Taken from the Mogwai website:

Mogwai’s first live album will be released on Rock Action Records this spring. Released alongside the live film Burning (by Vincent Moon). The formats will be CD and DVD and limited deluxe triple vinyl box set which will also include the dvd of Burning, set lists and a poster. The artwork was designed by Aidan Moffat.

To mark the announcement of the full track listing for this release Mogwai will be giving away a free MP3 of the song 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong taken from the Special Moves live CD via the minisite: www.mogwaispecialmoves.com

The track list for the the cd/dvd version is:

- I’m Jim Morrison, I’m Dead
- Friend Of The Night
- Hunted By A Freak
- Mogwai Fear Satan
- Cody
- You Don’t Know Jesus
- I Know You Are But What Am I
- I Love You, I’m Going To Blow Up Your School
- 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong
- Like Herod
- Glasgow Megasnake

The track list for the vinyl version contains the above plus:

- Yes! I Am A Long Way From Home
- Scotlands Shame
- New Paths To Helicon Part 1
- Batcat
- Thank You Space Expert
- The Precipice

The extra songs featured on the vinyl release will be available as a free download with the CD.

———————————

Awesome, awesome, awesome.  Alright so it’s never going to fully capture the Mogwai live experience (unless you’ve got a terrifying home music system) but it should be a lot of fun.  Not a bad set list all told (especially with the extra tracks) and the free download is well worth listening to as a taster.  As my last post detailed – my favourite song of the last 10 years.

 

My year in lists

Wow, the year went fast.  My first full year living in another country.  It’s not been a bad one all told.  Before we move on too far I want to recap the last year.  Favourites of the year…

Movies:

• Star Trek
• Moon
• Coraline (3D)
• District 9
• Inglorious Basterds
• Avatar

Albums:

• Bat for Lashes – Two Suns
• Beirut – Realpeople Holland
• Bill Callahan – Sometimes I wish I were an eagle
• Fuck Buttons – Tarot Sport
• Mono – Hymn to the Immortal Wind
• Tortoise – Beacons of Ancestorship
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz!

Songs:

• My Delirium – Ladyhawke
• My Night With The Prostitute From Marseille – Beirut
• Black Hearted Love – PJ Harvey & John Parish
• Eid Ma Clack Shaw – Bill Callahan
• I’m Sorry, Baby, But You Can’t Stand In My Light Any More – Bob Mould
• Stillness Is the Move – Dirty Projectors
• High Class Slim Came Floatin’ In – Tortoise
• Carry Me – Malcolm Middleton
• Soft Shock, Hysteric – Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Overall it’s not been that great a year for music, a few good albums, none really classic.  Some good songs though and out of the above I can’t choose a top one musically.  Film wise it would be Moon which was just a wonderful experience (though Star Trek was pretty damn awesome, coming from a non-Trekkie).  And if I had to choose some favourites of the decade..?  Seeing as real thought would have me still choosing come 2020 I’m going to take these off the top of my head (and a quick scan of iTunes)

Movies:

• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
• Donnie Darko
• Wall-E
• Amelie

Albums:

• Johnny Cash – American III: Solitary Man
• PJ Harvey – Stories from the city, stories from the sea
• Elbow – Asleep in the back
• Ed Harcourt – Here be monsters
• The Divine Comedy – Regeneration
• Idlewild – The remote part
• Spoon – Kill the Moonlight
• Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
• Broken Social Scene – You Forgot it in People
• Explosions in the Sky – The Earth is not a cold dead place
• Mogwai – Happy songs for happy people
• Rachel’s – Systems/Layers
• m83 – Before the dawn heals us
• Marianne Faithful – Before the poison
• Mono – Walking Cloud And Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered And The Sun Shined
• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Abattoir Blues / Lyre of Orpheus
• TV on the Radio – Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes
• Gorillaz – Demon Days
• Gemma Hayes – Night on our side
• Eluvium – Talk amongst the Trees
• Kanye West – Late Registration
• NIN – [With_Teeth]
• Sufjan Stevens – Come on feel the Illinoise
• Clint Mansell – The Fountain (OST)
• Jarvis – Jarvis
• My Latest Novel – Wolves
• Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
• Andrew Bird – Armchair Apocrypha
• Bat for Lashes – Fur and Gold
• Battles – Mirrored
• Dan Deacon – Spiderman of the Rings
• Feist – The Reminder
• Iron & Wine – The Shepherd’s Dog
• Low – Drums and Guns
• Malcolm Middleton – A brighter beat
• Radiohead – In rainbows
• Rob Crow – Living well
• Star of the Lid – And Their Refinement Of The Decline
• Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles
• Elbow – The seldom seen kid
• Foals – Antidotes
• Fuck Buttons – Street Horrrsing
• Los Campesinos! – Hold on now youngster
• Metronomy – Nights out
• Mogwai – The Hawk is Howling
• Remember Remember – Remember Remember
• Santogold – Santogold

