This set will probably stand as the poppiest and peppiest on Selective Service all year. Ladies and gentleman, I present to you my 20 favorite songs of 2008!

“NINE IN THE AFTERNOON” by Panic at the Disco
from Pretty. Odd
Panic at the Disco dropped the exclamation mark and the dandy makeup from “A Fever You Can’t Sweat” and gained a little bit of Beatlemania with their 2008 album “Pretty.Odd.” While the album was a noble effort to infuse a 60s sound into their canon, it was a bit uneven. “Nine in the Afternoon” proved to be a great lead single and was the album’s strongest track. A mix of harmonies, Sgt. Pepper-ish brass, and an upbeat chirpy and jerky melody made for one of the year’s catchiest singles…and one I score MAJOR points on in Rock Band 2.

“POPULISM YEAH YEAH” from Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
What best of list from me would be complete without a little bit of musical theater? This is one of the centerpiece songs from “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson,” a musical that played in Los Angeles in early winter of ‘08. The song was a emo-musical (yes, you read that right) about the seventh president of the United States. It’s probably the only rock anthem for 19th century populism that you’ll ever hear and it ain’t bad either. The actual musical was ok…wonderful set and performances, but weirdly divided between a funny, over-the-top opening two-thirds that devolved into a preachy, depressing almost Dances With Wolves-like dénouement.

“HUMAN” by The Killers
from Day & Age
Faithful “Music Bickering with Sam and Mandel” viewers (all three of you!) know how I felt about The Killer’s disappointing sophomore effort, “Sam’s Town.” Needless to say, when I heard about their third album “Day & Age,” I couldn’t help but feel a little less excited than when I awaited “Sam’s Town.” Then ,came their SNL appearance in which they performed this song, “Human.” It brought back some of the dancier sounds that I loved so much in “Hot Fuss,” while keeping some of the “Sam’s Town” epicness. The soaring chorus hooked me in and I bought “Day & Age.” While not reaching the fantastic heights of “Hot Fuss,” the album does rise above “Sam’s Town.”

“M79″ by Vampire Weekend
from Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend was one of those bands that we couldn’t stop hearing about in the early part of ‘08. Four preppy Columbia students playing indie-rock with a twinge of African beats a la Paul Simon’s “Graceland.” Really? I got their debut album and while not all of it worked for me, I could see why there was all the hype about them. “M79″ (named after a Manhattan busline) is one of the most rich and textured songs of the year…filled with African sounds, harpsichord, chamber strings, and rhythm changes that all blend quite organically. I’m not fully convinced about the staying power of Vampire Weekend, but with more songs like this in the future, they’ll make me a convert.

“I KISSED A GIRL” by Max Vernon
from Guilt By Association Vol. 2
Ok…before all of you give me crap about this…first of all, it’s one of the ubiquitous songs of the year…and second, at least it’s not the Katy Perry version. It’s by New York singer-songwriter Max Vernon. I’m not totally sure what the story is with Max, but his cabaret-meets-electroclash take on the song make this story of lesbian awakening all that more palatable. If he is gay, then all the better, as this song gets even more gender-sexuality-bendy!

“AMELIA BRIGHT” by Hotel Lights
from Firecracker People
Back in 2001 when Ben Folds Five broke up, they were in the midst of dabbling with some new material for a follow-up to their underrated “Reinhold Messner” album. The post-”Messner” sessions yielded some songs - many of which have been released in the band’s post-Five efforts (such as “Carrying Cathy” and The Secret Life of Morgan Davis”) - but this Darren Jessee-penned song was one of the most sought-after songs from the sessions. Seven years later, it finally was released as part of the sophomore album of Darren’s band Hotel Lights. What many don’t realize is that Darren was responsible for BF5’s more memorable melodies like “Song for the Dumped,” “Brick,” and the wonderful”Magic.” His knack for a creating strong melodies with an air of yearning and loneliness isn’t lost in this song. While his voice doesn’t carry the confidence or strength of Ben Folds, it does give the song an added sense of weariness that makes it that much more beautiful. The song would have definitely fit in the universe of “Carrying Cathy” of better yet “Annie Waits.”

“COLOGNE (PIANO ORCHESTRA VERSION)” by Ben Folds
from Way To Normal
Ben Folds did an interesting thing this year in anticipation of his new album, “Way to Normal.” He leaked fake tracks using similar titles online before the album was released. Many of these fake tracks were recorded in a one-day recording session Dublin. One that wasn’t was this version of “Cologne,” a song that is hands down the best track from “Way to Normal.” The album version is a more laid-back five-piece effort. This “leaked” version blows things up by having Ben accompanied by a choir and an orchestra of pianos giving it a church-like sound. This ballad (one of Ben’s strongest ever) has him playing the part of a man on a trip that’s marked end of a relationship contemplating about his new ex and Lisa Nowak (that astronaut who drove thousands of miles in a diaper to kill her lover).

“LOVE ME DEAD” by Ludo
from You’re Awful, I Love You
Time to delve into more theatrics with St. Louis’s Ludo. I first heard this song while listening to the Kevin and Bean show on KROQ. I’d never heard of the band before, but the lyrics and over-the-top, emo-meet-Broadwayness of this song drew me in. Deliciously biting lyrics of love/hate fill this song like “Fill my soul with vomit / then ask me for a piece of gum/ Bitter and dumb, you’re my sugarplum / You’re awful, I love you…” making it a winner. This lead single from “You’re Awful, I Love You” is enhanced by a clever, “did-they-really-do-all-that-in-one-take?” music video which you can find on Youtube.

“YOU CAN NEVER GO BACK” by Jon McLaughlin
from OK Now
A huge surprise from the famed PBS political commentator…wait…a different Jon McLaughlin? Oh yeah…this is the hot guy from that sang in the ballroom scene of “Enchanted.”

So, the curse of the cute singer-songwriter. They’re a dime a dozen…often, their albums are filled with one mildly catchy tune rounded out by a bunch of unmemorable attempts at melody with woe-filled-a-twee-bit-too-clever lyrics about lost loves. (I’m looking at you, John Mayer and Jason Mraz!!). Two of these broke that curse this year.

One is Jon..the other I’ll get to later in the list. This song (co-written by one of my long-time favorites, Bleu) is a tasty combination of sensitive singer-songwriter and ELO bombast. Jon’s vocals give the song an vulnerable edge that you don’t normally get from Bleu’s songs. On top of that you’ve got lyrics that name-check Xanadu, Avalon, “The Young and the Restless” and “The Bold and Beautiful.” It all makes for a lock in my top twenty songs of the year…

“I THOUGHT IT WAS OVER” and “TURN IT UP” by The Feeling
from Join With Us
Power-pop and dance-rock are kept alive by The Feeling with these two tracks off of their sophomore album, “Join with Us.” The album was released in the UK and has yet to make it to this side of the shore, but it’s one worth the import.

“I Thought It Was Over” adds a little disco-dance flair to their repertoire while “Turn It Up” turns up the sugar-coated goodness of their arena pop-rock sound. The production may be too slick for some, but for me, it’s just right…especially in “Turn it Up.” Soaring, layered harmonies, tinkling piano lines, whizzing synths, crunchy melodic guitar solos, and a little sax in the backing (yes…SAXOPHONES!) make these and the album “Join With Us” a MUST-have for any fan of catchy power-rock like Supertramp and Wings.

“10,000 NIGHTS” and “FASCINATION” by Alphabeat
from This is Alphabeat
It’s from “This is Alphabeat,” the UK debut of Alphabeat, a Danish pop band I started to hear rumblings about in 2007. This six-piece group is a little bit ABBA, a little Scissor Sisters, and a little bit Human League. Warning…you may get tooth day from these songs, but I’ll be damned if neither of these stay with you after the initial listen!

The first song “10,000 Nights” features Anders and Stine (the male and female lead singers) in a classic love duet. I’ll go ahead and say it…it’s most fun love duet I’ve heard since “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.” This one is destined to be a staple of karaoke bars (at least, gay ones) for years to come.

The second song “Fascination” is the killer single off the album and the one that made me first love this band. It’s the hyperkinetic love child of “Footloose” and David Bowie’s “Modern Love.” Granted the lyrics sometimes don’t make a hell of a lot of sense (Easy living…killed the young dudes…in the high boots??), but it is one of the happiest, most carefree songs I’ve heard in ages. This UK video for this is another to search for on Youtube. It’s a colorful collage of dancing, whooping, and confetti. THIS is what pop should be…They start invading the US in early ‘09 when they tour with Katy Perry…damn you, Katy Perry!

“THE LUCKY ONES” and “GOT A HABIT NOW” by Val Emmich
from Little Daggers
This is the other artist in the category of guys who’ve broken the cute singer-songwriter curse. You might remember Val Emmich from his guest role as Jamie, the coffeeboy everybody went gay for on “30 Rock” or you might have seen him on “Ugly Betty.” Well, he’s more than just a pretty face who can act…he’s also a great singer-songwriter whose album “Little Daggers” is one of the sleepers of the year. When I first heard about the album, I though it was a clear candidate for the mopey singer-songwriter bin. I was WRONG.

The lyrics might be dark, but the melodies are upbeat, catchy and produced with just enough bells and whistles that it doesn’t lose its intimacy. Take for instance the album opener…”The Lucky Ones.” The song breaks out of the gate with a stream of “do do do do’s” that will implant themselves in your end long after the song is over. The handclaps and driving beat are uneasily (in a good way) counterbalanced by lyrics like “Every time i take the leap / I think I’ll end up on my feet / But if history tells me anything / I’ll have bruises on my back.”

