10. The New Year - Death Cab for Cutie

 

 

Best line: "So everybody put your best suit or dress on let's make believe that we are wealthy for just this once".

Listen to it while: Watching The O.C. reruns.

Don't listen to it if: You (rightfully) prefer your Ben Gibbard time with The Postal Service or just on his own.

One fact you didn't know: Death Cab are working on a new album due in May 2008.

 

 

9. The End Has No End - The Strokes

 

 

Best line: "It's not the secret of the government that's keeping you dumb".
Listen to it while: Philosophizing with friends over the true meaning of the end.

Don't listen to it if: You'd like to think of New Year as a beginning rather than an end.

One fact you didn't know: Julian Casablancas was sent to a boarding school in Switzerland when he was 13 because he had drinking problems.

 

 

8. Happy New Year - Camera Obscura

 

Best line: "If I cry to set the mood oh please could you cry too?"

Listen to it while: Drinking your morning coffee on the first day of 2008.

Don't listen to it if: You can't appreciate good tunes.

One fact you didn't know: It's impossible to legally find this song and embed it for free, but trust me on that one and just buy the CD.

 

 

7. A long December - Counting Crows

 

 

Best line: "A long December and there's reason to believe maybe this year will be better than the last".

Listen to it while: Making your New Year resolutions.

Don't listen to it if: you have no reason to believe this year will be better.

One fact you didn't know: this is a beautiful song. Who knew Counting Crows has one of these?

 

 

6. New Years - Asobi Seksu

 

 

Best line: "Sono me o sotto ake natsukashii futari ga mieteta".

Listen to it while: Dreaming of the upcoming kiss.

Don't listen to it if: Japanese provokes you into eating too much sushi.

One fact you didn't know: Asobi Seksu means "playful sex" in Japanese.

 

 

5. Midnight Snack - You Say Party! We Say Die!

 

 

Best line: "What you doing tonight? What you doing tonight? I DON'T KNOW I AINT GOT NO MIDNIGHT SNACK!"

Listen to it while: Kissing on midnight.

Don't listen to it if: You're a vampire. You might take it the wrong way.

One fact you didn't know: The band is banned from touring the States until 2011.

 

 

4. The Party - Justice Ft. Uffie

 

 

Best line: "I'm turning orange from all the carats around my neck tonight, I'm takin' out the bling and I'm dressed to impress".

Listen to it while: You're getting ready for your night out on the town.

Don't listen to it if: You don't have a New Year's party to go to.

One fact you didn't know: I broke my leg during an Uffie show.

 

 

3. I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor - Arctic Monkeys

 

 

Best Line: "Dancing to electro-pop like a robot from 1984".

Listen to it while: Checking out girls on the dance floor on a New Year's eve party.

Don't listen to it if: Guitars make you nausea.

One fact you didn't know: 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not' is the fastest-selling debut album for a group in British music history.

 

 

2. New Year's Kiss - Casiotone for the Painfully Alone

 

 

Best line: "Woke up with fingers crossed in a boy's bed with your pants off".

Listen to it while: handling the hangover of the reckless choices you've made in the last night of 2007.

Don't listen to it if: You're saving yourself.

One fact you didn’t know: The first three Casiotone for the Painfully Alone albums were made using only battery operated keyboards and electronics recorded to 4-track cassette.

 

 

1. New Year - Azure Ray

 

 

Best line: "Now I lay and watch the green leaves dance and whisper sweet breath a promise of a new year".

Listen to it while: holding the one you love.

Don't listen to it if: you're a cold hearted bitch.

One fact you didn't know: These amazing two girls have collaborated with Moby and co-wrote the song, "Great Escape" on his album '18'.

 

 

 

Have the best year, And enjoy celebrating the end of 2007!

