Still Ain't Changed

Last Monday, we had our year-end CD Mix Club meeting. We hadn't met as a whole in several months so it was great getting everyone together. We dealt with the cramped space and freezing climate in my anteroom, and had a good time catching up, talking about music and exchanging CD's.

Here's the track list and blurbs for my "Best Of 2008" mix. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out even though I made last minute changes. I could have spent more time on the sequencing and specific song selection but it was a tough task narrowing things down in the first place. I'm thinking several exclusions might show up on a "Best Of 2008 Volume II" mix in the near future but for now, one volume will do. Feel free to click on the links. Some of these songs have pretty good videos too.


1. All City - SF Anthem

All City is San Francisco's own San Quinn, Big Rich and Boo Banga. Quinn is my favorite SF rapper and Big Rich is pretty good too. I don't really know anything about Boo Banga but I do know that he holds his own on this song. I also know that Traxamillion sampled Scott McKenzie's hippie anthem and turned it into a great Bay Area rap song. "I rep my city."

2. Lyrics Born - I Like It, I Love It

Even though Everywhere At Once wasn't as solid as his earlier work, LB is always good for at least one really funky, really fun track per album and this one definitely qualifies. "Girl you look so cute, men be gettin' at me just to get at you."

3. Charles Hamilton - Jeezy Hamilton

There's something about Charles Hamilton that keeps me coming back even though he isn't that good at rapping. He's like Lil Wayne in that his voice can go from being his best asset to his worst feature in the matter of a couple of songs. Although is back story is interesting and his moderate fame is somewhat deserved, his cockiness isn't justified. Even though some of his songs/lines/hooks are god-awful garbage, there's something about this Young Jeezy-sampling track that kept me coming back. Maybe it's the beat, maybe it's the Jeezy... "you tryin' to outrun a cheetah in a rat race/but even cheetahs need a CH, this cat's great."

4. Young Jeezy - Put On (feat. Kanye West)

In the year of "featuring Kanye West", this is one of the few "featuring Kanye West" songs that doesn't feel like a Kanye West song. Sure, Kanye provides a nice introspective change of pace but this is definitely Jeezy's track. "me, I'm in my space ship, that's right I work for NASA."

5. Wale - Hey... Mr. Carter

I like that Wale gives props to Jay and Wayne, seeing as he is using the beat from their song to maintain his buzz. Usually, I don't like it when rappers spend the time between verses explaining a so-called clever lyric from the previous verse. In this case, I don't mind a bit because Wale uses "wikipaedia" as a verb to teach fools about obscure ex-NFL players. He just loves rapping about football players... "the game is a store, I'm the male Winona Ryder."

6. T.I. - Like I Do (feat. The Dream)

This is one of the stronger Paper Trail leftover cuts. Sure, it's your typical rap song about the ladies but The Dream's smooth vocals and T.I.'s effortless, um... swagger, make this so much more. It probably wouldn't have fit on Paper Trail, but then again, it's much better than "Porn Star." "Bright lights, rollin' through the city..."

7. The Cool Kids - What Up Man

I still haven't heard a song by The Cool Kids that I didn't like and a lot of that has to do with the beats. This song is all about "talking" the beat. I think you know what I mean. "did you know I made this beat with my mouth and a bell?"

8. Santogold - Lights Out

I wrote about this song earlier. Twice in fact. "I keep just one step ahead/there's no place to run."

9. Annie - I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me

Sometimes I wonder if I listen to Annie just because she has some indie/Internet cred but then I realize that she writes catchy songs backed my excellent pop production and she hasn't been force-fed down my throat by the media. She's also super cute (as opposed to trashy, like some other pop stars) but that shouldn't matter... "Who's wearing your trousers now?"

10. Girls Aloud - Miss You Bow Wow

Part two of my Euro-pop portion of the mix is a song by the British version of O-Town or Danity Kane. Aside from the reality show aspects, Girls Aloud fall under the same category as Annie. However, even though they aren't without a little manipulation and doctoring, they have much more impressive vocals than Annie does. "20 hours in the twilight zone, only lovers in the world that night."

11. Kardinal Offishall - Gimme Some (feat. The Dream)

Over past couple months, I've been going through a pretty strong "The Dream" phase and it was all sparked by this song. The deep dancehall-esque rapping of Kardi seem to fit nicely with the synthy beat and calming hook by The Dream. "They said I can't do, that's why I do it to death."

12. KiD CuDi - Embrace The Martian

Not since Nelly was relevant has rap-singing been as good as it has been this year. Kanye, Lil Wayne, T.I., Jay-Z and several other rappers are testing their chops. It's probably too early to tell but if he keeps making music this good, CuDi is destined to be on the same level as those artists. He's off to a good start anyhow. "All I ask of all y'all is to please, embrace the martian."

