Bank It: Money Tracks from 2008

A Short Note

Friends,

For the fourth time, I have put together a modest recap of what I consider to be the year's best music.  This year's mix is calledBank It: Money Tracks from 2008 (thanks, Catie).  Whereas many mixes like these arbitrarily rank tracks, I have instead focused on artists and albums that are worth seeking out and supporting.  So if you like the song I chose from The War on Drugs' Wagonwheel Blues, for instance, I urge you to check out their MySpace page, go to their shows, and most of all, get their album(s).

There are only about a half-dozen tracks on here that I consider strong "singles" from weak records; most of these can be found on Disc 2, the pop disc.  Otherwise, the bulk of the albums listed below are at least very good if not excellent.  So give something new a try.

Like last year, I've organized the mixes by genre.  You can view the tracklists for all five below and download them with the links I provided elsewhere (links will not be posted here for security reasons).

I hope you enjoy these.  Happy New Year,

adam

Tracklists

DISC I -- INDIE-ROCK -- 1:12 -- 111.5 MB

1. "Freeway" // Kurt Vile (from Constant Hitmaker)

2. "Inní Mér Syngur Vitleysingur" // Sigur Rós

    (from Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust)

3. "Party Barge" // Silver Jews (from Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea)

4. "Strange Overtones" // Brian Eno and David Byrne

    (from Everything That Happens Will Happen Today)

5. "Lost Coastlines" // Okkervil River (from The Stand Ins)

6. "Ragged Wood" // Fleet Foxes (from Fleet Foxes)

7. "Family Tree" // TV on the Radio (from Dear Science)

8. "Islands in the Stream" // Constantines and Feist

    (from the Islands in the Stream Single)

9. "Too Drunk to Dream" // The Magnetic Fields (from Distortion)

10. "Glue Girls" // Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

      (from Pershing)

11. "Walcott" // Vampire Weekend (from Vampire Weekend)

12. "Soldier's Grin" // Wolf Parade (from At Mount Zoomer)

13. "Weekend" // The Sea & Cake (from Car Alarm)

14. "Soul on Fire" // Spiritualized (from Songs in A&E)

15. "Featherbeds" // Oxford Collapse (from Bits)

16. "Arms Like Boulders" // The War on Drugs

       (from Wagonwheel Blues)

17. "Dark Leaves from a Thread" // Destroyer (from Trouble in Dreams)

18. "The Hunter's Star" // Shearwater (from Rook)

DISC II -- POP / HIP-HOP / R&B -- 1:10 -- 109.5 MB

1. "Another Day" // Jamie Lidell (from Jim)

2. "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a

    Shaker Hymn)" // Weezer (from Weezer)

3. "Don't Stop the Music" // Rihanna (from Good Girl Gone Bad)

4. "Lights Out" // Santogold (from Santogold)

5. "88" // The Cool Kids (from The Bake Sale)

6. "Swampy (Summer Jam)" // Food for Animals (from Belly)

7. "RoboCop" // Kanye West (from 808s & Heartbreak)

8. "Hands in the Air" // Girl Talk (from Feed the Animals)

9. "Swagga Like Us" (feat. Kanye West, Jay-Z, & Lil Wayne) - T.I.

    (from Paper Trail)

10. "In Search of the Youth Crew" // Cadence Weapon

       (from Afterparty Babies)

11. "The Kramer" // Wale (from The Mixtape About Nothing)

12. "Soldier" // Erykah Badu

       (from New Amerykah Part One (4th World War))

13. "Touch My Body" // Mariah Carey (from E=MC²)

14. "Untouched" // The Veronicas (from Hook Me Up)

15. "No Can Do" // Sugababes (from Catfights and Spotlights)

16. "American Boy" (feat. Kanye West) // Estelle (from Shine)

17. "Lay It Down" (feat. Anthony Hamilton) // Al Green

       (from Lay It Down)

DISC III -- ROCK -- 1:12 -- 107.9 MB

1. "Living Well is the Best Revenge" // R.E.M. (from Accelerate)

2. "Waving Flags" // British Sea Power

    (from Do You Like Rock Music?)

