Welcome to Pitchfork's best of 2008, which kicks off with our favorite 100 tracks of the year. As we did in years past, we've extended the candidate pool beyond the confines of singledom-- basically any song released or covered in 2008, whether a single or not, was fair game for this list. Some songs that made a huge impact this year-- M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" being most notable-- were released in 2007 and weren't eligible (we had a "Paper Planes" remix at #4 last year); MGMT's "Time to Pretend", which scraped into our list last year thanks to a few early adopters, was re-ran in this year's poll. For individual lists from our staff, click here. And to hear the tracks, be sure to check out our Spotify playlist. Ready? Here we go...
100: Girls
"Hellhole Ratrace"
[True Panther Sounds]
I wanted to pull rank and sneak that Chunklet David Lee Roth vocal track or the Andrew W.K. "McLaughlin Group" song in here, but fair is fair. Plus, hell, it already feels like I pulled rank with this low-key release from San Francisco's Girls: almost nobody outside of our office voted for it, i.e. nobody other than the people forced to listen to me talk about and play this bit of casual bedsit glam-pop. Ideally that will change in the new year: With luck, Girls will get big enough for people to complain that female-centric band names (see also: Women, the Girls, Vivian Girls) are the new "crystal" or the new superfluous consonant (see: Wavves, Nodzzz, Lovvers). So long as people are listening. --Scott Plagenhoef
99: Final Fantasy
"The Butcher"
[Blocks Recording Club]
Recorded with the members of Beirut during a series of faux field recordings in Quebec, "The Butcher" ripples with samples of bird calls and crickets. Lyrically, it's one of Owen Pallet's strongest songs, conveying a sense of urgency and doom that is pushed along by the gorgeous melodic layers that ride restlessly beneath. But Pallet's startling knack for string arrangements really gives "The Butcher" movement, the way the piercing violin line soars over the even disposition of the muscular brass. --Mia Clarke
98: The Magnetic Fields
"The Nun's Litany"
[Nonesuch]
A great song about longing to be perceived as a sexual being, and an even better joke, because Stephin Merritt knows how ludicrous that longing can be. The title is the omitted detail that makes the lyric's meaning fall into place; the melody is as severe and formal as a nun's cloth, but the arrangement is interested in an entirely different Jesus and Mary. The escalating fantasies of each verse have little circumstantial barbs built into them ("I want to be a brothel worker/ I've always been treated like one"), and the last one ends by abruptly stripping singer Shirley Simms' voice naked in front of her audience. Also worth finding: the solo ukulele-accompanied version Merritt sings himself, on which he hilariously phrases "learn S and M and all those gay tricks" as if M and S were unrelated concepts. --Douglas Wolk
97: Buraka Som Sistema [ft. M.I.A. and DJ Znobia]
"Sound of Kuduro"
[ Enchufada/ Sony BMG]
Portuguese collective Buraka Som Sistema play kuduro, an Angolan dance music creole built out of baile funk beats and abandoned rave motifs: a junkyard sound that builds up such steam you fear it might shake itself to bits. On this calling-card track M.I.A. acts the carny, yelling "All aboard!" and setting the ride spinning as MCs Saborosa and Puto Prata spit boneshaking consonants over a spring-loaded beat. Around them hoots, horns, keyboards, and bird calls conjure a spirit of joyful mayhem. M.I.A.'s endorsement gives you a reference point for Buraka's guerrilla techno, but the track's breakneck appeal would easily survive her absence. --Tom Ewing
96: Empire of the Sun
"Walking on a Dream"
[EMI]
In what your high school chemistry teacher calls a catalyzing reaction, Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore joined forces to create a disco-country rock sensation. "Walking on a Dream" marshals Steele's indulgent and ridiculously intertwining melodies from the Sleepy Jackson with the four-on-the-floor drive of Littlemore's Pnau, sounding like a thesis statement for the two projects. Steele's screeching falsetto often seemed a bit put-on in the past, like he was trying to match his ridiculously overwrought orchestration in a game of one-upsmanship. The catcall serves him better on "Walking", which draws from the same kaleidoscopic nostalgia that guides the likes of Scissor Sisters and the DFA but comes out tight and unfettered. --Mike Orme
95: Friendly Fires [ft. Au Revoir Simone]
"Paris (Aeroplane Remix)"
[XL]
Pop songs are full of promises, most propped up by little more than a few chords and a nice melody. UK phenoms Friendly Fires go one step further with "Paris": Their "I promise" gets a boost from the very contemporary go-getter mantra that immediately follows, "I'm on it." And this remix does them one better by involving an actual Aeroplane-- certainly one way to get to Paris-- and, well, pretty much eliminating the Friendly Fires guys from the equation all together by relinquishing their verse parts to the original track's chorus girls Au Revoir Simone (hey that's French!). Even if all this fails to convince you that Friendly Fires will one day live with you in Paris and command the stars to shine on your behalf, at least you got a sweet, beat-accented eight-minute ride out of the deal. --Matthew Solarski
94: WHY?