Song (if I could just choose one):

• 2 rights make 1 wrong

That’s it folks.

 

This scar is a fleck on my porcelain skin

Sometimes all you need is a glass of wine, some nice cheese and a few crackers, a good book and soft music in the background. Whimsical. Mute. Entrenched.

 

Crosswords through the bathroom door, while someone sings the theme tune to the news…

There have been many great things about moving to NZ but one of the biggest things that I miss is the music scene.  Or the lack of it.  Ok, so I’m going to say it: the music scene in NZ sucks.  What the fuck is up with the adoration of dub/reggae and piss poor European house?  Seriously.  Ok, it’s said.

So the other big issue is that not only do very few bands come and play here but if they do they invariably skip Christchurch (apparently crossing the Tasman is ridiculously expensive).  Then even if they do come here the chance of finding out about the gig is pretty small as promotion is often non-existent (when I found out I’d missed Dan Deacon last year I was not a happy bunny).

As time has passed I’ve realised it’s not quite as bad as I first thought (I really was spoiled living in Brighton before all this).  In months to come we have Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors, The Pixies, Yo La Tengo, Camera Obscura, Pavement, Neko Case, Mono, Wilco.

And now they’ve announced Joanna Newsom with Jens Lekman no less.  In Christchurch.  While I’m on nights.  The same nights that cover my birthday none the less.

See, to go to any of these (as none of them bar the lovely Ms Newsom are playing CHCH) I have to try and book 2 days off work a few months in advance (a process which can take up to a month to confirm sometimes), get flights and accommodation in Wellington or Auckland and all the other little expenses that go along with it.  It makes it very difficult and expensive plus it’s eating into my annual leave.  I miss the day I could lean out of K’s window and listen to Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan playing across the road in St George’s church.

So I make my choices.  I chose Pavement over Pixies.  I’m losing the rest of the week to be in Auckland for Dirty Projectors 2 days later.  Mono I’ve seen before.  Neko Case I’m still deciding.  Wilco I will make happen.  I will also see JN even if I have to miss the end of her set (or be late for work which is more likely).  Tomorrow I’m off to see Jarvis Cocker in Wellington all by my lonesome.

A plea: if you are coming to New Zealand to play, please extend the tour to CHCH.  You’ve already spent all that money and time flying here in the first place so what’s a little bit more to come a bit further south.  I’ll come pick you up myself if it will help.

Now I just need to figure out how I’m ever going to see Mogwai ever again.  Fuji Rock 2010 anyone..?

 

Hold on now youngster

You said “send me stationary to make me horny”
So I always write you letters in multicolours
Decorating envelopes for foreplay
Damn extended metaphors, I get carried away

On the back of a natural disaster, fixed with parcel tape and with kids sticking plasters
Nothing says “I miss you” quite like war poetry you carved in your door with a Stanley knife

I know this was from a few years ago now but I was listening to it yesterday and the geeky lyrics still get me every time.  It’s built to appeal.

