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]

what the original or the remix? not that it matters as neither of them bear any Timbaland hallmarks, like, at all. if anything the original is just a really blatant Swizz Beatz knock-off.

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

I think a listen to the first 10 seconds of the remix will give a key to where I was going with that (embarrassingly I have forgotten the name of the instrument involved - possibly a tabla?)

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

A bit of a bhangra feel does not a Timbaland production make though! I mean, it was a trend which most of R&B jumped on around 2002, but as a separate genre you can't say bhangra itself is particularly 2002; and given that the Freemasons have recontextualised it into a commercial house track, not an R&B one - you could never actually mistake it for Timbaland - I'm not sure the comparison holds up.

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

Then it was a dumb joke on my part that didn't work. I didn't really have any point other than "this thing reminds me of that thing".

[koganbot]

I'm playing this track now, and I like it. If I'd heard it before I've forgotten it. What reminds me of Timbo isn't so much the sitar (or whatever) but the slow drag of the instrumental wash in the background - which may be reminiscent of Swizz too, but Swizz often ran pretty close to Timbo (and both of them like to be unpredictable).