Honorary Mentions of 2008

There were some albums that just didn't quite do it for us as a whole, but maybe they had that one really good song that we played on repeat. Here are (lucky number) 13 songs that we think deserve Honorary Mentions for 2008 (again in no particular order).

Polite Dance Song [mp3] - The Bird & The Bee (iTunes)
We couldn't stop blasting it everywhere, and although it technically debuted at the end of 2007 on the Please Clap Your Hands EP, it was put on the 2008 album Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future, so it still counts.
EDIT: So when I (lise) looked up this song on iTunes, the Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future was listed on iTunes with a release year of 2008, complete with song list and samples. Then I was reading Pitchfork's Guide to Upcoming Releases and was shocked to discover that that album is set to release for the first time later this month! Not believing my eyes, I immediately went back to iTunes and found that the Ray Guns album is no longer listed. So...either I was celebrating New Years really early without knowing it, or iTunes lies to us and then laughs fiendishly while we appear shame-faced to the rest of the world. Whatever. The song stays.

Be Mine Everyone [mp3] - Sam Champion (iTunes)
This catchy rock tune had everyone in the blogosphere talking (and dancing) this year. Em first heard the song when she saw Sam Champion perform at Prospect Park this summer and it still never fails to make us rock out.

Be OK (mp3 removed by request)  - Ingrid Michaelson (iTunes)
This song could've been another Hurt Myself-esque song, given different instrumentation and slower tempo, but Ingrid took these lyrics and made it a piece of upbeat catchy pop gold.

Kill The Lights [mp3] - Britney Spears (iTunes)
Simultaneously sexy and creepy, this is our favorite track off of Britney's rather fascinating, strange "comeback" album (personally, we liked "Blackout" better...)

Days Go On [mp3] - Greg Laswell (iTunes)
One of Lise's gfps, and a perfect example of how a song can carry a repetitious hook if it just keeps on moving forward.

A Song for Ellie Greenwich [mp3] - Parenthetical Girls (iTunes)
Parenthetical Girls brought in sounds from just about every era imaginable on their last album. This interesting single has stayed on our playlists since we got it in the summer.

Handlebars [mp3]- Flobots (iTunes)
This seemed to be the song that more people than you realized knew. All that needed to be said was "I can lead a nation with a microphone, with a microphone, with a microphone," and you'd hear someone else sing "and I can split the atom of a molecule, of a molecule, of a molecule."

Jager Yoga [mp3] - CSS (iTunes)
While it's no Alala or Music is my Hot Hot Sex, CSS still knows how to make a catchy dance tune.

The Stoop [mp3] - Little Jackie (iTunes)
We love our summer songs here at GFP, and this was definitely one of top. Nevermind that Little Jackie pulled in New York from Flava Of Love/I Love New York to do backup vocals (really?!?), this song is still great and makes us bob our heads along.

Losing Myself [mp3] - Brazilian Girls (iTunes)
We're not sure anything could top their 2006 hit Jique, but this is a fun, slightly dark, multi-lingual dance song anyway - Brazilian Girls' specialty.

Inside a Boy [mp3] - My Brightest Diamond (iTunes)
Haunting and dramatic. 'Nuff said.

White Shade [mp3] - Lukestar (iTunes)
This one took a little while to grow on us but now we're listening to it on repeat. Part breathy ballad sound and part sexy rock, this song has something for everyone.

Can't Shake It [mp3] - Kate Miller-Heidke (iTunes)
The relateable story of not being able to look gorgeous while dancing in the form of a wonderful pop-electronic hit from an Australian ex-opera star.

Flobots

Flobots are a classical/rap/hip hop group.

Yeah, you read that right.

Flobots consist of two main Emcees, Jonny 5 and Brer Rabbit, a guitar, viola, bass and drums, with their influences ranging from the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Saul Williams to Bach. While I'm not usually one for rap, these guys have such perfect flow and clever potent lyrics that it's hard not to be impressed. Their songs are generally political (one of the strongest characteristics I think a rap song can have) and because of it Flobots have got a lot of press. In their song, Stand Up, which is about Hurricane Katrina, they say, "We still don't understand thunder and lighting/ flash back to when we didn't fund the dam/ Didn't fund the damn levi?/ No wonder man." Flobots also have a website, FightWithTools.org, where their fans can work together to bring change to their community, starting with encouraging people to become active and care about what's going on in their government.

Good music and trying to make the world a better place?

Take a listen.

Stand Up [mp3]

Handlebars [mp3]

Support Flobots and buy their songs on iTunes

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