Top 8 of 08: Music (Artists)

Warning: The following 8 don't paint.

In a year where everyone was clambering over Coldplay, Katy Perry and M.I.A., who was I being wowed by?
Top 8 Artists of 2008

Fake Blood
Everything this man touched this year turned to remixed gold. The intrinsic sound of 2008 - I could have included any of his remixes in my previous post's list. Underworld's Ring Road, The Count & Sinden's Beeper, and of course Little Boots Stuck on Repeat all come out all the better under Theo's watch. As it says on his myspace:
"I MAKE MUSIC - AND I TAKE YOUR MUSIC AND DO WHAT I WANT WITH IT.
IF SWALLOWED SEEK MEDICAL ASSISTANCE.
WILL STAIN CLOTHES.
WILL SOUND SPECTACULAR."
Yes, yes it will.

Boys Noize
So Oi! Oi! Oi! came out in 2007, but Herr Noize has been equally busy this year, with touring and remixes further installing him as a powerhouse in electro. His Suck My Deck mix under Bugged Out was probably my favourite mix album of the year, and his performance at Ganban Night in Tokyo in October was just...damn.

Radiohead
The In Rainbows tour did for Radiohead what Alive 2007 did for Daft Punk - a culmination of the greatest things about them in a palimpsest of sound and light, showing that Radiohead really do what they do best.

Jason Mraz
Mr. A to Z is back! Jason's most poppy track ever - I'm Yours - has propelled him to renewed fame, so much that it's mildly irritating. In the typical "I knew him first" vein, hearing people go "I love that song" irks me, especially as it's not his best work. The album has grown on me over the year, but seeing him live for the first time in July was just amazing (see fanboy rant here).

Cut Copy
The boys from Melbourne were a mild blip on my radar a year ago, with their Fabriclive release sparking my attention but paling in comparison to the Evil Nine mix directly before it. 12 months and a trip down to see them later, and they've effectively changed my attitude towards electronic music. In Ghost Colours is a solid album, and they're not half-bad live either. I haven't really got into the remix side of their work, but I'm sure I'll come around.

Mr. Oizo
As far as I knew, Mr. Oizo was dead. Who the hell was the guy who made Flat Eric with the epileptic weiner smoking muppet, and where'd he go? Finding him was akin to Where's Wally - he popped up in a crowd of people in a hard-to-see scene in Melbourne, disguised in a massive beard and homeless-guy white shirt. Some fiercely beaten and scratched 60 minutes later, and I couldn't understand why we had ever parted ways. His new album for 08, Lamb's Anger is something truly special - challenging to listen to, but God is it good.

Santogold
Santogold is everything good about the underground hip-hop scene mixed with just the right amount of electronica, and retro fashion. Good debut album, good gig, and damn that woman is hot.

Sebastien Tellier
How can a guy who looks like a clone of Mr. Oizo make the sexiest album of the year? Easy: Be French. Admittedly all I got on Mr. Tellier is that and his Eurovision performance, but it's enough to make him one of the biggest guys in 2008. If you can't get laid to Sexuality, then you might as well become a monk*.


*All is not lost: My friend tells me Top Gun is the number one movie to watch with someone you want to sleep with.