Favorites of 2008 in Entertainment

Music

I may be majoring film, but I've been into music since I was a kid, and I did reviews for amateur webbies. It's just that I can't make music, but I can make awful films. I tried to write songs but they were failures of epic proportions.

So how do I listen? I listen to all genres, even some country, not traditional country, but country fusions. My main genre is probably alternative rock, with an empahsis on psychedelic rock. For people who don't know what is psychedelic music, it officially means creating a mood that could be triggered by drugs. For me, psychedelic music is dreamy, ambient, floats me to another world. I also like jazz, blues rock, pop/rock, some pop, some hip hop and some r&b.

So I follow magazines to discover Indie (independent) acts. Like Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Mojo, to name a few. I will sample online those that are new to me, sample them, if I like them, I'd download/save them onto cd or whatever I could use to listen on the go in the car. I'm into relaxing coffee-break/cafe-mood music recently, that doesn't mean jazz or slow pop, some alternative music would fit this mood, oh and...Norah Jones of course.

In recent years, I've been keeping a personal record/diary for memory on what I liked for each year, but I never told anyone since it's me, not a magazine. Who am I anyway? But here's this year's, officially, on a blog. (As if anyone cares).

Top 7 Favorite Albums of 2008

1. Oracular Spectacular
MGMT

Genre: Alternative, Psychedelic, Healing, Electronica

This Indie duo signed with major label Columbia to release this experimental record that is relaxing, hallucinatory/psychedelic, and danceable. This critically acclaimed album is making MGMT a new force in the alternative music scene. From the feel I get while listening to it, I think the concept they are trying to pull is...a group of "youth" in fantasy/beach clothing, get stranded on a magical island. While they are there, they discover and celebrate "youth". Okay, I'm not making any sense. I'm more musically minded than lyrically.

I got to know MGMT through my local alternative station, with the catchy single Time To Pretend. It's now featured in many television series including Gossip Girl. I liked it at first listen but was skeptical of the band and figured it's not something I'd listen to everyday. Then I heard "Kids"! I was anti-techno. I do listen to electronica like Depeche Mode, Chemical Brothers, Fat Boy Slim, but I kind of ignored Kids though it's catchy. It gets so much airplay that I got into the mood of it. Although it seems like a danceable-pop sounding track, it has an alternative attitude, like The Killers' "Human" or Depeche Mode's "Precious". I read that it's featured in FIFA '09. I was hooked to Kids, listened to the rest of the album online and got the CD through a gift card. As a psychedelic music fan, the album suits my taste. I'm very fond of Weekend Wars. Love the dreamy tracks 4th Dimensional Transition and Of Moons, Birds and Monsters. For the latter, I like the long instrumental sequence at the end. The Handshake would probably be my second favorite track on the album. It has 5 segments of different tunes. Also drawn to the Oasis-sounding verses on Pieces Of What. Electric Feel, Future Reflections and The Youth are good too. That probably sums of the whole CD. A very tight album. The creative duo spent the year opening for alternative giants like Radiohead and Beck, but now they are headlining music festivals, winning lots of fans and impressing lots of critics.

Tracks That Matter: All?

Personal: Weekend Wars, The Handshake, Kids, Of Moons, Birds and Monsters, Time To Pretend, 4th Dimensional Transition, Electric Feel, Future Reflections

Commercial/Radio/Pop wise: Kids, Time To Pretend, Electric Feel

Time To Pretend live http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIZ2RUxOiK0&feature=related

2. Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend

Genre: Alternative Rock

The band's name is misleading. I thought it's a hard rocking punk band when I first saw the name. They turn out to be a band that makes relaxing punk music that mixes collegiate punk with african-beats and classical instrumentation. This debut album fits my coffee break, relaxing, soothing, and makes me feel like a college student in a South Africa based British university. I'm fond of this cute album.

Tracks That Matter: Walcott, A-Punk, M79, Oxford Comma, Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_i1xk07o4g Oxford Comma.

3. Glasvegas
Glasvegas

Genre: Alternative Rock

This new Scottish Indie band made one of the best debut albums of the year. I love Geraldine. Fantastic track. Love the sad/dramatic/emotional/amusing lyrics and guitars in the album. The soap operaish song, It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry is probably my favorite track on the album. The lyrics are emotional but cute and amusing at the same time. One line from the song "Liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, pants on fire." comes after attractive rhythm guitars. There's also a version of the famous tune "you are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make happy when skies are gray" at the outro of Football And Flower Tops. Interesting vocals. There's spoken soap Stabbed, which goes "run rabbit run". And another soap, Ice Cream Van, an ambient dramatic track.

