Music Under Fire

The completion of MusicUnderFire's Best Songs of 2008. As before, if you missed our other parts of the top 100 list, hit up the links below:
Part 1: MUF's Top 100 Songs of 2008 (81-100)
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)

20. Low Vs Diamond - Actions Are Actions (buy)
Why: From the harmonizing in the opening all the way down the the refrain and verses, this not only an excellent job of songwriting, but an exhillarating effort by one onf our favorite new finds this year. It really doesn't get much better than the breakdown 1:47 into the song.

19. American Princes - Auditorium (buy)
Why: The first 5 seconds sounds like something The Eagles may have put together years ago, but the song takes an upbeat turn with the drums, which is one of many factors that pulled this song together to make it work so well at the quick pace that it pulls. Fantastic job by American Princes for sneaking into our top 20.

18. Earlimart - Face Down In The Right Town (buy)
Why: Each time this song is played, its hard to get the 'Da do-do, Da do-do' out of your head. Earlimart's sublties are what makes them so great. Additional background vocals and piano add-ons make this a fantastic song. Personally, I would love to hear an acoustic version of this song done in all piano. This is our favorite Earlimart song to date.

17. Daniel Martin Moore - That'll Be The Plan (buy)
Why: As one of our readers put so well, it feels as though Moore is channelling Nick Drake. The songs are written so well, and the guitar-work is the driving factor in most of his album, but this song's happy nature and pleasant tattered rhythms made this our personal favorite that cannot be missed!

16. Dr. Dog - The Breeze (buy)
Why: As far as quick-hitters go, songs you immediately are drawn to, Philadelphia's own Dr. Dog stunned us with "The Breeze". The sullen vocals of Scott McMicken created a retro sound and blissful experience every time we listened to this song. Truly, this song will live on for years due to the songs tactful nature and composition of classic sounds we've all known to love.

15. Your Vegas - Troubled Times (buy)
Why: One of our favorite electro-rockers Your Vegas came out with a stunning, polished self-titled album this year and premiered this song off of their A Town and Two Cities EP. It remains our favorite song from the group.

14. Tokyo Police Club - Tessellate (buy)
Why: Months ago, I recall trying to figure out which song I really liked best off of this album, and with all of the peppy songs to pick from, 'Tessellate' was our hands-down, favorite pick. Maybe its the piano breakdowns, or maybe its the clapping/drumming combination, but whatever the case, we have added tessellate into our favorite songs of the year as well as our ever-expanding vocabulary.

13. Cut Copy - Lights and Music (buy)
Why: Its amazing that iTunes offered this song as a free download the week this came out, and we've been enjoying it ever since. Cut Copy's album was hard not to be recognized this year and the dance scene benefitted from this techno driven song, laced with some guitars -something these guys have blended so well.

12. Elbow - Mirrorball (buy)
Why: Another beautiful song from an extremely talented band. We can't stress enough how great it was to have Elbow return with another gem this year. If you don't know much about these guys and have quite the eclectic rock tastes, you might want to go back and listen to the rest of their catalogue.

11. The Airborne Toxic Event - Sometime Around Midnight (buy)
Why: This song has found its way into everyone's music libraries in 2008 and this song alone has made a name for the band. We felt it was such an anomaly, we had to include it in our top 20. The guitar pedals and singing are right up our alley.

10. Delta Spirit - Trashcan (buy)
Why: DS was pieced together of mainly percussionists and this song is already a classic, as far as we're concerned. The piano is refreshing as well as the soulful singing by Matt Vasquez. A perfect fit for our top 10.

9. MGMT - Time To Pretend (buy)
Why: You may have played it out by now, but MGMT's song "Time To Pretend" was all over the place this year in commercials, movie previews and everyone's iPods. We particularly can get enough of the synth melodie during the refrain. Match the song up with this year's most ridiculous video and you've got yourself our #9.

8. Coldplay Lovers In Japan / Reign Of Love (buy)
Why: Everything great about Coldplay is included in this song including some new touches added by Brian Eno. The pickup around 1:11 into the song makes this one of our favorites and an easy song to continuously return to.

7. French Kicks - Said So What (buy)
Why: Everything about this song is perfect, from the pool ball-breaking rhythm to the vocal chemistry. If there is one band to go see that we haven't, French Kicks are at the top of the list. Everything these guys create seems to melt in our ears.

6. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Modern Mystery (buy)
Why: One of our most returned songs of 08' is "Modern Mystery" due to its soft-rock appeal and some clever lyrics - "You can really put me in my place, on a map in outer space." Not enough has been said of this talented group in 2008!

5. Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal (buy)
Why: The harmony and picture just listening to this song with your eyes closed is enough to make us drop this one right into our #4 spot. Fleet Foxes stunned us this past year and will undoubtedly continue to do so, given our soft-spot for folksy bands.

4. Ra Ra Riot - Can You Tell (buy)
Why: A sucker for violins and some great heartfelt lyrics made Ra Ra Riot's "Can You Tell" a shoo-in for one of our favorite songs. Its really hard to ignore Ra Ra Riot, especially with a song like this.

3. Death Cab For Cutie - Cath... (buy)
Why: The one redeeming moment for DCFC was their best song from the album, "Cath...". The redeeming factor for this album was the lyrics pieced into every song by Gibbard, and although "Cath.." may be a bit depressing, its done perfectly so in a classic Death Cab style.

2. The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead (buy)
Why: Our music libraries would fall completely apart in 2008 had it not been for The Helio Sequence's stunning album and title-track that we listed here. What more could you possibly want from a band? We had trouble choosing our favorite song from this album, but looking back at their show in May of this past year, this really was their best song performed live and comes across so well on the album as well.

1. Blitzen Trapper - God & Suicide (buy)
Why: The notion behind our #1 track is nothing pleasant to really put too much time into thinking about, but everything comes together in this song. Every time this track is played, CCR comes to mind, along with every other classic rock song that managed to stick around for decades. The same will happen to this song and Blitzen Trapper will continue to live on long after they band is finished playing. Excellent song by all accounts. Our only gripe may be that its only two minues long!