List-O-Matic

2 January 2009

This is a companion piece to my albums of the year post – indeed, it was supposed to run pretty much straight afterwards but then this thing called christmas happened, followed by new year so it’s a bit late. As opposed to albums, this post is a round-up of everything else that seems worthy of note from last year, as well as a quick look ahead to this year as well.

Best Songs

10. Adele – Hometown Glory ~ Stunningly effective live
9. Department of Eagles – No One Does it Like You
8. Pete & The Pirates – Eyes Like Tar
7. One Day As A Lion – One Day As A Lion
6. Bloc Party – Mercury ~ If only the rest of the album was this good
5. TV On The Radio – DLZ ~ More depth then the slightly throw-away singles
4. Cajun Dance Party – The Hill, The View & The Lights
3. Deerhunter – Nothing Ever Happened
2. Mystery Jets – Two Doors Down ~ Pop perfection
1. Portishead – The Rip ~ Builds so so well

Best Gigs

5. The Teenagers Prom ~ Brilliant, if only for the moment that they got a bunch of teenager girls on stage to sing the female vocal on ‘Homecoming’. Which is rather rude.
4. Friendly Fires at Reading Festival ~ Definitely the highlight of a great Reading – the Friendly Fires boys really moved on their game.

3. TV On The Radio at Concrete and Glass ~ We waited about 4 hours until they came on at 1am and I was seriously concerned someone would get hurt in the crush but boy was it worth it.
2. Radiohead at the BBC Radio Theatre ~ While I would have loved to go to the 93 Feet East gig in January, seeing Radiohead for the first time with 150 other people in with the sublime acoustics of the BBC Radio Theatre made up for it rather nicely.
1. Bon Iver at St. Giles Church ~ This wasn’t so much as a gig but a ‘moment’ – never have I heard such an audience reaction or an artist so humble and grateful.

Best Films

5. Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead ~ Overlooked – slow but brilliant
4. Juno ~ A tad trite but still great
3. Wall-E ~ Not Pixar’s best, but perfect until the space-ship bit
2. The Dark Knight ~ Exceptional
1. No Country For Old Men ~ Even better

Favourite Photo I’ve taken

Tips for 2009

5. Die Die Die ~ These guys aren’t going to be big, but they’re good so that doesn’t matter
4. Magistrates ~ These guys will be big, but they’re good so that doesn’t matter
3. The Big Pink ~ Shoegaze-y indie electro is going to be in this year, and these guys do it very well
2. Fanfarlo ~ They’ve finally done their album, and I’m sure it’s going to do very well
1. Passion Pit ~ A foregone conclusion

From: Articles

2 January 2009