XLR8R is looking for an editorial intern to start in its San Francisco office who knows the difference between Junior Boys and Boys Noize, techno and electro, lazer bass and drum & bass, hip-hop and trip-hop, and who requires minimal handholding.

Duties include writing and posting content to the News, MP3, and Podcast sections of the website, assisting with writing record reviews, assist with making web graphics, archiving old content, logging incoming music, and helping with general organizational tasks. Proficiency with Microsoft Office and HTML a plus.

Internship is unpaid, and requires a commitment of 8-10 hours per week for 4-6 months. Journalism students are strongly encouraged to apply.

Please submit a cover letter, resume, and 3-5 published or unpublished writing samples to [email protected]. Please, no phone calls.

It wouldn’t be a proper round up of 2008 without a look at XLR8R TV, so we sent the previously mentioned data elves out to dig up our readers’ favorite episodes of last year—and received some pleasantly surprising results that included The Glitch Mob, Flying Lotus, Kon & Amir, Heidi, and others. But enough banter. Our 10 most popular episodes of 2008 are all here, for your watching convenience.

Labtekwon on B-More

We tapped prolific leftfield rapper/producer Labtekwon for a tour of his beloved hometown–and got more than we asked for. Lab is a true original. His singular aesthetic—a combination of true-school hip-hop, Afrocentrism, free jazz, and dance beats—is rooted in his eccentric West Baltimore upbringing. Here, Lab shows us Harm City history, hack cabs, vegan spots, and long-abandoned housing projects. In other words, parts of Baltimore you might not even see on The Wire.

Flying Lotus’ High Score

Steven Ellison, our favorite sculptor of hazy, spacy laptop beats, is no stranger to the comforting bleeps and bloops of the Nintendo generation. He name-checks Mortal Kombat 2 as an influence and credits the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim with giving him his first big break. Here, ‘FlyLo’ shows off his fluid style as he switches with ease between discussing musical legends in the family (great-aunt Alice Coltrane, cousin Ravi Coltrane) and kicking ass on Street Fighter and Galaxian.

The Evolution of Daedelus

Alfred Darlington, our favorite Los Angeles-based Victorian gentleman, is best known as the prolific producer Daedelus. Here, he charts the evolution of his love of electronic sounds and gives us a private performance on his famous future toy, the Monome.

Book Talk with Xiu Xiu

To anyone familiar with the soul-ripping poetics of experimental indie rock band Xiu Xiu, it should come as no surprise that Jamie Stewart is just as bookish as he is intense. Here, we take him to Moe’s Books in Berkeley, California, where he discusses the novel that influenced Xiu Xiu’s most recent album, Women as Lovers. He also rounds up a collection of books that represent his range of interests–from darkly political to just plain cute.

Spun Out with Heidi

Heidi is no slouch when it comes to vinyl, being one of the most active members of Berlin’s lauded electro-house label Get Physical, a regular player at Berlin’s famed Panorama bar, and an instrumental member in getting the Phonica Records/Fabric London scene off the ground. Here, XLR8R editor Vivian Host gets all “invisible jukebox” on this Canadian-born, London-based DJ, as Heidi discusses some of her favorite dance classics.

Glitch Mob Street Warfare

The Glitch Mob is notorious for its live shows—they remix on the fly and seamlessly finish each others’ basslines. Here, the crew takes it up a notch by setting up speakers and a generator renegade-style in the crowded streets of San Francisco for full-scale guerrilla beat warfare on the public. What they weren’t expecting was that San Franciscans prove themselves up to the attack—in a way that only San Franciscans can.

Jamie Lidell and His All-You-Can-Eat Sonic Buffet

Since he’s made the leap from experimental knob-twiddler to 21st century soul crooner, Jamie Lidell has evolved into quite a showman. For his most recent tour, he’s ditching his solo looping and visual explosiveness in favor of a raucous, multi-piece live band—all the better to capture the tight orchestrations of his latest album, JIM. Here, Lidell talks to us about finding and keeping his voice (and his audience), invigorating body wash, and the Baltimore Oreos.

Crate Digging with Kon & Amir

We tag along with East Coast producers Kon and Amir as they go digging for 45s on New York’s Lower East Side. The longtime duo is renowned in the hip-hop world for its influential compilations (On Track, Kings of Diggin, etc.) and fine-tuned radars for long-forgotten beats. In this episode, they explain the ins and outs of digging and collecting, the special appeal of 45s, and how somewhere, someone will always out-nerd you.

M83’s Teen Romance

The swelling uplifts of M83’s new album Saturdays=Youth are made all the more majestic by the singular focus of the record’s inspiration—being a teenager. Anthony Gonzales (a.k.a. M83) has long had his music described as “cinematic,” so it’s fitting that he finds so much kinship with the ecstatic firsts and everything-is-possible excitement portrayed in teen movies. Here, he waxes nostalgic about some of his favorite films in the genre, from the canon of John Hughes to the dark camp of Gregg Araki.

James Pants’ Golden Oldies

James Pants is a thrift store-scouring, music obsessive from Spokane, Washington, and when we say his music sounds exactly like that description, we mean it as a profound compliment. His newest album, Welcome, is full of spot-on grooves that trip sensors last toggled in 1984. Here, Pants tells us how he went from being a teenage Peanut Butter Wolf fan to a key player on Wolf’s label. He also gives us a taste of the “Golden Oldies” act he’s warming up crowds with while on tour with Jamie Lidell.

