Favorite Songs of the Year, Part II

So, I'm 31 now. Doesn't feel much different, except that I know this is going to be a big year for me. 31 is the year that I'll get married, graduate from law school, make a big move across the country, and start a possibly semi-permanent career. Anyway, mortality-schmortality. Here are another five songs I loved this year on albums that didn't make the top 10. Sorry for the delay.

Lil Wayne- "A Milli": The sexual posturing on what seems like Lil Wayne's 8th record of 2008 is so outlandishly off-putting and weird-sounding at times that you think you're hearing an alien attempting to synthesize a day spent in a specially-made Earthbound Misogyny Vortex. Trying to solve Weezy's thought process on Tha Carter III is an exercise in futility; the man is not like the rest of us, and what results from his attempt to make us "get it" is utterly fascinating. What we get here is a syrup-sick, all over the map manifesto of a real, live freak who literally spent his formative years in one of those rap videos. "A Milli" is my favorite track on the record, and one of the strangest-sounding massive pop hits I have ever heard. An orchestral flourish at the beginning gives way to a machine-gunning minimalist beat featuring a chopped-and-screwed vocal hook substituting for instrumental accompaniment. For the rest of your life, you will not hear a line in a million-selling hit quite like "I be the shit, now you got loose bowels."

Death Cab for Cutie- "I Will Possess Your Heart" : I don't know if it's the name or what, but I'm always surprised when I love the new Death Cab record. The first single from Narrow Stairs is about girls, sure, but it's not the semi-precious, wordy missive on love you'd expect. Like the motorik it emulates, "Possess" is a cold, moody exercise in repetition that does more with less than any Gibbard-affiliated song I've heard. Refreshingly simple lyrics and a memorable, tasteful piano line are a complement to the atmosphere and charging drums that you don't often hear from a band so often preoccupied with the stories its songs tell. A 9-minute meditation on obsession that builds without adding. It maintains. Fantastic.

The Slackers- "Happy Song": For over a decade, New York's ska heroes have hinted at breaking out of Genreville. Head man Vic Ruggiero's songwriting has always been grounded in decidedly un-Jamaican tradition- punk, doo-wop, and Dylan, to name a few. Self-Medication represents the farthest step out of familiarity for the band, with explorations in psych-rock and 50s rockabilly peppered among the expected ska and reggae. While the title track, the stunning "Don't Forget the Streets," and surprisingly strong contributions from trombonist Glen Pine offer a tantalizing look at what could happen if the Slackers continue to hone their ability to integrate seemingly disparate sounds and influences into their songs, the cut with the most replay value is the most straightforward "American ska" song on the record. "Happy Song" is a short, sweet reminder that there is something to be said for the mastery of a form.

Black Mountain- "Stormy High": An intriguing collision of metal, folk, and prog-rock that draws as much from coffee-house songwriters and murky ambient atmospherics as it does from Led Zeppelin and Queens of the Stone Age. While the 17-minute chant/dirge "Bright Lights" can get to be a bit much, "Stormy High" grooves the album into life with a witchy wail and a shit-hot 70s riff that would make the Woodersons of the world nod their heads in unison on the way to the nearest beer-bust. Alright, indeed.

Fucked Up- "No Epiphany": Wow. The Chemistry of Common Life is a beautiful, jolting, jarring addition to the canon of hardcore. In my old age, the screaming gets to me sometimes, but I have a sense that the more I listen to this album the more I'll get to loving it as much as I appreciate just what it does and how potentially important it is. On "No Epiphany," psych-rock, shoegaze, and East Indian elements meet shimmering production and a driving beat to form the only hardcore anthem I can think of that reminds me primarily of The Chemical Brothers. The guitar layering on the track is worthy of Kevin Shields, and I don't say that lightly. If you can handle abrasive, barking vocalists, do yourself a favor and look past this band's unfortunate name. This is a really, really good record.