However, the highlight of the album is “Got a Habit Now,” a confessional about needing alcohol to be open. The gorgeous melody is accented by some faint “oohs” and “doo wops” that all bring to mind Marshall Crenshaw. One of the best odes to drunken honesty…ever…

“HOLD IT IN” and “VICTORIA (Live)” by Jukebox the Ghost
from Live and Let Ghosts
A couple of playlists ago, I extolled the wonders of Jukebox the Ghost, a three-piece piano/guitar/drums band from Washington D.C. Their debut album “Live and Let Ghosts” stands as one of the best of 2008. The last samplings I shared featured guitarist Tommy Siegel on lead vocals. These two spotlight Ben Thronewill (their pianist) singing.

What’s brilliant about the Jukebox the Ghosts song’s is that they inject humor without being overly cloying. “Hold It In” takes the classic scenario of a crush and turns it into this giddy, clap-along self-debate about whether to own up to liking somebody. The video for the song takes things a step further with Peanuts-like illustrations that evoke the old notion of dealing with one’s schoolyard crush.

The second Jukebox track is a live radio performance of “Victoria,” the most recent single by the band. The song highlights Ben’s masterful piano playing showing off his classical background. It further demonstrates how these guys are wizards at the “bop-along” song, tunes to which you’ll just find yourself bobbing your head along uncontrollably. This recording shows that what you hear is what you get with these guys. They are just as great live as they are on record. DEFINITELY ones to keep an eye out for in 2009…

“GOOD DAY,” “WELCOME TO TALLY HALL,” and “TAKEN FOR A RIDE” by Tally Hall
from Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum
Some may consider this a cheat because earlier versions of these songs were released a couple of years ago, BUT the re-recorded 2008 version of this Michigan-based band’s debut “Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum” is one of the best albums of the past five years. I heard about these guys totally by accident. I was sitting in my friend’s Drew car and was screwing around with his CD player in his car. I stumbled upon this CD after a couple of button preses and it was love at first listen…

It would unfair and hard to pigeonhole Tally Hall with one particular style. They’re powerpop, uncursed sensitive singer-songwriters, theatrical, alternative…honestly…it’s pretty pointless to label them. Like Jukebox the Ghost, their songs are humorous and clever without being all “hey, look at us being clever!” The songwriting and production are complex and textured without being overbearing. In a way, they remind me of Jellyfish (circa “Spilt Milk”) with a little bit of restraint….

“Good Day,” the album opener, encapsulates what to expect from Tally Hall…hooky melodies, time changes galore, layer upon layer of vocals, a kaleidoscope of instrumentation, and quirky lyrics. This song, penned by keyboardist Andrew Horowitz, won the John Lennon songwriting award and rightfully so. It goes from being a Cars song to a little Barenaked Ladies to They Might Be Giants to Queen all in the span of a matter of minutes. While on paper it sounds like it could be a mess, it’s not…it all works together very nicely. The video directed by band member Joe Hawley is nothing short of amazing as well…probably my FAVORITE song of 2008.

“Welcome to Tally Hall” is sort of a theme song for the band introducing listeners to the individual members of the band through the wonders of rock and rap. Mmhmm…rap. Nerd rap can often end up being cheesy and hack, but here…not so much. As with other songs on the album, it’s not content to sit in the square box of one style. As it evolves, the song adds some funk, gospel, and jazz to the mix. Again…it shouldn’t work, but it does.

“Welcome to Tally Hall” segues right into “Taken for a Ride.” This was the first song I heard of theirs where I went…”holy shit, who are these guys??” This one’s another Andrew Horowitz-penned song and features a vocodered Andrew singing the lead vocals. It begins as a lost ELO track before moving into Queen territory then takes a left turn into the Polyphonic Spree and ends up 80s new wave territory…all quite brilliantly.

So that’s it…my 20 in ‘08. With a lot of these (like Jon McLaughlin, The Feeling, Alphabeat, Val Emmich, Jukebox the Ghost, and Tally Hall), they’re just tiny samples of really great albums in a really strong year of music. I highly recommend buying the full albums if you like the tracks from which they come! Have a happy new year and here’s to a strong 20 in ‘09!

Download: Panic at the Disco, “Nine In The Afternoon” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, “Populism Yeah Yeah” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Killers, “Human” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Vampire Weekend, “M79″ (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Max Vernon, “I Kissed A Girl” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Hotel Lights, “Amelia Bright” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Ben Folds, “Cologne (Piano Orchestra Version)” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Ludo, “Love Me Dead” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Jon McLaughlin, “You Can Never Go Back” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Feeling, “I Thought It Was Over” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Feeling, “Turn It Up” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Alphabeat, “10,000 Nights” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Alphabeat, “Fascination” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Val Emmich, “The Lucky Ones” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Val Emmich, “Got A Habit Now” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Jukebox the Ghost, “Hold It In” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Jukebox the Ghost, “Victoria (Live)” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Tally Hall, “Good Day” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Tally Hall, “Welcome To Tally Hall” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Tally Hall, “Taken For A Ride” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

How web 2.0 of us. Here’s where we’ll tweet:

http://twitter.com/selectivesrvice

We’ll be posting tweets every time a new list goes live on the site and random musical ephemera, too.

Please note that @selectiveservice was a single character too long (curses!), so be sure to follow @selectivesrvice (no first “e” in service) to be in the know ASAP!

Here’s what rocked and rolled me in ‘08:

