What is this crazy little thing called canon creation in ’08, and what are the new classics and essential listens? SF vs. NYC, drone, pop, the state of hip-hop in the Bay and away — all are up for grabs in 2008 as our writers chime in with their musical must-hears.
Make a list and check it twice: do you have a top 10? Send it to Kimberly Chun at kimberly@sfbg.com by Dec. 26 — we’ll run the most intriguing lists in an upcoming issue of the Guardian.
>>Loose canon
A new set of touchstones for rocky times
By Kimberly Chun
>>Ask a musician
How to cope with musical canon formation in an ever-morphing, anti-matter era
By Johnny Ray Huston
>>Purple canon
Bay hip-hop received an infusion of new blood and fresh inspiration
By Garrett Caples
>>Tops in 2008
Writers and musicians give up their faves and beyond from 2k8
Lists, lists, lists
>>Youthquake
There’s just no stopping the march of the SF nightlife Smurfs
By Marke B.
>>Hungry for Lee Hazlewood
You didn’t have to dig deep to find the canonical figure this year
By Todd Lavoie
>>Hater aid
I Hate New Music, but does new music suck?
By Will York
>>Barf manifesto
Pop ate and re-ate itself, then regressed and regurgitated
By Billy Jam
>>You heard it here first
New York steals San Francisco’s thunder — but who cares?
By Josh Wilson
>>Daughters of a drone
Celebrating a different kind of singer-songwriter
By Max Goldberg
>>Moving forward
Smaller meant better in 2008, in myriad little ways
By Brandon Bussolini
>>A better tomorrow
Hip-hop pins its hopes on the future, despite the buzz
By Mosi Reeves