Best of 2012: A Late Review Of Music

Favorite Songs

1) Animal Life (Shearwater)
The only song the entire year I could listen to over and over and sing to it endlessly and not have a fucking clue what the dude is singing about. Great, soaring melody, with lyrics that throw up bombastic words so fluidly that you won't really care what an anodyne is.

2) Walt Grace's Submarine Test, January 1967 (John Mayer)
WHAT??!!?? A John Mayer song??!!??? REALLY?? Well, before you judge me (DON'T JUDGE ME!), go listen to this song. It's a wonderfully understated, melodious ditty with a great little story, a catchy marching band-style drum beat (that always gets me), and lyrics that just roll off the tongue nicely when you singalong to it (kinda like last year's June Hymn, by The Decemberists.).

3) The Pit (Silversun Pickups)
I love the Silversun Pickups. I love them so much that I named a cocktail after them. It's awesome, like this sneeringly ferocious song, which is the sort of song I love to sing and scream while driving so other drivers will think I'm swearing at them.

4) We Are Young (fun.)
The only reason this isn't higher up this list is it is technically a 2011 song (it was released as a single at the end of 2011), and it's been overplayed to death by almost every single radio station, live band and DJ everywhere. But I love it anyway, especially the sheer joy of the chorus - it's a perfect song to singalong to when you're high and at a party. And the overexposure certainly doesn't detract from the fact that this is just a really, really awesome song.


5) On My Way (Passion Pit)
I was on my way to writing a top ten favorite songs but stopped at this because I couldn't be arsed to write more about five other songs I have no idea why I liked. This was the perfect addition to this rather short list because I just like the way they sing I'M ON MY WAY!!!! See? Short and sweet explanation. Go listen to it and feel your heart soar when they get to the chorus.

6) Some Nights (Fun.) - Some nights I like to sing the first line of this without warning. Just the first line. 
7) Angels (The XX) - You will be as in love with The XX as I am.
8) Day To Day (Ting Tings) - Ting Tings sing Day to Day while I tap tap my foot foot.
9) Cellophane (Ladyhawke) - I don't know what pink cellophane is but I want some. 
10) Dumb Ways To Die (Tangerine Kitty) - Go ahead, get it stuck in your head. You know you wanna.

Notable mentions:

- Dreams (The Temper Trap
- Automatic Systematic Habit (Garbage
- Beloved Freak (Garbage)
- Speed The Collapse (Metric)
- Runaways (The Killers)
- Be Still (The Killers)
- Clear Eye Clouded Mind (Nada Surf)
- How (Regina Spektor)
- Ekki Mukk (Sigur Ros)
- So Long You Pretty Thing (Spiritualized)
- The World Moves On (Jens Lekman)
- Decorate (Yuna)
- Loud Noises (Yuna)
- Planes (Yuna)
- The Bed Song (Amanda Palmer)
- Smile (Pictures Or It Didn't Happen) (Amanda Palmer)
- Kids (Mika)
- It's Time (Imagine Dragons)
- Demons (Imagine Dragons)
- Get A Job (Gossip)
- Mae (The Gaslight Anthem)
- Off To The Races (Lana Del Ray)
- Sovereign Light Cafe (Keane)
- The Unknown Faces At Father James' Park (The Phenomenal Handclap Band)
- Love Is Greed (Passion Pit)
- Oh Love (Green Day)
- Conduct (The Cranberries)
- Greatest Hits (Mystery Jets)
- Someone Purer (Mystery Jets)
- How (Regina Spektor)
- Subtraction (Coheed & Cambria)



Favorite Albums

I couldn't think of a single album I REALLY REALLY LIKED so I compiled a list of albums I listened to more often than the rest. I'm also lazy, so there.

