There are a few miscellaneous honors from 2008 that we felt were worth mentioning, so here they are. Enjoy!
Best Album Cover:

Coldplay, Viva La Vida
As much as I hate to award Coldplay for anything, every time I saw the poster of this while walking in the subway, I thought, “That looks AWESOME!” I hoped it was [...]

As with last year, when it comes to listing amazing concerts, T-Sides refuses to be bound by the number 10. Also, for the sake of fairness, I’ve compounded bands I saw multiple times.

12. The Notwist @ Webster Hall, October 13th
Full review here. Excerpt: In their recordings, the Notwist might give off the impression of being [...]

Image courtesy flickr user FXR
I’ve acquired a very good quality live recording of Two Gallants performing a new song at Bonnaroo. Yes, Bonnaroo was back in June. I must admit I’ve been sitting on it awhile because I’ve been trying to decipher the lyrics. I’m not sure of the title, but this particular unreleased song [...]

Of the many things that can be said about the performances of Dengue Fever and Rachid Taha at Central Park’s SummerStage, the biggest link between the two is a good performer’s ability to keep the audience entranced when they don’t speak the same language.
Dengue Fever are American based, but to complement the group’s Cambodian pop-inspired [...]

Nearly two years ago now, I posted a short list of songs that reminded me of my post-college trip to Europe & Asia. One of those songs, DJ Bobo’s “Chihuahua,” has recently reappeared in my life – and will soon make its way into yours, as well, if it hasn’t already.
DJ Bobo: “Chihuahua” (download)
A bit [...]

I tend to shy away from hyped bands. This isn’t out of a holier-than-thou disdain for popular opinion, but because of the trend that hyped bands often become over hyped bands that see little chance of living up to the hyperbolic qualities of the hype machine. See: Arcade Fire. See also: Beirut.
During the past week, [...]

With the impending closure of Astroland at the end of the Summer, one question drove this year’s Siren Festival: “will it be the last?”
The lackluster line-ups for the Siren Festivals of the past two years almost indicate that somebody knew this was coming. From 2001-2005, Siren Fest was a [...]

Though the phrase “big in Europe” has become something of a joke among the music set, for someone like Mark Ronson, it’s no laughing matter. While he was born in London, Ronson’s family moved to New York at the age of 8, and it’s this big city he considers his hometown. After attending prestigious schools [...]

In late November, early December, one of my co-workers started playing a song over and over again that had the catchiest hook of “they tried to make me go to rehab / I said ‘no, no, no.’” It was sung by a woman with a deep, exotic voice that was accompanied by a dance-rhythmed brass [...]

My generation is, largely, not a generation of instrumental music, nor of music that is experimental or progressive (at least certainly not in the mainstream). For the most part, my generation is a generation of dance-pop hooks and rap. My generation is a generation of lyric quoting, 3-4 minute song loving teeny boppers. And I [...]