So if The Globe Awards picked their winners, The Oscar nominations will be announce on Thursday, The Village Voice is ready to present its Pazz & Jop list 0f 2008 and The Grammys hopefully will ignore Lil' Wayne in a couple of weeks, why not close this 08' chapter with the selection of my favorite things of last year.
Here's to you, THE BEST OF EL OCHO: BEST OF THE REST
TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2008
10.Son of Rambow
9.Man On Wire
8.Iron Man
7.Rachel Getting Married
6.The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
5.Happy Go Lucky
4.The Dark Knight
3.Wall-E
2.Milk
1.Slumdog Millionaire
What I feel for this movie isn't just admiration, it's mad love. And I couldn't be more surprised.
The chai tea found love and the great Danny Boyle finally gets the recognition for an amazing and brilliant work, bollywood style.
Boyle is the Irish-Catholic working-class Brit who put his surreal mark on zombies (28 Days Later) and smack addicts (Trainspotting), and made us see ourselves in their blood wars. Those movies were so potent, as was his 1994 debut, Shallow Grave, that we looked the other way when Boyle went Hollywood with The Beach and screwed up with A Life Less Ordinary. Somehow we knew that Boyle had the stuff to work miracles.
The no-bull honesty of Slumdog Millionaire hits you hard. It's the real deal. No cheating.
TOP 10 TV SHOWS OF 2008
10. The Life & Times Of Tim, HBO
9. Ugly Betty, ABC
8. Desperate Housewives, ABC
7. 30 Rock, NBC
6. The Office, NBC
5. Saturday Night Live, NBC
4. Weeds, SHOWTIME
3. Little Britain USA, HBO
2. Summer Heights High, HBO
1.True Blood, HBO
Alan Ball told The New York Times that after all the doomy gloom of his series Six Feet Under, he was ready to do ''something that was a little more fun.
His new adventure is a Southern/absurdist/goth/civil rights horror show: Folks acknowledge that vampires exist; they just don't want 'em moving into their neighborhood.
True Blood is a great show even when I still sense some homophobia. Let's wait until season 2.
TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2008
10. 19, ADELE
9. Feed The Animals, GIRL TALK
8. Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends, COLDPLAY
7. Only By The Night, KINGS OF LEON
6. Oracular Spectacular, MGMT
5. Third, PORTISHEAD
4. The Odd Couple, GNARLS BARKLEY
3. The Seldom Seen Kid, ELBOW
2. Fleet Foxes, FLEET FOXES
1. Vampire Weekend, VAMPIRE WEEKEND
In a time when other populist groups like Death Cab For Cutie, Arcade Fire, and Spoon-- potential radio staples at certain points in rock history-- have commercial ceilings somewhere between "an appearance on 'SNL'" and "gold record," I can't find myself rooting against Vampire Weekend's relative success. At the end of the day, all they've done is craft an album of crisp, endlessly replayable guitar pop songs with expressive, detail-heavy lyrics and charming music that serves as a welcome antidote to today's more overly compressed sounds.
TOP 10 BEST NEW ARTIST OF 2008
10. Katy Perry
9. Hercules and Love Affair
8. Lykke Li
7. Santogold
6. Duffy
5. MGMT
4. Adele
3. The Ting Tings
2. Vampire Weekend
1. Fleet Foxes
There is no lead singer in Fleet Foxes. There are guitars, bass, drums, an electric piano, the occasional cello or string of chimes, and many voices. Everyone's voice is an instrument. It's Robin Pecknold you hear most often in songs like "English House" and "Drops in the River," but it's the layers of dense harmonies sung perfectly that make the band's baroque compositions magnificent and vivid.
On the song "White Winter Hymnal" specifically, you can't help but think of a bunch of guys sitting around a campfire. The band takes the listener with them out among the trees. While round-robin vocals playfully sing about the river and snow and sun, their big voices reach up to the sky. Fleet Foxes conjure this scene without any irony.
Please just don't call them hippies. Fleet Foxes will keep it Zen. Right. Because keeping it Zen is what not hippies do.
MY FAVORITE CONCERTS OF 2008
10. Duffy, ALL POINTS WEST Festival - NJ
9. Crystal Castles, Philadelphia - PA
8. Julieta Venegas (Mexico), CENTRAL PARK SUMMERSTAGE - NY
7. Babasonicos (Argentina), HIGHLINE BALLROOM - NY
6. Adele, JOE'S PUB - NY
5. The Verve, THE THEATER @ MSG - NY
4. The Cure, MADISON SQUARE GARDEN - NY
3. Girl Talk, ALL POINTS WEST Festival - NJ
2. Radiohead, ALL POINTS WEST Festival - NJ
1. George Michael, 25 LIVE - NY, MA, FL
The Faith Tour was probably the most succesful but for me 25 Live was the most special since it was my first George Michael concert.
Michael's vocals and physical presence were strong--although, he admitted, he did, in fact, need a little help from the crowd. Most of the songs sounded just as they did on record.
In addition to his backing band, Michael was accompanied on stage by six background singers. The pair of multilevel, balcony-like structures that housed the musicians were positioned between three giant video screens that provided stunning images to enhance Michael's performance.
The distinguished crowd of chubby single ladies in their 30's and gay men of all ages never sat down and everyone was screaming ,singing and dancing and having a great time.
Thank you George for 25 years of excellence. And even when you turned 45 while touring in America, there's no doubt that the older you get, the better you get.
Thank you for a great concert, I will never forget it. I'm going to miss you...
God Bless you always!!!
1 comment:
I can't tell you how much I wanted to go. I should have purchased tickets. I dont know what I was thinking.
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