"Fatalist Palmistry"
[Anticon]
At first blush, "Fatalist Palmistry" feels like the perfect early spring jam. Its confident jangle and generous bounce guide it through warm harmonies and reassuring piano, the sound of a wide grin in a new car, the top down and the sun shining. As blissful as these four minutes feel, though, they're the torturous culmination of Yoni Wolf's cyclical neuroses. He sweats death even as he bemoans life even as he celebrates not being dead yet. He confesses maudlin feelings for a married woman even as he admits his devotion is a limited-time offer even as he proclaims admiration in the eternal: "I'm lucky to be under/ The same sky that held/ The exhale from your first breath." It's difficult hearing any writer toil through this sort of detailed torture on tape. Thanks to the song's survivalist glow, though, listening in is a joy. --Grayson Currin
93: Atlas Sound
"River Card"
[Kranky]
Inspired by a Puerto Rican fable about a boy who falls in love with his own reflection after gazing into a river and ends up drowning as a result, "River Card" was the hidden gem on Atlas Sound's debut album, Let the Blind Lead Those That See But Cannot Feel. Shimmering with longing and carried by a percussive pulse that feels like a heartbeat, it took a couple of listens before revealing itself as a high point in Bradford Cox's songwriting. The track gently swells with a rising tension that never dissipates, but expands with an ambient airiness that feels as deep and clear as the river Cox describes. --Mia Clarke
92: Born Ruffians
"I Need a Life (Four Tet Remix)"
[Warp]
Though Kieran Hebdan's reimagining of "I Need a Life" by Toronto's Born Ruffians abandoned that song's indie rock pedigree for vistas much more expansive, it still bottled the Red, Yellow & Blue single's grown-up-but-still-wild-haired vitality. Hebdan conjures serious vocal abracadabra from Born Ruffians' multi-tracked vocals, the shouting and jounce of the original all but lost in a featherbed of synths, keys, and kick drum. --David Bevan
91: Jamie Lidell
"All I Wanna Do"
[Warp]
When Jamie Lidell rolled his Soul Man dice this time, out came "Sam Cooke Ballad." Like an idyllic 1950s prom date, the Warp throwback is "swallowing the sky so there'd be nothing to fall on you" as plucked bass gently bounces off swirling keyboards. But while the song may seem like an impressive "Mad Men" jingle at first, its sentiment is skewed a little to fit our modern world. Cooke's best slow jams-- "You Send Me", "Cupid", "Nothing Can Change This Love"-- proposed a romantic love that's eternal, unwavering, and sublime; Lidell isn't as starry-eyed. "There's really no such thing as an endless night," he admits. "So let's make a little magic just to put things right." All he wants is something more than a one-night stand, but less than a retirement home in Boca-- a cupid with his feet on the ground. --Ryan Dombal
- « Previous Feature
The 20 Worst Album Covers of 2008
- Next Feature »
Albums of the Year: Honorable Mention
Most Read Features
-
-
Rising
Lee
April 1, 2014
-
Update
Girl Talk
March 25, 2014
-
Articles
Cloud Nothings: Silent Shout
March 20, 2014
-
Overtones
Beyond the Yellow Brick Road
March 28, 2014
-
Cover Story
Mac DeMarco: Mannish Boy
March 26, 2014
-
Update
tUnE-yArDs
March 19, 2014
-
Update
Future
April 2, 2014
-
Interviews
Jonathan Glazer and Mica Levi
March 31, 2014
-
Situation Critical
Kevin Drew
March 24, 2014
-
Update
Owen Pallett
March 18, 2014
-
-
-
Articles
Cloud Nothings: Silent Shout
March 20, 2014
-
Update
tUnE-yArDs
March 19, 2014
-
Photo Galleries