Tracks That Matter: It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry, Ice Cream Van, Geraldine, Daddy's Gone, S.A.D Light, Stabbed, Football And Flower Tops, Lonesome Swan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf_YTwlD6aw&feature=related It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry (live recording).

4. Microcastle/Weird Era Continued
Deerhunter

Genre: Alternative Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Ambient, Experimental

Fantastic ambient record. Starts off with a Radiohead-ish tune, Cover Me (Slowly) and keeps on attracting my attention throughout the album. However, they need more catchy tunes even for experimental. It gets a little boring in the middle of the album but peaks again near the end. There are many short ambience tracks that make the record an album-enjoyment.

Tracks That Matter: Agoraphobia, Never Stops, Nothing Ever Happened, Twilight At Carbon Lake, Green Jacket, Saved By Old Times, many more, generally the whole album brings out the mood, not single tracks.

5. Chinese Democracy
Guns N' Roses

Genre: Hard Rock

Ah! One of my favorite bands of all-time releasing an album after about 14 years. This reason is enough for the album to be on this list. Not the same members from Appetite of Destruction and Use Your Illusion eras. It's more like Axl Roses's original work, and it's missing the melodies of Slash. As a fan of Slash's solos, I'm disappointed in the solos in this album. Some of my gn'r-fans friends couldn't enjoy this album as much as I do, but some enjoy it more than I do. I guess I'm somewhere in the middle, don't like it too much but don't hate it in anyway.

Tracks That Matter: Madagascar, Street Of Dreams, There Was A Time, Catcher In The Rye, Better.

6. Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
Coldplay

Genre: Rock

I prefer Coldplay's tunes in their debut album Parachutes. More alternative, Radiohead-ish. Coldplay got more and more pop with each album, but although this record is not totally my type, I think it's their best achievement instrumentally. Anthemic catchy tunes. I love the outros that bring a different tune from the rest of the song. I'm drawn to Yes.

Tracks That Matter: Lost, Yes, Violet Hill, Lovers In Japan, Viva La Vida

7. In Ear Park
Department Of Eagles

Genre: Acid Folk

A very good and underrated psychedelic folk album. I like the title track. The intro for Waves Of Ryes is great for soundtrack. It's Radiohead+Fleet Foxes.

Tracks That Matter: In Ear Park, Phantom Other, Waves Of Rye, No One Does It.

Other notable albums I listened thoroughly, or not so thoroughly...

Narrow Stairs - Death Cab For Cutie

We Started Nothing - The Ting Tings

Dear Science - TV On The Radio

Dig Out Your Soul - Oasis

Volume One - She & Him

Third - Portishead

Modern Guilt - Beck

Day & Age - The Killers

and somemore...


Single of The Year

Weekend Wars (it wasn't released as a single, so I'm cheating.)
MGMT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_-Gld700LE&feature=related

Favorite Book
(I don't follow books like I do with music, so it's a book that I read in the year, not released in the year.)

Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks
It teaches you how to survive a zombie invasion in your neighborhood. Educational.

Yeah... the main department, Movies.

Top 3 Favorite Movies of 2008

1. Slumdog Millionaire (view my Slumdog Millionaire post)

2. The Dark Knight

3. Wall-E

Past Years

2007

Albums
1. In Rainbows - Radiohead
2. Mirrored - Battles
3. Icky Thump - White Stripes

Single
Icky Thump - White Stripes
A creative noise rock, my style of rhythm guitar, Jack White's madness.

Movie
No Country For Old Men
I love chase films. Though The Duel remains my favorite chase film of all time, and No Country is not too great, Javier might be more impressive than the truck.

2006

Albums
1. Black Holes And Revelations - Muse
2. St. Elsewhere - Gnarls Barkley
3. Carnavas - Silversun Pickups

Single
Crazy - Gnarls Barkley
Ignored it at first, but it caught on. Does that make me crazy?

Movie
Little Miss Sunshine
Great screenplay, greatly deserves the oscar. Great characters. I'm more into the screenplay than the movie itself. Besides, Michael Arndt is a friendly dude.

Done.