My favorite songs of 2008

1. Kim & Jessie (M83) -- Shimmering, soaring shoegaze electronica with a French accent. It also twinkles.

Kim & Jessie - M83

2. I'm Outta Time (Oasis) -- This is what latter-day Oasis has morphed into, for better or worse: their best songs are now melancholy knife-in-the-heart ballads. Usually sung by Noel. This one isn't, so there's your present-to-past connection. Really kicks in around the Lennon sample, but unfortunately fades away shortly thereafter.

Im Outta Time - Oasis

3. The Righteous Path (Drive-By Truckers) -- Seldom do I pay much attention to lyrics...this song is an exception. Sums up the Good Fight of Life and the fine line between success and failure better than any I've ever heard. The music's good too.

The Righteous Path - Drive-By Truckers

4. Blind (Hercules and Love Affair) -- This one teleported into my life from 1979. Now it won't leave. I can't believe I like this crap.

Blind (Full Album Version) - Hercules And Love Affair

5. The Rip (Portishead) -- Soft and spooky early, then halfway through, when that vocal note, suspended in midair, is gradually swallowed along with the rest of the song by that Casio keyboard bassline slowly materializing out of the fog, the song goes to another plane. Gorgeous.

The Rip (Current TV 04/08) - Portishead

6. Tyrants (Black Mountain) -- The best 70s prog metal epic from 2008.

Tyrants - Black Mountain

7. A Ghost to Most (Drive-By Truckers) -- The only song on this list I've heard live, twice, four feet away from the guy who wrote it. Would it be "punny" to use the word "haunting" to describe a song about a metaphorical "ghost"? Even if it has the word "britches" in it? What if I use "quotation marks"?

A Ghost To Most - Drive-By Truckers