dennis yang dot com

Greetings from Kenting, Taiwan…

I consume a lot of music. Out of the 1,259 songs I’ve added to my library this year, 61 songs received the coveted 5 Star “Dennis Loves This Song” rating. 304 songs garnered the still prestigious 4 star “This Song Makes It Onto My Ipod” award. So yah, it’s been a pretty good year, musically..

Anyway, I made a little mixtape of my 11 favorite songs of 2008… Enjoy.

Drive My Soul, by Lights
Yes, I admit it.. I first heard this song on The Hills. It’s bubble gummy, but that doesn’t mean that it’s bad. Cheese flavoured (spelled that way since Lights is canadian) gum to be exact.

Last Day Of Our Love, by The Bird And The Bee
With its retro-ish sound and wispy vocals, listening to this song is like eating cotton candy in the park on a brisk fall day in the 1960s.

I Adore You, by Melpo Mene
Like I’ve said before, this song is so frikkin cute. So, if you’ve had enough of shiba-inu puppycam, listen to this.

Only A Song, by Ben Sollee
This dude is like the coolest cello player I know. Well, besides that dude Yo Yo Ma, that dude is bad ass.

Momma’s Boy, by Chromeo
Chromeo rocks. This song, while honestly, not as good as “Needy Girl,” is still a really solid, solid track from the Montreal duo. (Hmm.. why are there so many Canadians on my list?)

A Lovely Beginning, by Vic Ruggiero featuring Lisa
So, Masnick and I went to see Vic play at Amante this year. He has been doing solo projects, sans the Slackers, for awhile now, and yah, it’s good.. This track is from his latest solo cd, and features some woman named “Lisa,” who Masnick tells me is German or something. It’s not very ska, it’s got a nice Calypso thing going on..

I’m Yours, by Jason Mraz
This is the second song that I’ve been introduced to by Jocelyn Yvette, a girl who covers songs and posts the videos on YouTube. I found her cover of Regina Spektor’s “Samson” last year, which is still one of my favorite versions of that song.. Anyway, here’s her version of I’m Yours if you’re interested.. Anyway, she’s good, and I wonder if she’ll make it big one of these days.. Oh yah, and Jason Mraz does a pretty good job on his song too. Thing is, after hearing this song, I bought the whole album, and I must say it sucks pretty bad. Aside from this song and “Lucky” with Colbie Cailait, the entire album is pretty much teh suck.

To Be Loved, by Joan As Policewoman
Yet another sophomore album release on this list (along with Chromeo), this track is really, really good.. but.. “I Defy” from her first album is absolutely amazing, which is the same problem I had with this year’s Chromeo track… Oh, the bitchy shadows of success.

Coney Island, by Good Old War
Weeee! I fun little country-ish, bluegrass ditty. It’s got it all knee slappin’, vocal harmonies, pickin’ guitar, and a tambourine.

Falcon Jab, by Ratatat
Ratatat’s album LP3 is probably my vote for best album of the year. It’s insane. It’s hard for me to even pick a best song off that entire album, so just go buy it and listen to it in its whole-y glory please.

Undertow, by Stars
Sheeza, yet another Canadian on this list. I guess they make good music up there. I first heard this song when Stars played the Fillmore, and immediately I was in love with it. A simple soothing melody followed by a nicely jamming bridge.. good stuff.

Anyway… that’s it.. if you’ve made it this far, then you deserve to actually LISTEN to this mixtape… so go here to listen.

Update:
Ooo.. Trying out this embeddable player from 8tracks.

Update:

Ok, I’ve added two songs that were late entries to this list..

Don’t Watch Me Dancing by Little Joy.
Can’t Help Falling in Love by Ingrid Michaelson.

Well… it’s that time of the year again.. the holidays.  Huge shopping lines, christmas trees, and (my favorite) christmas music.  I’m not sure why I love the christmas music so much, but I do.

This is my fifth such holiday mix that I’ve made, and I have yet to repeat a version of a song yet (sure, songs themselves appear every year, but exact versions haven’t been repeated).  2007′s mix is still available as an online podcast if you’re so inclined…

Anyway, without further ado, here’s the mix:

1. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas – Coldplay
2. All That I Want – The Weepies
3. Baby It’s Cold Outside – The Brian Setzer Orchestra
4. I’ll Be Home For Christmas – Elvis Presley & Carrie Underwood
5. Let It Snow / The Last Christmas Medley You’ll Ever Need To Hear – Riders In The Sky
6. Silent Night – Venus Hum
7. Angels We Have Heard on High – Christina Aguilera with the La Mass Choir and the Celebrity Voices Choir
8. Mistletoe – Colbie Cailat 
9. Winter Wonderland – Liz Phair
10. I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas – Gayla Peevey
11. Frosty The Snowman – Fiona Apple
12. Santa Claus Got Stuck In My Chimney – Ella Fitzgerald
13. Carol Of The Bells – The Bird And The Bee
14. Silver Bells – Kristin Chenoweth
15. Winter Paradise (I Miss You This Christmas) – Liam and Me
16. Christmas is Going to the Dogs – Eels
17. Give Me A Second Chance For Christmas – Mike Vioa And The Candy Butchers
18. The First Noel – Bright Eyes
19. Happy Xmas (War Is Over) – The Fray
20. O Holy Night – UltraJoeBot
21. Zat You, Santa Claus – Louis Armstrong
22. Christmas Never Comes – Tralala
23. Merry Christmas (I Don’t Wanna Fight Tonight) – Ramones
24. Last Christmas – All About Eve
25. White Christmas – Chris Isaak