 

 

Are you suffering from an overload of holiday music cheese? Well, have no fear, the 8hands crew is here to help. There are amazing Christmas songs out there, and we'd love to share the wealth

 

So here, without further ado, in no particular order, are my top 10 Christmas songs (that won't make you puke):

 

 

10. The Waitresses - Christmas Wrapping

 

My friend Matt from Team Scrub introduced me to this song last year. I started complaining that I couldn't take the Christmas cheese anymore and he pulled out this record as an antidote. *Nice little tidbit: Did you know that the Waitresses also wrote the theme songs to one of my favorite 80s TV shows, Square Pegs?!

 

 

9. Earth Kitt - Santa Baby

 

I think this is the only Christmas song that gets played on the radio that I actually like. What's not to love about Eartha. Orson Welles once called her "the most exciting woman in the world" and she played Catwoman on the Batman tv show from the 60s. I love how she's only wearing a fur stole in this clip – oh how risqué!

 

 

Here's a little early Christmas present from me to you. The song that started my love affair with Ms. Kitt: "I Want to be Evil".

 

 

8. Run DMC - Christmas in Hollis

 

"It's Christmas time in Hollis Queens Mom's cooking chicken and collard greens…" YO!!!! How amazing is this!?!? As a kid, I remember thinking that this was the one song on the "A Very Special Christmas" album that didn't suck – and that was about it. But now, almost 20 years later, I'm totally floored, especially by the video. It has everything - the beats, the dookie chains, the ill reindeer, and the legendary, Run DMC.

 

 

7. Pogues - Fairytale of New York

 

"Happy Christmas your arse/ I pray God it's our last…"
Randomly searching for Christmas songs online, I found this gem. It's one of those songs you know you've heard a million times – maybe in some movie, maybe just passing by. It's in the air and gets that tragic part of Christsmas that we don’t really talk about, but can't deny. The song is a huge hit in the UK, reaching the top 10 on 4 different occasions, despite having been plagued by censorship issues.

 

 

6. Siouxsie and the Banshees - Israel

 

This year, FreshJive made a tshirt that became a much blogged instant classic called The Banshee. Partly commemorating their Reserve store's location on the traditionally Jewish Fairfax in LA, the t-shirt shows Siouxsie Sioux wearing a t-shirt emblazed with a huge star of david. She wore the original shirt in the video of the hauntingly beautiful "Israel". A thinly disguised Christmas song from 1980, it is blessed with that classic sound that I can only describe as teardrop eighties.

 

 

5. VA - Do They Know It's Christmas

 

How could I do a top 10 list without a staple 80s-pop-stars-come-together-to-save-the- world-song?!?! This time it's a bunch of Brits, the year is 1984, and "there won’t be snow in Africa this Christmas time." Hey, I see an eighties trend going on in my list. I guess we cared a lot more about the world and Christmas time back then…

 

 

4. New Kids On The Block - Funky, Funky Christmas (with Arsenio Hall)

 

This is too too good. All I have to say is that Arsenio joins in at the end.

 

 

3. Vince Guaraldi - Christmas Time is Here (from A Charlie Brown Christmas)

 

Ah, what a beaut'. Taken from the seminal classic, "A Charlie Brown Christmas", this song has had a bit of a revival these last few years. I first got sight of it again in Wes Anderson's, The Royal Tenenbaums. The song was later prominently featured in one of my favorite Arrested Development episodes, Good Grief. It's the one with the fake funeral, Buster's WWI army uniform, and G.O.B.'s attempt to bury himself alive. The episode is also an ode to A Charlie Brown Christmas with tons of hidden references throughout. Definitely worth a re-view.

 

 

2. James Brown's Christmas Repertoire

 

My friend Ben posted an amazing Christmas mix on his site Oldbuddhaone. Through him I discovered that James Brown recorded a ton of Christmas music. Not only are these songs a nice change from the standard holiday fare, but they are also just classic James Brown funk that can be heard all year. I think James Brown gets the prize for best Christmas song titles. How can you deny “Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto” and “Go Power at Christmas Time”?

