Top 119 of 2008: Rules Made To Be Broken

Here you can get your very own 119, but they're also available from me at my house. If you are going to download it from here, you should use the labels and inserts I made to go with it. Sharpies are disgraceful to the 119's proud heritage.

7.5 hours, 612.4 MB

Architecture In Helsinki - Heart It Races
These people are crazy. Just a group of hippies making crazy songs.

Audioslave - Out Of Exile
The only song they made that was worthy of members of the former Rage Against the Machine.

Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend [clean]
You know you liked it.

Bayside - Carry On
My favorite new punk band of the year. They're not all that old, but already lost a band member. It hardened and refined them. Their music is complex and real.

Bayside - They're Not Horses, They're Unicorns
And they rocked at Warped Tour. I screamed myself "horse" (eh, still got it, no?) to this song more than once in the car. It's so bitter.

Belanova - Por Ti
Fun kiddie-type song with great production. It'll remind you of your childhood sweetheart.

Belinda - Ni Freud Ni Tu Mamá
Great second album from a young star from Mexico City.

Belinda - Utopía
Isn't her voice compelling?

Black Eyed Peas - Anxiety
Stuck in my head, now you get a copy.

Black Lab - Broken Heart
Third Black Lab album. It's rougher and more raw than either of the first two, and that's saying something. You should get all three.

Black Lab - Good
Somebody get this man a valium.

Bobby "Blue" Bland - Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City
I decided to find out who I was hearing in that preview for that Denzel Washington movie, found out it was a truly excellent blues man whom I've seen live! This song is choice.

Celia Cruz - Rie y Llora
Played this at a Latin birthday party. Tito Puente kept good company.

Cold War Kids - Hang Me Up to Dry [live]
Great song, even better with their strained live performance.

Cupid - Cupid Shuffle
Some guy demanded this song for his company party. It's so repetitive and simple, you should listen to it more as audio impressionism than as a traditional song.

Cypress Hill - (Rock) Superstar [clean]
Got stuck in my head, and then I saw them perform it. Who knew they had another hit in them?

Dandy Warhols - We Used To Be Friends
In honor of my wife's Veronica Mars obsession. May Veronica rest in peace, you were cancelled before your time.

Danko Jones - Mountain [live][clean]
Never technically recorded for an album, Danko ends every show with some variation on this song. It embodies his whole outlook of beating everybody, proving himself and his power. I cut out the profanity, some pandering to Stockholm, a lot of excessive, repetitive instrumentation, and the seriously drawn-out ending. It is now just over 7 minutes. But it's still worth it.

Danko Jones - We Sweat Blood [clean]
This song brings out the Stinkoman in me. Are you looking for a challenge??

Days Away - God and Mars
I put these guys on the 119 a couple years ago. This song is better than that.

Donnas - Better Off Dancing
Off the new album.

Donnas - The Gold Medal
Off the older album. I suddenly realized how cool it is.

Eisley - Invasion
So freaking haunting.

Eisley - Telescope Eyes
Seriously.

Elvis Crespo - Tu Sonrisa
Like "Suavemente," but possibly cooler. Expect to hear it when you hire me to DJ for you.

Emmy Rossum - Falling
Yeah, I think this is that actress. But the song is so produced, it reminds me a lot of last year's list's Utada Hikaru song. I kind of like it. Am I allowed to like it?

Esthero With Danny Saber - Song For Holly
Epic and intoxicating.

Fall Out Boy - Thnks Fr Th Mmrs
Pedal to the floor.

Fall Out Boy - Dead On Arrival
Older song from them, indistinguishable from A New Found Glory. Good classic punk.

Feist - I Feel It All
Great song, representative of the great album that spawned that "1, 2, 3, 4" song you've heard.

Feist - Mushaboom
Off her last album. I loved this song in 2005, and have snuck it into some gigs.

Feist - Sea Lion
I think this might be a centuries-old slave chant, adapted for indie rock. No, really, I'm not joking even a little bit.

Foo Fighters - But, Honestly
Stripped down, steel acoustic.

Foo Fighters - The Pretender
I adore the bass line in this song. It's just a good riff. I've decided lozenge commercials should be full of music like this.

Fountains Of Wayne - Someone To Love
More stories of people in small towns. These guys are at the top of their game. NOW - with harmonies!

Fountains Of Wayne - Strapped For Cash
Music to watch the Ocean's movies to.

