Another year has passed and another time for my annual review of my favorite things of 2009. If no one else cares, at least I have a record I can look back on to see what I was listening to and watching over the past year.
Music
2009 was a little different with regards to music than the past few years. I didn't find as many new bands as I had the past few years. Part of that is some of the blogs and other sources I used to introduce me to new music changed or ended this past year. But the main thing was that I spent the past year writing my own music and as such, I found myself unable to listen to as much music because my mind was too busy composing songs or listening to the songs I made until I got them recorded right. This was also the year of the EP as many of my favorite "albums" this year were by artists who released small collections rather than full length releases. However, there were still some great albums this year.
Oh No Ono - Eggs
Probably my favorite album of the year. This was completely unlike their first album. It was unique, moody, epic, fancy, fun, haunting, and amazing. It took a few listens to get into, but then it took hold until it became my favorite album of the year.
Song: "Internet Warrior"
Spencer playing "Swim" from the album:
Filthy Dukes - Nonsense In The Dark
A great electronic band. They picked different singers to for each track, although the few tracks that they did themselves are just as good. My favorite song features another favorite artist of the year, Tommy Sparks, video linked below:
"Messages" (Embedding disabled)
Chateau Marmont - Solar Apex EP (2008)
Just as I was getting a new synthesizer and learning how to create sounds, this EP served as some contemporary inspiration.
Video for song "Maison Klaus"
Josh Fix - This Town Is Starting To Make Me Crazy EP
He was one of my top favorite artists last year, and this EP is just more of the same, which is still great. I can't find any links to the music, so here's his website with some streaming music: www.joshfix.com
Galvatrons - Laser Graffiti
This was my most anticipated album of the year based on some demos they had out earlier last year. I thought it would be my favorite, but the lack of new songs that improved on the earlier released versions dimmed it a bit. Still, it's an amazingly fun album.
Here's a link to my favorite song, "Robots are Cool," from a fan-made video.
Tommy Sparks - Tommy Sparks
One listen to the song, "She's Got Me Dancing," and I was hooked. Coupled with his track on Filthy Duke's album, Tommy Sparks created some of my favorite songs of the year.
Here's the strange, strange video to "She's Got Me Dancing":
Yeah You's - Looking Through You
Saw someone tweet about these guys a few weeks ago. Definitely a good, strong album. The initial listen reminded me of Robbie Williams, Taxiride, Hoosiers, Moody Blues, Yes, Beach Boys, Tears For Fears, and other great bands.
I couldn't find any videos that allowed embedding, so here's a link to their YouTube channel.
Muse - The Resistance
I loved two songs from their last album and thought the rest was pretty good. This album as a whole I like more than their last, though no song was better than my two favorites from before.
Here's a video for the glam anthem "Uprising"
Bryan Scary - Valentines EP
Bryan Scary had my most favorite album from last year. This EP just seems to add to it. Unfortunately, the only video I could find is for "Andromeda's Eyes" which is the worst song off the EP! It's way too hyper, but the rest of the EP calms down and is really good.
Little Boots - Hands
I was introduced to Little Boots through a synthesizer blog I was following. The song "New In Town" really caught me the first time I listened and made me excited for the rest of the album.
Here's "New in Town."
Super Furry Animals - Dark Days/Light Years
A much better album than their last few, "Inaugural Trams" is the highlight:
Mika - The Boy Who Knew Too Much
"We Are Golden" was amazing and made me excited for the rest of the album. For some reason, I never got hooked, but I still think it's really good.
Adam Lambert - Let Me Entertain You
The first American Idol contestant we've ever bought an album from. The album cover is awful (I seriously thought it was a joke the first time I saw it,) but the first track "Music Again" is an instant classic and the best Darkness song they never made:
Color Bars - Kairos at Infinity (2007)
Not a 2009 band, but an album I found through listening to a Bryan Scary feed on either Pandora or Last.fm. I really, really enjoyed the harmonies from these guys. Here's a video for "The Gedanken Train," an okay, but not best song from the album:
Movies
There were some pretty great movies this year. Here's a few I enjoyed:
Up I remember half-way through the movie thinking "Wow, I've never seen half of these things in a movie before." Beautiful, touching, heart-breaking, original, fun, and funny. Everything Pixar does best.
Drag Me To Hell Saw this the same weekend as "Up." They couldn't be more different, other than both being amazingly fun rides. Sam Raimi knows how to make scary fun.
Paranormal Activity I saw this on a business trip before it opened wide nationally while there was still early buzz on how scary it was. I couldn't sleep at all that night while I was alone in my hotel room with strange noises keeping me on edge. It was a completely unique film and one I probably could never watch again, but it was amazingly effective which I have to give it props for.