1. Ten Minute Turns, “Aluminum Shine”
   from Leaving Robot City
   The best new song from the best unsigned band in Brooklyn. Leaving Robot City adds electronic flourishes to their winning marriage of impeccably-produced indie rock and earworm-inducing hooks, and the results are pretty damn great. This was my #2 most listened-to song of the year, and it only surfaced in November. Really, really good.
2. MGMT, “Kids”
   from Oracular Spectacular
   The most kraut-rocking-est song about environmentalism you’ll hear all year. Oracular Spectacular is an unexpectedly hypnotic cocktail of spaced-out, electronic, rocking psychedelia (much of the album sounds like if the Stones married the disco attitude of “Emotional Rescue” with the LSD-enhanced aesthetic of Their Satanic Majesties Request — really odd and interesting), and it’s eminently listenable from beginning to end. Definitely worth all the hype it received throughout ‘08.
3. Elbow, “Grounds for Divorce”
   from The Seldom Seen Kid
   The Brits loved Kid (it won the ‘08 Mercury Music Prize) more than me (I dug it generally, but often skipped the more meandering numbers), but there’s one thing we can agree on: we lurve the bluesy stomp of “Grounds For Divorce” — it hit #19 across the pond, and was in consistent rotation in iTunes for me. Their best yet.
4. Gnarls Barkley, “Surprise”
   from The Odd Couple
   Gnarls’ second album landed with a bit of a thud for me (there was no way they were going to top “Crazy,” but I was hoping for something with a little more chutzpah), but I found myself happily drawn to this song over and over. It’s a fantastic blend of soul, hip-hop, and bouncy 60’s AM pop, and I’m hoping it serves as a template (or at least a starting point) for future GB ventures.
5. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, “Hold On To Yourself”
   from Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
   My biggest personal musical discovery of ‘08 was definitely Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. Thanks to the advice of some Selective Service faithful, I dug deep enough into his back catalogue to properly prepare me for this year’s Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, and I couldn’t be more thankful. Cave and his band of dark merry-makers released the best album of the year by far, and it was really tough to pick just one song to feature here. Do I go with the title track, a funky, twisted sing-along that re-tells the biblical story of Lazarus? The English-lit-degree-holder-pleasing “We Call Upon The Author”? The dark romance of “Jesus of the Moon”? In the end, the choice was made by song length, actually: “Hold On To Yourself” allowed my list to fit under 80 minutes, but it’s also loaded with some of the most haunting imagery on the album (the roadside memorial to his dead lover is especially vivid: “As Jesus makes the flowers grow/All around the scene of her collision”). Hard to pick a bad song from Dig.
6. Nine Inch Nails, “Discipline”
   from The Slip
   ‘Twas a big year for the newly label-free and reinvigorated NIN: without warning, they dropped a four volume set of moody instrumentals, Ghosts I-IV; about a month after that, they released a proper album, The Slip, online, asking for nothing in return; and then they ended the year with a massively successful world tour. I know the independent online distribution concept has been labeled “the Radiohead model,” but Reznor one-upped them by (1) keeping The Slip available as a free download, (2) embracing Creative Commons licensing for both album releases, and (3) giving away high-quality files (the mp3s for both albums are encoded at very high rates, and you can download free multi-track files for your own remixing fun, unlike the pay-to-play remixing project Radiohead launched). Oh, and the best part? The Slip is really, really good, too. Check it out at the link above — it’s free!
7. Sons & Daughters, “Chains”
   from This Gift
   The line on these Scots is deliciously retro: This Gift is the soundtrack to a movie Quentin Tarantino hasn’t made yet. Lots to love on the whole album, but this shot of old-fashioned, hip-shakin’ pop got the most headphone love and it has staying power — Gift was released back in January, and it never left the small confines of my 8GB iPhone.
8. Ra Ra Riot, “Can You Tell”
   from The Rhumb Line
   The anthemic sound recalls Arcade Fire, but the songs have loads more heart. I really dig the liberal (and tasteful, Mandel!) use of cello and other strings. Beautiful stuff.
9. Ida Maria, “I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked”
   from Fortress Around My Heart
   If PJ Harvey were happier and Swedish Norwegian, she’d sound a lot like this. Her self-titled debut album will finally hit the U.S. in early ‘09, but remember — you (might have) heard her here first!
10. Amanda Palmer, “Leeds United”
    from Who Killed Amanda Palmer?
    As a member of the Boston-based Dresden Dolls, Palmer had the dark cabaret-punk schtick down pat, but working with Ben Folds coaxed the pop songstress out of her. Who Killed Amanda Palmer? is easily the best pop album of the year (and the best work Folds did, too — it’s much more consistently satisfying than Way To Normal), and it’s delightfully unusual fun. There are loads of great songs to be found, but this one stands out most to me — word has it that its lyrics were inspired by a couple of soccer hooligans who disrupted a show of hers in Europe.
11. The Heavy, “Colleen”
    from Great Vengeance and Furious Fire
    What I said this summer is still true: “Great Vengeance is a fantastic, gritty, rocking soul album that’s loaded with more fuzzy guitars, funky horns, and hip-hop beats than a David Holmes soundtrack album. It’s also a nice, taut release: clocking in at just over half an hour, the 10 songs are completely devoid of filler and, in what’s become a sad rarity in modern album-making, really leaves you wanting more. Lead singer Kelvin Swaby’s voice conjures images of a chain-smoking Prince with a hint of falsetto Tom Waits — in fact, opener ‘Brukpocket’s Lament’ had me thinking that Vengeance was an Orphans orphan until the heavy horns kicked in on ‘Colleen.’ Unexpectedly excellent stuff.”
12. Ben Folds, “You Don’t Know Me (feat. Regina Spektor)”
    from Way To Normal
    I had very low expectations of Folds’ new album thanks to his dreadful last release Songs For Silverman, so I was happily shocked to discover that he’d rediscovered his groove of classic piano-pop. Normal is pretty good, clean fun from start to finish, altho the more pop-culture-y references and the occasional shot of vulgarity feel a bit forced. The album’s highlight is certainly “Cologne,” but Because Mandel is a Folds freak and I am a gentleman, I decided not to repeat his pick on my list (even though I debuted my list first!). This tune is a close second, tho, so don’t feel slighted. The appearance of Ms. Spektor is gravy.
13. Sharleen Spiteri, “All The Times I Cried”
    from Melody
    Without Spiteri and her band Texas’ hit single “Black Eyed Boy” in 1997, I don’t think there would have been a 60’s soul-pop revival for Amy Winehouse to lead. Spiteri’s always had a pop historian edge to her blue-eyed soulful sound, and on her first solo outing, Melody, she sounds like she’s opened a time capsule of symphonic 60’s pop songs that time forgot.
14. Tom Jones, “In Style And Rhythm”
    from 24 Hours
    The old man proves that he’s still got it on his new album 24 Hours, and this is by far the coolest song of the bunch: lifestyle advice set to a swinging retro beat.
15. Primal Scream, “Beautiful Future”
    from Beautiful Future
    The Scream found their swagger again on Beautiful Future, returning to the electric roots of Evil Heat and XTRMNTR, but adding krautrock and pop to their mix. The result is much brighter sounding, but the lyrics have a delightful darkness to them.
16. The Gutter Twins, “Idle Hands”
    from Saturnalia
    To quote myself: “Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan make beautiful, elegantly sinister music together. Their debut album Saturnalia is a bit of a dark affair, but the songs often soar with energy and rich in imagery. Lanegan also proves that he’s a vocalist without peer: he hits notes that are impossibly low, and on a number of tunes (especially ‘Idle Hands’), his voice becomes a potent instrument, adding a unique texture that’s hard to forget. Great stuff.”
17. The Kills, “Last Day Of Magic”
    from Midnight Boom
    What I said earlier this year still stands: “the songs [on Midnight Boom] are a winning mix of unpredictable, lo-fi percussion; jumpy, amazingly catchy hooks; and snarling, fuzzy riffs. It’s a sleek, taut album, too: with each song clocking in somewhere between 2 and 3.5 minutes, sometimes cutting off just as a song really gets percolating (I could listen to the chorus of ‘Last Day Of Magic’ for 45 minutes, but they wisely cut it at 3:20), they leave you wanting more — it’s amazingly re-listenable. I’ve yet to find a song worth skipping.” Have fun getting “Last Day Of Magic” out of your head.
18. TV On The Radio, “Golden Age”
    from Dear Science
    Something about art-rockers TV On The Radio has never sat well with me: their previous albums were sonically adventurous but absolutely tuneless. All that’s changed with Dear Science, their newest album. They finally found a way to channel their diverse influences (rock, punk, funk, soul, jazz) into a catchy, fun dance album while still keeping the sound dense and complex. There’s nobody out there that sounds quite like these guys.
19. Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, “Fix it”
    from Cardinology
    Adams and his insanely talented band hit another home run with Cardinology, their most recent collection of classic-rock-flavored Americana, and “Fix It” is the album’s emotional center. Beautiful, heartbreaking stuff.
20. Mates of State, “Help Help”
    from Re-Arrange Us
    I usually have a low tolerance for power-pop, but the Mates of State have swayed my ears thanks to killer tunes and thoughtful indie arrangements. Their album is a solid treat from beginning to end.
21. The Two Man Gentlemen Band, “When Your Lips Are Playing My Kazoo”
    from Heavy Petting
    I can confidently tell you that the 2 Gents are the nation’s finest upright bass/banjo/kazoo duo. Viva la double entendre!

If I had to rank the albums you should add to your collection this year, it would look like this:

1. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
2. MGMT, Oracular Spectacular
3. TV On The Radio, Dear Science
4. Amanda Palmer, Who Killed Amanda Palmer?
5. The Heavy, Great Vengeance And Furious Fire
6. Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, Cardinology
7. The Kills, Midnight Boom
8. Mates Of State, Re-Arrange Us
9. Ten Minute Turns, Leaving Robot City
10. Sharleen Spiteri, Melody

Enjoy the tunes!

Download: Ten Minute Turns, “Aluminum Shine” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: MGMT, “Kids” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Elbow, “Grounds for Divorce” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Gnarls Barkley, “Surprise” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, “Hold On To Yourself” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Nine Inch Nails, “Discipline” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Sons & Daughters, “Chains” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Ra Ra Riot, “Can You Tell” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Ida Maria, “I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Amanda Palmer, “Leeds United” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Heavy, “Colleen” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Ben Folds, “You Don’t Know Me (feat. Regina Spektor)” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Sharleen Spiteri, “All The Times I Cried” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Tom Jones, “In Style And Rhythm” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Primal Scream, “Beautiful Future” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Gutter Twins, “Idle Hands” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Kills, “Last Day Of Magic” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: TV On The Radio, “Golden Age” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, “Fix it” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Mates of State, “Help Help” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Two Man Gentlemen Band, “When Your Lips Are Playing My Kazoo” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

1. MGMT, “Time To Pretend” from Oracular Spectacular
Well I guess most people have probably heard this by now. When I first heard about them towards the beginning of this year, and Sam simultaneously gave me their music, we both jammed on this album incessantly for a while. Luckily his thing was “Kids”, mine was this tune - both are tour de force celebrations of analog glam dance rock, courtesy of Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev producer Dave Fridmann. Sam just had the good sense to pick the tune that didn’t end up in the film “21″, among other oversaturations. But y’know, I just couldn’t sacrifice this one. It is by far the most-listened-to track on my iPod ever (according to my iTunes, since adding “Oracular Spectacular” on March 3rd, I’ve spent a total of 15 hours playing just this one song), and every time I think I’ve grown sick of it and will put it away forever, it comes on some day I’m in the back of the store or something, and I’m blown away all over again. If you’re not already sick of this song, I hope you enjoy it! …And if you don’t know this song, I guess I can probably count on you not knowing the rest of my list, so thank you!

2. james, “Hey Ma” from Hey Ma
Boy am I a dope sometimes. I only discovered the band james through a recommendation this year. And immediately I had a headslapping V-8 moment. I mean this is a band that bridges the gap from new wave and post-punk through 90’s anti-grunge bright jangly pop rock, and are still active and relevant today. They connect the dots nicely between when U2 stopped sounding like this and when U2 started sounding like this again. They’re from Manchester. They’re oft-produced by some guy named Brian Eno. They’ve been around long enough to have their own influencees: The Helio Sequence’s “Lately” is an unapologetic love-letter to the james “sound”, and even (I know this is blasphemy) The Fireman’s “Sing The Changes” seems to feed a bit off james’ exuberant “Laid”. And I’d never even heard of them until a few months ago! Yeah that still happens to me sometimes. Not that I really mind, it just spurs me on through a new door to discover more music, even entire genres or scenes, of which I was previously unaware. So between picking up james’ timely new album, tracking down their backlist, and branching out to contemporaries like The Go-Betweens and The La’s, I’ve added a lot of new music to my soul this year. Here I’m glad to share my favorite song from the new album, a wonderfully pointed derisive attack on our current American president and his foreign policy. Thankfully this sort of thing suddenly seems a bit dated, and I don’t mind a bit.