- Gossamer (Passion Pit)
- Valtari (Sigur Ros)
- Some Nights (fun.)
- Yuna (Yuna)
- Coexist (The XX)
- Night Visions (Imagine Dragons)
- Neck Of the Woods (Silversun Pickups)
- Animal Joy (Shearwater)
- The Temper Trap (The Temper Trap)
- Blunderbuss (Jack White)
- Theatre Is Evil (Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra)
- Radlands (Mystery Jets)
- Come Of Age (The Vaccines)
- The 2nd Law (Muse)
- Uno! (Green Day)
- Dos! (Green Day)
- Tre! (Green Day)
- Born to Die (Lana Del Rey)
- Battle Born (The Killers)
- A+E (Graham Coxon)
- A Different Ship (Here We Go Magic)
- A Joyful Noise (Gossip)
- Handwritten (The Gaslight Anthem)
- Babel (Mumford And Sons)
- Something (Chairlift)
- The Stars Are Indifferent To Astrology (Nada Surf)
- Sweet Heart Sweet Light (Spiritualized)
- Sun (Cat Power)
- I Know What Love Isn't (Jens Lekman)
- Synthetica (Metric)
- Toy (Toy)
- Be the Void (Dr. Dog)
- Anxiety (Ladyhawke)

Best of 2012: What An Entertaining Cinematic Year!

2012 has been a pretty good year for movies. There were two HUGE and brilliant superhero movies (three if you count Spidey), a welcome return to Middle Earth, one of the best Bond films ever, and a pretty consistent array of animated features as well (including a decent one from Malaysia as well!).

there were five movies that could have EASILY been the number one movie in my list of favorite films, but in the end, I decided that there could only be one...



1) The Avengers
It really went down the wire, but in the end, Earth's Mightiest Heroes won out over Thorin's merry band of dwarves, because it was just SO SO SO EXHILARATINGLY FUN to watch. I can't remember the last time I came out of a cinema feeling so giddy from all that excitement and fun, and immedietely wanting to go watch it again.



2) The Hobbit
What can I say? I'm a LOTR fanboy, and The Hobbit pretty much lived up to my expectations. It's a wonderful return to Middle-earth, and barring a few parts that really should have been cut out, this was a worthy addition to the LOTR franchise.

3) Skyfall
IMHO, the best Bond film ever simply because it's a movie that actually makes an effort to be an actual MOVIE, and not just another caricature of James Bond as a gadget-wielding, booze-swilling shagging machine going up against another cartoony villain hell-bent on taking over the world.

4) The Dark Knight Rises
As good as this was, it simply wasn't as mind-blowingly awesome as The Dark Knight, and didn't hold up to repeated viewings as well as the other films above it on this list. Still, Anne Hathaway as Catwoman... MEOWWWWRRRRR.

5) Wreck-It Ralph
John Lasseter and his merry band of Pixarists have certainly done a lot of good to Disney's output. Case in point, this awesome tribute to retro videogames that I actually prefer over Pixar's own Brave.

6) Brave
It's not that I don't like Brave, I love it to bits. But it just didn't stand out as much as some of Pixar's best movies. It was beautifully animated and the story is great as ever, but it lacked that extra OOMPH that should have set it apart from Disney's usual Disney Princess stories. But it's still testament to Pixar's quality that I could still watch Brave multiple times and not be bored of it.

7) Looper
One of the better sci-fi movies of the year (Eat your heart out, Prometheus!), with good pace, good acting and a killer story.

8) Life of Pi
Featuring probably the best 3D in a live-action movie since Avatar, this was a mesmerizingly beautiful movie with some great acting and a story about storytelling told by a master storyteller.

9) The Amazing Spider-man
This was not a BAD Spidey movie, in fact, it was pretty awesome - it just suffered a bit from a story that has been done before, and a villain that just wasn't complex enough. BTW, with Peter Parker pretty much gone in the comics now, the movies are the only place where he still lives.

10) Rise Of The Guardians
It was a toss-up between this, Frankenweenie and ParaNorman for this final spot in my top ten, and in the end, this won out because I'm a sucker for super teams like this hehe.


Notable mentions:
- Ted
- Dredd
- Cabin In The Woods
- The Raid
- The Expendables 2
- Frankenweenie
- The Hunger Games
- War Of the Worlds: Goliath
- The Lorax
- ParaNorman
- Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted
- Prometheus
- Jack Reacher


Biggest Wastes Of Time

1) The Watch
2) Total Recall
3) Tai Chi Hero
4) Resident Evil: Retribution


Most Annoyingly Catchy Song From a Movie:

1) The Thunder Buddy Song (Ted)
2) Circus Afro (Madagascar 3)

Best of 2012: Who Says Comics Are For Kids?

This is supposed to be a blog about books. Unfortunately, I haven't been reading many books. It's not that I DON'T READ anymore, I just don't read with the same ferocity I used to in the past, when I would devour novels by the series.

