According to iTunes, my 10 most-played songs of 2008 come from only two albums: Frightened Rabbit’s The Midnight Organ Fight and Sera Cahoone’s Only As the Day Is Long. Which probably explains how these two albums found themselves at the top of my Top 10 Albums of 2008 list.

But the above songs are not my Top 10 Songs of 2008 for several reason. First, it would be a little boring. Second, I would probably run into legal issues if I posted half the songs from those two albums. And third, my most-played tracks in iTunes are not necessarily my favorite songs of 2008.

With that said, I present my actual list below. The songs are ordered in a way that I think flows best. A zip file containing all 10 tracks is provided below for your convenience. Enjoy!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! And now that it’s the day after, it’s officially acceptable to talk about Christmas. So here it goes…

Apparently, it’s a tradition for musicians in the UK to pump out cheesy Christmas songs right before the holiday. The ridiculously-sappy Christmas movie Love Actually confirms this: part of the story revolves around a burned-out musician competing with a popular boy band for the top Christmas song. You can probably guess who grabs the No. 1 spot.

This tradition was further confirmed by the guys in Frightened Rabbit. Before their show at Bottom of the Hill a few weeks ago, I asked them about their Christmas song (”It’s Christmas So We’ll Stop”) and how it came to be. They joked about how they were just following tradition when they released it last Christmas.

If their song is a joke, it isn’t very funny — in fact, it’s actually a little depressing. On second thought, cynical might a better word to describe it. The song talks about how people are nice to each other only around Christmas time.

Like all good Frightened Rabbit Official Website | MySpace | eMusic | Insound | Amazon | CD Baby | Amie Street songs, “It’s Christmas So We’ll Stop” uses seemingly disjointed thoughts and images to convey a simple, yet powerful story or idea. When you add in a gorgeous melody that grabs you and refuses to let go, it’s easy to see why this is the greatest Christmas song ever.

[mp3] Frightened Rabbit - It’s Christmas So We’ll Stop

For the second greatest Christmas song ever, I highly recommend “Sister Winter” by Sufjan Stevens, which I wrote about last year. The original article can be found here.

After five months of constantly listening to Frightened Rabbit’s Midnight Organ Fight, I still find myself untangling its contradictions and unraveling its many layers. Which is quite amazing considering my hyperactive listening habits.

I’ve finally figured out why I like the album so much: it is, more or less, the soundtrack to my life. It simultaneously encompasses the good times and the bad, the highs and lows. Despite this contradiction, or maybe because of it, Midnight Organ Fight always inspires. It’s a strange phenomenon: the louder I play it, the better I feel.

Like most great albums, Midnight Organ Fight reveals itself in layers. It took nearly a dozen listens before I could distinguish individual songs. Had I written this review back then, my favorite tracks probably would’ve been “Good Arms vs. Bad Arms” and “Poke.” Now I can’t decide. My favorite songs seem to change every time I listen to the album.

Frightened Rabbit Official Website | MySpace | eMusic | Insound | Amazon | CD Baby | Amie Street hails from Scotland, a fact immediately confirmed by Scott Hutchison’s vocals. Thankfully, his accent is noticeable but not overwhelming. In fact, it often adds an extra dimension to the music. I love the way he stretches out random words and phrases. At times, his voice nearly buckles under the weight of emotion.

The lyrics inhabit the gray area between breaking up and getting back together (which helps explain all the contradiction). On “The Twist” Hutchison sings, “It’s the night, I can be who you like / And I’ll quietly leave before it gets light.” Later, he asserts, “I need company / I need human heat.” But then on “Keep Yourself Warm” he belts out, “It takes more than fucking someone you don’t know to keep warm.” So which is it? Anyone who’s ever inhabited this gray area knows it’s actually both.

Last but certainly not least is the music. The wailing guitars in “Good Arms vs. Bad Arms,” the hypnotic piano melody at the end of “The Twist,” the slow steady build in “Backwards Walk,” and the simpleness of “Poke.” It’s overwhelming at first, but with repeated listens the layers start peeling apart. Soon, you will find yourself coming back for even more of exactly the same.

[mp3] Frightened Rabbit - The Twist
[mp3] Frightened Rabbit - Backwards Walk

Download three more Frightened Rabbit songs for free here. I highly recommend “The Modern Leper” and “Head Rolls Off.”