13. Kanye West - Street Lights

I fall into the group of Kanye fans that think 808s & Heartbreak is a good album. Sure, it's chock full of autotune and "woe is me, even though I'm filthy rich and monumentally famous" lyrics but it's really solid. I don't want to give it credit for being new or different, because it's niether of those things, but I can listen to it and enjoy it just as I could any good record. And by the way, the linked Dallas Penn unofficial video is far better than any official video Kanye has put out for an 808s song. "See I know my destination but I'm just not there."

14. Vampire Weekend - Oxford Comma

VW was probably my premier "find" as a result of the mix club. Sure, I would've probably stumbled upon them on my own (eventually) but Matthew put "A-Punk" on last year's "Best Of" mix, so kudos to him. I think "Oxford Comma" is better than "A-Punk", but I know it's debatable. "Why would you lie about something dumb like that?"

15. The Hold Steady - One For The Cutters

The Hold Steady have quickly become one of my favorite bands. Everything you hear and read about the superb musicianship and incredible storytelling is true, but it's Craig Finn's voice that often gets overlooked. He really is more narrating than singing but his rugged voice comes off as strained and experienced, which only adds to the overall brilliance of the band. This song is the cautionary tale of a party girl that is made all the more eerie by harpsichord keys that remind me of Dracula for some reason. "When one towny falls in the forest, does anyone notice?"

16. Tilly & The Wall - Alligator Skin

I like indie pop bands with female and male vocals, and Tilly And The Wall fit the profile. In addition, I like indie pop songs that are so catchy that I don't care what the song is actually about and this song is just that. Seriously, what is this song about? "Rubber-necking, oh yeah you know that's how it is."

17. Lykke Li - Let It Fall

Lykke Li is the indie "it" girl of 2008. I'm guessing we're a few months away from her gaining a following among rappers, and the whole wide world, like Feist did last year. Good for her. "Let It Fall" is not only one of my favorite LL songs but it might be my favorite happy-sounding sad song about crying. "So happy, so happy, I won't stop until my tears are all shed."

18. She & Him - Sweet Darlin'

Even though M. Ward is one of my favorite singer-songwriters and I really like Elf and Almost Famous, it took me a while to get around to acquiring She & Him's debut. I finally picked it up a month or so ago and I regretted not getting it sooner. "She" can carry an album surprisingly well and "Him" did a good job revealing influences and spanning genres without spazzing all over the place. It has hints of classic country, 60's rock, folk and as in this track, girl group pop. It's really good. "Now that I know what I want, see, i think it haunts me, I want you too much."

19. Shugo Tokumaru - Button

I don't remember how I got turned on to Shugo but he was one of my great discoveries of 2008. He makes entirely pleasant and enjoyable bits of pop by playing all the instruments and recording the songs in his Tokyo apartment. He even got school children to provide backing vocals. "Button" is one of many standouts off of EXIT. If you have a few minutes to kill, check out his youtube page. All of his videos are as fantastic as the "Button" video. "Sukoshi."

20. Kitty, Daisy & Lewis - Going Up The Country

Would you ever expect three British teenage siblings to make music that sounded like this? I don't know why they do it, but they do it well. This is the first single from their self-titled album. The rest of their songs sound similarly retro and do a bit of genre-hopping as well. And if you think their music sounds "old", it's because they record on actual 1940's and 1950's equipment without the use of digital format or computers. "I'm going where the water tastes like wine/I'll jump in the water and stay drunk all the time."

21. Calexico - The News About William

It's interesting and great how almost all Calexico songs feel like the desert. With "The News About William", they constructed this grim song with heartbreaking instrumentation and tragic lyrics, and when I hear it, I envision an endless, hopeless desert highway going nowhere. There's just something about it. (Sorry about the live video, but it was all I could find. The sound is actually decent though.) "The music box broken that once was his soul/its sad little song spinning out of control."

22. Mason Jennings - In Your City

I don't know what it is about Mason Jennings but I'm still not sick of his music. I've outgrown or grown tired of several acts similar to him over the past few years but I still think he's one of my favorites. "In Your City" is simply Mason and a piano, a welcome deviation from his usual guitar-based work. I love the parlor piano outro in this track, an effective way to end his album and this mix CD. (This time, sorry about the crappy live video.) "How you gonna say what's never been said? I'll tell you how it's done..."


So there's my mix. It took a while to get this post up so let me know if any links are bunk or if I made any typos, spellings errors or grammar blunders. I'll let you guys know if I get around to Volume II...