It’s bad enough you ever use the word as an adjective
But to suggest we do it in heels is really quite crass
And frankly, we’re reasonably practical
And we know the benefits of always doing these things in flats

Who can argue with the sense of that?  Plus my all time favourite:

If you catch me with my hands in the till
I promise, sugar, I wasn’t trying to steal
I’m just swimming in copper
to smell and pretend like a robot

 

Avinu Malkeinu

Will I won’t I shall I shan’t I?  Write?  Well.  I’m unwell.  A long felt awareness of continually running at sub-par always seems to manifest whenever I take some time off.  Maybe the energy and stresses of work allowing my immune system to keep trucking on, keeping a low profile from the distracted awareness of my brain, crash and burn when I stop.  When the long weekend and relaxation kicked in it translated into rapid sinus congestion, sore throat and muzzy head.

Reasons to write?  One being the fun weekend we all had in Akaroa.  Got monumentally drunk Friday night with good friends and to my immense sense of self satisfaction I managed to play the entirety of Tarot Sport to a room full of people in a party type situation.  And only 2 people asked me to turn it off (cunningly by this point of the evening attention spans had been tequilaed down to bare seconds so I just ignored their pleas for musical leniency).  I actually played Street Horrrsing too but there was only one other left drinking and awake by that point so not sure I can claim that one.

Our sortie on Saturday for a bit of a ramble was scuppered when we arrived on the desolate beach to find a freaked out surfer who pointed us out to his 2 mates who were being swept out by the rip.  Our mate jumped in his kayak and went out to help the swept away guy (the other one made it to the rocks) while we went to call the coast guard.

One helicopter later, lots of standing around for us (plus a fuck load of paddling our mate) and all 3 were safe.  Good result and they were sheepishly nonplussed once it was all over.  Surfers are stupid.  We on the other hand went sea kayaking the following day and didn’t need helicopter rescue.  We did need burgers though.

Then we all got to see this:

And finally, perhaps the most joyous thing of all is that someone has posted the boot of the Royal Albert Hall gig by Mogwai from 2006.  In the 7 times I’ve seen them this was and still is the best they’ve ever been and I’ve been hoping for a copy ever since.  Everything about that night was perfect.  The venue was immense; the crowd were real fans, committed and politely quiet; the sound was enormous, it filled and decimated everything else in the hall, you could feel it through every inch of your body (I thought the bass on 2 rights was going to rupture my sternum); the version of 2 rights was the best I’ve ever heard live, the welcome return of Tracy and the second surprise encore (which I almost missed thinking they had gone) of a monumental and righteous MFMK was perfect.  I was there with a sweet Jewish San Franciscan girl I was sort of dating at the time at the end of a brief summer of letting go; she jumped a mile out of her seat at the noise mid way through fear satan and half way through MFMK said, ‘wait, this is…’

Yes it is; with a smile.  It felt better sharing it with someone and I was elated for days.  The recording’s pretty good so please download, listen and share it with me.

 

Reflecting (…oh, I declare a change of heart…)

In my absence my blog seems to have been slowly ticking over and I’ve had over 5000 visits.  I don’t have much need for this any more though so not sure where to go.  I crave the anonymity and selective exposure of my earlier blog.  The ability to write absolutely anything and not worry about people you know reading it.  Writing to strangers.  There is something in the desire to publish and put out those intimate thoughts and events to be read by random unknowns, to be followed and supported, yet to be kept hidden.  A paper journal holds not the same appeal, the outrage of finding someone you know has peered within the sacred confines of a personal diary does not translate to the internet.  It also highlights the reality of what you’re doing when you sit, pen in hand and detail those troublesome thoughts to the page.  I am tempted to just hit that delete button for this and my past outlet.  Or perhaps reappear somewhere new with no fanfare.

Common joy seems to have lapsed into something sweeter.  This has been a fortnight characterised by a heap of new people and the discovery and rapture of a new muse (most fitting to Aoide); the associated back-tumble to the stages of my life that fling themselves into stark contrast with how things have been and how they can be no longer; and a god awful hangover that eventually lapsed into vague sickness.

There is (despite the runny nose and generally foggy head of the last few days) a smile on my face, a whimsy of the body and a desire to create.

On a somewhat related note I recently bought a new fountain pen.  Haven’t owned one for many a year but decided writing for me had become a chore, an act of work.  I wanted to take back the enjoyment.  Currently it’s been sent to Australia to fit a finer nib but once it returns I shall use it.  If anyone would like a letter drop me a line and address.

