DAILY DOMER: FOOTBALL BANQUET ("I'LL HAVE THE KOSHER MEAL")

NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL BILLY, 2008!

 My good buddy Billy and I love music every bit as much as Russell (Billy Crudup) does in Almost Famous. The difference is that Billy understands technology, and I don't. And so he burns me about 15-20 mix CDs per annum, which I listen to over and over again. And then, at the end of the year, I compile my own "Best of..." list. So here they are, my 20 favorite tunes of 2008, culled exclusively from the Billy mixes, which I believe he should be selling on the black market, by the way. Or the white market. Whatever.

     FYI, I don't do much of the hip-hop/rap. Sorry 'bout that. Also, apologies to Nickelback and AC/DC fans. Seven of my 20 songs make Billy's own "Best of..." list. And there's also just a 7-song overlap with Blender magazine's top 144 songs of the year (they didn't have 13 of my songs on their list, but they did have the Sara Silverman tune about Matt Damon and Shaq's rap on Kobe on it).

The list:

1) Stay Positive........................................The Hold Steady

        This Brooklyn-by-way-of-the-Twin Cities band is the only one that put two songs on the list. The refrain should be the mantra for Notre Dame football fans. I love the line "Cuz most kids give me credit/For being down with it/When it was back in the day". That, and the oh-so-true "There's gonna come a time/When she's gonna have to go/With whoever's gonna get her the highest." Craig Finn, you sexy beast.

  2) Supernatural Superserious.......................REM

           Ethereal harmonies. Obtuse lyrics. Doo-dah Dixie energy. Now where's my "40 Watt Club" T-shirt? 

3) Love Story...........................................Taylor Swift

       
            Wow. This is what burgeoning super-stardom looks like. And no, she never appeared on "American Idol". Even the Jonas Brother who dated her was over-chicked. Only Tebow is worthy. And this little bonus is my favorite collaboration since Nirvana hooked up with the Meat Puppets on "Unplugged"  .

 4) Heart Attack.........................................Low vs Diamond

            Brilliant video, and for about two weeks this was the only song that I'd listen to. True story: Driving home from the Notre Dame-Boston College game on a Sunday in November, I played it at least a dozen times. Arriving home late Sunday night, I check out the band's tour page to see when they might be coming to New York City. Of course they were in NYC that very night, and I was too late. Missed 'em. Just as I also missed the ND-BC game the night before.

5)  Calling All Skeletons................................Alkaline Trio

      Three nice kids from the northwest Chicago 'burbs wrote this ready-for-Warped Tour tune. Listening to it live, someone needs to tell them to stay off the Ritalin. But when they slow the tempo down a bit, as they do here in the recorded version, they've got a terrific hook.

6) Mr. Rock and Roll...................................Amy MacDonald

         I'd never heard of this Scottish singer-songwriter before hearing this song. The best-written song on this list. If Lilith Fair still existed, they'd be pushing Paula Cole off the bill to accommodate this Lewinsky lookalike.

 7) Insignificant..........................................Counting Crows

      If Adam Duritz is writing the lyrics, you can bet that rain or California or introspection is sure to follow. And, sure, this is basically the latest "Have You Seen Me Lately?" , but it's still their best song in some time.

8) Sequestered in Memphis..........................The Hold Steady

         This is why everyone calls them the best bar band in America (and Dave gets off a great line in the intro on this clip). Craig Finn should be embarrassed that he has the same khakis-forever fashion sense that I do. That and the fact that he dances like a spastic seventh grader at his first mixer.

9) I'm Amazed...........................................My Morning Jacket

        The ultimate chill-out, feel-the-sun-on-your-face tune. The guitar riff gets under your skin. The Allman Brothers approve. Rolling Stone has a bigger crush on this band than they do on Obama.

10) I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend........Black Kids

        What happens when you take New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle" and slip in a lesbian lyric ("You are the girl that I've been dreaming of/Ever since I was a little girl") sung by a dude? You get this infectious tune. Best use of cheerleaders in a video since Nada Surf's "Popular" video from the early 90s. (and, yes, some of the Black Kids are in fact black). Dance! Dance! Dance! 

11) Viva La Vida........................................Coldplay

         I want to hate this song. Sometimes I do. And I really hate the whole Les Miserables motif that Chris Martin is sporting. But it's got a violin intro that sports producers will be using for years.

12) A-Punk...............................................Vampire Weekend

        Not only did these upper, Upper West Siders validate the hype, but in this year of "Twilight" and "True Blood", talk about a serendipitous band name. You could have put two or three different songs (Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, M-79) on this list, but I prefer this. If Rory and that Huntzberger pansy were still dating, they'd be playing this CD as they drove up to Martha's Vineyard.

13) White Winter Hymnal.............................Fleet Foxes

        Believe it or not, this band records on the same label that originally signed Nirvana (Sub Pop). Undefinable, and the most enchanting tune on this list. I can only imagine that every single collegiate a cappella group worth their beat boxer is covering this song right now.

14) Great DJ.............................................Ting Tings

      Most fans of this guy-gal duo put "Shut Up and Let Me Go" as their favorite song, but I'm prejudiced after seeing a talented young NBC sports producer use this song as a backdrop to a Wimbledon montage. This band, and this song, belong in the year 1981 and deserve to have Martha Quinn introducing it on the MTV.

 
15) If This Room Could Move........................I Nine

            Sure, it's tailored for the Gossip Girl gang, but I found myself turning it up every time this song came on.

16) Scare Easy.....................................Mudcrutch

         Tom Petty hooked up with his pre-Heartbreakers band from the Gainesville days and actually recorded some Petty-worthy songs. This one's my favorite and, had he released it any time between 1978-1986, would probably be considered an indispensable part of his canon (I used the word "canon" so that I could sound more like David Fricke).

17) New Soul......................................Yael Naim

          The winner of this year's Natasha Bedingfield Award (previously known as the Dido Award). Okay, it's simplistic enough to be a commercial jingle, but sometimes simple is genius. 

18) Let's Dance to Joy Division.....................The Wombats

        The title alone is a scream. The musical equivalent to shot-gunning a beer. Don't expect anything more than that, but enjoy it while it lasts.

19) Madi Don't Leave..................................PlayRadioPlay!

          We close with two songs of unrequited like/stalkerdom, which is at least 23% of what all pop songs are about...unless David Lee Roth is singing, since he never had to deal with that. But if you look and sound like this guy, then, yeah, you write songs like this. I could imagine a young Angela Chase (and here's the best clip from this comet of a classic show) listening to this song in her bedroom as she dreamt of Jordan Catalano.  

20) I Will Possess Your Heart........................Death Cab For Cutie

         Billy used the abridged 3 1/2-minute version of this tune, but I'm throwing in the 8-minute version because you need to build the tension and sustain it to truly appreciate the singer's depth of longing and pain. Besides, the instrumental half of the song is so, so strong. Again, this song only works if you look and sound like this guy. We're not buying it if Aldous Snow does the cover. Which reminds me, here's song No. 21, the bonus tune, on our list. David "Big Bottoms" St. Hubbins couldn't have done any better.