Records of the Year: Your Personal Top 10
Posted: Tue 16 Dec 2008, 12:26 am
It’s that time of year again when I don’t bother posting my top 10 records of the year largely because I haven’t heard 10 records that would be good enough to comprise a list worthy of the name. What with X-Factor, Simon Cowell, the return of bad-the-first-time-around boy bands, and the little fact of my advancing years, it’s been a terrible… Change the record!
2008 was, IMNAAHCUMOAO*, the best year for pop music since 2002. Why 2002? Well, that’s the last year that I can remember where I was able to merely lambast, rather than excoriate, the preceding 12 musical months.
*In my not-at-all humble completely up-my-own-arse opinion
This year heralded, surprisingly, to my curmudgeonly ears, a minor rebirth of popular music (if also the end of my Ladytron fandom). As such, I have managed to compile a not-at-all clichéd personal top 10 of the year. In the spirit of the season, perhaps others could post their annual charts in this thread too (so we can all see who really has the worst taste in the Community). No? Ronald is already the hands-down undisputed winner of that category? Oh, never mind. Let the countdown begin!
10. Annie..... Two of Hearts (Richard X Mix)
The kind of record that would have been huge 20 years ago for Paula Abdul or Tiffany, Two of Hearts reminds me of Madonna in the mid-80s (sans the sexual pychoticism). It’s all rather unsubstantial, a fluffy candyfloss spun into insignificance by Richard X, but it works in a disposable manner (like toilet roll), a cleansing but momentarily enjoyable lapse into brainlessness.
9. Neon Neon..... I Told Her On Alderaan
The first of three entries from the Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals) and Boom Bip collaboration. This starts out like yet another soon-to-be-erased-from-my-brain rock song but then takes off and grows into a coruscating poptastic romp. Doesn’t have the lyrical cheek of “Michael Douglas’s mirror sunglasses”, but then it doesn’t need to.
8. Sam Taylor-Wood..... I’m in Love With a German Filmstar
The first of three PSB-related entries in my top 10, this qualifies because of the moody atmospherics that Chris Lowe has worked over a rather bland original track by the Passions. It’s still fairly pallid stuff, somewhat joyless and bleak, but then life isn’t always a non-stop Kylie Minogue party either, is it. As PSB collaborations go, this is a vanity project, a sop to an arty pal who has notions. But it has its moments.
7. Mylene Farmer..... C’est Dans L’Air
Swirling, soaring synths, a driving chorus and a touch of Mr Oizo’s throbbing Flatbeat combine to produce a searing, sinister but uplifting stomper from the French chanteuse. Magnificent.
6. MGMT..... Kids (PSB Synthpop Mix)
The second PSB-related entry (I'm such a self-abasing fan, really), the Synthpop version is a glorious record, a rare remix that maintains your interest as the track develops. The haunting pseudo pan-pipes at 3:30 add a degree of sadness. The angry vocal outburst thirty second later adds a further layer of pathos. Nobody does melancholic joy in the manner of our heroes.
5. Annie..... I Know UR Girlfiend Hates Me (Get Shakes Remix)
Fade to Grey for the bubblegum set. About five years too late for electroclash, this fantastic record contorts and distorts into a relentless synthetic orgy of hedonistic electrobeats. Too heavy for her audience, but then, she doesn’t have one.
4. Neon Neon..... Belfast
Who would have thought that a song about the late unlamented corrupt former Back To The Future car manufacturer could be so poignant? “I took you for granted, like so many in my day; I built my empire, and threw it all away.” Stainless Style, a concept album concerning the life of Irish-American auto magnate John DeLorean, has much filler, much excess, and much to drive over in a sports utility vehicle, but it also contains some of the year’s stand-out tracks. This is one of the outstanding records of the year. So retro, you almost expect a “1 point 21 gigawatt flux capacitor” to blow up as the synthetic soundscape expands to ludicrous levels towards the end.
3. Girls Aloud..... The Loving Kind
Girl band pop fodder containing subversive terminology (“disinclined”) and *splutter* daring wordplay (“issues never mentioned with all the best intentions”), set on a crowded platform during a Monday morning rush-hour where Cheryl and the birds seek the love they left behind. And they've got flowers and wine. How could they fail?
2. The Killers..... Human
If Brandon Flowers could write a lyric, the Killers would be the world’s greatest rock band. Sadly, he can’t, so they’re not, and Human isn’t the record of the year. So there. Actually, this is a wonderful record. It’s always a great moment when the rock mainstream embraces the kind of electronic anthem that fey middle-aged pop duos have knocked out blindfolded wearing ear-plugs for years. It’s even greater when the rock clerisy suggests that this kind of record is now somehow unique (it is, but only for the egregious dancer lyric). Brandon’s got a swagger (“Pay my respects to grace and virtue…”), is worth listening to, and is one of the more interesting pop stars of our time, but he’s not half as good as he thinks he is. Are we human or are we dancer? Pah! Speaking of dodgy lyrics...
1. Neon Neon Featuring Cate Le Bon..... I Lust U
A wonderfully wan, deadpan vignette on the materialism of modern-day "love" from the flawed but occasionally brilliant Stainless Style album. Simple electro with a worm-like synthetic hook that burrows into your brain, this is the type of record Sam Taylor-Wood should have made given the resources at her disposal. Minimalist and catchy, this benefits from that perfect pop contradiction: the dichotomy of joyful mood and poignant word: I love you if the price is right.