 

Nothing compares

We got back a few hours ago from out weekend away with the gang to Hanmer.  Fun weekend with nice people.  Pretty tired now.  A big event – I had my first beer in a pub.  I drank the whole thing and liked it.  Kind of.  I liked the first third, went of the middle third then enjoyed the final bit.  And I didn’t throw up afterwards!  One step closer to being accepted as a Kiwi.

Drinking, sledging, BBQ, hot tubs, mini golf, adventure maze and amusing games.  I’ll try to get photos up later in the week.

We all start a new rotation tomorrow.  I’m on night cover again (through choice), this time covering the other medical specialties apart from Cardiology and Respiratory.  Basically I do the day job of the doc who’s on nights so I change team to team every week.  I’m also on call tomorrow as well which is annoying but hey ho.

 

My poor aching feet

I went running today for the first time with my new shoes.  They came with ‘instructions’ to wear them in for a few days first then just go on short runs of about 20 mins for the next few days.  Right.  20 mins.  So after waiting ages for K to come home I went without her and decided to start things easy and go round the block.  That took 5 mins so when I got back to the start I went round again.  When I got back round to the start again I was pretty much dead so I stopped.  Only for K to come home and drag me out again so she could go! 

I will improve!

 

Woe is me / Witness the sickness

I took today off work sick and frankly feel a  bit of a fraud as now I feel fine.  But there was some bowel unpleasantness yesterday and we’re not supposed to go in.  I’m not sure I would have thought much of it if K hadn’t had a similar thing over the weekend.  Therefore it must be contagious!

It annoys me as I’ve only taken 2 days off sick in 3 years so this has now brought my total up to 3.  Still, once a year isn’t too bad.  Did I use the day productively..?  Erm…

 

I might as well have been holding a contra-bassoon

So today in an effort to combat my increasing laziness (and size of my waist) I (and indeed K as well) went out and bought a pair of running shoes.  My first ever.  I don’t really like running but there are very few excuses to be made for why you shouldn’t be compared to almost any other physical activity that involves leaving the house.  I do get painful shins and my right knee can sometimes be a bit gammy but I figure I’ll give it a go.  I’ll update on progress.

It was quite fun all told – they watched me run up and down a short track in the shop and then they stuck me on a treadmill and recorded me running.  Buying shoes is much more high tech than it used to be.

We saw Sunshine Cleaning last night which I thought could have taken things a bit further (in terms of comedy and blackness) creating a great movie rather than just a good one.  The performances though from Amy Adams and Emily Blunt were fantastic.  I’ve really enjoyed every Amy Adams performance I’ve seen.  Very natural, very engaging.

A relaxing weekend has been much needed.

 

In my final days / the devil rides / my last release

Watching ER tonight and talking with Katherine has led to me thinking about my death (not in a particularly morbid way – I’m still smiling) and what I want to happen (all because the black guy who’s name I don’t know, tragically died).  So I thought I should put my thoughts down somewhere in case ‘bad things happen’ before I’m ready.  So here we go:

• I want to be buried, not cremated.  I know it costs more but I have money and I like the idea of rotting.  That may sound strange but not being a religious person, for me the concept of degrading back to my base atoms and rejoining the universe is more comforting than some garbled vision of a heaven.

• I want my funeral to be a celebration of my life with smiles and laughter, not a mourning of my death; my Nan had a Humanist ceremony and I thought it was a wonderful way of approaching it.  I actually learnt things about her life that I wished I had learnt while she was still alive.

• I want to be buried in a small village cemetery near a tree.  A picturesque tree.  On the coast with a sea view.  Far away from any big towns.  (this one may be tricky).  Actually, if I could really get my way I would like to be dispersed in space.  That’s a genuine desire and the fact that I’m never likely to enter space and voyage between the planets is probably the most saddening thing in my life (the fact that is the most saddening thing in my life hints at how privileged I have been).  As for an explanation why, I have a story about an experience with Jupiter that I may share one day.  Unless I’m already dead, in which case either hunt out people I’ve already told it to or make one up…

• I would like 2 songs played; both are by Mogwai and I want both of them to be played really loud.  And if anyone speaks or moves while Helicon is playing I WILL HAUNT YOUR ARSE FOR ETERNITY:

1. Superheroes of BMX (to be played first; for the chaos)
2. New Paths to Helicon 1 (the live version from the Tour EP (ask my brother – he’ll know) to be played at the end; for the beauty)

• I want to donate ALL of my organs to people who may need them (f they’re in good shape I don’t need them anymore).