 

 

 

1) The Kinks - Father Christmas

Gotta have a rocker in here, and hey, I have a soft spot for the Kinks. Can they do no wrong? Enjoy…and Merry Christmas from all of us at 8hands!

 

 

After the success of our phenom' Halloween top 10 scariest songs list, we decided to take it to the next level and bring to you a top 10 Thanksgiving songs. Now, I have to be honest. I don't think I've ever heard of ONE SONG about Thanksgiving, let alone a list of ten. With that said, I go forward into unchartered territory, with full creative license, to bring you 8hands' Top 10 Thanksgiving Songs (of 2007).

 

 

10. Over the River and Through the Woods.

 

My friend Jamey said he would sing this song in 3rd grade with his class. I kinda think of it as a Christmas song, but hey, I ain't arguing! We had to start the list with some ode to pilgrim buckles and hand shaped turkeys.

 

 

9. VA - We are the World.

 

Performed by an international range of talent, like, Dan Aykroyd, Bob Dylan, Hall and Oates, LaToya Jackson, and Huey Lewis and the News. Written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie (!).

 

"We are the ones who make a brighter day so let's start giving" Remember the times when we cared and all held hands across America…?

 

 

8. Rage Against the Machine – Freedom

 

Lest we forget the struggle... Rage's ode to Leonard Peltier, the Native American activist currently serving two consecutive life sentences for the murder of two FBI angents killed on the Pine Ridge Reservation during a shoot out in 1975. Many consider Peltier a poltical prisoner with much debate of his guilt and the fairness of his trial. Fight the power.

 

 

7. Alanis Morissette - My Humps.

 

Well, I was more thinking of that song where she says thank you all the time. But, this video is so classic Perez Hilton power of YouTube 2007, that I think it much more deserves to be on the list.

 

 

6. The Clash - Lost in the Supermarket.

 

Truth be told, so much of Thanksgiving is about the preparations leading up to the big day. I don't think any holiday reminds me of a supermarket as much as this one. And, I have to be honest that I really wanted a Clash song on the list… Here's a classic YouTube fan video that gets that land of plenty supermarket vibe:

 

 

5. Louis Armstrong - Wonderful World.

 

Cause I'm cheesy like that.

 

 

4. The Beatles - Honey Pie.

 

Too bad the title isn't pumpkin pie. Oh well. And, I found a male acapella version!!!

 

 

3. Neil Diamond - Coming to America.

 

In second grade we would sing this song all the time. Neil was all the rage and we were all obsessed with The Jazz Singer. Go figure. Well, and we have to have one good ole rah rah sis boom ba America's the greatest song on the list. This video has Princess Di in the crowd!

 

 

2. Sufjan Stevens - The National Anthem.

 

This entry is more of an ode to Sufjan and his 50 albums for 50 states project (BTW: what's up with that?!). Did you know Lincoln was the first president to proclaim Thanksgiving a national holiday?

 

 

1. The Ramones - Gabba Gabba Hey.

 

AKA gobble gobble hey. Don't tell me it never crossed your mind.

 

 

Especially for Halloween, We've gathered the ten songs that keep us awake at night. Feel free to comment and add some more spooky songs!

 

 

10. "Jack the Ripper" - Morrissey

 

There are two main reasons I'm happy I wasn't born in the 19th century. The first main reason is the existence of air conditioner, cause I love being able to set the temperature as I please. It makes me feel like god. The second reason, as the title hints, is Jack the Ripper. He's a scary guy and every song that is named after him scares me immediately. Add Morrissey's voice and lyrics like "And if it's the last thing I ever do I'M GONNA GET YOU" and you got yourself a one scary song.

 

 

9. "Thriller" - Michael Jackson

 

This song always makes me wonder what's scarier - its video or the way Michael looked back in the 80's. But every time I struggle on this issue I tell myself there are far scarier stuff about him, like his special love for children, or the way he looks today.

