Aught-Eight En Retrospekt...Musik

It's been another up and down year for Musik, he's a nice guy just trying to bring a little something to the ears of the people. Unfortunately, being upper management, he really just takes credit for the success of his workforce, and it seems like some of the usually reliable team members dropped the ball. If that was an excessive use of metaphor let me know.

Keane, Razorlight, The Stills, The Black Keys, Gnarls Barkley, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Spiritualized, The Killers, Ladytron and Weezer all crapped the money bed.

Several new artists suffered from something that's gotten rarer lately (the sophomore slump). While others dodged what I believe has replaced it (the third album implosion, remember The Strokes? I don't either). There were a few unexpected suprises (the pairing of Robert Plant and Alisson Krausse, Fleet Foxes). If I had to weigh the good and the bad, the dissapointments against the satisfaction, I'd have to say it was a good year.

The Mainstream/Top 40/Hip-Hop/Grammy crowd even managed to provide a decent song or two, I have officially become a fan of Lil' Wayne (the song Shooter on The Carter II) and Kanye has, not become the "voice of his generation", but at least released an album good enough to atone for ever uttering something so hopelessly egotistical and jouvenily absurd. I've surrendered to the infectious nature of Apologize and Whatever You Like, sometimes, though you already know you can't beat 'em and have sworn to never join 'em, you join 'em anyway.

It wasn't a good year for divas, I don't think anybody was fooled by Beyonce's reinvention. Brittany refuses to fade into nonexistence, and her success is proof that the American consumer has no soul, memory, brain, or even a pair of functioning ears. No new Christina Aguilera/Amy Winehouse album, no reason for me to have anything positive to say. Oh, and Katy Perry's hit single is a sign of the apocolypse. So says the Evangelical Christian "community".

There were some close calls. Death Cab, Kings of Leon, and Coldplay's new albums teetered on the brink of total failure, but I've warmed to all of them, which means it is now okay for you to like them as well (I laugh as I write this of course).

So, since it's the middle of December and you're still listening (theoretically listening anyway) to November's tunes, I've compiled a summary of what I listened to this year, limited to what was released this year. I know, you were itching to hear some classic tunes from Public Enemy, Bob Dylan, and some song from some Wes Anderson soundtrack, but for the purpose of remembering 2008 I've limited it to songs released this year. So without further ado (or explanation), the ten songs that represent 2008's music.