FAVOURITES OF 2010



2010 was quite the year. We were graced by... Whatever. Who cares? Here's some favourites:



ALBUMS

(in alphabetical order by artist)



The Arcade Fire "The Suburbs" .

Key tracks : EVERY ONE; though I really love Ready To Start

Still an absolutely amazing band. The beauty and passion is evident in every note they play and sing. If there's a god making lists, all these players have very special spots in heaven.



Broken Social Scene "Forgiveness Rock Record" .

Key tracks : Meet Me In The Basement, Romance To The Grave

Another great album. My favourite BSS album since You Forgot It In The People.



Deftones "Diamond Eyes" .

Nothing can match "White Pony", but, this is a solid effort from a very formidable rock band.



Fang Island "Fang Island" .

Key tracks : Careful Crossers, Davy Crockett.

Great first album. Reminds me a bit of listening to Modest Mouse and Blitzen Trapper for the first time.



Kylesa "Spiral Shadow" .

Key tracks : Distance Closing In, Spiral Shadow.

Metal rules and these guys and gal take it to another level. I found a lot of tracks on this album sound like older stuff, a couple like ... Trail of Dead; and it's easily one of my favourites of the year.



Liz Phair "Funstyle" .

Key tracks : Bollywood, Oh Bangladesh, And He Slayed Her.

Everyone has written Liz Phair off for about ten years. I don't agree with that, but I do say this is her best album in at least that long, since WhiteChocolateSpaceEgg. It's barely an album as it was released after someone had leaked it; it is stuff she had only intended for herself. This album is like her new mid-life Girlysounds. The Girlysounds were her demo tapes she'd made during college years and made the basis for Exile In Guyville, easily one of the finest albums of the 90s. So, maybe her next serious release will be like that; not in sound, but in terms of being something really good.



The Love Language "The Love Language" .

Good old-time sounds in a new band. I get the sense of classic music from the 40s-60s.



Matthew Dear "Black City" .

Key tracks : I Can't Feel, More Surgery.

Very Prince-y vibe to this album. I'm not usually a fan of the straight up techno/digital music, but this is a great listen.



Meth, Ghost, Rae "Wu Massacre" .

Key track : Criminology 2.5, Mef vs Chef 2.

Solid Wu-shit!



One Less Of Infinity "Working" .

Key tracks : BlueMicIntro, Put Your Babies To Sleep, Decision Mixed.

One fuck of an impressive debut!



Philip Selway "Familial" .

Solid mellow album all the way through.



Prince "20Ten" .

His best in many years. The ENTIRE ALBUM is awesome! Funky! Prince is a genius. This was a London (Britain?) only release through a newspaper. Of course, today that can only be kept away from the masses for so long. Dude's awesome and so is the music on this album.



Quasi "American Gong" .

Key tracks : Repulsion, Simple Simon.

One of the greatest bands around right now. Come to The Rickshaw on February 11 and be pleasured.



Tame Impala "Innerspeaker" .

Key track : It's Not Meant To Be.

Great raw old-school rock sound with a singer that sounds like John Lennon. Pretty much a can't lose formula.



The Walkmen "Lisbon" .

Key track : Woe Is Me.

First album of theirs that I've listened to and I like it!



Wavves "King Of The Beach" .

Key tracks : King of the Beach, Supersoaker, Convertible Balloon.

Good fun sunny rock & roll.



LIVE SHOWS



I spent the majority of the first half of this year concentrating time and money on comedy as opposed to gigs. I really didn't make it out to too many live gigs this year.



Conan O'Brien @ The Orpheum , April 14

Funny stuff. Unfortunately, I'd read about a show from a few nights earlier and pretty much knew every gag coming. My fault. Fun to watch him pick up the guitar and walk around; he's a fine player.



Doug Stanhope @ The Bourbon , July 25

Probably the best underground comic going right now. He's too good and I'm glad I got the chance to see him this year, because with his lifestyle who knows how long/short he'll be around.



Todd Barry @ ? in Kirkland, Washington, Date ?

Laid back and funny. Can't get enough of him. You may have seen him (The Wrestler, Bored To Death) if you haven't heard his comedy. He's buddies with Louis CK (the best comic in the game right now) and often has good fun with him through Twitter and Youtube.



Broken Social Scene @ The Commodore , October 14

I hadn't seen this band since a night many years ago at Richard's when Stars opened for them and it was a full on classic BSS line-up. That was a special night as everyone in attendance was right into it, in a small place. I didn't think that could be re-created, especially on a grander scale, but this show did it. The band was clearly having fun as they were winding down a long tour. Neil Osborne (54-40) came out for a few songs including "One Gun" and they were still rocking the stage as my crew and I left.



Wild Flag @ The Green Frog Acoustic Tavern , Bellingham Washington November 11

Wild Flag is a band I guarantee you will be hearing about in 2011. They haven't even recorded an album yet, but they sold out (albeit small) shows up and down the west coast this November. Not surprising as the group consists of Carrie Brownstein (Sleater-Kinney), Janet Weiss (Sleater-Kinney, The Jicks, Quasi), Mary Timony (Helium) and Rebecca Cole (The Minders). Oh, you will hear of them this coming year. The show was awesome. Maybe 45-55 people inside and at least ten to fifteen standing outside listening. The stage literally couldn't hold them and the keys player, Coles, was out on the floor with us.



Kylesa @ The Media Club December 2

Very good, but way too short show. Alex and I were about to leave because he had to fly out early. But, the second opening act (can't remember their name) was really good and we stayed. Kylesa rocked the house, but as written above, it wasn't long enough.



MOVIES, FILMS, TALKIES



Barely went to any theatre movies this year; pretty much only with my nephew and/or niece.



Mogwai: Burning 10+++

This is a concert film of the greatest band in the world. That is all that needs to be said. It is awesome. This band should be seen/heard live, but if you can never make it to a show, this is a must-see.



The A-Team 10+

I'm really not one for re-makes or simply re-hashing the past, however, this was a great summer popcorn movie. Each character is cast perfectly and a sequel should be at least as much fun.



Tron: Legacy 10+

I loved the original and the video game released with it. Tron was definitely my favourite at the arcade; it was really like 4 games in one. This movie is a great sequel. I didn't mind the cgi for Clu though it was worse in some parts than others. Apparently, there's two more sequels to come and an off-shoot series. Should be cool.



BOOKS



Flight (Peter F. Hamilton, 1999)

Finally finished this, volume one in book three (The Naked God) of the Night's Dawn trilogy. Peter F. Hamilton is an amazing sci-fi writer. This is hardcore science fiction writing at it's best. Right up there with Dan Simmons as far as story-telling goes, and more detailed.



The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins, 2oo8)

Great first book to a trilogy. Pretty wild concept and well enough written; it is meant for teen readers. I'm definitely looking forward to what happens next.