Gipsy Kings - Hotel California (Spanish Mix)
Surreal.

Goldfrapp - Ride A White Horse [live]
Electronic dance music. Doesn't sound like anything I've heard live...

Go! Team - Grip Like a Vice
The best band to double-dutch to is back, with some female proto-rap guest stars.

Guster - Ruby Falls
This album was another huge disappointment from one of the best bands around. This one, however, is a good example of their slow and epic sound, when they can muster it.

Guster - Satellite
Maybe the only song on the album to get over 60bpm. Makes your head bob, with their trademark complicated rhythms and harmonies.

Hellogoodbye - Oh! It Is Love
Your girlfriend will so dig this song. If you are the girlfriend, pretend your boy played it for you, then make out with him.

Incubus - Dig
When their "A Crow Left of the Murder..." album came out, I was worried that they didn't get what made them awesome. "Light Grenades," and this song, restored my faith.

J-Kwon - Tipsy
Trippy hip hop.

Jimmy Eat World - Electable (Give It Up)
A veritable Jimmy rennaissance. Go get this album.

Jimmy Eat World - Firefight
Jimmy recently joined the exclusive club of "bands I've seen 4 times," by the way.

Johnny Cash - God's Gonna Cut You Down
Johnny would know.

Jose Gonzalez - Crosses
One late night I wasn't feeling very good, and couldn't fall asleep. I went to the living room and watched a music video channel for a couple hours. I felt weird, and viewers were actually in a chat room on the left of the screen. This song came on and it just penetrated me. It amplified the weirdness, or maybe just understood it. In any case, I still feel some kind of odd reverence about this song, which still penetrates me. Maybe you should check out the video too.

José González - Heartbeats
More of the same.

Justin Timberlake - Summer Love / Set The Mood Prelude
Undeniably groovy.

Kanye West - I Wonder
Strange sampling from a strange rapper.

Kanye West - Stronger
Kanye: neither daft, nor punk. Discuss.

Kelly Clarkson - One Minute
New album - not quite as explosive as the last one. Nevertheless, this is a choice nugget.

Killers - Smile Like You Mean It [acoustic]
Even sadder without amps.

Klaxons - It's Not Over Yet
I don't even remember where I dug this one up. The instrumentals are way modern indie, but the vocals are oddly very Flaming Lips. Am I wrong? Awesome tune.

KT Tunstall - Hold On
Somewhere between a rock band and an Appalachian jug band.

KT Tunstall - Little Favours
Haunting. Nothing like her usual stuff, even the above song.

Linkin Park - In Between
A piercingly simple song from a crushingly disappointing album.

Lyrics Born - Rise and Shine
A bride made me play this during dinner. I've never heard rap like this.

Mae - Home
Mae is back to being Mae! Give this a minute to grab you: it won't let go, despite the next song's pleadings.

Mae - Just Let Go
Already making itself at home in your brain, forwarding its mail, putting its feet up.

The Maine - Count 'Em One, Two, Three
These guys opened for a show I saw about a year ago. They're clearly still in high school, but they're great showmen and musicians. I downloaded these tracks from their MySpace.

The Maine - Daisy
Did I mention they're from the Phoenix Valley? Keep an eye on them.

Mars Volta - Bach Song
Not by seminal prog rock band "The Mars Volta," but by the older Italian electronica band that likes to make techno songs out of classical music. This is cool - but, again, is not played by any former members of At The Drive-In.

Mary J. Blige - Family Affair
I crawled out of my cave and heard this about a year ago. Unable to travel through time to place it on the 2003 119, I will make restitution by putting it on this one.

Matches - Chain Me Free
More teen punk, with a fun, singable chorus melody.

Mike Doughty - I Hear The Bells
This is one of the best gifts I give you with this edition. Everything this man touches is brilliant, and I didn't quite know it until this year. This is representative of this great album.

Mike Doughty - Unsingable Name
Heartbreaking, and the string section isn't helping. I've totally been there, and I promise you have too.

Modest Mouse - Dashboard
Yeah, you heard this. It just makes you feel a little better than you did before you heard it.

Modest Mouse - Florida [clean]
Manic and complicated.

Motion City Soundtrack - Antonia
Such a complete picture of this woman that sometimes I start to wonder why she and I haven't been hanging out much anymore.

