Editor's note: We've been seeing M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" popping up on other best-of lists. The song topped Tatangelo's 2007 tally, so we told him he had to leave her off this year's list — or else the Sri Lankan sensation would have definitely given Weezy a run for his cash money.
1. "Mr. Carter," Lil' Wayne w/Jay-Z
Lil' Wayne, the self-proclaimed greatest rapper on earth, lives up to the claim on this amazing free-word association with a world-class hook. Weezy's distinctive Nawlins locution is wonderfully raspy as he bounces from brilliantly wacky pop-culture references ("Hector Camacho Man Randy Savage") to outstanding boasts like: "Two words you never hear, 'Wayne Quit?'/ Cause Wayne win, and they lose/ I call them April babies, 'cause they fools." Jay-Z's guest verse is boss, but it's Weezy's dramatic delivery and mad genius lyrics that make this song my top pick for '08.
2. "Highly Suspicious," My Morning Jacket
Genre-hopping rockers My Morning Jacket's foray into funk is a stone-cold winner. Frontman Jim James pulls a Prince, singing falsetto about sexy mysteries like "peanut butter pudding surprise" — without a discernible hint of irony. Oh, yeah, and the thumping, make-you-wanna-hump backbeat is irrepressible.
3. "Slapped Actress," The Hold Steady
This isn't the first song in which the indie rank's fiercest bar band name-checks Ybor City, but it is The Hold Steady's finest, which is saying something considering the gutter glory of "Killer Parties." On "Slapped Actress," the band has concocted a guitar-centric, articulate rush of adrenaline that rises and falls like a first-rate arena-rock offering — minus the gloss and lyrical goofiness.
4. "Who's Gonna Save My Soul?," Gnarls Barkley
Gnarls Barkley's Cee-Lo Green has evolved from an ace rapper to one of the most talented soul singers of his generation. Green's voice is ragged but right, his phrasing and expressiveness sublime. Credit Danger Mouse for draping Green's raw vocal in subtle, plucked strings and restrained, hypnotic beats.
5. "Jailhouse Tears," Lucinda Williams w/Elvis Costello
Williams is the trailer park gal with good sense scolding her "three-time loser" boyfriend (Elvis Costello) in this humorous white trash exchange that also manages to tug at the heartstrings.
6. "Bang! Bang!," The Knux
The Knux brothers offer a super-catchy cautionary tale about life in their native New Orleans. Unlike Weezy, though, their jubilant sound is more indebted to Outkast — and New Wave — than anything from the Cash Money stable.
7. "White Winter Hymnal," Fleet Foxes
Not since the Beach Boys' prime have vocal harmonies sounded this sweet. Like a church choir singing its way through an enchanted Pacific Northwest forest, this song is spirits-lifting escapism at its finest.
8. "You Stood Me," Benji Hughes
Like Beck before he got all psychedelic and serious on us, Benji Hughes offers a detailed account of a chick ditching him for another dude. We feel ya, man. And dig those grabby, old-school synth runs.
9. "My Home Is Nowhere without You," Herman Düne
Spanish guitar, delicate percussion, mariachi horn and angelic background singers frame this gorgeous valentine. It's emotive, but not over-sung, in English by sharp-eyed Frenchman David-Ivar Herman Düne.
10. "I Got Mine," The Black Keys
The song starts off as a crushing, garage-rock kiss-off then pulls the listeners into a delightfully trippy carnival tunnel (thanks Danger Mouse) before the guitar fury and raging vocals return with even more face-melting force.
11. "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country," Randy Newman
Pop music's crown prince of sarcasm sends up the Bush administration by arguing things could be worse. In doing so, he mentions "Hitler, Stalin, men who need no introduction."
12. "Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution," The Black Crowes
Just when you thought the Crowes had lost their way on the jam-band circuit, the sibling act returns with a ballsy rocker bolstered by the slashing slide guitar playing of North Mississippi Allstar Luther Dickinson.
13. "Red River Shore," Bob Dylan
An outtake from Dylan's 1997 Grammy-winning masterstroke Time Out of Mind, this love-sick epic finds the singer searching the world over for the one fair maiden who brought him solace. On the final verse, he ponders the ways of Jesus, and salvation in general. "Well, I don't know what kind of language he used," Dylan somberly intones over mournful accordion. "Or if they do that kind of thing anymore."
14. "Ur So Gay (And You Don't Even Like Boys)," Katy Perry
Girl-kissing Katy Perry gets sweet revenge with a hilariously savage attack on her indie-rock ex in this horn-enhanced pop ditty. Best line? "You walk around like you're oh so debonair/ You pull 'em down, and there's really nothing there."
15. "I Make the Dough, You Get the Glory," Kathleen Edwards
In this breezy country-rock delight, the Canadian singer/songwriter bemoans playing second fiddle to her frontman boyfriend. In doing so, she manages to work formerly feared NHL enforcer Marty McSorley into the song. Very cool.
16. "Rock 'N Roll Train," AC/DC
Big, heavy riffs and taut rhythms that swing. It's AC/DC, back near the top of their game, which means no other contemporary hard-rock act can touch 'em.
17. "High Cost of Living," Jamey Johnson
In the style of Waylon Jennings and George Jones, Nashville singer/songwriter Jamey Johnson confesses to a coke habit that nearly cost him everything. This is real country. The way God intended it.
18. "Smiling Underneath," Ani DiFranco
The sonics are spooky and moody, but the message is one of pure love and devotion. DiFranco tells her man that with him by her side she can stand anything, even a "flaming Christmas wreath" around her neck. Hot stuff.
19. "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa," Vampire Weekend
What the hell was Paul Simon thinking when he left this off Graceland?
20. "She Left Me for Jesus," Hayes Carll
A new twist on a timeworn country tradition: His woman left him … But not for Bubba, for Jesus! And now Carll's gonna kick J.C.'s ass. Blasphemous? Sure. But funny. Very funny.
This article appears in Dec 17-23, 2008.