come on, skinny love, last the year
pour a little salt, we were never here
- Bon Iver, "Skinny Love"

i don't know what happened to me and music in 2008. i mean, i know what happened - i was too busy and my head was too full of other things and music just seemed too hard. but i kept expecting to be surprised. i kept expecting to be shocked out of the disconnect by an amazing album or the single that wouldn't let go of me for weeks. and while there were good albums and singles that didn't let go for a few days, nothing this year really moved me that much.

i did listen to a lot of songs, though, and my singles list definitely had to be trimmed. the ones that just missed were:

• Beck, “Modern Guilt”
• Death Cab For Cutie, “I Will Possess Your Heart”
• The Juan Maclean, "Happy House"
• Hot Chip, "Ready for the Floor"
• The Last of the Shadow Puppets, “Standing Next To Me”
• Santogold, “L.E.S. Artistes”
• She & Him, "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?"
• The Ting Tings, "That's Not My Name"
• White Denim, “Shake Shake Shake”

albums, on the other hand, were a complete failure. some of this year's singles were from albums that i never got around to hearing in their entirety that are supposed to be really good. i suspect that if i'd given them a fair shake, they'd have been on the list. these are the ones that i'll be getting to know better next year:

• Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago
• Frightened Rabbit, Midnight Organ Fight
• Girl Talk, Feed the Animals
• Hot Chip, Made in the Dark
• The Kills, Midnight Boom
• M83, Saturdays = Youth
• Portishead, Third
• She & Him, Volume One
• Wolf Parade, At Mount Zoomer

earlier this year, i did a spur of the moment "Top Albums of the Last Decade List" and there was nothing from 2008 on it. all year, i kept hoping that something i came across would knock one of the albums on that list off. i waited. and waited. it never happened.

is that my fault? sure. i didn't try with music very much this year. i haven't been trying with it for awhile. last year, it made me sad that i was so disconnected from the music scene. this year, it doesn't bother me that much. it's not like i'm short on good music. if anything, maybe that's part of the problem. maybe if i'd never heard Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, or classic rock, The Hold Steady would seem like the second coming of Christ. but i have, and so they don't. on the other hand, i have heard a shit-ton of 80's post-punk, new wave, and pop, and that didn't make M83 any less engaging, so i'm not sure if the theory holds water in all cases.

in 2009, i may reconnect with music as i work towards reconnecting with a lot of other things. the gf and i are going to SXSW in March, and now that i don't have to study, we can go to more live shows. and who knows? my lists next year might be full of new artists, and singles, and albums that have shaken my musical foundations. next year, i might actually have a story to tell.

this is our decision, to live fast and die young.
we've got the vision, now let's have some fun.
- MGMT, "Time To Pretend"