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There’s a new production duo in town. Amon Tobin and Joe “Doubleclick” Chapman have joined forces under the Two Fingers moniker and have some music to send to the masses in the form of a self-titled debut album.

What we know so far is that the music is rooted in the drum and bass and hip-hop influences that have informed the guys’ individual work, that the original demos of the new album persuaded London-based MC Sway to fly across the ocean and record several tracks with the duo, and, of course, that Paper Bag will release it on April 14. A first single, “What You Know,” will be released digitally on January 13.

Pictured: Two Fingers in the studio with MC Sway.

Friendly Foes‘ debut album, Born Radical will hit stores worldwide tomorrow, but for the truly impatient (this is the ADD generation, after all), Gangplank has put the full album up for streaming. This comes on the heels of a couple freeMP3s and a whole lot of promotion the Detroit-based band has done in the weeks leading up to the album. This one’s for those who take to straightforward indie rock heavily steeped in early-’90s influences.

Faunts
Feel.Love.Thinking.Of
Friendly Fire
Release Date: February 13

When their M4 EP dropped last year, Faunts set the expectation bar high for all subsequent releases. Let’s breathe a collective sigh of relief, because the five-piece Canadian outfit doesn’t disappoint with this album. Their second proper full-length, Feel… is rife with gauzy, shoegaze-influenced guitar compositions and effects-laden melodies that have a rather tranquilizing effect on one’s mind. JM

Luomo
Convivial
Huume
Release Date: Out Now

As XLR8R scribe Rachel Shimp said, “If Convivial were a dinner party, prolific producer Sasu Ripatti [otherwise known as Luomo] prepared by setting the china, polishing the silver, and inviting the glitterati.” His latest full-length under this particular guise is a departure from the robotic production on 2006’s Paper Tigers. With this one, he’s opted for bright synths, dramatic falsettos, and grandiose beat patterns. Dinner is served. JM

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Slumberland
Release Date: February 3

This is the self-titled debut album from one of New York’s latest additions to the contemporary noise-pop circle. Formed only in 2007, the four-piece outfit has already unleashed several singles and, one can surmise, has an unabashed love of the ’80s and ’90s, as evidenced by the distorted guitar riffs and multiple moments on the album that call to mind My Bloody Valentine, Pale Saints, The Smiths, and other bands of those eras. JM

Windsurf
Coastlines
Internasjonal
Release Date: Out Now

San Francisco-based cosmic-disco group Windsurf (which combines the efforts of DJs Hatchback & Sorcerer) takes its listeners on a low-key trip down the coast. The album is, as the name evokes, a tranquil collection of house grooves that occasionally evolve into blissful electro-pop rhythms. Retro-futuristic chords sound like the background music of ’80s children’s television programs like Reading Rainbow and Ghostwriter, while some tracks feature vocals akin to Donald Fagen and other late-’70s soul-rockers. LM

Restiform Bodies
“Interactive Halloween Bear (Lazer Sword Wizard Manhole Remix)”
Download

I’m officially dubbing this the best-titled track of 2008. Add to that accolade the following: a bassline so heavy it’s akin to being hit on the ear with a brick; vocals manipulated to the point of sounding demonic; a sprinkling of feedback that cuts intermittently between the beats, thereby giving the track that dirty edge it needs. If only all producers took remixing this seriously. JM

Animal Collective
Merriweather Post Pavilion
Domino
Release Date: Out Now

Declaring this album Top 10 worthy might seem like we’re hoppingthe bandwagon a bit, but here we go. The much (underscore that) anticipated eighth album from these lads finds them making what’s arguably their best release to date. Their taste for eclecticism and experimentation remains firmly in place, but is revamped, refined, and matured here. Really, though, any descriptors (including 500-word reviews) don’t do the album justice, so my advice would be to buy it and take a listen for yourself. JM

Jun Miyake
Stolen from Strangers
Video Arts Japan
Release Date: Out Now

Parisian-born Miyake offers a complex work here that begins with dark jazz that’s enhanced by an ominous atonality à la Portishead. Other songs on this album are like a brass-infused, guitar-dappled glimpse at romance, complete with Miyake’s thoughtful vocals. The album then moves into a completely different territory that includes nothing less than a choir fit for the soundtrack to a Star Wars movie. LM

Fol Chen
Part 1: John Shade, Your Fortune’s Made
Asthmatic Kitty
Release Date: February 3

Fol Chen has only been around for a few months, but is already blowing up. Their forthcoming debut album is heavy with wobbly pop tunes that get the toes tapping and keep a listener guessing. Standout tracks include the dangerously catchy “The Idiot,” and “Cable TV,” with its complex beats and psychedelic sitar. JF

Neil Landstrumm
Lord For £39
Planet Mu
Release Date: Out Now

Scottish techno veteran Neil Landstrumm’s latest is a plateful of dubby, dirty, clinky, crunky rave-step goodness. Tinny cyber strobes wash over disaffected, spaced-out synths, and while few contemporary artists have written songs appropriate for Easter, Landstrumm picks up the slack with the spacious, speaker-buzzing “Easter Crunk Power” and the reggae-tinged “Old Rabbits.” LM

Devin the Dude
Landing Gear
Razor and Tie
Release Date: Out Now

Devin Copeland’s back. The somewhat eccentric rapper and apparent lover of country music is, as usual, almost absurdly mellow in his lyrical delivery here, but it suits the laid-back, soulful grooves and sparse beats that accompany. Even Snoop stops by for a guest appearance. Chill-out time has officially commenced. JM

Text by Jennifer Marston, Lulu McAllister, Jason Furie.