• My books can be donated to a local library (or a second hand shop for cancer research); my brother can have my music and films; my sister can be forgiven; Katherine can have my jumpers, my Mogwai collection, my fish necklace and my soul; my Mum and Dad can have my paintings and the knowledge that I loved both of them and were proud to have them both as parents (even if I never rang home often enough or told them enough).  Saying that – if I die before my parents I’m going to be pretty pissed off – no offence guys but I want to be around for a bit longer than that).

• Fuck it – after all that, I want you all to get really drunk on Jack Daniels and have a party.

So there you go.  Morbid perhaps and I have no intention of karking it just yet but you never know what’s around the next corner.  I would rather have said it than not.  Ultimately it won’t matter because I’ll be dead but I wouldn’t mind having a lasting impact; if only for a few short hours.

Some tears in my eyes; perhaps.  Damn ER. 

Andy x

 

Big giant robots. Fucking. ( )

I decided to check out the art museum at the weekend, thinking that after living here for 9 months I should probably do some touristy things.  To be honest the most entertaining aspect of the museum was/were the people wandering round.  An amusing mix of berets, BIG scarf’s (?scarves?), thumbs on chins and sheer pomposity.  All told there wasn’t much on offer art wise with half of the galleries being rehung.  After spending 5 minutes staring at video footage of a closed door projected onto a wall I thought it might be time to leave.

The Coco gallery down the road however, housed an interesting and more accessible selection of art.  Unfortunately I found a painting I really like.  I say unfortunately because it cost slightly over $2000.  And I really like it.  Which is a bad combination.  I’m going to take K to see it next weekend to see what she thinks.  Very different to what I would normally like, it’s a landscape but the way it’s painted is etheral and compelling.  We shall see.

 

This week I ave been mostly eating…

I’ve been rather slack when it comes to my blog.  Oh well.  Life has been busy.

It’s winter here now.  Truly.  I’ve gone skiing twice now.  My second lesson at the weekend didn’t go too well.  On the first run down I stacked it and got sifted to the ’slow’ group, comprising me and 5 middle aged women.  It got worse as I went on though.  Felt pretty disillusioned with the whole process and had a bit of a strop until I saw a chubby guy about my age crying on his arse with his tutor holding him by the shoulders saying, “It’s ok Danny, we just need to get to the bottom of the slope; can you do that?; come on, we’re getting there, we just need to crack your balance…’, NO! I want to stop!”.  I decided to man up after that shameful display.

In the afternoon I progressed to the big boy slope and after 1 run of sheer terror I felt pretty good about the whole thing and was rather annoyed when the weather came in and we had to go home.

Ached like a bitch for the next few days.

A friend of mine let me know that the Blur set at Glastonbury was the best gig of his life which made me feel great.  Watching the footage on line it’s really taken me back to the old days, watching Blur with friends, crowd-surfing, singing to my throat gave out and leaving soaked to the skin with sweat, water and stale lager.  Upset I missed the gig.

I’m working in elderly care at the moment which is nice as I find old people fascinating and some of the most interesting people I’ve ever met.  You don’t seem to get as many war stories in NZ though and I’m not sure why.  I’m currently sitting waiting for a medical registrar job to come up but in the mean time I’ve applied formally for jobs in December.  K is working as an anaesthetic registrar which is pretty cool.  I’m proud of her.

So many things.

Right now I’m listening to an almost perfect live version of 2 rights make 1 wrong from the Evening session in 2001.  It’s glorious and well worth digging out.  Time for bed now though.

 

Ooops

This morning on the ward round we were hurrying around the hospital and as we came up out of a stairwell I reached out quickly to grab the door before it swung back and hit us.  Unfortunately one of the consultant surgeons strode through in the other direction at that precise time and I punched / bitch slapped him pretty hard across the face.