3. Mates Of State, “Get Better” from Re-Arrange Us
Another gift from Sam, this album became one of my favorites of the year. I love Tegan & Sara, I love Rilo Kiley, but they didn’t have anything new this year (discounting Jenny Lewis’ sleepy solo stuff), so this will do nicely. It works pretty well after the last song too, beginning as it does with the lyric, “Forget all your politics for a while”. It also is the first in a coincidental trilogy of songs on my list whose titles are concerned with being “better”.

4. Pete & The Pirates, “Mr. Understanding” from Little Death
I came across this while sifting through mountains of year-end “best of” lists, recommendations, etc etc - all in a vain (read “narcissistic”, not “fruitless”) attempt to improve my own year-end list. As per my usual process, I checked out a song, then another song, then another… I was reminded of what George Martin said about first meeting The Beatles, that he was trying choose who would be the solo star he could pick out of the band and lift up out of moptopped obscurity, and nothing was inherently obvious - until it hit him like a ton of bricks, that it was the whole package that was working so well. Here I was looking for a good song or two, and found one of my favorite albums of the year. I’ve since given copies to a few friends, with the always evolving description that this kinda sounds like what it might have been like if Ian Curtis’ medication had worked, he’d stayed alive, Bernard Sumner had eschewed synthesizers for singing close harmony, they went out on tour with The Jam and really developed this new exuberant sound, and voila! You’ve got this irrepressably happy album that sounds like it was found on vinyl at the back of a bin labeled “Manchester, 1980″. This song in particular features a melodic riff of the type where you can picture the band jamming one day and someone launches into the tune and they all break off laughing, looking at each other and saying, “yeah we can’t really get away with that, can we?” Then you can picture them later that night, unable to get that melody out of their heads, suddenly calling each other up and getting back in the studio as soon as possible to record what just might be a hit single if they can pass that melodic meme onto the world. With this wonderfully fun and spontaneous image in mind, I was a bit hesitant to actually find out anything about these guys, I guess fearing that their public image would somehow be at offputting odds with what I hear coming through in their music - but then I broke down and watched the video for this song that came free with the download of the album. And what a treat (and relief) it was to see a couple of young guys having a blast putting together the kind of home-made video I used to make with my bandmates ten years ago - just singing into the camera, popping flashlights on and off, rhythmic edits, clever stop-action stuff, lots of self-deprecating humor… It personally made me love these guys all the more, and this song especially, simple as it may be, just good old romping repetitive single note chugging harmonic post-punk madness. A division of actual joy. I dare you not to like this song. I triple dog dare you.

5. Gnarls Barkley, “A Little Better” from The Odd Couple
The second in my “Better” trilogy, this is a wonderful example of Cee-Lo and Dangermouse’s “The Beatles Meet Sly And The Family Stone” style of production. I really don’t have a lot of deep analysis about this one, I just love the thumping sampled beat (something sorely missing from most hip-hop production these days), the “Sun King”-reminiscent bassline and the touches of cavernous reverb that punctuate the vocals here and there. It also ends with the sound of a film projector running down, one of those anachronistic sounds (a telephone bell ringing, a tape rewinding) that has lived on in pop culture meaning long after its source context has gone the way of the 8-track. For a recent example, the second Hellboy film just came out on DVD, and it contains a bit where Abe Sapien is listening to one piece of music and hastily changes it to another as Hellboy enters the room. This action is accompanied by the familiar but incongruous sound of a needle being yanked across vinyl - something that for generations to come will be recognized for its meaning if not for its origin. A similar example happens in modern film when the bad guy walks into the rollicking bar and the jukebox stops playing! As if it’s the pinstriped piano player reacting to the sudden pall of dread in an old Western bar! Really, think about it. I obviously do, too much. And I lied, I apparently did have a lot of analysis about this one…

6. Okkervil River, “Calling And Not Calling My Ex” from The Stand Ins
Probably the best-written song on my list this year, this features recognizably literal yet poetically arranged word imagery, and a clever bouncy rhyme scheme that never becomes pretentious or gets in the way of the story at hand. The story happens to be about wistfully wishing well to your ex, and its final concluding line reminds me of the similarly themed “You Could Be Happy” by Snow Patrol, that appeared on my list last year.

7. Adele, “Cold Shoulder” from 19
It’s come to my attention that I may have potholed this from Sam’s lawn… Sorry man, but you gave me this! ha ha ha. Again, this year had no Amy Winehouse, no Sharon Jones, no Dap-Kings. But it did have Sharleen Spiteri, Nikki Costa, She & Him, and Adele; this wonderful slice of old-fashioned smoky R&B/soul, another of my favorite albums of the year. But I’m sure Sam will have more to gush about this, so I’ll let him (and this song) speak for me.

8. The Magnetic Fields, “California Girls” from Distortion
Another recent historic area of music I’ve been spelunking through has been what some seem to oversimplify as the “Shoegaze” era of music. In general I guess it’s supposed to refer to introspective music played by introspective musicians to introspective crowds, all so “into” the music that nobody acts out in any way that would distract from the pure essence of just playing, or listening to, said music - often (as Alan put it best) swaying back and forth with head down, gazing at one’s shoes. I dunno, having missed out on the scene in the late eighties and early nineties (in favor of following the evolving hip-hop and techno side of things), that seems like a ridiculous over-generalization, but hey they called stuff “grunge” once too. I don’t really know about the scene, but the corresponding music seems to start off with the ear-piercing-fuzz-tone / soaked-in-reverb interpolations of Phil Spector’s girl-group wall of sound that The Jesus And Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine plucked wholly out of thin air. It then continues on with the droning neo-psychedelia of Spaceman 3 and Galaxie 500 being added into the mix, all that pretension stripped away by Sonic Youth and Pixies, and finally tops off with people like The Dandy Warhols and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club tying it all back into good old R&B-riffing rock ‘n’ roll. I found a lot of great music from the recent past, but I’m also pleased to report that people like The Magnetic Fields (and later in this list, The Raveonettes) are still pulling this stuff off without sounding camp or kitsch, reaching all the way back to The Jesus And Mary Chain for that Spector-On-Mars sound. Basically, music that now fits well with Spector’s choice of lifestyle (and hairdo). This is the less popular version of this Left-Coast-lampooning song, featuring the lower male voice of the group, but I far prefer it.

9. Sparks, “Good Morning” from Exotic Creatures Of The Deep
Wow. The spirits of ABBA, Queen and Enya are all still alive and kicking in this song. At first, I was overjoyed to find that some new group I’d never heard of was pulling off this outrageously glam sound. Then I found to my chagrin that it was some very old group I’d never heard of. Sparks have been around in one form or another, doing this kind of music, since back before “glam” was a section at your local record store. HA! Like you have a local record store anymore. On a personal side-note, I do feel I have to apologize to Mandel for “stealing” this one - when I first heard it, my instant reaction was, “Wow, I have to show this to Mandel!” …Then my end-of-the-year-itis kicked in and I selfishly kept it for myself and this list. Sorry! But I look forward to having my mind blown by the songs my esteemed colleague does come up with. One things’s for sure, if his list contains any more music like this track, we’re all going to need a nice big shot of insulin…

10. We Are Scientists, “After Hours” from Brain Thrust Mastery
Modern English’s “Melt With You” is unapologetically one of my favorite songs of all time. And I guess I’m hardly alone there. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Helio Sequence, Film School, Editors, The Killers, The Bravery etc… there seem to be many bands out there that have modeled their entire catalog (whether through evolutional influence or intelligent design) after new-wave post-punk anthems like “Melt With You”, “Just Like Heaven” and “Love Will Tear Us Apart”. And I’ve got zero problem with that, it’s brought back (or if you look hard enough, sustained throughout) a favorite and formative musical genre in my life. This year this is the song that best delivers on its obvious influences without ever crossing over into parody. It also contains one of a few things I’ll point out in my list this year, what I’ll refer to as “producer moments”, bits I can easily point to as examples of what music producers “do” - something I’ve had to try and explain in ephemeral terms many times in my life. In this song, it comes at the 2:57 point, when the line “no one has the guts to shut us out” is repeated. Setting aside that the repetition itself may have been the producer’s suggestion, we get to the actual moment and we hear the drums cut out and the vocals suddenly awash in reverb, enhancing the plaintive emotion of the singer. But what’s really cool is how the producer has heard that this works best if you leave just the beginning of the first word in the phrase (”no”), then quickly cut off the unprocessed vocals and replace them with nothing but reverb. This enables the listener to immediately identify that the upcoming phrase will be a repetition of what was just said, only this time the words are unimportant. What is important is the sound of the moment, the emotional atmosphere that is suddenly injected, then retracted as the drums build back up into the chorus. A chorus which now strategically has the first lines missing, to better let the emotional shift of that break and return sink in, as well as not let the refrain get too boring. There’s also a backwards reverb, a fading up lead-in to the chorus line of “time means nothing”. This adds to the anticipation of the return of the refrain, what you have become used to hearing over this piece of music. Adding the fade-in backwards reverb enhances what the listener’s brain is already doing at the moment: sitting on the edge of its mental seat, actually hearing the upcoming vocals coming before they happen. As the esteemed Dr. Frank N Furter best put it, it’s all about “antici……………….. pation” Anyway yeah, that’s the kind of thing an attentive producer does. And sure, it may have been someone in the band who suggested these moments, but my point is it doesn’t matter who suggested it, at that moment they were producing! As I’ve oversimply described my job many times, producing is hearing what isn’t there yet. You hear where music should “go”, as if in a specific direction, but you can’t point to it anymore than the 2D character in Edwin A. Abbott’s “Flatland” could point “up”. It’s impossible to convey or communicate, you just have to jump up and seize the moment and tell the girls to say “da doo ron ron ron” over and over for no reason other than you heard it in your head. (Or in the case of this song, for some reason an accordian, a sitar and a fiddle all make fleeting blink-and-you-miss-it appearances in the second verse, as if the ghost of George Harrison was haunting the mixing board) You hear a lot in your head as a producer - which is probably why some end up going ’round the bend, recording silence in the wilderness, calling for more cowbell, or just showing up at their murder trial looking like the Groom Of Frankenstein. Ariel Rechtshaid certainly has a long way to go before facing that particular fork in the road of sanity, but for now I’m glad he’s gone spare enough to give us one of the best- produced rock songs of the year.

