2008: The Year in brief. AKA If only Bernake, Paulson, Greenspan had read this.

2008 in Music (according to me)

Hello,

These are my 13 favorite songs of the year. Why 13? Because I wanted a Top 10, but couldn’t decide on which 3 to leave out.

I’ve limited the list to largely music that’s overground…i.e. I’ve left out the electro/ house and progressive tracks from this list.

1 (TIE) Time to Pretend- MGMT.
1 (TIE) Sex on Fire- Kings of Leon
1 (TIE) Chinese Democracy- Guns N Roses

These 3 for me are the songs of the year, and very difficult to decide which I like best. MGMT is the coolest band to come out since God Knows when, and their album is possibly what rockn’roll is all about!! When this song came on in whilst I was 'chilling' in a coffee shop in Amsterdam, it was like whipped cream and cherry on the cake (served by a waitress from Hooters).



Sex on Fire is a song I liked on the 1st go, and reinforces the fact that the best rock n roll is always found in its most simplest and basic form. Almost a throwback to another era- possibly the indie- 70s, its unsophisticated sound is what makes it stands out.

Chinese Democracy is a song that is almost worth waiting 17 years for. A signature G'N'R track, it presents the best elements of Appetite and Illusion in a ‘nu millennium’ kinda way. The guitars are insane and so is Axl with the different avatars of his voice layered one on top of each other.

4. Pork & Beans- Weezer
A throwback to their Buddy Holly days, a perfect pop/ rock song which also takes the piss out of the record company and songs which are designed (by record companies) to be sung along to! The line referencing uber-producer Timbaland is priceless.


5. The Ghost of Tom Joad (LIVE) - Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band with Tom Morello (from the Magic Tour Highlights avail exclusively on iTunes US)
I’ve never been a fan of this song really- not the original one by the boss on the LP of the same name, nor do I fancy much the version done by RATM on the Renegades LP. However this version with the new arrangement is the kind of song that makes your goose flesh rise. The 2 solos by Mr. Morello rank amongst his best work forever.


6. Mercy- Duffy
A wonderful throwback to 50s pop in the vein of Amy Winehouse. Sadly the rest of the album didn’t have a track that came anywhere close to this.

7. Human- The Killers
New Order with guitars. Johnny Cash meets the Pet Shop Boys. These guys are possibly the coolest band to come out in this decade. I hope the guy @ UNI that signed this band got a promotion, a Maserati and his own island.

8. Electric Feel- MGMT
The only band to have 2 tracks on this list. I somehow get reminded of the Kate Bush track ‘Running Up that Hill’ every time I hear the bassline. A great song that’s very pop in its arrangement but sounds like the song Pink Floyd never made.


9. Love Lockdown- Kanye West
Definitely the most gifted and talented recording artist on the planet. Nobody in hip hop is as smart and as innovative as Mr. West. The drums at the end make this great song a classic. I hope sometime soon this guy gets the Grammys this genius deserves.
Food for thought: A collaboration btwn Kanye and (mid 80s) Prince.


10. Hustler- Simian Mobile Discotheque
No words can describe this song. The best use of MIDI ever. The video is yet another example of how the electronica guys make the most watchable videos with the least cash. (e.g. Benny Binnassi, Daft Punk, Basement Jaxx)
Watch the video here. Trust me; you’ve not seen anything like it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHwlP0oEaF8

11. Paper Planes- MIA
Ever since she burst onto the scene I’ve been fond of saying “if only MIA’s record sales could keep pace with her press coverage…” Thanks to the trailer to Pineapple Express, people for the 1st time sang along to the sound of gunshots and Kansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska now know who MIA (and maybe where Sri Lanka) is!


12. Soul Mate- Natasha Bedingfield
I feel really bad for this song and this artist. This is a truly awesome song that nobody heard either because it wasn’t promoted enough or radio programmers developed an aversion to NB post the edsel/ new coke like reception to ‘I Wanna Have Your Babies’.

Check out the track here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEzbkGj7EaQ

13. Low- FLO-rida feat T Pain
2008’s guilty pleasure song. If this song were to come on in a club, I’d definitely wanna start throwin some dolla bills in the air, slap some apple bottomed booties, and get me the same Reeboks I had when I was 14.




Tracks to watch for in 2009
1. The Show- Lenka (The new standard by which pop songs will be defined)
2. Use Somebody- Kings of Leon (already a monster UK hit)
3. Sober- P!nk (Quite simply her best song ever)
4. Run- Leona Lewis (already a monster UK hit, this song is on its way to becoming a classic.)
5. Ulysses- Franz Ferdinand (The one song that promises to get English Lit grads on the dancefloor)


New old songs

Old songs I (re-)fell in love with this year, and thus played on repeat.