Mortified!

Trying to apologise, he ran up the stairs looking shocked while I tried to get out my words.  At which point my consultant fell about laughing.  And didn’t stop for the next 5 mins.

It’s a good job I don’t want to be a surgeon!

 

My badly strung declaration to you / love not by degrees

I am still alive.  Back on nights over the long Easter weekend.  Destined to work every Bank Holiday in NZ ever.  I really mean to blog more.  I really do.  I also mean to cut down the time I spend online which is the prevailing force at the moment.

Let’s see, what have I been up to since I last wrote something down:

• saw NIN in Auckland – different set from recent tours but energetic and great setlist.
• saw Kings of Leon -they  just don’t do anything for me
• missed Dan Deacon which really pissed me off
• got soaked on Franz Joseph glacier
• gently spun in a circle hanging from a log 25 ft up being watched by about 40 people while ice climbing and then dropped my axes
• climbed back up and got them
• went to Hokitika Wild Foods Fest
• spent more time in Greymouth than was really necessary
• made a hand forged knife and had fun axe throwing in Barrytown spending a brilliant day listening to Stephen’s terrible jokes
• drove a lot surrounded by stunning scenery
• sea kayaking in Abel Tasman
• going in the sea and not getting eaten by sharks
• managed to get K to walk somewhere
• got pleasantly pissed wine tasting in Marlborough and spent a lot of money
• decided I liked Nelson
• caught, killed and ate salmon
• dressed up in old clothes with shotguns in Shantytown
• watched a bunch of movies and bought (yep – bought) a lot of music (see above pages)
• went to the Food Exhibition and ate lots of free stuff
• felt bad about not keeping in touch with friends and family enough
• got snowed on walking in Arthur’s Pass and buggered my knee after slipping over
• shaved off my beard for the first time in 4 years and promptly grew it back
• found out that K still fancies me even without a beard (though prefers me with one)
• made soup!

And lots of other things as well.

Photos for all these things can be found here.

I’ll see about updating more regularly.  I should really go to bed now though as it’s almost mid-day.

 

The Beatles are dead, Andy Warhol’s shit she said, yeah…

So last week (including my 28th birthday) was spent on nights.  They were fairly quiet, interesting and there was a nice team on so it wasn’t too bad and K took me out to a ‘breakfast restuarant’ for a birthday breakfast.  She got me tickets to see Nine Inch Nails up in Auckland next week which is awesome.  I love me some mainstream Industrial noise I do.

Feeling like I’ve dropped off the face of the planet recently so have spent a bit of time making up for it by contacting friends and the like.  I still have a few to get to but I’m trying.  We’re just about to head out for dvds and dinner with friends so had to curtail it (and instead blog…).

Listening to old Underworld at the moment which is bringing back many memories (points for claiming the song the above is from) and as I mentioned to Kristin the other day I’ve been on a big Led Zep bender recently.  A group I’ve only got into recently which is a shame as I’d have loved them years ago.

A few things that have been keeping me happy recently:

Astronomy Picture of the Day: the pictures from this are just stunning and leave me staring at my computer for long periods wishing space travel really existed.  Sign up to their feed.

Wondermark: the comic that just keeps giving.  More hit than miss and invariably entertaining.  Plus he’s created some lovely collections available through Dark Horse Comics.

Anyway.  Enough for now.

 

That day of the year again

Well, I’ve already lost the whole of January 2009 since I last blogged.  Life itself is busy and fun and interesting – I just haven’t had much inclination to blog about it.  Shame really considering I moved half way round the world and was supposed to keep in touch with people.  Bad Andy.

In the last month we went away to Lake tekapo with friends, went tramping, waded in the dark though a river in a cave system, listened to Fat Freddies Drop (just enough to ensure I really don’t like them), saw lots of entertaining street theatre in the Buskers festival, got sunburnt multiple times, bought new walking boots, got drunk, had BBQs in the sun, went swimming in freezing glacial lakes and then immersed myself in hot springs, got my hair cut, got some sleep, got annoyed Blur have reformed just after I left the country ensuring I can’t see them on their come back gig (I did think very hard about flying back for it), spent New Year in an underground Korean Kareyokee joint to 3 in the morning (apparently I can sing Placebo songs really well) and today got a year older.