Motion City Soundtrack - Last Night
These guys are so much better than they appear to be. Give this song 5 seconds to give you a taste of the rich chord progressions. Compelling.

Muse - Map Of The Problematique
Muse, burning more calories.

My American Heart - Boys! Grab Your Guns
A fun, sarcastic anthem of violent urban youth.

My American Heart - There Are More Frightening Things...
These guys were my "new discovery" pick of Warped Tour this year. It was a good pick. See if you don't air guitar to this one.

Nelly Furtado - Say It Right (Radio edit)
You can't fight the Timbaland. See how much more Timba you get by the end of this list.

Ne-Yo - Because of You
He sounds just like Michael Jackson, from back when Mike was, you know, still good.

Nina Sky - Move Ya Body (Radio Edit)
Mindless dance music.

Nine Inch Nails - Only [clean]
I should have put this one on last year's list. I just didn't have the whatever in me to cut out the multiple F-bombs. This year, I repented. My second-favorite NIN song, after the flawless "Perfect Drug."

OK Go - Invincible
Listen to the lyrics on this one. It's about how, when the aliens come out of the sky to destroy us, they won't be able to get past you. It's awesome beyond words.

Ozma - Heartache vs. Heartbreak
Ozma's back together! And they made me an album! It includes this interesting duet between Star and Daniel. It's odd, but quite Ozmaey. (Yes, that's a word, go look it up!)

Ozma - Incarnation Blues
This one teased me on their MySpace as I waited for them to make my new CD. Classic Ozma sound, rockin' and ever-so-slightly Russian.

Paramore - Circle (Demo) (Unreleased)
Recorded about the time of their first album, just a hint of the amazing rock to come.

Paramore - Crushcrushcrush
Their Riot was my favorite album of the year, and one of my top albums ever. After several listens, I decided this song was my pick of the disc. It didn't grab me at first, but every time the bridge collides with the last verse, and mixes together into a delicious rock-tail, I get goosebumps. This mp3 is the version from the album, not the radio version that castrates the delicious, suspense-building titular lyric.

Paramore - For A Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic
The record is so cohesive and self-referential, and blends together so seemlessly that it was hard to select one winning track over another. This is the lead track, and deserves it. I decided that the recipe on this album - 85% Paramore punk, 15% off-kilter Panic! At The Disco - is just the right mix to make me want to buy a second copy, just out of principle.
I'm literally in the fan club. I have a card.

Pete Yorn - Undercover
Never a misstep for this artist. Trademark Yorn.

Pete Yorn - Vampyre
Sad and hopeless, until the rocking close.

Pizza Party - Talk To The Pants
Okay, this isn't a "real" band. This was featured on an episode of Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends on Cartoon Network, "Schlock Star," in which the whole house has a battle of the bands. It is a kid's cartoon, so the other stuff was all parody of famous stuff, like artsy-phase Beatles and Kiss. But this song, the winner, was kind of awesome. Then I caught the episode again, and it was quite awesome. I downloaded this mp3 for free from the CN website.
It's about pants.

Postal Service - Be Still My Heart
Fantastic B-side from their "We Will Become Silhouettes" single. Why aren't they making me more records?

Promise Ring - Make Me A Mixtape
Old timey Promise Ring. This takes me back to 2002. Always fun, and overdue for a 119 spot.

Queens Of The Stone Age - I Never Came
An uncharacteristically slow one from QotSA, but they couldn't resist picking up the pace and adding some of their unnerving falsetto before it was over.

Queens Of The Stone Age - Little Sister
Rocks my freakin' brains out.

Radiohead - Bodysnatchers
Yes, I paid them ten bucks for this "pay what it's worth" album. It was easily on par with any of their best. Here are two of the gems.

Radiohead - Reckoner
Dude, it's Radiohead. Using chords and melodies, just like your high school music teacher! Is there anything better?

Ray Charles - What'd I Say
Deserves to be on a 119. Ray would have wanted it that way.
Wins the "oldest 119 track of the year" award, unless you count the Bach from "Bach Song," which you don't

Rihanna - Rehab
Great track of her great album. Funny rhythms, and some tough piano backing up her vocals and Timba's sound effects.

Rihanna - Sell Me Candy
Dance, darn you!
Okay, so I picked out these two songs from the album, then found out that Timbaland produced only two of her tracks. Can you guess which two?