Princess & The Frog So happy the guy Disney is back to traditional animation. This was a fun return to fairy tale form.
Star Trek I think the recurring theme here is fun. "Star Trek" had fun in spades. Afterward I had a ton of problems with the film, most of which were resolved by watching deleted scenes from the DVD.
Avatar Like "Up," while watching this film I kept thinking "Wow, I've never seen this before in a movie." The story was mediocre, but it was made up for by everything else in the film. The world was so believable and amazing. I could have spent another hour or two with it.
Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs This was the biggest surprise of the year. I wasn't even paying attention to this movie until I started to hear some high praise from trusted sources. It turned out to be probably the funniest movie of the year. It had a very twisted, silly humor like a cross between Spongebob and Monty Python.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince I was apprehensive based on the very dark previews for this film. But the dark style worked in context and made this probably my second favorite Harry Potter film after the third.
TV
Sadly, we didn't find much new to watch on TV this year. (Or is that a good thing?) So most of this is a repeat from last year, save for one new and one newly found. Here's a brief list of my favorite shows we watched in 2009:
Games
I don't think I've listed games before, but here's some of my favorites I played this past year:
Well, I think that's about it. For 2010 I'm looking forward to new albums by the Delays, the Ark, Tally Hall, Weird Al, and possibly Rooney and Scissor Sisters. I'm excited for the movies "Alice in Wonderland," "Iron Man 2," "Prince of Persia," "A-Team," "Toy Story 3," "The Last Airbender," "Rapunzel," and the next "Harry Potter" film. I'm hoping to enjoy playing "Deus Ex 3," "Epic Mikey," "Lego Harry Potter," "Metroid Other M," and possibly a new "Zelda" game for Wii. And, as I mentioned before, I'm waiting to get blown away by the final season of "Lost."
Music
2009 was a little different with regards to music than the past few years. I didn't find as many new bands as I had the past few years. Part of that is some of the blogs and other sources I used to introduce me to new music changed or ended this past year. But the main thing was that I spent the past year writing my own music and as such, I found myself unable to listen to as much music because my mind was too busy composing songs or listening to the songs I made until I got them recorded right. This was also the year of the EP as many of my favorite "albums" this year were by artists who released small collections rather than full length releases. However, there were still some great albums this year.
Oh No Ono - Eggs
Probably my favorite album of the year. This was completely unlike their first album. It was unique, moody, epic, fancy, fun, haunting, and amazing. It took a few listens to get into, but then it took hold until it became my favorite album of the year.
Song: "Internet Warrior"
Spencer playing "Swim" from the album:
Filthy Dukes - Nonsense In The Dark
A great electronic band. They picked different singers to for each track, although the few tracks that they did themselves are just as good. My favorite song features another favorite artist of the year, Tommy Sparks, video linked below:
"Messages" (Embedding disabled)
Chateau Marmont - Solar Apex EP (2008)
Just as I was getting a new synthesizer and learning how to create sounds, this EP served as some contemporary inspiration.
Video for song "Maison Klaus"
Josh Fix - This Town Is Starting To Make Me Crazy EP
He was one of my top favorite artists last year, and this EP is just more of the same, which is still great. I can't find any links to the music, so here's his website with some streaming music: www.joshfix.com
Galvatrons - Laser Graffiti
This was my most anticipated album of the year based on some demos they had out earlier last year. I thought it would be my favorite, but the lack of new songs that improved on the earlier released versions dimmed it a bit. Still, it's an amazingly fun album.
Here's a link to my favorite song, "Robots are Cool," from a fan-made video.
Tommy Sparks - Tommy Sparks
One listen to the song, "She's Got Me Dancing," and I was hooked. Coupled with his track on Filthy Duke's album, Tommy Sparks created some of my favorite songs of the year.
Here's the strange, strange video to "She's Got Me Dancing":
Yeah You's - Looking Through You
Saw someone tweet about these guys a few weeks ago. Definitely a good, strong album. The initial listen reminded me of Robbie Williams, Taxiride, Hoosiers, Moody Blues, Yes, Beach Boys, Tears For Fears, and other great bands.
I couldn't find any videos that allowed embedding, so here's a link to their YouTube channel.
Muse - The Resistance
I loved two songs from their last album and thought the rest was pretty good. This album as a whole I like more than their last, though no song was better than my two favorites from before.
Here's a video for the glam anthem "Uprising"
Bryan Scary - Valentines EP
Bryan Scary had my most favorite album from last year. This EP just seems to add to it. Unfortunately, the only video I could find is for "Andromeda's Eyes" which is the worst song off the EP! It's way too hyper, but the rest of the EP calms down and is really good.
