Not that anyone reads this blog, so quite why I'm bothering is beyond me, but here's my favourite stuff of 2008. That I can remember.
Album - an antiquated concept perhaps in today's download and MP3 biased music world, but it's still nice to pick up a CD, especially when it's as damn sublime as Bon Iver's "For Emma, Forever Ago". Bought on the strength of it being referred to as "melancholy" in the Guardian Guide one weekend (I can't resist a good dose of melancholy), this has definitely become my favourite disk of the year. Fragile vocals delivered in a eerie falsetto, minimal production and rythmic accompaniment, ghostly guitars, and some quirky/icky lyrical choices combine in one almost perfect package. Re: Stacks is the tune of choice for me, but Lump Sum, Flume and For Emma all deserve a mention. And Skinny Love.
Oh fuck it, all of them. Just buy it already.
Single - Kings of Leon "Sex on Fire". Yeah, I know, me and every other person with ears. Still, it's a belter, and only the deaf and people with dreadlocks are left untouched by it. And people with dreads clearly have no taste, so their opinions are automatically null and void.
Epic chorus, insistent drumming, and a hookline that will stay in your head for fecking days. Brilliant.
Movie - "The Dark Knight" Another populist and popular choice, but for once it deserves all the hype. Sure, Bale's bat-voice becomes a little grating after a few watches, and there are plot holes a-plenty, but it's definitely the best comic book movie yet thanks to it's gritty tone and Heath Ledger scaring up the screen in a truly demented turn as the Joker, and gives all the rest of the franchises a clearly defined goal to aim at. And completely miss, knowing the state of Hollywood and comic books.
Games, comics, and whatever else I've enjoyed in 2008 in the next post.
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