This could have easily turned into a four-part series (I’m looking at you, Paige), but I decided to keep it simple this time around: one mix for pop/rock/dance music, the other for metal.

More and more every year, my distinction between albums and songs grows apart: experimental-leaning music gets the best albums of the year, pop and dance singles get the best songs of the year. As our culture becomes more inundated with viral MP3s, so goes the concept of the cohesive and consistent pop/rock album. Maybe the recent vinyl surge will change how people think about the album — to sit down with a pair of headphones and a glass of wine to just listen. But as long as MP3 dropcards exist, I doubt the change will occur soon.

In any case, here were some of the best pop/rock/dance songs I heard in 2008, including an absolutely beautiful Robert Forster song co-written by his old Go-Betweens mate, the late Grant McLennan.

Download: Total Vibration 2008 Mixtape, Pt. 1

01. Crystal Castles “Untrust Us”
02. Ladyhawk “S.T.H.D.”
03. Neon Neon “I Told Her On Alderaan”
04. Bodies Of Water “Gold, Tan, Peach And Grey”
05. The Gutter Twins “God’s Children”
06. Portishead “We Carry On”
07. M83 “Kim & Jessie”
08. Tracy Shedd “Remember the Time We Set the Highway on Fire”
09. Robert Forster “Let Your Light In, Babe”
10. Vic Chesnutt, Elf Power And The Amorphous Strums “Little Fucker”
11. Arthur Russell “I Couldn’t Say It to Your Face”
12. Woods Family Creeps “Twisted Tongue”
13. The Lodger “The Good Old Days”
14. Warm Climate “19th Century Blessings”
15. Women “Group Transport Hall”
16. Uncle Owen Aunt Beru “A rabbit In The Snow”
17. School Of Seven Bells “Half Asleep”
18. Invisible Conga People “Cable Dazed”
19. Juana Molina “Un Día”

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