I will try to blog more and a whole heap of photos are almost ready for viewing.  Out.

 

End of the year lists:

So it comes that time when we all compile pointless lists of what we enjoyed throughout the year.  And I’m feeling it this time so make no exception.  So some top lists (in alphabetical order):

Movies:

• Cloverfield
• The Dark Knight
• Iron Man
• No country for old men
• Son of Rambow
• Wall-E

A quiet year for movies on reflection.  If I had to choose only one it would be Wall-E.  As much as The Dark Knight is perfectly accomplished and astonishing in its brilliance and Iron Man is just brilliantly entertaining, Wall-E is just a wonderful combination of stunning visuals, gorgeous sound design and heartbreakingly staged story.  I love it.

Albums:

• Crystal Castles
• Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid
• Foals – Antidotes
• Fuck Buttons – Street Horrrsing
• Los Campesinos! – Hold on now, youngster
• Lykke Li – Youth Novel
• Metronomy – Nights out
• Mogwai – The Hawk is Howling
• Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Did, Lazarus, Dig!
• Remember Remember
• Vampire Weekend

Picking a favourite from these is extremely difficult.  Or very easy, as since The Hawk is Howling was released I’ve listened to very little else.  It’s a truly stunning Mogwai album and feels fully formed, like it’s existed for years.  And I love it.  However, choosing Mogwai as my favourite of the year is kind of cheating as they’re my favourite band.  So before that was released it was Fuck Buttons – Street Horrrsing.  I’ve been listening to this all year and still love it.  Powerful and compelling.  Regardless, all  the above have been on constant repeat since release and are well worth listening to.  Interestingly, my favourite album of last year: Low – Drums and Guns is still on heavy rotation.

Songs:

• Black Francis – The Seus
• CSS – Rat is dead (Rage)
• David Byrne & Brian Eno – Strange overtones
• Elbow – One day like this; Weather to fly
• Fleet Foxes – Blue ridge mountains
• Fuck Buttons – Sweet love for Planet earth
• Gotye – Hearts a mess
• Ladyhawke – Paris is burning
• Lambchop – Sharing a Gibson with Martin Luther King Jr.
• Lykke Li – I’m good, I’m gone
• Metronomy – Heartbreaker
• Mogwai – Scotland’s Shame; Devil Rides
• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – More news from nowhere
• Noah and the Whale – 5 years
• Pete and the Pirates – Mr Understanding
• Remember Remember – Fountain Mountain
• Santogold – You’ll find a way
• Those Dancing Days – Hitten

Rather an indiepop-tastic selection this year (getting old?) but fuck it.  My favourite?  Hmmmm.  Fountain Mountain probably (the original version rather than the split version that appeared on the album).

Books:

I managed to get through an impressive 53 books this year (not including comics) and out of those my favourites were:

• We need to talk about Kevin – Lionel Shriver
• The Murder of Roger Akroyd – Agatha Christie
• I am Legend – Richard Matheson
• Regeneration – Pat Barker

My favourite was ‘We need to talk about Kevin’ – an incredibly powerful and compelling story.  Plus this was the year I discovered Agatha Christie and more importantly, Poirot.  The full list is at my Goodreads site on the right.

So, that’s it for the lists.  Not a bad year all in all.

 

I will be the angel on your shoulder…

So our christmas day was very nice.  Lazy, well fed, relaxed.  We spent the day sleeping in and then delayed just long enough before making a grab for the presents.  K  liked the surfboard I got her, I got a lot of books and dvds I wanted along with a few other things and we both got lots of chocolate!  We even managed to sort out a combined vegie and carnivore christmas dinner.  Saying that we still haven’t found room for the christmas pudding yet.

Plus having 3 days off has been nice and knowing we’ve only got 3 more until another long weekend (even if I’m working the actual weekend).  We almost have plans for new years and I’m being remarkably social these days.  A change of scene does me good.