BEST SONGS OF 2008

Once again, I've humbly assembled my list of what I consider to be the Top 100 singles of the year.

You can listen to all 100 songs on the IMEEM player below.

For some songs, especially the lesser known ones, I also added links to download the song from Amazon DRM-free.

1. "Time To Pretend" - MGMT
   What's not to like about this song? The dirty fuzz perfectly complements those lyrics that mock my daily lifestyle: choking on vomit, shooting heroin, and divorcing models. Anthem of the year. Bonus points for being an American band, unlike the many Brits dominating this list.
   
   
2. "Live Your Life" - T.I. feat. Rihanna
   Why is T.I. dedicating this song to "all my soldiers over there in Iraq" and then singing about "fancy cars," which most Iraq War veterans clearly cannot afford? Most of the lyrics make no sense. What the hell is "the opposite of moderate"? Did he mean to say he's the opposite of "modest"? But I don't care. That monster hook is insane. I attribute 48% of the success of this song to Rihanna, 48% to Just Blaze, and 4% to T.I.
   
   
3. "Hometown Glory" - Adele
   
   
4. "A Milli (Remix)" - Lil Wayne feat. Jay-Z & Chris Brown
   Does Lil Wayne really think that a menstrual bleed is a venereal disease? The ubiquitous Weezy might be tougher than Nigerian hair, but I prefer Jay-Z's verse, which references Phil Collins, Barack Obama, and the Outlawz.
   
   
5. "Sometime Around Midnight" - The Airborne Toxic Event
   
   
6. "Mercy" - Duffy
   
   
7. "100 Yard Dash" - Raphael Saadiq
   
   
8. "Another Day (That Time Forgot)" - Neil Diamond feat. Natalie Maines
   
   
9. "American Boy" - Estelle feat. Kanye West
   
   
10. "Gray Or Blue" - Jaymay
    Best line from a song this year: "I can't keep staring at your mouth without wondering how it tastes." I'm predicting she's going to be a mainstay on VH1 in a year or two.
    
    
11. "Bread And Water" - Ryan Bingham
    I credit the Dixie Chicks' touring band for getting me turned on to the sound of the slide guitar. Alt-country singer Ryan Bingham makes great of use it in this monster song, complete with boot-stomping and hand-clapping.
    
    
12. "Squeeze Me (Original Mix)" - Kraak & Smaak
    Oh, the breaks. So tasty.
    
    
13. "Damaged" - Danity Kane
    I know I should be embarrassed for liking this song and putting it so high on this list. After all, the song uses auto-tuned nondescript vocalists (who were clearly sought more for their looks) + Puff Daddy pointlessly talking at the end of the song. But that hook eventually colonized my head and I've given up trying to hate it.
    
    
14. "Great DJ" - The Ting Tings
    
    
15. "Little Bit of Feel Good" - Jamie Lidell
    
    
16. "Pumpkin Soup" - Kate Nash
    
    
17. "Furr" - Blitzen Trapper
    
    
18. "Don't Touch Me (Remix)" - Busta Rhymes feat. Reek Da Villian, Spliff Star, Lil Wayne, Nas, The Game & Big Daddy Kane
    Big Daddy, Nasty Nas Escobar, and Lil' Weezy on the remix? Bonkers.
    
    
19. "Wow" - Kylie Minogue
    
    
20. "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You" - Black Kids
    
    
21. "Numba 1 (Tide Is High)" - Kardinal Offishall feat. Rihanna
    The future of Hip Hop: Canada?
    
    
22. "Jai Ho" - AR Rahman, Sukhvinder Singh, Tanvi Shah & Mahalaxmi Iyer
    
    
23. "Love In This Club" - Usher feat. Young Jeezy
    In this song, Young Jeezy says "It's going down in Aisle 3 / I'll bag you like some groceries." What clubs now have numbered aisles? Or is he saying that he prefers to make love in the grocery store, instead of the club? I'll never hear "Clean up in aisle 3!" the same way.
    
    
24. "Crazy Ever After (Acoustic Version)" - The Rescues
    The most gorgeous harmonies of the year.
    
    
25. "Magic Doors" - Portishead
    More cowbell!
    
    
26. "Many Rivers to Cross (Idol Gives Back Performance)" - Annie Lennox
    
    
27. "Should Have Known" - Robyn
    
    
28. "Forever" - Chris Brown
    
    
29. "Valerie Plame" - The Decemberists
    
    
30. "Run To Your Grave" - The Mae Shi
    
    
31. "A&E" - Goldfrapp
    
    
32. "Pretty Please [Love Me]" - Estelle feat. Cee-Lo
    
    
33. "Playas Get Lonely" - R. Kelly
    This song lacks the usual R. Kelly lyrics that bring me in. There's nothing about exploring Uranus, buttering rolls, or midgets trapped in the closet. But it's an oddly honest midtempo number that reminds me that even R. Kelly can get lonely.
    
    
34. "Guess Who Batman (Get Wit the Brogram)" - Lily Allen
    
    
35. "Viva La Vida" - Coldplay
    Regardless of whether Coldplay intentionally ripped off Joe Satriani in writing this tune, the strings do it for me.
    