11. The Raveonettes, “Dead Sound” from Lust Lust Lust
Speaking of Phil, here’s more of that Spector-broadcasting-from-Mars sound. This has an even stronger visceral connection to the old girl-group sound considering we’ve got ethereal female vocals leading the charge. Behind that there’s a thick bed of earpiercing fuzzy guitar, which breaks off into earpiercing sweet chimes every once in a while. And “earpiercing” pretty much sums it up. This is the aural equivalent of sharpening a candy cane and then jamming it through your eardrum: the sweetest thing that’ll ever make your ears bleed.

12. Why?, “These Few Presidents” from Alopecia
Whoa, who? Why? Well why not. This is from my favorite album of the year. There I was as the Fall approached, comfortable and content in the unshakability of MGMT’s “Oracular Spectacular” as my favorite album, then this came along shaking its head and waving a big sonic bat behind its back to whack some updated sense into me. The album is just all the hell over the place, running the gamut of hip-hop, fuzzy shoegaze, bright pop rock (the last Rickenbacher guitar not owned by Paul McCartney or Roger McGuinn pops up in one song), eerie harmonies, quirky lyrics, it’s kinda like The Flaming Lips are running down the street one way, and MC Paul Barman the other, and they get their chocolate in each other’s peanut butter. That’s not a euphemism, at least for anything but constantly evolving and entertaining music, never settling for repeating something good, always trying to find the next left field to pull something out of. I first fell in love with this song, but the whole album is a trip well worth taking.

13. Death Cab For Cutie, “Your New Twin Sized Bed” from Narrow Stairs
This is pretty standard fare from the most consistantly entertaining pop group to be named after an obscure bit in a Monty Python film. But it does contain another couple of “producer moments”, specifically the fading in backwards echoed words “I guess” during the first verse, and the explosion of vocal reverb at the bridge, reminiscent of the gated effects used on David Bowie’s voice in “Heroes”. It’s also just great to hear a song these days that has a bridge at all. My friend Benn was recently lamenting the lack of fun song structure, especially the bridge, in today’s popular music. I agreed, and postulated that it may be the effect of hip-hop and electronica dumbing down what audiences demand from their music these days. To clarify - I’m a huge fan of both hip-hop and electro, and have faithfully followed their evolution since the mid 1980’s. But it’s true that with a band, a bunch of guys and gals standing around actually playing instruments, interesting musical changes just pop up all the time. The bassist screws up and the rest of the band likes it better, the drummer subtly changes tempo to fit the mood, the xylophonist suggests that sliding in a diminished fifth would really rock, it’s just the way bands have been doing music forever. But when you’re working with drum machines and keyboards and samplers, the temptation to just find a groove that works and leave it that way is hard to resist. Mainly because if you “feel” that a change should happen at a certain point in the song (a lifetime of Lennon/McCartney training kicking in), you can’t just point to the guitarist and say, “now go la-la-LA!” You have to find another sample, or program a different keyboard loop, or a fill on your drum machine. I’m good at drum programming, I’ve been doing it since 1985, and I’ve been sampling drum loops since 1986. None of that is ever as easy or as spontaneous as the random fills and changes a real drummer comes up with, fueled by the emotion of the moment. So while yes, I love hip-hop and electronica, I lament the influence that “find a groove and you’ve got your song” approach to songmaking (and subsequently songwriting) has had on modern popular music. With most songs on the radio these days, once you’ve heard the first 30 seconds, it’s just lather rinse repeat after that. And sure, an easy defense would be to point out that hip-hop, in sampling funk and soul, is continuing the tradition of groove those genres had. Well yes… BUT one must remember that even though they’d find a groove and jam on it incessantly, they always remembered to (as James Brown so famously cried out) “take it to the bridge!!!” Thank you Death Cab For Cutie for remembering to take The Godfather at his word.

14. Lily Allen, “I Don’t Know” from MySpace
I really wish Miss Allen would finally put out an album of these new songs she’s been debuting, in various stages of completion, on her MySpace page. But she’s had a rough year, lots of ups and downs, and if she wants to wait until everything is done to her satisfaction, who am I to complain. Luckily I grabbed this song off her page while it was still available. I’ve tried to clean it up a bit, but it’s from a low-quality MP3 and hell, that’s for the best, we’ll all line up to get the real thing once it becomes available. Oh, and for anybody out there who remembers the children’s science show “3-2-1-Contact!” on PBS in the 80’s: the music for this one is oddly reminiscent of the theme song for that show. It’s the answer! It’s the reason! Why everything happens! Enjoy!

15. Vampire Weekend, “A-Punk” from Vampire Weekend
Okay, at first glance, just more poser hipsters playing at being Hard-Fi or (shudder) The Kaiser Chiefs. But then suddenly you realize that it’s not just ska guitars… What is that, pan-flute? Steam organ? A squeezebox? All set over a barnstormer of a bassline, dipping and diving and finishing off each phrase with a just a sprig of harmony… This one song keeps it pretty simple and enjoyable, but check out the rest of the album as well. It’s finely crafted catchy pop, but done with the experimental edge of Talking Heads or Paul Simon. Yeah that’s it - this is the sound of a world where “Cecilia” and “Mother And Child Reunion” were as epically influential as “Roadrunner” and “Anarchy In The UK”.

16. Doomtree, “Dots & Dashes” from Doomtree
It’s getting close… One of these years, I won’t have any hip-hop on my year-end list, and the world shall weep. Well I guess not really. But hell, hip-hop’s been in my life since 1984, I’ve followed it through some tough times before (it turns out Hammer did hurt, a lot), but this year I had to go looking further than usual for some interesting hip-hop to include on here. Once I (quickly) waded past all of T-Whoever / Li’l Whoever’s thousand or so reggaeton-infused issues of Gigantic Asses, and swam out to find something deeper, I found myself in dire need of water wings. Sure, MURS had a pretty good album, and his song “Can It Be (Half A Million Dollars And 18 Months Later)” has a great hook and politically charged lyrics, but it just didn’t fit musically with anything else on my list. Roots and J-Live had reliable, typical albums, no particular stand-outs. Del, The Mighty Underground, Lyrics Born, they all had disappointing entries this year, albums yielding at the most one or two interesting songs. Then fairly late in the game, it was Doomtree to the rescue! Featuring wonderfully musical and varying production, female and male vocals, and attention to song structure rarely found in hip-hop these days (as previously ranted about), this was the most pleasant of surprises. This song’s also got another of those producer moments: in the last verse, where the guy takes over lead vocals and the loop drops out but the organ chords keep chugging, I was listening and suddenly realized that the high guitar stab that had so wonderfully punctuated the loop earlier in the song should make a re-appearance on its own. And so I pointed to the speaker right at the moment when it was “supposed” to pop up again, and hey presto! Hands raised in triumph, I knew I’d finally found the kind of hip-hop song I’d proudly include on this list. I only hope there’s more of this in the future, and less of… well, turn on MTV. No wait. Don’t. Just don’t.

17. Noah And The Whale, “5 Years Time” from Peaceful, The World Lay Me Down
Damn commercialism! I discovered this song and was just overjoyed something this fun and catchy hadn’t been appropriated for a Prius commercial or something. Unfortunately I don’t watch enough TV, for I found out later that it actually had been used in a car commercial, for Saturn! Dejected but not without hope (I mean it’s only Saturn!), I still intended to proudly show off this “discovery” to all of you. And then I was in Starbucks the other day and it was piping out of their speakers. Bah. Anyway, I’ll still include it here, hope you’re all not sick of it by the time this post is published. The song grabbed me right away, quirky and jumpy, and it struck me as being the best eels song from this eels-less year - albeit with ukelele substituting for guitar, and male and female harmonies subbing for E’s mopey drone. Still, I’d would love to see eels perform this sometime as an encore or something, it seems made to be MOE’d.

18. Earlimart, “Before It Gets Better” from Hymn And Her
And now to the best Aimee Mann song from this year! Which is unfortunate, considering Aimee Mann actually did release an album this year… But I like this hypnotic pulsing track better than anything on Mann’s album, so here you go. As far as producer moments, this has a couple, but they’re things I hear that I would have suggested had I been there, things I hear not happening in the song and I miss them. But since I can’t aptly communicate that to you in words, I won’t even try. Rest assured I still obviously love this song enough to present it to you here.