 

 

8. "Down by the Water" - PJ Harvey

 

Does anyone really get the lyrics? It has something to do with losing your virginity, but since when having sex is so damn frightening? Maybe it's about a rape? If any of you have a different interpretation, I'd love to read it. As far as I know, this song is probably why some girls are saving themselves! PJ Harvey has the scariest voice ever, particularly when she's whispering in the end.

 

 

7. "Jolene" - The White Stripes

 

This song gives me the creeps. Man, I was even scared of Dolly Parton's version! The way the "poor little" girl is begging of Jolene not to take her man doesn't sound like begging to me… It sounds more like a threat. Plus, this girl is probably ugly (if she was pretty her man wouldn't go for Jolene anyway) and ugly people are scary. Q.v. Michael Jackson.

 

 

6. "Sex Bomb" - Tom Jones

 

Eeewwww! That guy is creepy!!! I don't know about you, but I personally think that people who have passed their 50's should not be allowed to even pronounce the word sex. Certainly not with the word Bomb following. This song is scary simply because it makes me think of Tom Jones naked. Now I got you to imagine it and I bet you're terrified too.

 

 

5. "Gimme Some More" - Busta Rhymes

 

What the hell did he think about that from all the tunes in the world he chose to sample a theme song of a Hitchcock movie?! I saw "Psycho" when I was a little girl, and its music is probably the scariest I've ever heard. Busta actually makes it less scary, and bring it down to the fifth spot.

 

 

4. "Every Breath You Take" - Police

 

True story: I had a boyfriend once, who actually found this song romantic. When I told him it's about an obsessive stalker, he said I'm crazy. Me?! Crazy?! I guess coming out of his mouth it's a compliment. Shit, this song is so realistic. We all have a dreadful ex out there that we fear of and this song is talking about the worst kind. I guess the fearful thing about it is that the music sounds so nice while Sting's lyrics are scary as hell.

 

 

3. "Come Another Night" - Frida Hyvönen

 

If you thought I could go through a whole post without mentioning a Swedish person, think again. This song is scary in a Tarantino kind of way - all of the songs in Frida's album are sad, quiet and emotional - All but this happy upbeat one. I just can't believe her joyfulness, and like in a Tarantino movie, this happy song makes you feel like something awful is about to happen.

 

 

2. "Space Oddity" - David Bowie

 

David Bowie has a scary voice. His eyes are not of the same color, which is scary too. The lyrics of this song tell the story of Major Tom, who's being sent to space and never comes back. In the background Bowie's scary voice is counting down from 10 to zero. The scariest moment of the song is right after the launch, when Ground Control say "May god's love be with you" and the music gets all tensioned. Trusting god is probably not the best idea, poor Major Tom spend the last part of his life floating in the endless space. Spooky, ha?

 

 

1. "A Day in the Life" - The Beatles

 

What a surprise! The Beatles took first place again. But don't get upset, I swear I have no desire in promoting a bunch of dead guys (Paul and Ringo are so old that they are practically dead anyway). I'm just being honest when I say- OH MY GOD! THIS SONG IS TERRIFYING!!! This is the perfect example of how scary music can get. The lyrics by themselves are OK, but the tune is dreadful. The way they change rhythm and melody every once in a while, and the messy noises- all of them are really frightening! Listening to this song is like moving from dreaming to reality over and over again. It's like your worst nightmare that you can't wake up of. And those Beatles guys, like this song wasn't scary enough, added a bonus track of creepy vocals talking gibberish right after "A Day in the Life" ends, which seals the Sgt. Pepper's Album. The horrifying truth is that I'm still really afraid of that song - I'm so afraid that I can't seem to handle it in whole. Right after the first "I'd love to turn you on" I turn the music off. So there you go, if you don’t want me at your Halloween party, make sure you got a copy of this song somewhere, just in case I'll show up.