    
36. "Evil Urges" - My Morning Jacket
    
    
37. "Duet" - Rachael Yamagata with Ray LaMontagne
    
    
38. "Criminal" - The Roots feat. Truck North and Saigon
    
    
39. "Spiralling" - Keane
    
    
40. "Miss Invisible" - Marié Digby
    This appeals to the shy high school freshman in me.
    
    
41. "Gobbledigook" - Sigur Rós
    
    
42. "4 Minutes" - Madonna feat. Justin Timberlake and Timbaland
    
    
43. "Bring It On" - Goose
    
    
44. "Another Day" - Jamie Lidell
    
    
45. "Miss Independent" - Ne-Yo
    
    
46. "O... Saya" - AR Rahman & M.I.A.
    
    
47. "Circus" - Britney Spears
    Admit it. That bridge is catchy.
    
    
48. "Pork and Beans" - Weezer
    If I were judging based on music videos, this song would rank much higher.
    
    
49. "Ching-A-Ling" - Missy Elliot
    
    
50. "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" - Vampire Weekend
    
    
51. "Warwick Avenue" - Duffy
    
    
52. "Always Where I Need To Be" - The Kooks
    
    
53. "No Air (Acoustic)" - Jordin Sparks feat. Chris Brown
    
    
54. "Round A Pole" - Ani DiFranco
    
    
55. "Time For Some Action" - N*E*R*D
    
    
56. "Universal Mind Control" - Common feat. Pharrell
    
    
57. "Take Back The City" - Snow Patrol
    
    
58. "Scare Easy" - Mudcrutch
    Tom Petty in 2008!
    
    
59. "Green Light" - John Legend feat. Andre 3000
    
    
60. "Dawn Of The Dead" - Does It Offend You, Yeah?
    
    
61. "T.V. Land" - Vast Aire
    Big ups to Pandora.com, which introduced me to the only song to reference Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Cheese Nips, and I'm Gonna Git You Sucka.
    
    
62. "You Are The Best Thing" - Ray LaMontagne
    
    
63. "Single Ladies [Put A Ring On It]" - Beyonce
    
    
64. "Bring It On" - Leon Jean Marie
    
    
65. "It's Oh So Quiet" - Bell
    I'm usually reluctant to put covers on year-end lists, but this one offers something original. Bjork needs more crazy piano runs in her tunes.
    
    
66. "Gasoline" - Sheryl Crow
    
    
67. "Move" - Q-Tip
    
    
68. "Inner City Pressure" - Flight Of The Conchords
    
    
69. "Headphones" - I'm From Barcelona
    
    
70. "Action Figures" - The Cool Kids
    
    
71. "Electric Feel (Justice Remix)" - MGMT
    
    
72. "Human" - The Killers
    It's about time somebody started asking whether we're human or we're dancer. (WTF?)
    
    
73. "Handle Me" - Robyn
    
    
74. "2Coleen" - The Heavy
    
    
75. "High and Low" - Greg Laswell with the Edison String Section
    
    
76. "Untouched" - The Veronicas
    
    
77. "I Will Possess Your Heart" - Death Cab for Cutie
    
    
78. "Closer" - Ne-Yo
    
    
79. "Drivin' Down The Block (Remix)" - Kidz In The Hall feat. Pusha T, Bun B & The Cool Kids
    
    
80. "Anyone Who Had A Heart" - Shelby Lynne
    
    
81. "Baby" - LL Cool J feat. The-Dream
    
    
82. "I Don't Care" - Fall Out Boy
    
    
83. "A Brand New Song" - John Mellencamp
    John Mellencamp in 2008!
    
    
84. "Creator" - Santogold
    I happen to think Santogold is overrated, but Switch and Freq Nasty do some sick production here.
    
    
85. "Electro-Socket Blues" - Rogue Wave
    
    
86. "Winter Takes All" - Common Market
    
    
87. "Torch" - Alanis Morissette
    
    
88. "Take A Bow" - Rihanna
    
    
89. "Strange Times" - The Black Keys
    
    
90. "Shawty Get Loose" - Lil Mama feat. Chris Brown & T-Pain
    
    
91. "Woman" - Raheem DeVaughn
    
    
92. "Turf Drop" - E-40 ft. Lil Jon
    At last, there is a term now for the dance move I do where my butt scrapes the floor.
    
    
93. "All Summer Long" - Kid Rock
    When you remove the Skynyrd sample, there's not much left to this song. But when I hear this, sometimes I sing along and wish I could make love to that girl from Northern Michigan again.
    
    
94. "The 1" - Janet Jackson feat. Missy Elliot
    
    
95. "Nothing Ever Hurt Like You" - James Morrison
    
    
96. "No Sex For Ben" - The Rapture
    This tune doesn't rank among Timbaland's best producing efforts, but it's certainly one of The Rapture's best.
    
    
97. "Addicted To Drugs" - Kaiser Chiefs
    
    
98. "The Bomb" - Bitter:Sweet
    
    
99. "Get Buck In Here" - DJ Felli Fel feat. Diddy, Akon, Ludacris & Lil' Jon
    
    
100. "Ur So Gay" - Katy Perry
     

I've uploaded all 100 Mp3s to imeem for your listening pleasure:

--Junichi