19. M83, “Graveyard Girl” from Saturdays=Youth
This was another really pleasant surprise, and one that I don’t mind showing up on lots of other “best of” year-end lists. The album can best be described as a soundtrack for some long-lost John Hughes film circa 1987, complete with beds of “shoegazey” guitar, whispery analog synths, ethereal reverbed vocals, mechanically precise “She’s Lost Control” style drums, spoken word bits about how much it sucks to be a teenager, etc… And yet it has a fresh clean “new song smell”, it never just seems like some homage or parody of that long-lost day-glo decade. There’s actually a lot of 1980’s showing up in songs here in 2008, something perhaps worthy of an entire other post. Hmmm…

20. Blitzen Trapper, “Furr” from Furr
This was a last-minute replacement for Fleet Foxes’ CSN-does-Pet-Sounds “White Winter Hymnal”, which you’ve probably heard, and even worse seen for sale next to your morning latte-chino or whatever. It struck me as strangely symmetrical to replace Foxes with Furr, as long as I don’t get splashed with red paint or anything. Anyway as far as this song - hey, who misses Cat Stevens, raise your hand! Here you go, here’s a good old folky fable for you, complete with playful limerick rhyme scheme and rambling melodic arrangement, and oh yes, a feedback echo on a harmonica, something I don’t know if I’ve ever heard before. This was the last discovery 2008 had waiting for me, but it’s last not least, and has proven to be one of those songs I just keep playing over and over. Hope it does the same for you.

21. She & Him, “Sentimental Heart” from Volume One
I remember thinking when I saw “Elf” that Zooey Deschanel actually appeared to have a good singing voice - kinda lazy and charming, a perfect fit for her Margaret Whiting half of the duet she sings with Will Ferrell. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who noticed, as bluesy popsmith M Ward sought her out for an album of old-fashioned Dusty Springfieldian torch songs. It works best in small doses, but this track is my favorite. And capping off the general nostalgic feeling is the old-fashioned way it ends, fading off just as everything is really hitting its stride. In fact, this and the similarly old-fashioned-sounding “California Girls” are the only songs on my list to have a proper fade-out. Leave ‘em wanting more, I guess. Miss Whiting would be proud.

22. Ruckus Roboticus, “A Child’s Introduction To Drums” from Playing With Scratches
I think this guy has been creeping around my vinyl collection while I’m out at work or something. He’s cobbled together a bunch of fun samples from children’s records, set them to thumping hip-hop beats, and given us a wholly entertaining album for fans of DJ Shadow, The Avalanches, Z-Trip, Cut Chemist, Dan The Automator etc. This track is a celebration of drums, or as Napoleon once put it, “Leetle theengs, heeting eech othaire!!!”, and I’ll gladly use it to close out my 2008 with a bang.

Update: Now with MP3 goodness!

Download: MGMT, “Time To Pretend” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: James, “Hey Ma” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Mates Of State, “Get Better” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Pete & The Pirates, “Mr. Understanding” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Gnarls Barkley, “A Little Better” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Okkervil River, “Calling And Not Calling My Ex” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Adele, “Cold Shoulder” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Magnetic Fields, “California Girls” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Sparks, “Good Morning” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: We Are Scientists, “After Hours” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Raveonettes, “Dead Sound” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Why?, “These Few Presidents” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Death Cab For Cutie, “Your New Twin Sized Bed” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Lily Allen, “I Don’t Know” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Vampire Weekend, “A-Punk” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Doomtree, “Dots & Dashes” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Noah And The Whale, “5 Years Time” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Earlimart, “Before It Gets Better” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: M83, “Graveyard Girl” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Blitzen Trapper, “Furr” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: She & Him, “Sentimental Heart” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Ruckus Roboticus, “A Child’s Introduction To Drums” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

For the first time, in the history of Selective Service, we’re featuring an all-Huey Lewis and the News set of playlists!

OK, maybe not… but there is a bit of history involved as this month’s playlists are time machines. As we close out the year and face a barrage of “Best of 2008″ lists (something you’ll see later this month here), we’ll kick off the month highlighting the “Best of” for a memorable year in music for us.

A lot of times when hearing a song from a certain year, it will act as that Delorean reflecting what was going on in society. Songs like “Revolution” and “Street Fighting Man” characterized the volatility of 1968, while “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy” and “Y.M.C.A.” epitomized the sexual, cocaine-filled haze of 1978. But then, a song can just simply make us nostalgic for a period in our lives as often happens with people our age whenever something from the 80s pops up on the shuffle.

So, come with us by downloading these tracks and gearing up to 88 MPH with this December set of Selective Service playlists!

• The Man(del) from UNCLE’s “E.P.: The Extraordinary Playlist”
• U.N.K.L.E. Matt’s “It’s The 20080’s!”
• Uncle Sam’s “When I Was 21, It Was A Very Good Year”
• Onkel Rudi’s “Road Tripping 1991″

I’m following Uncle Sam a bit here, as I feel like relating the music that reminds me of a year, rather than just music from said year. That said….

1991 was the year where I discovered and embraced the road trip.

And I blame my friend Menasheh for this. Thank you, Menasheh!

I graduated from high school in the summer of 1991. By that point, I had my own car (a 1991 Dodge Raider 2-door with the V6 engine) and wanted to spread my wings a little. So road trips outside of our Utah home had a certain allure.

The first of these trips was a ramble to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. The seed to this was laid shortly after I graduated, when Menasheh and I were helping our friend, Jeremiah, get his girlfriend, Susi, on a Greyhound bus headed for California. As we waited at the bus terminal, conversation turned to summer and music. James Taylor and the Indigo Girls entered into the mix, and somebody - I can’t remember who, other than it wasn’t me - mentioned Telluride and their festival, and how JT, the Indigos and Béla Fleck would be there. I think that I pondered this for about 20 seconds before saying “we should go.”

And Menasheh and I did go to the festival. The venue at Telluride is awe-inspiring: the town is at the end of a glacially-carved canyon, so the PA from the festival ends up filling the entire town with sound. I vividly remember hearing the music from the festival grounds as I rode my mountain bike up the trails of the ski area.

At this wonderful event, I first heard David Wilcox and became more familiar with the works of Indigo Girls and James Taylor. I remember Wilcox playing “Daddy’s Money,” as well as his sitting in with Amy Ray and Emily Sailers on “Kid Fears” - the first two songs in this set. I’ve been a fan of both artists ever since. Additionally, Béla Fleck was a popular guy at this festival: he had mainstage sets both with The Flecktones as well as the only-at-Telluride group, Strength In Numbers (a bluegrass supergroup, featuring Fleck, Sam Bush, Edgar Meyer, Jerry Douglas and Mark O’Connor).

On the drive back, Menasheh introduced me to Paul Simon’s “Hearts And Bones,” which is one of my favorites of the Simon canon - and one that I enjoy playing on guitar.

Our second road trip of 1991 was a spontaneous New Year’s Eve weekend trip to California. This trip took us through Reno, Nevada, past the shores of Lake Tahoe and into Yosemite National Park, before heading to Monterey and Santa Cruz, and then the San Francisco Bay area. It was only a 5 or 6-day journey, and we decided to go with only 2 or 3 days’ notice. It was raw road tripping, and a lot of fun.

Along the way, we listened to a lot of our favorite songs on the newly-installed tape deck in the Raider. I spun up a lot of songs by The Beatles, including the happy “I’ve Just Seen A Face,” while Menasheh introduced me to The Rolling Stones‘ superb Let It Bleed album, where “Gimme Shelter” gripped me from the first haunting notes to the very end.

On New Year’s Eve, we ended up listening to part of The Grateful Dead’s concert from Oakland Coliseum (it was simulcast on a local public radio station) while parked on Twin Peaks - we heard all of Béla Fleck and The Flecktones’ opening set, followed by a bit of The Dead’s jam-laden set - before heading into the Nob Hill area to spend the rest of the evening at an improv comedy club. It was a fun evening, and a fun trip.

On the return trip - my purchases from Amoeba and Rasputin’s in hand - we made excellent time, doing the entire return drive from Berkeley to Salt Lake City in one monster stretch. This included driving through an ice fog that enveloped central Nevada and getting my little, boxy car up to 125 mph on Interstate 80 (what can I say? I was young and naïve at the time).

Those road trips were great times, for sure. These songs take me right back.

Download: “Daddy’s Money” - David Wilcox (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Kid Fears” - Indigo Girls (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Blu-Bop” - Béla Fleck and The Flecktones (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Hearts And Bones” - Paul Simon (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “I’ve Just Seen A Face” - The Beatles (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Gimme Shelter” - The Rolling Stones (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Casey Jones” - The Grateful Dead (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

…because 1997 was really the year I “got” music in the way some people “get” religion. When I came to college, my entire CD collection fit into a Nike high-top shoebox. When I left, it occupied about 4 entire milk crates. Some of that growth was due to the late, great BMG CD club (which I joined early and often), but most of it was thanks to Rudi, who didn’t know what kind of monster he was creating when he showed me my first issue of Q magazine. It (and the occasional bundled CDs) opened the door wide to British music, and I quickly became a voracious musical Anglophile.

I’d been a big fan of Brit rock (Oasis, Kula Shaker, and Pulp all spent quality time in my CD player), but Q (and the soundtrack to Trainspotting, too) broadened my horizons past jangly guitars. I quickly distanced myself from the Dave Matthews/Rusted Root scene that thrived on campus and dived head-first into electronica, trip-hop, and British pop. ‘97 was the year I became obsessed with Primal Scream, got into arguments over the merit of Future Sound of London’s “Dead Cities,” and turned my writing for my campus newspaper into a weekly review of the latest & greatest in (for the campus populace at large) obscure British music. Good times.