Drico.
2008 was, IMNAAHCUMOAO*, the best year for pop music since 2002. Why 2002? Well, that’s the last year that I can remember where I was able to merely lambast, rather than excoriate, the preceding 12 musical months.
*In my not-at-all humble completely up-my-own-arse opinion
This year heralded, surprisingly, to my curmudgeonly ears, a minor rebirth of popular music (if also the end of my Ladytron fandom). As such, I have managed to compile a not-at-all clichéd personal top 10 of the year. In the spirit of the season, perhaps others could post their annual charts in this thread too (so we can all see who really has the worst taste in the Community). No? Ronald is already the hands-down undisputed winner of that category? Oh, never mind. Let the countdown begin!
10. Annie..... Two of Hearts (Richard X Mix)
The kind of record that would have been huge 20 years ago for Paula Abdul or Tiffany, Two of Hearts reminds me of Madonna in the mid-80s (sans the sexual pychoticism). It’s all rather unsubstantial, a fluffy candyfloss spun into insignificance by Richard X, but it works in a disposable manner (like toilet roll), a cleansing but momentarily enjoyable lapse into brainlessness.
9. Neon Neon..... I Told Her On Alderaan
The first of three entries from the Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals) and Boom Bip collaboration. This starts out like yet another soon-to-be-erased-from-my-brain rock song but then takes off and grows into a coruscating poptastic romp. Doesn’t have the lyrical cheek of “Michael Douglas’s mirror sunglasses”, but then it doesn’t need to.
8. Sam Taylor-Wood..... I’m in Love With a German Filmstar
The first of three PSB-related entries in my top 10, this qualifies because of the moody atmospherics that Chris Lowe has worked over a rather bland original track by the Passions. It’s still fairly pallid stuff, somewhat joyless and bleak, but then life isn’t always a non-stop Kylie Minogue party either, is it. As PSB collaborations go, this is a vanity project, a sop to an arty pal who has notions. But it has its moments.
7. Mylene Farmer..... C’est Dans L’Air
Swirling, soaring synths, a driving chorus and a touch of Mr Oizo’s throbbing Flatbeat combine to produce a searing, sinister but uplifting stomper from the French chanteuse. Magnificent.
6. MGMT..... Kids (PSB Synthpop Mix)
The second PSB-related entry (I'm such a self-abasing fan, really), the Synthpop version is a glorious record, a rare remix that maintains your interest as the track develops. The haunting pseudo pan-pipes at 3:30 add a degree of sadness. The angry vocal outburst thirty second later adds a further layer of pathos. Nobody does melancholic joy in the manner of our heroes.
5. Annie..... I Know UR Girlfiend Hates Me (Get Shakes Remix)
Fade to Grey for the bubblegum set. About five years too late for electroclash, this fantastic record contorts and distorts into a relentless synthetic orgy of hedonistic electrobeats. Too heavy for her audience, but then, she doesn’t have one.
4. Neon Neon..... Belfast
Who would have thought that a song about the late unlamented corrupt former Back To The Future car manufacturer could be so poignant? “I took you for granted, like so many in my day; I built my empire, and threw it all away.” Stainless Style, a concept album concerning the life of Irish-American auto magnate John DeLorean, has much filler, much excess, and much to drive over in a sports utility vehicle, but it also contains some of the year’s stand-out tracks. This is one of the outstanding records of the year. So retro, you almost expect a “1 point 21 gigawatt flux capacitor” to blow up as the synthetic soundscape expands to ludicrous levels towards the end.
3. Girls Aloud..... The Loving Kind
Girl band pop fodder containing subversive terminology (“disinclined”) and *splutter* daring wordplay (“issues never mentioned with all the best intentions”), set on a crowded platform during a Monday morning rush-hour where Cheryl and the birds seek the love they left behind. And they've got flowers and wine. How could they fail?
2. The Killers..... Human
If Brandon Flowers could write a lyric, the Killers would be the world’s greatest rock band. Sadly, he can’t, so they’re not, and Human isn’t the record of the year. So there. Actually, this is a wonderful record. It’s always a great moment when the rock mainstream embraces the kind of electronic anthem that fey middle-aged pop duos have knocked out blindfolded wearing ear-plugs for years. It’s even greater when the rock clerisy suggests that this kind of record is now somehow unique (it is, but only for the egregious dancer lyric). Brandon’s got a swagger (“Pay my respects to grace and virtue…”), is worth listening to, and is one of the more interesting pop stars of our time, but he’s not half as good as he thinks he is. Are we human or are we dancer? Pah! Speaking of dodgy lyrics...
1. Neon Neon Featuring Cate Le Bon..... I Lust U
A wonderfully wan, deadpan vignette on the materialism of modern-day "love" from the flawed but occasionally brilliant Stainless Style album. Simple electro with a worm-like synthetic hook that burrows into your brain, this is the type of record Sam Taylor-Wood should have made given the resources at her disposal. Minimalist and catchy, this benefits from that perfect pop contradiction: the dichotomy of joyful mood and poignant word: I love you if the price is right.
Drico.