Little Boots - Hands
I was introduced to Little Boots through a synthesizer blog I was following. The song "New In Town" really caught me the first time I listened and made me excited for the rest of the album.
Here's "New in Town."
Super Furry Animals - Dark Days/Light Years
A much better album than their last few, "Inaugural Trams" is the highlight:
Mika - The Boy Who Knew Too Much
"We Are Golden" was amazing and made me excited for the rest of the album. For some reason, I never got hooked, but I still think it's really good.
Adam Lambert - Let Me Entertain You
The first American Idol contestant we've ever bought an album from. The album cover is awful (I seriously thought it was a joke the first time I saw it,) but the first track "Music Again" is an instant classic and the best Darkness song they never made:
Color Bars - Kairos at Infinity (2007)
Not a 2009 band, but an album I found through listening to a Bryan Scary feed on either Pandora or Last.fm. I really, really enjoyed the harmonies from these guys. Here's a video for "The Gedanken Train," an okay, but not best song from the album:
Movies
There were some pretty great movies this year. Here's a few I enjoyed:
Up I remember half-way through the movie thinking "Wow, I've never seen half of these things in a movie before." Beautiful, touching, heart-breaking, original, fun, and funny. Everything Pixar does best.
Drag Me To Hell Saw this the same weekend as "Up." They couldn't be more different, other than both being amazingly fun rides. Sam Raimi knows how to make scary fun.
Paranormal Activity I saw this on a business trip before it opened wide nationally while there was still early buzz on how scary it was. I couldn't sleep at all that night while I was alone in my hotel room with strange noises keeping me on edge. It was a completely unique film and one I probably could never watch again, but it was amazingly effective which I have to give it props for.
Princess & The Frog So happy the guy Disney is back to traditional animation. This was a fun return to fairy tale form.
Star Trek I think the recurring theme here is fun. "Star Trek" had fun in spades. Afterward I had a ton of problems with the film, most of which were resolved by watching deleted scenes from the DVD.
Avatar Like "Up," while watching this film I kept thinking "Wow, I've never seen this before in a movie." The story was mediocre, but it was made up for by everything else in the film. The world was so believable and amazing. I could have spent another hour or two with it.
Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs This was the biggest surprise of the year. I wasn't even paying attention to this movie until I started to hear some high praise from trusted sources. It turned out to be probably the funniest movie of the year. It had a very twisted, silly humor like a cross between Spongebob and Monty Python.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince I was apprehensive based on the very dark previews for this film. But the dark style worked in context and made this probably my second favorite Harry Potter film after the third.TV
Sadly, we didn't find much new to watch on TV this year. (Or is that a good thing?) So most of this is a repeat from last year, save for one new and one newly found. Here's a brief list of my favorite shows we watched in 2009:
- "Lost" - We are soooo excited for the final Season in 2010.
- "American Idol" - We were rooting for Adam Lambert and completely shocked he lost.
- "Big Bang Theory" - No show made us laugh harder than this one did in 2009. The "Eye of the Tiger" episode was pure genius.
- "The Office" - Still good, but maybe growing a little old?
- "Avatar: The Last Airbender" - not 2009, but I watched all three seasons with my boys on DVD this year. Amazingly good animated series that actually had progression and story arcs while still being very fun and funny.
- "Community" - The only new show this past fall that I've consistently enjoyed.
Games
I don't think I've listed games before, but here's some of my favorites I played this past year:
- Bejeweled - iPhone/Facebook (I'm so hooked on Bejeweled Blitz, I have to defend my score every week. I probably played this more than everything else combined this year.)
- Boom Blox Bash Party - Wii
- New Super Mario Bros - Wii
- Swords and Soldiers - WiiWare
- Monkey Island Adventures - WiiWare
- Dragon's Lair - iPhone (finally beat the dragon for the first time since the game was released in 1983!)
- Wii Sports Resort - Wii
- Rhythm Heaven - DS
- Scribblenauts - DS
Well, I think that's about it. For 2010 I'm looking forward to new albums by the Delays, the Ark, Tally Hall, Weird Al, and possibly Rooney and Scissor Sisters. I'm excited for the movies "Alice in Wonderland," "Iron Man 2," "Prince of Persia," "A-Team," "Toy Story 3," "The Last Airbender," "Rapunzel," and the next "Harry Potter" film. I'm hoping to enjoy playing "Deus Ex 3," "Epic Mikey," "Lego Harry Potter," "Metroid Other M," and possibly a new "Zelda" game for Wii. And, as I mentioned before, I'm waiting to get blown away by the final season of "Lost."
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