There’s a lot of music that debuted in ‘97 that I discovered & loved much after the fact (Björk’s Homogenic is a prime example), but I decided to give you a list of exactly where my head was at that year. Hope you dig!

1. Primal Scream, “Burning Wheel”
   I never would have discovered the Scream without the soundtrack to Trainspotting. The wordless titular track on the CD intrigued me, and it lead me to the Scream’s ‘97 album Vanishing Point which blew me completely away — I’d never heard anything like it (which, wonderfully, is par for the course for most Scream albums). This opening track from the album sets the table & sums the it up nicely: equal parts late-60’s Stones, Detroit punk, Madchester dance, and hallucinogenic dub, all of it utterly captivating.
2. The Prodigy, “Breathe”
   Remember the firestorm of controversy around The Prodigy? Misogynistic samples (”Smack My Bitch Up”), aggressive songs (”Firestarter”), and a freaky, frightening public face (Keith Flint) took their ‘97 album The Fat Of The Land to #1 in both the US and UK. It didn’t hurt that Fat is loaded with innovative music that was the first truly popular blending of dance music, rock n’ roll, and punk attitude, too. I do believe our culture has turned a corner, tho: just a couple weeks ago, the NBC show used “Smack My Bitch Up” to accompany a fight between two women on an episode of Chuck.
3. David Bowie, “I’m Afraid Of Americans”
   See? I wasn’t the only person to jump into British techno feet-first: David Bowie made Earthling, a whole album steeped in the (then) current jungle/electronica culture. This tune actually owns a lot to the mutual love-fest between Bowie and NIN’s Trent Reznor that was going on at the time — the menacing, fuzzy guitars and pseudo-industrial sheen of the beat could certainly pass for ‘97-era NIN. Reznor actually remixed this track six times over on a CD single (one version features [oddly] Ice Cube rapping), but I still prefer this original. It’s a great, paranoid song.
4. Texas, “Black Eyed Boy”
   This I discovered thanks to one of Q’s year-end best-of CD compilations — I remember the first time I heard it, thinking “who are Texas, and why do they sound so much like the Supremes?” The answers are (1) they’re a Scottish pop band whose fourth album shot them into the stratosphere in their native UK (White On Blonde hit #1 and spawned 5 British top-10 singles) and (2) it turns out they’re masters of classic-sounding blue-eyed soul, hitting the 60’s-throwback-pop mark a decade before Amy Winehouse made it über-popular. Singer Sharleen Spiteri’s voice is a total knockout, innit?
5. Sneaker Pimps, “Walking Zero”
   ‘97 was also a big year for downtempo trip-hop: Tricky, Portishead, Massive Attack, and Morcheeba all received a lot of attention, but one of my favorite albums of the year flew pretty well under the rader: the Sneaker Pimps’ Becoming X was a very radio-friendly set of tunes thanks to input from the great Nelle Hooper. “6 Underground” got some attention from radio thanks to its appearance on a number of film soundtracks including The Saint and Cruel Intentions, but my favorite cut is this darker, much more ominous song — love the way the big beats mix with the string samples.
6. The Chemical Brothers, “Setting Sun”
   The Chems’ Dig Your Own Hole was the other big British dance album of the year, and nearly the polar opposite of The Prodigy’s aggro Fat of the Land: it was all big beats, psychedelic sounds, and good times. Instrumental cuts like “The Private Psychedelic Reel” and the Grammy-winning “Block Rockin’ Beats” are solid, but the album soars when the Chems are joined by guest vocalists. Oasis’ Noel Gallagher takes the mic on “Setting Sun,” and the resulting creation is a nifty slice of rough-edged “Tomorrow Never Knows”-inspired techno.
7. The Rolling Stones, “Saint Of Me”
   Bowie wasn’t the only oldie looking for a jolt of youth this year — the Stones recruited hot shots like hte Dust Brothers and Danny Saber to augment their then-standard Don-Was-supplied sound to mixed results. This Dust Brothers-produced tune was the high point of the Bridges to Babylon album, the gospel-inflected mirror image of “Sympathy for the Devil.” The personnel on the song is an interesting mix of band members & guests: Keith Richards is not on the track, so guitar duties are handled by Ronnie Wood and Waddy Wachtel, a member of Keith’s X-Pensive Winos side project; and that’s Me’Shell Ndegeocello filling in on bass.

Download: Primal Scream, “Burning Wheel” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Prodigy, “Breathe” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: David Bowie, “I’m Afraid Of Americans” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Texas, “Black Eyed Boy” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Sneaker Pimps, “Walking Zero” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Chemical Brothers, “Setting Sun” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Rolling Stones, “Saint Of Me” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

…pronounced “The Two-Thousand-Eighties”

Tragedy plus time. That’s the oft-stated formula for comedy - one wonders how long after the Lincoln assassination it was finally okay for someone to actually joke about it from the stage of Ford’s Theater. Maybe never. But we have already seen jokes pop up, no matter how awkwardly or tentatively, about the events of September 11th 2001, or even such spinechilling examples of the depths of human nature as Columbine or Jeffrey Dahmer. It’s just how we humans defuse volatile subjects like that, make it okay to talk about. And then you get OJ, whose disarming tactics are (perhaps) second only to George W Bush, in that he’s let himself become such a banana-waving looking-for-the-real-killer joke that it’s easy to overlook that he most likely did actually get away with screaming bloody murder. Anyway, I’m straying greatly from my point. …And my point is thank God he’s so stupid and egotistical that he tempted fate once too often and fate gave in and said, “fine so you apparently want to go to jail for the rest of your life, here you go”.

No, that’s not my point at all. I was just using the “tragedy plus time” equation to apply to the sudden resurgence I’ve seen, especially this particular calendar year, of the “Eighties Sound”. So in order to spotlight this theme, I guess my pick for a year is… well, this year! In my (rather over-)extensive research to refine my 2008 “best-of” mix, I kept coming across brand new music that sounded like stuff from twenty years ago. You know what I mean, that new-wave post-punk atmosphere of synthesizers, drum machines, keytars, Aqua Net, day-glo, lyrics so light and airy they’re actually transparent if ever held up against the light of the question, “yeah what’s that Duran Duran song about anyway?” That kind of thing. And for some reason it’s really hit a peak this year, with songs that don’t just sound like they’re influenced by the sound of the Eighties, they actually sound like songs that were recorded in the Eighties! Let me show you what I mean:

1. Neon Neon, “I Told Her On Alderaan”
A long-lost track for “The Breakfast Club” soundtrack? A rare team-up between Men At Work and Animotion? I mean seriously, they’re using Roland Juno synth presets! This is a big honking chunk of “that rings a bell” nostalgia - almost everything about this song sounds like something you’d find on one of those fluorescent pink and green CD boxed sets with words like “Awesome!” and “Rad!” and “Totally!” on the cover. Luckily the song isn’t quite that grody to the max.

2. The Helio Sequence, “Keep Your Heads Ahead”
Second only to We Are Scientists’ “After Hours” (which appears in my 2008 best-of mix), this best exemplifies the continuing legacy of Modern English, The Cure and late Joy Division / early New Order. What’s old actually is new again, it seems.

3. CSS, “Believe Achieve”
One might be forgiven for humming “rush rush give me yayo” along with this. An even better example is the stuff The Epoxies have been putting out recently, sounding like Debbie Harry produced by Wendy & Lisa - but unfortunately they haven’t released anything this year.

4. Cut Copy, “Hearts On Fire (Midnight Juggernauts remix)”
A long-lost pre-”Violator” Depeche Mode song? Giorgio Moroder back from the (metaphorical) dead? This manages to summon up the spirit of two decades ago without venturing over the line into parody - a not-insignificant feat I fully appreciate and thoroughly enjoy. Somewhere Vince Clarke is leaning back with a big smile on his face. …Which I guess probably has much less to do with what Cut Copy is doing, and a lot more to do with what Andy Bell is doing…

5. The Gaslight Anthem, “The ‘59 Sound”
What do you call a throwback to a throwback? Well I guess in Cali they just call it “The Play”, but here in musical terms I’m referring to this song, representative of a few other new bands (Glasvegas, The Virgins, Delta Spirit) who seem to be channeling not the actual leather-jacketed greasers of the 1950s, but rather those in the 1980s who latched onto that feel faster than you could say Sha-Na-Na. You know, The Hooters, Stray Cats, Adam Ant, Billy Idol. “The Year Punk Broke… Down And Embraced Rockabilly”.