Rilo Kiley - Close Call
Slow and rich.

Rilo Kiley - Dejalo
Her terrible accent as she tries to say her one Spanish lyric is somehow still dangerously sexy.

Rogue Wave - Lake Michigan
Yeah, I'm on the bandwagon now. I think that only puts me about 5 years behind my friend Amber Garcia.

Sherwood - Give Up!
Opened for Motion City Soundtrack, and put on just as good a performance. I bought their stuff, and this is a great indication of their recent sound. I love how the chorus doesn't match the verses even a little bit.

Sherwood - The Best In Me
Love it! I love this song!

Shiny Toy Guns - Le Disko [Version 3.0][clean]
Another one that was a narrow miss last year. I found this newer, only slightly different mix, and cut out the naughty bits.
How Eurotrash are they, you ask?
They're from Oklahoma.
The really European parts of Oklahoma, you ask?
There aren't any, you dolt.

Silversun Pickups - Dream At Tempo 119
TEMPO 119?? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? These guys clearly made this song (and one of the best albums of this, or any other, year) as a plea to be added to my list. WISH GRANTED, o Silversun Pickups.
Oh, and dig the fake ending in the middle of this song.

Silversun Pickups - Future Foe Scenarios
SP's fierce side.

Silversun Pickups - Little Lover's So Polite
SP's (surprisingly similar) tender side.

Smashing Pumpkins - Doomsday Clock
The Pumpkins (by which I mean, Billy Corgan) got back together (by which I mean, started calling himself the Smashing Pumpkins again) and recorded me a new CD! After I picked this one for the list, the Transformers Movie picked the same one for their list, totally vindicating me.

Smashing Pumpkins - That's The Way (My Love Is)
The closest thing Billy comes to caring about someone else. Great instrumentals. I saw them play last summer, and he just wails on the guitar with this demeanor like he isn't even aware he's playing. He doesn't even have to try, anymore, to make a fantastic record and rock me in San Fran for over 3 hours.

Straylight Run - Cover Your Eyes
Never afraid of a little experimentation, they're the softer sister of Taking Back Sunday. Am I crazy or is this Spanish-influenced?

Subways - Oh Yeah
After I put two from this album on last year's list, I suddenly realized that this song is rock enough that they probably have to switch drumsticks and larynxes mid-song.

They Might Be Giants - Climbing The Walls
TMBG released The Else this year, possibly their finest to date. This is almost like something that an over-the-top non-TMBG band would release. Almost.

They Might Be Giants - Take Out The Trash
I love Flansburgh. I love him so much. The 5 best musicians in the world just keep getting better. This song is just so swanky.

They Might Be Giants - Withered Hope
Is this jazz? It's a lot of brass, and some kind of goofy 5/9 rhythm or something. Plus, the chorus is an amazing homage to hopelessness, one of John Linnell's favorite subjects.

Three 6 Mafia - Stay Fly
Hip hop at its best. Play it at my house and make fun of me as I dance. Get past the "shout outs" at the beginning, and just dig the four minutes of bass.

Tickertape Parade - Smile
May they rest in peace. They released this and promptly broke up, as, apparently, I neglected to drive a dump truck of money to their houses. This was the last very good song from a very good, and sadly underappreciated, Arizona band. Luckily, I finally got to see them shortly before they released this CD.

Timbaland - The Way I Are (feat. Keri Hilson & D.O.E.)
The production on this song, while not a motorboat, can float my boat. You would know he would save his best effort for himself. I also love the contributions from the guests. And, at under 3 minutes, it's bite-sized for your enjoyment.

Tool - The Pot [clean]
This was the song, a day after distributing last year's list, that I smacked my forehead and realized I had forgotten. I cut the naughty bits and put it here for your enjoyment. Almost more of a chant than a song, the bongos only intensify the primality of it.

Vast - Falling From The Sky
From his double album Crimson and Turquoise, you've probably heard this in movie previews and the like. He's been making unparalleled rock for over 10 years, now I think he's making it in his basement and burning the CDs himself. Just see if you don't feel it during the chorus of this one. How has he never quite gotten huge? Doesn't this belong on your local rock station?

Vast - Thrown Away
Quintessential Vast. Unquestionably epic. Give it a minute and a half to really reach you.

White Stripes - Icky Thump
Manic Stripes. Something like a march, something like a tirade, something like Hendrix on too much of the junk.

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