SWSL Top 20 Singles Of 2008

Or, once again, not.

In 2008, by both accident (no regular access to any music TV channels) and design (a stubborn refusal to listen to any radio other than the very occasional smattering of Radio 6), I found myself even more cocooned from the pop world than before. I could hardly name you five singles from last year, let alone suggest 20 that floated my boat. So, in other words, this is all a bit pointless (again), but without further ado...

At first it looked as though either Glasvegas or Black Kids might have it sewn up, but the former's efforts turned out to be disappointingly lame and the latter's 'I'm Not Going To Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You' soon began to irritate, paling in comparison to the year's far superior output from Los Campesinos!. Meanwhile, the likes of Fleet Foxes' 'White Winter Hymnal', No Age's 'Eraser' and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' 'Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!', while both brilliant, are for me inextricably part of the albums on which they appear (of which more shortly).

When I first heard MIA's 'Paper Planes', in September (yes, several months after its release), it threatened to carry off the award, but I think MGMT's 'Time To Pretend' has just about held on. Lots of people were smitten with the song's Flaming Lips do stadium-sized synth rock vibe, but am I the only person who can hear The Bangles' 'Manic Monday' in the chorus and likes it all the more for that reason?