1. Tweeter and the Monkey Man- Travelling Wilburys
2. Hallowed be thy Name- Iron Maiden
3. Born to Run- Bruce Springsteen
4. Soul Stripper- Ac/DC
5. Learn to Fly- Foo Fighters
6. Misty Mountain Hop- Led Zeppelin
7. The Downeaster Alexa- Billy Joel
8. Red Rain- Peter Gabriel
9. Sour Girl- Stone Temple Pilots
10. Train in Vain- The Clash

26/11

The Mumbai Terror attacks took place 11 days ago. Since then a lot has been written, a lot said, the gateway has become a national shrine and volumes of paraffin and midnight oil have been burnt in equal measure. I have been meaning to write about the attacks, so here it is, my random ramblings re what happened, what was said, what was felt and possibly what will happen.

What Happened:
The attacks, their scale, the preparation and training- both mental and physical of the attackers, the targets and timing definitely suggest that these attacks have a vision that is above and beyond any past attack has seen. This was a very high level operation, with elite personnel training handpicked 'commandos', with state of the art weapons, planning and tactics.

The intent or vision here other than to cause senseless death is to create a flashpoint in Indo-Pak relations such that troops are redeployed from the FATA areas where the Taliban wants (and needs) troops and the general (US) army presence reduced.

Enough is Enough
I will address this is 2 halves-
Why is it that this is the tipping point all of us feel- why not Godhra, why not 26/7, why not the Train blasts, why not Malegaon, Gujarat etc.?
I think this is because of the way it happened. Rahul Gandhi summed it up best- this is like someone breaks into your living room and slaps you in full view of your family, neighbours, friends etc. The others have been instances of the slap being more of a sucker punch...the blow being landed when and where one had no reason to expect. I think the 'living room slap' as it were, has been the tipping point.
Secondly since this 'enough is enough' rage has been fueled by the power of sms and the internet...there has been an outpouring of texts, blogposts, social cause groups and discussion on the internet. In fact the 20K strong candlelight vigil owes huge credit to FB and Orkut. Its one thing to get a social cause related sms, On Facebook its at another level- you see the Indian flag, and the fact that the group already has 1000 members, 100 of whom are your friends or people whom you could have a beer with.

Sure South Bombay finally has a voice because it's own were targeted. But that voice has itself being amplified because of (south mumbai's or 'rich india's access to) the internet and technology- not necessarily because of the proximity in South Mumbai to those high and mighty.



What (I think and hope) Will Happen:
I don't think we will go to war. For 2 reasons:
1. Pak troops on the Indo pak border would mean less Pak troops in the FATA. Which means more US/ UN troops would be needed to fill in the gaps caused by the deployment of troops from the FATA. Which ain't happening as the US simply cannot afford to tell it's people that they need additional time or troops in faraway lands called Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. At least in the short term. Even though Pakistan's credibility is shot amongst the global intelligentsia, the US govt.after the Bush regime's debacles in the M.E. needs time to build up a case to convince Joe Plumber/ Mechanic/ Painter etc that Pak harbours terrorists (that can and will harm the US) assuming it is serious about going after these (I think now it is).

2. I don't think we can afford a war- i.e. we could have blown away pak in 2001 or anytime since then. However, a war would allow China to gallop away with growth and increase the 'financial gap' btwn the 2 of us. pls keep in mind that a rich China means a more armed China and given our history with them we can't afford the top geo-political cards in Asia be held by China or a Chinese alliance that includes our 'neighbours'...we will be screwed.

Which ties in well with our immediate needs...the government needs to show its citizenry that it's taking steps on the matters of security, counter-terrorism, intelligence, law enforcement etc. And this is where we will co-operate with the US. Much like what happened in Indonesia after the Bali bombings, the Indian government will co-operate with the US and become a customer of training and equipment needed for the above listed initiatives. Once we make the US (and its defense contractors) dependent on our ca$h, our access to training and arms is a given.

The Media



The media reached new depths during their coverage of this- they thought it was completely okay to cover the seige blow by blow (without any delay of any sort), give away vital information to the other side, and ask the most insensitive questions. I and many others (as I realised during the week on Facebook)were so disgusted with Barkha Dutt- her choices, her questions, her insensitivity, her fake about to break into tears any second whiny monotone, that the various Barkha Dutt hategroups quicky proliferated on FB. Your's truly is the proud member and campaigned vociferously for the group 'Barkha Dutt for worst senior journalist on the planet'.




Our leaders
Insensitive Inhuman assholes.


2008 has been a year to remember. There have already been life-defining or history defining moments. Moments compared to the assassination of JFK mind you...First the Lehmann Bros and banking crash. Second the election of Obama to the White House. Now this.

Fingers Crossed. There are still 24 days to go.