, particularly their last track "The Lightning Strike: (i) What If This Storm Ends? / (ii) The Sunlight Through The Flags / (iii) Daybreak", a three part song, in which each part blends into the next. I'm not sure why they didn't do their whole album this way, but this is just one example of how the band is growing and reaching deeper into their creative interworkings.
Kings of Leon - Only By The Night
These youngsters are growing up quick, and as if you haven't noticed already, there's something special about them. Not only has the world of pop taken in "Sex On Fire", but the band managed to make a bit of consistency out of their name. Their listeners got another solid outing by Kings of Leon once again. Songs such as "Manhattan" and "Revelry" made this album that more intriguing. Although they did have some gems on here, KOL seem to have the same formula time and time again, when in fact we were never head over heels for it to begin with. This would be the only reason we could not keep it in with our favs of this year.
Greg Laswell - Three Flights from Alto Nido
An album laced with not just your run-of-the mill sappy singer/songwriter material, Greg Laswell had a bit of every emotion poured into his debut. Songs such as "Comes and Goes (In Waves)" are well orchestrated and much has to do with his classy label, Vangard. Laswells songs excelled in both the studio and on the road. There's not much to say about this album that hasn't already been said here.
Where A Weekend In The City left off, Intimacy took that and notched it up ten times, in terms of sheer loudness that is. The albums glory may be captured in the club-friendly "Better Than Heaven", but this album had too many pitfalls to be considered for our top albums. What did make this album great is the unbridled feel to the songs. Tracks such as "One Month Off" made for a great anthem for this album as did many other songs that followed the same raucous attitude. Bloc Party continues to put out albums with a few likable songs on each album.
Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight
One of the most influential albums for the first half of the year, Frightened Rabbit used many unorthodox methods of song. Perhaps its their folk-pop appeal, or maybe we liked them because we love Scottish bands. But no, FR was something quite special this year, and this list of 'almosts' also serves a purpose to show that other albums did not even make it into our 'honorable mentions' list. The Midnight Organ Fight was driven by some nifty songwriting by Scott Hutchison and backed by a talented band (sans bass). This is a well deserved spot in the midst of many other talented bands we've heard this year. (if you're looking for a Christmas song from Frightened Rabbit, check our short list of Indie Christmas Songs.)
Another album teetering on the brink of making it into our top albums of this year, Deerhunter put out a marvelous effort, yet didni't score enough songs for us to truly 'get'. Most notable from this album is "Nothing Ever Happened". It looks like this group's future is quite bright, so I would anticipate much to happen in their future.
Nada Surf - Lucky
Their latest album showcased why they are such a timeless group. Songs such as "See These Bones", "Beautiful Beat" and "Weightless" highlighted this addition to your Nada Surf collection. Nada Surf has quite a bit of experience and it shined on this album.
We also suggest checking out King Khan & the Shrines as well as the very sweet Sian Alice Group.
MP3: Wolf Parade - Language City (buy)
MP3: The Notwist - Boneless (buy)
MP3: Silver Jews - Strange Victory, Strange Defeat (buy)
Adem - Takes
Bowerbirds - Hymns for a Dark Horse
Children of the Sixth Root Race - Songs From the Source
Clouds - We Are Above You
Coldplay - Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
Confide -Shout The Truth
Dan Tyminski - Wheels
Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue - Legacy Edition
Eef Barzelay - Lose Big
Impossible Shapes - The Impossible Shapes
James Blackshaw - Litany of Echoes
Jason Falkner - Bedtime With The Beatles Pt. 2
Jay Reatard - Always Wanting More / You Mean Nothing To Me 7"
Joshua James - The Sun Is Always Brighter
Judas Priest - Nostradamus
Katy Perry - One of the Boys
King Khan and the Shrines - The Supreme Genius of King Khan
The Low Lows - Shining Violence
Mick Hucknall - Tribute to Bobby
MIGGS - Unraveled
My Brightest Diamond - A Thousand Shark's Teeth
NOMO - Ghost Rock
Paul Weller - Live at the Royal Albert Hall
Ponytail - Ice Cream Spiritual
Reggie and the Full Effect - Last Stop: Crappy Town
Ride The Boogie - Ride The Boogie
Sian Alice Group: The Dusk Line EP
Silver Jews - Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea
Sister Hazel - Before The Amplifiers, Live Acoustic
Stars Like Fleas - Ken Burns Effect
Teddy Thompson - A Piece of What You Need
The Briggs - Come All You Madmen
The Notwist - The Devil, You + Me
The Offspring - Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace
The Real Tuesday Weld - The End of the World
Thom Yorke - Harrowdown Hill/The Clock (import single)
Tilly and the Wall - O
Twine - Violets
Valient Thorr - Immortalizer
War on Drugs - Wagonwheel Blues
Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer
