quote:

Originally posted by Valzu:
Nice job Shad. Thank you very much!

It's interesting to see that the first TV on The Radio song on that list is at 17th place.

Ya, there wasn't really a general consensus which song was their best though, and as you can see from the top 100, there's lots of TVOTR.

Thanks a bunch Shad, this must have been one huge task. I'm surprised "Them Kids" didn't make the top 100, I thought I saw that song on a lot of lists.

quote:

Originally posted by @n••b©:
I'm surprised "Them Kids" didn't make the top 100, I thought I saw that song on a lot of lists.

Sam really had a weak showing. There was a lot of discussion about "Them Kids" at the beginning, but it really only ended up on 3 lists, and it was in the lowere 20-30 range each time. It is significant to point out that our of 9 Sam Roberts votes there were a full 6 different songs mentioned. So even though his songs ranked low, almost half of his album made our final song list. It shows there wasn't a clear stand out on track on the album, and several that could be someones favorite depending on their mood, or the interests of that person.

As far as TV On The Radio is concerned, they appeared at least once on a majority of the lists, and often twice, and I would argue that "Halfway Home" is the statistical standout best track according to our voting. But you can't argue that there was a statistical standout worst track at all. I guess everyone really loves them some TV On The Radio.

Splendid job, Shadrach. I really appreciate the effort!

quote:

Originally posted by Shadrach:

As far as TV On The Radio is concerned, they appeared at least once on a majority of the lists, and often twice, and I would argue that "Halfway Home" is the statistical standout best track according to our voting. But you can't argue that there was a statistical standout worst track at all. I guess everyone really loves them some TV On The Radio.

This happened with Joanna Newsom and The Decemberists the year I compiled the results. Nearly every track on both Ys and The Crane Wife got votes.

TVOTR released an album that year too, but "Wolf Like Me" was the obvious standout (although I remember "I Was A Lover" doing quite well).

quote:

Originally posted by EricG75:
This happened with Joanna Newsom and The Decemberists the year I compiled the results. Nearly every track on both Ys and The Crane Wife got votes.

TVOTR released an album that year too, but "Wolf Like Me" was the obvious standout (although I remember "I Was A Lover" doing quite well).

I'm not surprised about Joanna Newsom. I really really love Ys but there were only 5 tracks, and they were all fairly similar.

I'm more surprised about Crane Wife though. I thought for sure that would have had at least 2-3 songs that no one would want to associate themselves with.

Hmm..

So, anyway. writing this report on the final results prompted me to check out that Born Ruffians track "I Need a Life" and it's very good. Statistics wins again!

Yes, well done, Shad.

As lukewarm as my feelings are about the Fleet Foxes overall, I do like "White Winter Hymnal" quite a bit, even if I wouldn't include in my personal best songs list. "Skinny Love" still strikes me as the worst song on For Emma, Forever Ago though. "Re: Stacks" rules the day on that one as far as I'm concerned.

quote:

"Skinny Love" still strikes me as the worst song on For Emma, Forever Ago though. "Re: Stacks" rules the day on that one as far as I'm concerned.

While I prefer Lump Sum by a hair over the also Phenomenal Re:Stacks, and do like Skinny Love, I basically agree with you...primarily because Skinny Love feels a bit out of place on the album...everything else is very much of a wondrously indescribable piece...whereas Skinny Love feels a bit like an add on and the least uniquely "Bon Iver" of all the tracks on the album.

Thanks for doing this, Shadrach. Your efforts will no doubt help dozens - maybe hundreds - of people find new music they never knew existed. I bet the number of lurkers on this board is considerable.

This is probably the best end-of-year songs list I've seen anywhere from 2008. Far better than Pitchfork's.

I also meant to say this final list should be put at the top of its own thread and stuck to the top of the forum so people who arrive later and aren't familiar with this thread don't have to search all 13 pages to find it.

quote:

Originally posted by ScaryCaroler:
I also meant to say this final list should be put at the top of its own thread and stuck to the top of the forum so people who arrive later and aren't familiar with this thread don't have to search all 13 pages to find it.

Thanks for the reminder. I meant to do that last night when I posted it. The final list will now be the first post in this thread, and it will be stickied to the top of the Best of 2008 subforum next to the album list.

Much appreciated Shad!

Observation: last years #1 song was an 11:53 electro-epic, while this years is a 2:27 alt/folk granola jam. Diversity!

Anyway, I must give my obligatory kudos to Shad for taking control of this painful process. Well done!

quote:

Originally posted by Senator_Colin:
Observation: last years #1 song was an 11:53 electro-epic, while this years is a 2:27 alt/folk granola jam. Diversity!

Wow. That is very interesting actually. And I thought 2008 was the year of throbbing stutter step electro-dance tracks. But I guess it really was the year of backwoods snow covered folk in a lot of ways.

Excellent work Shadrach!

quote:

Originally posted by Shadrach:

And while we are on the subject of arguing with science, Dear Science by TV On The Radio received full representation for its 11 songs, each of which were voted on at least twice (so you know it wasn’t a rigged fight). The most voted on track from that album? “Halfway Home” with 12 votes, followed by “DLZ” with 8, “Lover’s Day” with 7 and “Dancing Choose” and “Golden Age” doing their job as singles, tying with 6 votes each.

Wow, that is crazy. Hard to believe "Halfway Home" got the most nods. It must have an unfair advantage being first on the album.

quote:

Also, we would have had less of these songs: The 766 songs that only had a single vote! That’s right. Out of the 1,107 songs listed, a full 70% of them were never voted on by more than one person.

The system works.

quote:

Trompe Le Pixies

quote:

last years #1 song was an 11:53 electro-epic

I still think Someone Great should have won.

I know voting's over but I just felt like putting this on here for anyone who cares; My number 1 song of 2008. It didn't make any lists and I'm not surprised at all because it came from a relatively unkown band. If you feel like looking up something awesome and new then check out; The Used Kids tune Midwest Midsummer. You can find it on MySpace, it's totally worth it.

And for the record, Both Crosses definitely would've been in my list. My favorite guitarist ever guesting (on banjo!) on one of my favorite bands album which I picked as my Album of the Year on a song that tied that album together?!
How did no one pick that?
It's not often you get J Mascis and The Hold Steady in the same song.

quote:

Originally posted by TheAbsolutionHowl:
I know voting's over but I just felt like putting this on here for anyone who cares; My number 1 song of 2008. It didn't make any lists and I'm not surprised at all because it came from a relatively unkown band. If you feel like looking up something awesome and new then check out; The Used Kids tune Midwest Midsummer. You can find it on MySpace, it's totally worth it.

Thank God someone seems to have a mind of their own. Ofcourse the best music will be held back because music companies are frightened to explore or give new music a chance, and because they prefer to push the crap they have shares in. New music will not be on any of the lists because the kids are just sheep who are frightened to have their own taste. Check CNET's download.com for any genre of unsigned bands and producers; also the chart stuff to keep the website going. I remember the last time there was new music; the police were told to stop it, just like when rock'n'roll started with riots and government intervention. If you are allowed to hear it on TV then it is not new. I feel so sorry for the kids who have nothing but the same old repeat of what has been before; still, I guess the drugs you take make it easier to swallow.

FINALLY SOMEONE WITH A MIND OF THEIR OWN THANK GOD FOR Q & ABSOLUTIONHOWL

01. Fleet Foxes: White Winter Hymnal + Ragged Wood (yea I know I'm cheating but they deserve to be listened to back-to-back as a 7 1/2 minute epic.
02. The Tough Alliance: Neo Violence
03. Hot Chip: Ready for the Floor
04. Hercules and Love Affair: Blind
05. MGMT: Time to Pretend
06. Robyn: Dream On
07. Deerhunter: Nothing Ever Happened
08. No Age: Teen Creeps
09. Beyonce: Single Ladies
10. Cut Copy: Unforgettable Season
11. Wale: The Kramer
12. Estelle: American Boy
13. The Tallest Man on Earth: The Blizzard's Never Seen the Desert Sand
14. Girl Talk: Shut the Club Down
15. Fucked Up: Son the Father
16. Taylor Swift: Love Story
17. The Magentic Fields: California Girl
18. Lil Wayne: Mrs. Officer
19. Cut Copy: Feel the Love
20. Usher: Love in This Club
21. Stephen Malkmus: Real Emotional Trash
22. Lykke Li: I'm Good, I'm Gone
23. Santogold: L.E.S. Artistes
24. M83: Graveyard Girl
25. Sigur Rós: Gobbledigook