Arcade Fire's Reflektor Tour
March 10, 2014
-
Update
Owen Pallett
March 18, 2014
-
Rising
Frankie Cosmos
March 5, 2014
-
Situation Critical
Hannibal Buress
March 14, 2014
-
Update
Girl Talk
March 25, 2014
-
Ordinary Machines
The #Art of the Hashtag
March 12, 2014
-
Articles
When I'm Gone: Why Vivian Girls Mattered
March 3, 2014
-
Rising
Viet Cong
March 13, 2014
-
-
-
Articles
St. Vincent: Reckless Precision
February 17, 2014
-
Show No Mercy
The Top 40 Metal Albums of 2013
December 26, 2013
-
Update
Pharrell Williams
February 28, 2014
-
Articles
Cloud Nothings: Silent Shout
March 20, 2014
-
Articles
Real Estate: Suburban Dreams
February 27, 2014
-
Articles
Beyoncé's Muse
January 21, 2014
-
Paper Trail
Experiencing Nirvana
February 12, 2014
-
Articles
Massive Nights: Ten Years of the Hold Steady
February 10, 2014
-
Guest Lists
Deafheaven
January 6, 2014
-
Interviews
Mark Kozelek
February 3, 2014
-
-
-
News
Sigur Rós Will Cover "The Rains of Castamere" for "Game of Thrones" Soundtrack
By Jeremy Gordon on April 3, 2014 at 03:44 p.m.
-
The Walkmen's Hamilton Leithauser Releases "11 O'Clock Friday Night" Video, Updates Tour, Pushes Back Album
By Jeremy Gordon on April 3, 2014 at 09:31 a.m.
-
Spiritualized's Jason Pierce Backtracks on Comments About Space Project Compilation
By Jenn Pelly on April 3, 2014 at 07:54 a.m.
-
Hot Chip's Alexis Taylor Announces Solo LP Await Barbarians, Shares "Elvis Has Left the Building"
By Pitchfork Staff on April 3, 2014 at 07:10 a.m.
-
Cut Copy Share Record Store Day Single "In These Arms of Love"
By Evan Minsker on April 2, 2014 at 09:11 p.m.
-
Spiritualized's Jason Pierce Disses Space Project Comp, Says He Only Did It Because He Was Broke
"They said they've give me $1,500 to do ...
By Jenn Pelly on April 1, 2014 at 04:06 p.m.
-
-
-
News
Arcade Fire, Black Keys, Jack White, Robert Plant, More to Play Glastonbury
By Evan Minsker and Zoe Camp on April 4, 2014 at 05:20 a.m.
-
Reviews
Sage the Gemini
Remember Me
By Craig Jenkins
Sage the Gemini of the Bay Area’s Heartbreak Gang collective has refined a sound that draws influence ...
-
White Hinterland
Baby
By Paula Mejia
White Hinterland's latest finds Casey Dienel experimenting with more jagged percussion and orchestral flourishes, notably horns. But ...
-
Teebs
E S T A R A
By Nate Patrin
Teebs' 2010 debut Ardour had a way of flooding your ears with lush sonic environments. On his new ...
-
The Faint
Doom Abuse
By Ian Cohen
The Faint released their debut album Sine Sierra nearly twenty years ago, and if that makes you feel ...
-
De La Soul
Smell the D.A.I.S.Y.
By Nate Patrin
De La Soul's work with J Dilla helped define their transition from the Prince Paul-produced lightheartedness of ...
-
-
-
News
Arcade Fire, Black Keys, Jack White, Robert Plant, More to Play Glastonbury
By Evan Minsker and Zoe Camp on April 4, 2014 at 05:20 a.m.
-
Reviews
De La Soul
Smell the D.A.I.S.Y.
By Nate Patrin
De La Soul's work with J Dilla helped define their transition from the Prince Paul-produced lightheartedness of ...
-
Tracks
-
News
Sigur Rós Will Cover "The Rains of Castamere" for "Game of Thrones" Soundtrack
By Jeremy Gordon on April 3, 2014 at 03:44 p.m.
-
Reviews
The Faint
Doom Abuse
By Ian Cohen
The Faint released their debut album Sine Sierra nearly twenty years ago, and if that makes you feel ...
-
Features
Paper Trail
Paper Trail: Records Ruin the Landscape
Author David Grubbs talks about his new book, which explores the disdain many 1960s experimental musicians had for recorded music due to its inherent limiting qualities, and compares that mindset to today's era of infinite streaming.
-