2009 in Awards

The 'Play It Again, Sam' Award:

1. Left4Dead 2
2. Modern Warfare 2
3. The Ballad of Gay Tony
4. Assassin's Creed 2
5. Street Fighter IV

I absolutely loved Gay Tony's exploits.  It was a much more 'cartoony' chapter of GTA, and I like a healthy dose of slapstick unreality in my games, so I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Modern Warfare 2 is one of the only games I've completed in one sitting; a combination of the stunning visuals, non-stop action mixed with a pinch of realism made it impossible to put down.  I'm only beginning to get into Assassin's Creed II but already I'm confident they've buried most of the bugs that marred the first iteration.

Left4Dead 2 however just manages to rise to the top in my opinion.  One of the only online games I've ever been truly excited about, they've taken everything that was done right in the first one and merely built upon it.  However, as great as the game is, we probably shouldn't forget that it's the friends that make the experience in any co-op game (add me - peanutismint).

The 'Cinema Club' Films of 2009:

1. Fantastic Mr Fox
2. Star Trek
3. Watchmen
4. Avatar
5. Terminator Salvation
6. The Hurt Locker
7. District 9
8. The Wrestler
9. Inglorious Basterds
10. Moon

One of my favourite directors makes my favourite film of 2009.  I love that it's a Wes Anderson movie to its very core, but it's a Wes Anderson movie I could take my kids to, had I any.  He really seemed to 'get' the book and Roald Dahl's quirky style; this is probably the first film-of-a-book I've ever seen after reading the book, and I was in no way disappointed.  Spike Jonze also managed to pull this off with 'Wild Things', but it juuuust missed out on my list - suffice to say if there were an '11th' film, it would be on there.




Records of 2009:

1. U2 – No Line On The Horizon
2. Maximo Park – Quicken The Heart
3. Manchester Orchestra – Mean Everything To Nothing
4. Mute Math - Armistice
5. Airborne Toxic Event
6. Brand New – Daisy
7. A Silent Film – The City That Sleeps
8. Biffy Clyro – Only Revolutions
9. Them Crooked Vultures
10. Weezer – Raditude

I almost feel bad about putting U2 at the number one spot.  Not because of any shame in being a U2 fan or anything like that (I think my enjoyment of U2 as a band has been mentioned many times, and as with my other 'guilty' pleasure, 'Coldplay', I no longer feel any sense of remorse in my unconditional enjoyment and support of these bands), but i guess more because I don't feel U2 need to sit at the top of anyone's 'list' anymore.  Nevertheless, this is a great album, made all the more pertinent by their amazing string of live dates over the summer (but more about that later...).
As with many great records, my first impression of 2009's 'No Line On The Horizon' was that of mediocrity, and possibly even slight disappointment.  However, it was when I stopped looking for the album to end all albums and started simply listening to the songs for what they were, I really began to love this record.

Maximo, similarly, made a great record; the end of their 'pop' trilogy, perhaps.  Excited to see where they go from here.  I hadn't even heard of Manchester Orchestra before 2009, but they've fast become one of my favourite bands of the moment.  Great, swelling, emotional songs - easily on a par with Airborne Toxic Event, who I'm sure are destined for further greatness.  Mute Math's sophomore LP was also a grower; although I don't feel it was quite as chock-full of pop hooks as their eponymous debut, it definitely has some things to say, and sounds like the kind of self-produced record I'd love to make someday.  Brand New's 'Daisy' was possibly not what I was expecting, but I still enjoyed it immensely.

The record I'd recommend by the band who may or may not ever reach the public consciousness is A Silent Film's 'The City That Sleeps'.  Time and time again this year I've returned to this record; it's like the childhood memory that keeps coming back.  Listen to it.

Finally - more astute readers may notice I've left my favourite band Switchfoot's recent independent debut off the list - I'm desperate for it to grow on me (which it unfortunately hasn't yet) so I chose to leave it out of all this business.






The Spotify ‘Background Music’ Award:

1. Friendly Fires
2. Harlem Shakes – Technicolor Health
3. Dananananaykroyd – Hey Everyone
4. Air Traffic – Fractured Life
5. YYYs – It’s Blitz
6. Regina Spektor – Far
7. Thrice - Beggars
8. Imogen Heap - Ellipse
9. Jet – Shaka Rock
10. Johnny Foreigner - Grace & The Bigger Picture

First off, I want to express my deepest condolences towards 'Harlem Shakes'.  GREAT record, but now they've gone their separate ways, and we may never know what greatness they could create together.  R.I.P.

Dananananaykroyd get the award for best small gig for their Los Campesinos-upstaging Swn performance, complete with the dreaded 'wall of hugs'.  Johnny Foreigner continue to go from strength to strength - 2010 might well be their year.









The ‘Thanks but No Thanks’ Award for salmon-swimming-against-the-current-like disinterest in the face of widespread public approval:

1. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavillion
2. The Gaslight Anthem – The ’59 Sound
3. Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More
4. White Lies – To Lose My Life
5. Florence & The Machine – Lungs

Sorry - I really don't get it.  Florence nearly wasn't on this list but for me, talent + catchy songs doesn't always equal success.  Not that she cares what I think, she's massive right now.




The ‘I’d Rather Drink Wasps’ Award for most annoying pop culture of the year:

1. X Factor
2. Sugababes
3. Twilight

The ‘What Just Happened??’ Award:

These are records which may well grow on me, given time, but that failed grabbed me from the getgo.

1. Green Day – 21st Century Breakdown
2. Muse – The Resistance
3. The Cribs – Ignore The Ignorant

Don’t get me wrong – there’s nothing wrong with these records or artists, this award just goes to artists with new releases this past year that were nothing I hoped them to be, or at least not compared to their former glories in my eyes.



The Artists of 2010 Award:

1. Delphic
2. Everything Everything
3. Darwin Deez
4. The Drums

I also hope Field Music's return will be a mega-triumphant one.

The Q.I. 'Fact of the Year':

A single sperm has 37.5MB of DNA info. Ejaculation represents a data transfer of 1,587.5TB.

THE EVENT OF 2009

it could only be

U2 360° TOUR

                

There are always little defining moments in life that all future events are measured up to.  U2's 360° show at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff was probably the grandest show I've ever seen.  The lights, the sound, the music, the talent - I've never seen a show that big feel so intimate.   And I may never again...