OK, hotshot. Think you know your music? Think you followed the national headlines fairly diligently these past 12 months? Think you know the difference between your twee pop and tweeny bop?
Well, hold on right there—and prove that you do, indeed, know your stuff. Take our quiz on the most minute of minute details in the year that was music in 2008, and see just how much you actually did retain while listening to the latest 8-bit chamber dance punk buzz act out of Morocco.
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And be warned: These ain't cupcake questions. If you ace this little exam, the only thing you'll really be proving is that, well, you probably need to get a life.
So, on that note, good luck!
1. Which major motion picture star did not release an album in 2008?
a) Scarlett Johansson
b) Billy Bob Thornton
c) Rosario Dawson
d) Kevin Costner
e) Zooey Deschanel
2. Dance punk band Does It Offend You, Yeah? took its name from a line in what television program?
a) The Australian version of Kath & Kim
b) The U.K. version of The Office
c) Degrassi: The Next Generation
d) Law & Order
e) The Big Bang Theory
3. Which 2008 breakout band was named for a film a band member created while attending college?
a) Fleet Foxes
b) She & Him
c) Vampire Weekend
d) Girl Talk
e) Blitzen Trapper
4. Which song played at political rallies of both Senator John McCain and President-elect Barack Obama this year?
a) "Pink Houses" by John Mellencamp
b) "The Rising" by Bruce Springsteen
c) "American Pie" by Don McLean
d) "Only in America" by Brooks & Dunn
e) "American Boy (featuring Kanye West)" by Estelle
5. Which of the following served as the title of Britney Spears' 2008 release?
a) Shaved
b) Circus
c) Batshit
d) Mother
e) Celebritney
6. Miley Cyrus' brother Trace is the frontman for which emo pop-punk band that scored a major Top 40 hit in 2008?
a) Metro Station
b) Pierce the Veil
c) Scary Kids Scaring Kids
d) From First to Last
e) White Tie Affair
7. Which artist didn't Lil Wayne collaborate with in 2008?
a) Kevin Rudolf
b) Kanye West
c) Robin Thicke
d) Jack White
e) T-Pain
8. Which iconic act from years past did not release an album of new material in 2008?
a) Journey
b) Metallica
c) Guns N' Roses
d) Foreigner
e) Whitesnake
9. Which girl-fronted act disbanded earlier this year, after releasing only its second full-length album?
a) Be Your Own Pet
b) Paramore
c) Flyleaf
d) Eisley
e) The Sounds
10. Regarding the song "Human," from the recently released Killers album, Day & Age, lead singer Brandon Flowers has explained the line "Are we human or are we dancer?" as:
a) A misinterpretation of the lyrics. He actually says "denser."
b) A tip of the hat to one of Santa Claus' reindeer.
c) A quote from the 1980 Olivia Newton-John film Xanadu.
d) Nonsense.
e) A reference to a Hunter S. Thompson quote.
Answers: 1, c. 2, b. 3, c. 4, d. 5, b. 6, a. 7, d. 8, d. 9, a. 10, e.