These days, I still read a lot, but I've been a lot more selective with my reading. In fact, I've been reading a lot more comics and graphic novels lately... actually, ever since I got my iPad, that's pretty much 90% of my reading material these days. It's not that comics are any easier to read (I dare you to read Transmetropoliton or The Invisibles, and tell me that it's "for kids"), it's just that at this stage, I kinda like the wild imagination and creativity that some of these comics have.

Sure, some of the superhero stuff can be pretty run-of-the-mill, but even those are getting better - Mark Waid's Daredevil is superb, and Matt Fraction's Hawkeye is one of my favorite comics this year. Some of the new DC 52 (Scott Snyder's Batman and Animal Man) and Marvel NOW (Indestructible Hulk, FF) titles are pretty good too - I should know I've read almost all of them.

Anyway, enough about my reading habits. Here is a list of some of my favorite comics and graphic novels of 2012. Even if you don't usually read comics, I highly recommend you give these titles a try



Hawkeye
Writer: Matt Fraction
Clint Barton a.k.a. Hawkeye is the greatest sharp-shooter known to man. He then joined the Avengers. This book is about what he does when he is NOT being an Avenger. Brilliantly written (by Matt Fraction) and fabulously drawn (by David Aja), this series hits the bullseye with its sharp dialogue, great humour and the most likable version of Hawkeye yet.



Hellboy In Hell
Writer/artist: Mike Mignola
Hellboy is dead, and he's in Hell. That's all you really need to know. Mike Mignola makes a welcome return to the Hellboy-verse, writing AND drawing the newly-launched Hellboy In Hell series, and featuring Hellboy in, well, Hell.



Saga
Writer: Brian K. Vaughn
I loved Vaughn's Ex-Machina and Y: The Last Man. Those two had some of the coolest premises ever (though they also had a rather anti-climatic finale), and Saga pretty much follows in that vein. It's kinda like a love story about a pair of lovers from different sides of an galactic war, and their kid. Yeah, it sounds simple, but the story and art is jsut brilliantly fun.




The New Deadwardians
Writer: Dan Abnett
This new Vertigo eight-issue series featured a new twist to the usual “zombie apocalypse” tale, setting an intriguing murder mystery in a world where in order to save themselves from being eaten by zombies, the richer half of society take a “cure” that turns them into emotionless, immortal vampires instead.



MIND MGMT
Writer: Matt Kindt
A mind-numbing, mind-bending, mind-blowing mindfuck about a mind-managing secret organisation that secretly controls the world. The story is richly detailed, with so many little Easter eggs and extras in each issue. One of my favorite comics this year, and the latest entry in my "Read this if you still think comics are for kids" list of comics for people who still think comics are for kids.



Batman: Death Of The Family
Writer: Scott Snyder
Snyder writes the awesome American Vampire series for Vertigo, and this New 52 story arc features Joker at his most chilling and psychotic best.



Spider-Men
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Despite what most "serious comic fans" say, I love the Ultimate Marvel universe because of the way they just fuck about with all the conventions in the normal superhero comics. While the new Spider-man Miles Morales still takes some getting used to, transporting the main Peter Parker Spider-man into the Ultimate universe (where he is supposed to be dead) was a brilliatn idea; and Parker meeting the Ultimate version of Aunt May and Gwen is one of my favorite comic moments of 2012.



Supercrooks
Writer: Mark Millar
This was a real hoot to read. Millar is in top form writing about a team of super-villains who get together for one last, MASSIVE heist - stealing from the greatest super-villain of all time. If you like Millar's violent, sweary Millarworld stuff, don't miss this one.



Punk Rock Jesus
Writer: Sean Murphy
I first heard about this title at the Vertigo panel at the San Diego Comic Con, where the panelists of Vertigo writers were gushing over it like it was the second coming of well, Jesus. True enough, this is a hard hitting book about a future where some corporation tries to clone Jesus Christ in a Truman Show-esque reality show, but does such a bad job raising him that he eventually becomes a punk rocker.