6. Cyndi Lauper, “Rain On Me”
There’s basically nothing here that exceeds the technology present on Bruce Hornsby & The Range’s “The Way It Is”: just a simple unchanging drum machine, synth piano/pad chords and squishy analog bass plucks, and voice. And that’s it. Sometimes if you write an engaging enough song, it’s all you need. I mean really when it comes to this kind of sound, everyone is worshiping at the altar of Vince Clarke anyway. He was one of the first to really embrace the somewhat detached and experimental (and yet as Afrika Bambaataa and so many others found, weirdly funky) klingklang sounds of Kraftwerk and just write lush pop love songs in that format. If you don’t know who Clarke is, he founded Depeche Mode (”Just Can’t Get Enough”), left almost immediately to form Yazoo (”Situation”) and then Erasure (”Chains Of Love”). There really aren’t many more people on this planet who have been more successful or prolific in the somewhat pigeonholed “white guy alone in a dark room surrounded by blinking lights” genre of music. But yeah, sometimes it’s pretty self-evident that even though a song is inextricably instrumentally tied to the sound of a decade (for example A-Ha’s “Take On Me” with its complete lack of any sound that doesn’t come out of a box), the inherent quality of songwriting might have made it a hit no matter when it was released. So while Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)” is an obvious triumph of the metallic synthpop sound of the 1980’s, I do get the feeling it was probably written with Dave Stewart strumming chords on a guitar and Annie Lennox channeling the soulful riffs of Aretha Franklin. That the song has successfully been covered by multiple artists using varying instrumental formats only bolsters support for the underlying “good song no matter when” status of this classic. …I guess to hammer my point home, there’s probably not many out there working on their alt-rock version of “Somebody’s Watching Me” or a folky “Video Killed The Radio Star”. Some songs simply are a product of the bubblegum of its time, and they should enjoy their well-deserved and undeniable classic / camp legacy… And stop right there. I for one am glad Miss Lauper never did stop anywhere, as her scratchy poignant voice can still power a beautiful pop song like this. For those of us who were there to see her first steps into the music world, it’s encouraging to see she hasn’t lost a step over the years. These many many years…

Download: Neon Neon, “I Told Her On Alderaan” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Helio Sequence, “Keep Your Heads Ahead” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: CSS, “Believe Achieve” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Cut Copy, “Hearts On Fire (Midnight Juggernauts remix)” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Gaslight Anthem, “The ‘59 Sound” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Cyndi Lauper, “Rain On Me” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

1982…It was the year of “E.T.,” Colecovision, and David Letterman’s first foray into late-night. It was also the year that I was a mere six-year-old growing up in suburban South Florida. My main concerns were convincing my mom to go to Chuck E. Cheese and getting my family to go up to the newly-opened EPCOT Center.

It was an interesting crossroads year music-wise. I would say that 1982 really was the beginning of the 80s for the pop and rock world. It saw a lot of artists from the 70s adapting to the new glossier sounds of the decade. Young up-and-comers from the “Me” decade were now trying to survive as more adult artists.

This year also found MTV and the music video starting to have a big impact on what hit big and what didn’t. This list was a VERY hard one to choose. Ultimately, what I’ve got is a mix of songs that were the best of the year as well as songs that really brought me back to a time when I’d sit in the back of the family station wagon listening to songs on my brand new Walkman.

1. Paul McCartney, “Take It Away”
   The year or two leading up to 1982 was very rough for Paul McCartney. Wings folded, he got busted for marijuana possession in Linda McCartney, his 1980 album “McCartney II” was a critical flop, and worst of all, his long-life friend and partner John Lennon was murdered.

   His 1982 album “Tug of War” was his first since Lennon died and as a result, was highly anticipated by the public. The George Martin-produced masterpiece would prove to be one of his best both from a commercial and critical standpoint.

   This single, “Take it Away,” was a Top 10 hit and one that is oft forgotten. It’s classic, but mature McCartney. I dare anybody to not walk away humming this song after hearing it. After listening to it, I highly recommend checking out the video for the song…a major MTV staple back in day featuring an appearance by actor John Hurt!

2. Elton John, “Empty Garden”
   Another 70s artist that reached a crossroads in 1982 was Elton John. Elton was a superstar in the early 70s but by the late 70s and early 80s his chart success was spotty at best. Singles-wise, he was making occasional splashes, but from an album standpoint, he had fallen from the consistent #1-reaching heights of his Captain Fantastic days.

   Enter “Jump Up!,” his second album on the Geffen label. Its predecessor “The Fox” was a disappointment yielding no hit singles. Like “Tug of War,” this was the first album of material recorded by Elton since the death of friend John Lennon. The album was the first step for Elton’s 80s creative comeback. It was solid from top to bottom and its highlight was “Empty Garden,” his tribute to Lennon.

   I will go on record to say that THIS is the definitive John Lennon-tribute song. The lyrics are some of Bernie Taupin’s best, conveying sadness and anger unlike any other words he’s written. “Candle in the Wind” may be a wonderful ode to the tragic life of Marilyn Monroe, but “Empty Garden” trumps it with the sincere, personal loss and heartbreak in Elton’s melody and Bernie’s analogy of the Beatle to a fallen gardener. The single peaked at #13 in the U.S. and deserved much much more.

3. Duran Duran, “Hungry Like The Wolf”
   I loved MTV growing up…seriously…I was glued to MTV and Nickelodeon growing up. I even remember my mom letting me stay up late to watch the world premieres of the videos for Billy Joel’s “Tell Her About It” and Jackson Browne’s “Lawyers in Love.”

   One thing I remembered a LOT about MTV was Duran Duran…specifically the “Hungry Like the Wolf” video. I was mesmerized by it. Only later did I realize that my fascination with Duran Duran stemmed from the latent crush I had on pre-tubby Simon LeBon and pre-aged John Taylor!

   As I listen more and more to this song throughout the years, I’ve realized that the music video aside, it’s a damn good song…a unique mixture of dance and rock that would later be emulated decades later by The Killers and Franz Ferdinand. Oh…and I KILL with this song whenever I do it at karaoke.

4. Queen, “Dancer”
   Dance-rock was an area explored to greater heights by Queen in their controversial 1982 album “Hot Space.” The LP featured the rock band exploring some of the more dancier realms of music, an extension of their dabbling with disco in their 1980 hit “Another One Bites the Dust. ” Personally, I love this album, but for most, this experiment into more glitter-ball territory failed.

   One of my favorites from the album is “Dancer,” an awesome mix of rock over a disco-ey beat accented with a signature multi-layered Queen chorus belting out “dancer! dancer!” It’s like a gay-ed up version of Billy Squier’s “The Stroke!”

   It should have been a single and would have made a wonderful video! And dammit, there needs to be a karaoke version of it!

   Little known rumor… Word is that this album served as an inspiration for Michael Jackson’s album, “Thriller.”

5. Michael Jackson, “Someone In The Dark”
   Speaking of Michael Jackson, here is a song recorded around the time of “Thriller,” but for another mega-hit of the time…”E.T.” Now, this song was not on the classic movie’s soundtrack. It was a song that was written for the “E.T.” story album for which Jacko did the narration. “E.T.” and Jacko together at last…it’s like two great early 80s tastes in one!
6. Billy Joel, “Scandinavian Skies”
   After getting savaged by some critics for being lightweight on his 1980 album “Glass Houses,” Billy Joel veered into more serious territory with “The Nylon Curtain.” Those expecting the rockin’ free spirit of “You May Be Right” got a sobering surprise with this album. The subject matter was darker and more political. The production was more elaborate and Beatles-esque…it’s as if Joel was channeling the spirit of John Lennon.

   This album cut is clearly an attempt to go for a more late-60s Beatles sound. Swirling strings + cryptic lyrics = one of the most bizarre Billy Joel songs ever recorded. I have yet to figure what the hell this song is about!

7. ABBA, “Under Attack”
   Continuing in the Scandinavian realm of things is this song…one of ABBA’s last singles. This song can currently be found on the reissue of the fantastic album “The Visitors” but it made it’s first appearance in LP form on ABBA’s compilation “The First Ten Years.” The song was by no means intended to be a swan song for the Swedish supergroup. The plan was to continue after this greatest hits collection.

   That being said, this single saw the group continuing to evolve their sound from an organic disco motif to a more synthesized Europop sound. The production was tight, the rhythm was punchy, and the melody had the weird sense of urgency and unbalancedness that made “The Visitors” such a delicious album. It really would have been interesting to have seen how ABBA would have sounded had the continued in this direction…but alas no…

8. Donald Fagen, “I.G.Y. (International Geophysical Year)”
   In 1980, Steely Dan released their last album “Aja.” The band’s lead singer Donald Fagen ventured into a solo career with his 1982 album, “The Nightfly” and this leadoff single was a nostalgic look at the future that carried on the jazzy sound of Steely Dan. It was an optimism that was peppered with a twinge of cynicism that came thanks to Fagen’s trademark voice.
9. “Universe of Energy”
   On the other side of the 80s-era future world, was a song that was heard in Future World…EPCOT’s Future World…many many times each day. This was the closing theme song for the theme park’s “Universe of Energy” pavilion, an Exxon-sponsored, solar-powered attraction that taught visitors about fossil fuels and why we should use oil…but still conserve energy in the process. It’s disco-rock set to earnest Reagan-era optimism. Woo-hoo!
10. Scott Baio and Erin Moran, “You Look At Me”
    And last but not least…a TV theme…this was the opening theme song to the “Happy Days” spinoff “Joanie Loves Chachi.” And honestly…I don’t think more really needs to be said here…just listen to the thing and you’ll know what I mean…

Download: Paul McCartney, “Take It Away” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Elton John, “Empty Garden” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Duran Duran, “Hungry Like The Wolf” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Queen, “Dancer” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Michael Jackson, “Someone In The Dark” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Billy Joel, “Scandinavian Skies” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: ABBA, “Under Attack” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Donald Fagen, “I.G.Y. (International Geophysical Year)” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Universe of Energy” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Scott Baio and Erin Moran, “You Look At Me” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)