Go forth to discover and listen to Nialler9’s 50 best tunes of the year..
- 50. Deastro – Light powered
- 49. Kanye West – Heartless
- 48. Geiom – Reminissin’ (Skream remix)
- 47. The Vinny Club – Duke (Throw the Damn Towel)
- 46. Beck – Gamma Ray
- 45. The Very Best – Dinosaur on the Ark
- 44. Jay Reatard – See Saw
- 43. David Holmes – I Heard Wonders
- 42. Santogold – LES Artistes (XXXChange remix)
- 41. Lykke Li – Little Bit
- 40. Amplive – Videotapez
- 39. DJ Mujava – Township Funk
- 38. Deerhunter – Nothing Ever Happened
- 37. Fight Like Apes – Battlestations (Jape remix)
- 36. Flying Lotus – GNG BNG
- 35. Cadence Weapon – Dumb
- 34. Skream – Precression
- 33. Jamie Lidell – Wait for Me
- 32. Super Extra Bonus Party – Propeller (Nouveaunoise remix)
- 31. Santogold – Say Aha
- 30. Pivot – Sweet Memory
- 29. Bloc Party – Signs
- 28. Friendly Fires – In the Hospital
- 27. School of Seven Bells – Prince of Peace
- 26. The Bug – Poison Dart (South Rakkas remix)
- 25. Little Boots – Stuck on Repeat
- 24. Lil Wayne – A Millie
- 23. M83 – Kim and Jessie
- 22. Empire Of The Sun – Walking On A Dream (Neon Neon remix)
- 21. Wiley – Wearing My Rolex
- 20. R.S.A.G – Stick to Your Line
- 19. Neon Neon – I Lust You
- 18. Jape – Nothing Lasts Forever
- 17. Rubberbandits – Bags of Glue
- 16. The Bug – Skeng
- 15. Vampire Weekend – A-Punk
- 14. Bon Iver – Skinny Love
- 13. Foals – Olympic Airways
- 12. Ponytail – Beg Waves
- 11. El-P – Fuck the Law
- 10. Why? – By Torpedo Or Crohn’s
- 9. Portishead – Machine Gun
- 8. The Jimmy Cake – Jetta’s Palace
- 7. Clark – New Year Storm
- 6. Crystal Castles – Untrust Us
- 5. Daedelus – Fairweather Friends
- 4. Ladyhawke – My Delirium
- 3. TV on the Radio – Golden Age
- 2. Passion Pit – Sleepyhead
- 1. Heathers – Remember When?
Iamge taken from the Little Boots myspace.

Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005 . He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Cara Magazine, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, founder of Lumo Club, club promoter, event curator and producer of gigs, listening parties & events in Dublin.
gotta say i agree with the number one. that heathers tune is massive for such little pups.
Epic post! I’ll be coming back for more of this.
By the way the mp3 link for heathers is currently broken.
Great post. Thanks for this!
haha great to see the Rubber Bandits in there
do you actually like Lil Wayne/A Millie? Ugh..i dont get it at all.Im a life long hip-hop fan and im no “old school purist” but Lil Wayne is just garbage. Can’t get into it.
It mystifies me.
Apart from that tune Roosta, he’s garbage.
Love how comprehensive this list is niall. Also gotta hand it to the LSD induced reindeers having a duel.
Township Funk is probably one of my favourites! Quality song. Great list Niall!
Great list dude
Golden Age is up higher than I expected. You warming to the album more than when I last spoke to ya?
Love Passion Pit too- there’s not a bad track on that EP.
It’s an oldie but I think tvotr’s “Dry Drunk Emporer” is the best thing they’ve done. It reminds me of the best of Dylan e.g. “A Hard Rain”. To me, that’s one of the finest songs thats ever been written. Lyrically, I mean.
Still free @
http://www.touchandgorecords.com/bands/album.php?id=367#
Yeh I think I properly listened to it after that and then got engrossed in the whole thing.
I can’t believe you put “Bags of Glue” in there. It’s a fantastic song, but now it’s going to be back in my head and ruin my Christmas.
Other than that, it’s a grand auld list.
Good stuff boss! 😀
That little player thing you’ve got is mega!
Ai iz lizzenin 2 al ur fav choonz k bai! LOLBOPS!!!!!111
It pleases me that Heathers are number one.
There’s is some fucking BASS on this list dude. Nice to see that Ladyhawke tune right up there. Classic.
Some great stuff there, some stuff I’ve overlooked like Ladyhawke who is amazing and Foals continue to astound.
I liked a lot of the songs that you liked! Tons of them!
Even your number one! You should add:
“American Boy” – Estelle feat. Kanye West
“Dance Wiv Me” – Dizzee Rascal feat. Chrome and Calvin Harris
“Water Curses” – Animal Collective
And many more, hahaha.
Also, I liked a lot of remixes of that songs. Y made a short list of my favorite remixes, so check it in my blog.
some lovely tracks on here, niall. i’m looking forward to coming back and checking out the ones i don’t know once i get through my laborious relistening to the album releases of this year.
fuck the law? are u serious? hahahahahahaha
clark(chris clark) – ‘volcan veins’ is my number 1!
from the album ‘turning dragon’ which is a best of 2008 imo
great post Nialler, nice to see foals in there
Rubberbandits! Excellent! Hopefully this might encourage the lads to do more than one performance every four years!
The rest of the list is excellent also
great list. cheers man. what about air france- collapsing at your doorstep?
Good on ya for adding Bag of Glue
Good list. But why just one track per artist?
Pat – http://www.nialler9.com/blog/2008/12/22/nialler9s-top-30-albums-of-2008/
50 songs of 2008 and no Cut Copy?
# 49 and 6: YES
PS Great blog by the way
PPS They’ve done well to get MGMT as they are only playing Rock en Seine of the European festivals so far