Honorable mentions:
- Marvel NOW: Indestructible Hulk (Mark Waid)
- Marvel NOW: FF (Mark Fraction)
- Justice League Dark (Jeff Lemire)
- 47 Ronin (Mike Richardson / Stan Sakai)
- Building Stories (Chris Ware)

Best of 2011: Movie Magic and Cleavage Ratings

2011 was a strange movie year for me. In past years, I've always had a clear cut favorite movie that I would put on top of my list without hesitation. Most of these were Pixar movies, of course, but this year, Cars 2 just did not grip me as much as Up, WALL-E or Toy Story 3 did in the past couple of years. All the same, I've plumped for quite a number of animated features in the list, because I'm still a kid at heart, so sue me. Animation somehow captures my imagination more than live action movies. And as usual, I still prefer mainstream movies to the heavier, Oscar worthy stuff, so if you're looking for serious movies on this list, go away.

Anyway, in a year with no clear cut favorites, I've decided to go for the movie that I enjoyed the most, from start to finish, and which funnily enough, does have a Pixar connection to it as well. Yup, I'm going for THIS movie as my top movie of the year:

1) Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
The plot may have been flimsy, but the action was superb, the pacing was relentless, the thrills were actually thrilling, and it was actually quite funny too. For once, Tom Cruise let the team help out more, and he even got his fair share of knocks. The main reason I put this on top however, is because I actually enjoyed the entire movie from start to finish, and left the movie wanting to watch it again immediately after that, which was probably the only time I felt that way this year (oh wait, I did for Transformers as well...)
Favorite scene: THAT vertigo-inducing scene outside the Burj Khalifa. It had thrills, action, comedy, great one-liners, and Tom Cruise whacking his head on a window. WIN!

And now, here are the rest of my top ten favorite movies of the year (as usual, the links lead to the Movie Not Reviews I did on the movies):



2) Kungfu Panda 2
After I watched this, I predicted that this would be the year that Dreamworks beats Pixar not just in the box office, but critically as well. I was right. Cars 2 was entertaining enough, but it sputtered somewhat by focusing too much on Mater. This sequel however, saw an already well-liked, established character being let loose to do what he does best. The action was brilliant, the 3D was superb, and there's just something about animals fighting kungfu that just... WORKS.
Favorite scene: almost all the kungfu fighting sequences, actually.

3) X-Men: First Class
After the dreadful X-Men: Last Stand, this was a welcome return to the X-Men franchise, rebooting the whole thing with Professor X and Magneto as young men. Michael Fassbender was an EXCELLENT Magneto, while James McAvoy actually made the usually goody goody noble Prof X cool and roguish. Too bad Kevin Bacon's Sebastian Shaw and January Jones' Emma Frost were so forgettable though (though the latter had other er... assets to flaunt hur hur). Bonus brownie points for Wolverine's cameo too!
Favorite scene: Magneto pushes a coin SLOWLY through Shaw's brain. What a horrible, horrible way to die.

4) Captain America: World Policeman The First Avenger
Of the two pre-Avengers movies this year, this one felt more complete and less comic book-like to me. Thor was always going to be a hard sell, but here, Joe Johnston actually made a great decision sticking to Captain America's origin story and basing the entire movie in World War II.
Favorite scene: "I'm not kissing you!"

5) Rango
A cowboy movie with a chameleon in the lead, and awesome ensemble of characters, and some darn good animation. Way better than Cowboys and Aliens (the other big-budget 'Western" this year) One of the most fun movies of the year, animated or otherwise. The Pirates franchise should have kept Gore Verbinski on.
Favorite scene: The bonkers chase scene between the moles and Rango's posse.

6) Cars 2
It may not have been my favorite of the year, but Pixar has always been consistently good for me, and I have a great deal of sentimentality for the Cars franchise. This sequel may have been made out of a desire to sell more toys, but I loved it for the fact that it was so different from the first movie.
Favorite scene: The opening scene introducing Finn McMissile. It's like James Bond's car decided to eject 007 and take over the mission instead.

7) Transformers: Dark Of The Moon
Yes yes, I'm a sucker for Transformers movies. This one may not have been the awesome fest that the first one was, but it is the movie that SHOULD have followed up the first one, not that insipid metal-ball banging Revenge Of the Fallen. Also deserves mention for some great 3D action. Minus points for casting Rosie Hungtinton-Whitely, who may be hot but was just plain annoying, and is an even worse actor than Megan Fox.
Favorite scene: Almost every scene with Optimus Prime in it, of course.

8) Nasi Lemak 2.0
It's not without its flaws, but this was the most hilariously MALAYSIAN movie I've seen in years. MALAYSIAN, mind you, not Malay, Chinese or 1Malaysia - this is a MALAYSIAN movie that probably only Malaysians would understand, and not just if you're from one race. Why can't more Malaysian movies be like this?
Favorite scene: "Who care you no money yo / Please don’t judge me wrongly / We no need eat baoyu yo / We can eat wan tan mee..."

9) Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes
When I finally watched this on the TV, I immediately regretted not watching it in the cinema. The visual effects were stunning, the story was compelling, and Andy Serkis' deserves an Oscar for his motion capture role as Caesar.
Favorite Scene: Caesar standing defiantly on top of a San Francisco tram car with his three lieutenants - an alpha male chimpanzee, a gorilla and an orang-utan. Never mind the Avengers, here come the Apevengers!

10) Puss In Boots
Between Kungfu Panda 2 and this, this was truly Dreamworks' year. This spin-off blew the last two Shrek movies out of Never-Never Land into Never Again Land, and underlined Puss In Boots as THE best character in the ENTIRE Shrek franchise. Also helped that the story was decent, and did not rely too much on cheap and lame pop culture spoofs.
Favorite Scene: The dance-off between Puss and Kitty Soft Paws


Honorable mentions

• Attack The Block - Aliens + British gangster wannabe kids = Believe!
• Bridesmaids - A bride in a wedding dress taking a shit by the road. Best "romantic comedy" EVER.
• Cowboys And Aliens - The execution wasn't as great as the idea, but David Craig is a GREAT cowboy.
• Drive - Bravo, Ryan Gosling. Bravo.
• Fast Five - Completely nutso, but props for reinventing itself into a heist movie.
• Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, Part 2: WHAT A WAY TO GO, Harry Potter.
• Paul - It's probing time!
• Real Steel - Probably the best and most heart-warming robot story of the year.
• Senna - Poignant, emotional, and utterly compelling. Brilliant documentary about a brilliant driver.
• Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows - RDJ's Sherlock is still the coolest, ass-kicking incarnation ever.
• Source Code - WHOA, MINDFUCK!
• Super 8 - The American kids vs aliens movie. Really really good too.
• The Adventures of Tintin - THUNDERING TYPHOONS! THIS IS TIP-TOP!
• The Muppets - It's the MUPPETS! THE MUPPETS!
• Thor - Great prelude to Avengers, but a little TOO cheesy at times.

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Biggest Wastes Of Time Of The Year

• Conan The Barbarian - GRRRRRRRRR SMASH STUPID MOVIE!
• Green Lantern - Even The Muppet's parody trailer was more entertaining than this entire movie
• Pirates of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - What a mess, what a waste.
• Priest - Paul Bettany, get a new director to work with.
• Sucker Punch - I felt like a sucker after watching this
• The Sorcerer And The White Snake. 白蛇傳說之法海 - Don't even bother downloading this piece of shit.

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Cleavage Rating Chart:

• January Jones (X-Men: First Class) - Complete waste of a great character, but at least her costume stayed true to er... form. Hur hur
• Gal Gadot (Fast Five) - Didn't do much, but we got to see her in a bikini whee!
• Rosie Huntington-Whitely (Transformers: Dark Of the Moon) - Can't act for nuts, but hey, she wasn't hired to ACT, was she?
• Hayley Atwell (Captain America) - Not so much of a Cleavage Rating than an "Awesome Boobage in Uniform" rating.
• Jamie Chung (Sucker Punch) - The only good thing about this stupid movie was the eye candy.

Best of 2011: Musiclarity Moments and Ceremonials

In a year full of big-name releases (Coldplay, Radiohead, The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, Death Cab For Cutie, Wilco, Bjork, Snow Patrol, REM, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Feist, Fleet Foxes all had new albums), it was Florence + The Machines' Ceremonials that stood out the most for me. I tend to rate albums by how many songs I like in it and how long I can listen to it on loop without getting sick of it; and after three months of being stuck in my car's CD player, I am STILL not sick of the album. It was the same with Adele's 21 and Coldplay's album as well, but in the end, Florence won out because it had the least number of songs I pressed "Skip" on.

Foo Fighters, The Black Keys and The Vaccines also rate very high here because these are just some of the best headbanging, good old rock 'n' roll albums of the year. Radiohead is inevitably in the top ten because while it is not as accessible as most of their earlier work, it is still a great album as a whole IMHO, and I still listened to it on loop A LOT. In contrast, PJ Harvey's Let England Shake may have been very well-acclaimed, but I couldn't bear to listen to it for too long. I'm mainstream like that, so sue me.