3. "Trans Canada" // Constantines (from Kensington Heights)

4. "Nothing Ever Happened" // Deerhunter (from Microcastle)

5. "Always Wanting More" // Jay Reatard (from Matador Singles '08)

6. "Arms Against Atrophy" // Titus Andronicus

    (from The Airing of Grievances)

7. "I Admit My Faults" // Eddy Current Suppression Ring

    (from Primary Colours)

8. "Bright Tomorrow" // Fuck Buttons (from Street Horrrsing)

9. "Ghost Town (Pt. 1)" // Dan Friel (from Ghost Town)

10. "The Rest of My Days" // Gentleman Jesse & His Men

       (from Gentleman Jesse & His Men)

11. "The Package is Wrapped" // Marnie Stern (from This is It and

       I am It and You Are It and So is That and He is It and She is It and

       It is It and That is That)

12. "We Call Upon the Author" // Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

       (from Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!)

13. "In the New Year" // The Walkmen (from You & Me)

14. "(My Head)" // Times New Viking (from Rip It Off)

15. "Things I Did When I Was Dead" // No Age (from Nouns)

16. "Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts" // The Gaslight Anthem

       (from the Señor and the Queen EP)

17. "Gardenia" // Stephen Malkmus (from Real Emotional Trash)

18. "Slapped Actress" // The Hold Steady (from Stay Positive)

DISC IV -- SINGER-SONGWRITER / (ALT) COUNTRY -- 1:00 -- 95.1 MB

1. "A&E" // Goldfrapp (from Seventh Tree)

2. "You Belong With Me" // Taylor Swift (from Fearless)

3. "A Ghost to Most" // Drive-By Truckers

    (from Brighter Than Creation's Dark)

4. "Runnin' Your Way" // Sera Cahoone (from Only as the Day is Long)

5. "Wildflower" // Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson

    (from Rattlin' Bones)

6. "Saro" // Sam Amidon (from All is Well)

7. "The Butcher" // Final Fantasy

    (from the Spectrum, 14th Century EP)

8. "I Was Made for You" // She & Him (from Volume One)

9. "Unnamed (This Song Makes Me Happy)" // Leona Naess

    (from Thirteens)

10. "Sax Rohmer #1" // The Mountain Goats (from Heretic Pride)

11. "Bag of Hammers" // Thao Nguyen & the Get Down Stay Down

       (from We Brave Bee Stings and All)

12. "Borrowing Time" // Aimee Mann (from @#%&*! Smilers)

13. "Alicia Ross" // Kathleen Edwards (from Asking for Flowers)

14. "You Swan, Go On" // Mount Eerie with Julie Doiron

       (from Lost Wisdom)

15. "The Captain and the Hourglass" // Laura Marling

       (from Alas, I Cannot Swim)

16. "Tell Me Something True" // Tift Merritt (from Another Country)

17. "Ain't Glad I'm Leaving" // Justin Townes Earle

       (from The Good Life)

18. "Armageddon Song" // The Dutchess and the Duke

       (from She's the Dutchess, He's the Duke)

DISC V -- ELECTRONIC / DANCE -- 1:05 -- 96.4 MB

1. "Say Whoa" // A-Trak

    (from Running Man, a Nike+ Original Run Mix)

2. "Lights and Music" // Cut Copy (from In Ghost Colours)

3. "Air War" // Crystal Castles (from Crystal Castles)

4. "I Told Her on Alderaan" // Neon Neon (from Stainless Style)

5. "Which Song" // Max Tundra (from Parallax Error Beheads Us)

6. "Heaven (Narctrax Rmx)" // HEALTH (from HEALTH//DISCO)

7. "Hercules' Theme" // Hercules & Love Affair

    (from Hercules & Love Affair)

8. "The Rip" // Portishead (from Third)

9. "Ready for the Floor" // Hot Chip (from Made in the Dark)

10. "Graveyard Girl" // M83 (from Saturdays = Youth)

11. "Grand Ideas" // Lindstrøm (Excerpt from Where You Go I Go Too)

12. "Techno Dread" // 2562 (from Aerial)

13. "Positif" // Mr. Oizo (from Lambs Anger)

14. "Planisphère (Final)" // Justice (from the Planisphère EP)