Poptimists Tracks Of 2008 PART FIVE

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Here it is! The ten best tracks of 2008 according to YOUR votes.

10. MJ HIBBETT AND THE VALIDATORS - "It Only Works Because You're Here" (28 points)

I'll let the voters go into more detail on this one, I think.

9. ADDICTIVE ft T2 - "Gonna Be Mine" (29 points)

Mariachi bassline explosion! 2008's most unjust non-hit gets its due.

8. LIL WAYNE - "A Milli" (30 points)

Hip-hop's biggest crossover ripples through to Poptimists.

7. CASSIE ft LIL WAYNE - "Official Girl" (33 points)

That rarest of things, an actual Cassie release!

6. MGMT - "Time To Pretend" (40 points)

MGMT are too hip for embeds. Their other hits picked up a vote each too.

5. SANTOGOLD - "L.E.S. Artistes" (45 points)

A handful of these points were for the XXXChange remix (which is also very good). Santogold. A horse. Rum goings-on.

4. GOLDFRAPP - "A&E" (47 points)

Alison G. cavorts with some leafy otherkin. Benefitted from a late flurry of votes.

3. WILEY - "Wearing My Rolex" (78 points)

featuring N London dance troupe the River Fleet Foxes.

2. JORDIN SPARKS AND CHRIS BROWN - "No Air" (94 points)

The runaway early leader, then flagged a bit in late voting.

1. ESTELLE ft KANYE WEST - "American Boy" (113 points)

"Who killin them in the UK? Everybody gonna say you, K" - it is impossible to find an actual video for this song on YouTube!

Thanks to all who voted - tomorrow I'll put up the full list and appendix (every song mentioned). Now let the debate begin!

Comments

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

WTF is MJ Hibbett? Is this a joke? Ughhh "comedy".

Apart from that and boring MGMT it's a great top 10 and a very appropriate No 1, though I think 'A&E' is being overrated somewhat - I don't dislike Goldfrapp-gone-pastorale but it does make me want to listen to the Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man album instead.

No 'Blind'!!

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

"Blind" got one top vote but nothing else! I was a bit surprised. "Closer" got one #7 vote.

The MJH isn't comedy, it's whimsical romantic indie, and all three of its voters sincerely like the song I believe. Even so I think a degree of collusion was involved.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I'm not disappointed about the lack of 'Blind', it's v good but not top 10 worthy for me - this is a nice counterbalance to it being really overrated elsewhere.

The Wayneless version of 'Official Girl' is much much better than the official version.

I'm not especially surprised at the absence of 'Closer' but I am surprised that 'Miss Independent' was the consensus Ne-Yo pick! Would've expected 'Closer' where 'Miss Independent' was. Not complaining though, they're both great and I probably listen more to the latter these days.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I quite like Wayne's presence in the song, not because his guest verse is especially good, but it makes it more bittersweet that Cassie's expending so much emotional energy on trying to stay with this sleazeball, whose response to her pleas for committment is basically "So what, I give good head don't I?"

[hoshuteki.livejournal.com]

I sincerely do like it, mostly from seeing it performed live a lot (which helps). It was also, if I'm not mistaken, one of his only two singles of 2008. I certainly didn't think, in any possible outcome of any possible universe, that it'd make the top 10.

[miss-newham.livejournal.com]

There might possibly have been a degree of collusion involved, but I do genuinely love this song. (Though the live version is better and less jaunty, but there wasn't a 'best live track played by a nice man in a pub' category, so into the singles category it went.)

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'm happy to admit that i may have given Hibbett a point of two more than perhaps i would've if i hadn't talked to ewan and jo about voting for him, but this was because i thought 28 points would barely trouble the top 20...

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Slightly embarassingly SIX of these were among my votes - I didn't vote for Hibbett, "A Milli", MGMT or Estelle (though I like Wayne and Estelle a lot, and I like MGMT enough to tick it in the weekly poll).

I was surprised "A&E" did so well - I knew Swygart was likely to vote for it. I like it partly because it evokes being in hospital on a quiet morning so well, so it reminds me of my hospital scare last year and reminds me, in a sappy sort of way, not to take things for granted.

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

i'm assuming the only other vote for any other Gfrapp song came from me (for Happiness). not big on A&E myself but love the H&LA remix.

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

I thought someone else other than me would have voted for "Clowns". It's a beautiful track and way better than "A&E" IHMO.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

You've been down the pub with MJ at least once, Lex.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

MJ Hibbett is surely the nicest person to have ever appeared on a Poptimists year-end list! I prefer his satirical side to his sentimental side tho.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

What so he's someone that people know? That would be the only way of explaining it I guess.

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

well not really, it was a proper single release and got a bit of radio play and everything and, OK, so i know him, but it's still a song I really like (maybe my favourite of his), and jo and ewan don't know him that well, they just like his music.

but yeah, like i said, i never thought three ppl voting for it would get it into the top 10...

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

This year's poll had the same number (or near as dammit) of voters as last year's, but the tail of songs getting 2 votes was a lot longer, and the head of songs getting more than 4 was very short - only 6 songs did (the top 5 and poor old "Love Lockdown"). Last year 32 points was the limit of the Top 10, so MJH would have come in somewhere in the high teens.