Wrap Up 2008

2008 was a weak year for music. No song came anywhere close to the favorites in my past lists (and nothing can touch 'Charlotte' by light years.) I decided to do a list this year because I was smart and started a Best of 2008 playlist on my iTunes from January and added music gradually, so I figured, why let that go to waste? Totally unenthusiastic about this list but nevertheless, here are my top tunes of '08 (well, of course, the tunes that either came out or I first heard in '08):

60. Kid Rock - All Summer Long
59. Panic at the Disco - Nine in the Afternoon
58. Duffy - Mercy
57. The Pigeon Detectives - Romantic Type
56. Jack Penate - Have I Been a Fool?
55. Madonna - 4 Minutes
54. REM - Supernatural Superserious
53. Panic at the Disco - That Green Gentleman
52. David Cook - Light On
51. Take That - Greatest Day
50. Scouting for Girls - Elvis Ain't Dead
49. Paramore - That's What You Get
48. Does It Offend You, Yeah? - Epic Last Song
47. M.I.A. - Paper Planes
46. Sam Sparro - Black and Gold
45. ADELE - Hometown Glory
44. We Are Scientists - Lethal Enforcer
43. Kevin Rudolf - Let it Rock
42. Ne-Yo - Miss Independent
41. Amy Winehouse - Tears Dry on Their Own
40. The Streets - Everything is Borrowed
39. The Kooks - Always Where I Need to Be
38. Jesse McCartney - Leavin'
37. Oasis - Bag It Up
36. Cherry Ghost - Thirst for Romance
35. Britney Spears - Piece of Me
34. Black Kids - I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You
33. The Fratellis - Mistress Mabel
32. Gavin DeGraw - In Love with a Girl
31. The Ting Tings - We Walk
30. Kaiser Chiefs - Always Happens Like That
29. Keane - The Lovers Are Losing
28. New Kids on the Block - Summertime
27. Coldplay - Violet Hill
26. Snow Patrol - Take Back the City
25. The Ting Tings - Shut Up and Let Me Go
24. Kate Nash - Pumpkin Soup
23. Vampire Weekend - A-Punk
22. Glasvegas - Geraldine
21. Ray J - Sexy Can I
20. Justin Nozuka - After Tonight
19. David Archuleta - Crush
18. The Verve - Love Is Noise
17. The Streets - On the Edge of a Cliff
16. A.i. - Tell Me U Love Me
15. The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name
14. Carolina Liar - Show Me What I'm Looking For
13. Kings of Leon - Use Somebody
12. Oasis - Falling Down
11. The Answering Machine - Lightbulbs
10. Silversun Pickups - Lazy Eye
9. Pigeon Detectives - This Is an Emergency
8. Beyonce - Single Ladies
7. The Ting Tings - Great DJ
6. The Enemy - This Song
5. MGMT - Electric Feel
4. Carolina Liar - I'm Not Over
3. The Wombats - Moving to New York
2. Keane - Spiralling
1. Ladyhawke - My Delirium

So much pop in there. I'm kind of grossed out by myself right now.

2008 Gigs (Band/Opening Act - Venue)
AC/DC - Wachovia Arena
Ash/Levy - Music Hall of Williamsburg
Augustana/Wild Sweet Orange/David Ford - Bowery Ballroom
Bell XI - Bowery Ballroom
Delays/Scouting for Girls - Bowery Ballroom
Editors/Louis XIV - Terminal 5
Elbow - Webster Hall
The Enemy - Bowery Ballroom
The Fratellis/Airborne Toxic Event - Webster Hall
George Michael - MSG
Jack Penate - Mercury Lounge
Longwave - Mercury Lounge
New Kids on the Block/Natasha Bedingfield - Nassau Coliseum
Oasis/The Cardinals - MSG
Panic at the Disco/Dashboard Confessional/Plain White T's/The Cab - Izod Center (it was free, alright??)
The Pigeon Detectives/Your Vegas - Bowery Ballroom
The Stills - Bowery Ballroom
The Ting Tings - Mercury Lounge
The Ting Tings - Bowery Ballroom
The Ting Tings - Webster Hall
The Verve - WAMU Theater
The Who - Orpheum Theater
The Wombats - Blender Theater

I'd have to say my fave gigs were:
#1) Ash - Music Hall of Williamsburg
#2) New Kids on the Block - Nassau Coliseum (I shit you not)
#3) George Michael - MSG (I double shit you not)
#4) The Who - Orpheum Theater
#5) Oasis - MSG

And for a final shit you not, Keane's 'Perfect Symmetry' was my favorite album of 2008. Really! I'm sooo not kidding!!

Other albums I enjoyed (I did not hear much new music this year as you can tell by both my song list and albums):
Carolina Liar - Coming to Terms, The Wombats - A Guide to Love, Loss, and Desperation, Snow Patrol - A Hundred Million Suns, The Enemy - We'll Live and Die in These Towns, The Streets - Everything is Borrowed

People I enjoyed in 2008: Chuck Bass, Rhet Butler, my Weight Watchers leader, Danny Boyle, Desmond, the casts of Spring Awakening and 13, my new fave football team "Dumb," and the chick from The Ting Tings.
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People I wanted to punch in the face in 2008: Katy Perry and Secondhand Serenade for making two of the worst songs I have EVER heard, Piers Morgan, Sarah Palin, whoever was in charge of the ticker announcing the Stephen Gerrard incident every three seconds, Ogden Cap Properties, Nanny Carrie, Obama supporters, Led Zeppelin for waking me up every morning, the step teacher Monday nights at the 91st St. NYSC, Deanna Pappas, the asshead who attacked Noel Gallagher forcing the cancellation of the Terminal 5 show, and finally, anybody involved with the film Nights in Rodanthe.

2008 was a mega year for me. A few downers - job hunt was still on for the first quarter of the year, my grandfather passed away in December. But, a lot of amazing things happened as well - in April I was offered a job as a manger in my department (which came as a complete surprise to me.) By May I had lost 15 lbs. In June I moved back to the city into ahhhh a luxury building. Fire Island was spread out through the summer. In July our dept. had a great E3 including sitting in the 3rd row of a 1000 person theater for a private concert by The Who. A few weeks later I went to London on a work trip (for something unimaginable) and on that trip I got engaged. In August, Dave and I had a small civil ceremony in order to get the visa paperwork going. We did it at the last minute on a sunny day in the conservatory gardens in Central Park and spent our wedding night celebrating with pints in the pub watching the Olympics. I went on a couple of work trips in the Summer/Fall (I'm all for traveling for work) including LA, Vegas, Dallas, and San Francisco. In October we announced our Beatles video game. The end of the year saw us book our wedding venue and I took two trips to London with the GBP down to less than $1.50. 2008 was one of the best years I have had in a loooong time. 2009 has been uneventful thusfar but that's okay, it's only halfway through January. I did get a load of stuff on mega discount today including a pair of $25 workout pants for $2.99. I hope the recession goes away but not the sales!