Here are my top 20 albums of the year then: 

1. Ceremonials (Florence And the Machine)
2. 21 (Adele)
3. Mylo Xyloto (Coldplay)
4. Wasting Light (Foo Fighters)
5. El Camino (The Black Keys)
6. The King Is Dead (The Decemberists)
7. Build A Rocket, Boys! (Elbow)
8. What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? (The Vaccines)
9. Metals (Feist)
10. King Of Limbs (Radiohead)
11. Prisoner (The Jezabels)
12. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds (Noel Gallagher)
13. Helplessness Blues (Fleet Foxes)
14. EUPHORIC /// HEARTBREAK \\\ (Glasvegas)
15. Bon Iver (Bon Iver)
16. A Creature I Don't Know (Laura Marling)
17. Last Night On Earth (Noah And The Whale)
18. Bread And Circuses (The View)
19. Kosciuszko (Jebediah)
20. The Whole Love (Wilco)

Notable mentions:

• A Different Kind Of Fix (Bombay Bicycle Club)
• Blood Pressures (The Kills)
• Chesapeake (Rachael Yamagata)
• Cults (Cults)
• Fallen Empires (Snow Patrol)
• Ghostbird (Zee Avi)
• Going Out In Style (Dropkick Murphys)
• Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will (Mogwai)
• Hotel Shampoo (Gruff Rhys)
• Kiss Each Other Clean (Iron & Wine)
• Let England Shake (PJ Harvey)
• Nine Types Of Light (TV On The Radio)
• Skying (The Horrors)
• So Beautiful or So What (Paul Simon)
• Valhalla Dancehall (British Sea Power)
• Velociraptor! (Kasabian)
• Year of the Wolf (Nerina Pallot)
• Yuck (Yuck)

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Top 10 Favorite songs of 2011


1) All This And Heaven Too (Florence And the Machine)

Did you know that Florence Welch was diagnosed with dyslexia before? With that in mind, consider the lyrics of this song, which is about how "Poor language doesn't deserve such treatment" and how "All these words are all escaping and coming back all damaged"... it gives the entire song an additional emotional heft that when coupled with the rising verses, the soaring chorus and the wonderfully flowing, longingly glorious outro, makes this in my humble opinion, the most underrated yet most emotional song in Ceremonials. Glorious, simply glorious.

2) June Hymn (The Decemberists)
Quietly understated, amazingly melodic, and with beautifully written lyrics that roll off your tongue like poetry honey. It's been a long time since I've been so motivated to learn the lyrics to a song.

3) Someone Like You (Adele)
It may have been overplayed to death, but that doesn't change the fact that it is still an epic ballad, with some very sad, sad lyrics, and Adele's voice at her most yearning and melancholic yet. When I first got Adele's album, this song was the one that stood out the most in an album full of pretty damn good songs. Heck, I'm happy that I managed to overplay it to death BEFORE everyone else started overplaying it to death.

4) Shake It Out (Florence And The Machine)
The most obvious hit single from Ceremonials, but it's the most uplifting and soaring single you'll ever hear this year. I love it most for the way she sings the lyrics "I am done with my graceless heart, so tonight I'm gonna cut it out and then restart" so resolutely that you can practically feel her determination to restart.


5) Dear Rosemary (Foo Fighters)

The best song on Wasting Light, the rousing intro, the battling guitars, the frenetic build-up, the soaring chorus, and the mid song bridge with Bob Mould makes this a song that just COMPELS you to turn the volume up to 11 and start headbanging.

6) Charlie Brown (Coldplay)
I first heard them play it live at Splendor In The Grass, and the hook riff just er.. hooked me from the start. Afterwards, I couldn't get it out of my head and kept wondering what the hell I was humming, up till Mylo Xyloto came out and I finally realized that it was the riff from Charlie Brown.

7) Set Fire To The Rain (Adele)
MY second favorite song off 21. I actually this more dramatic and angst-y song to the more popular Rolling In The Deep (which I think has been overplayed to death on radio and by every single wannabe pub/wedding live band out there). I think her voice is more powerful and emotional on this song than on Rolling In The Deep.

8) Euphoria Take My Hand (Glasvegas)
It doesn't help that the riff recalls Coldplay's Life In Technicolour somewhat, but this plaintive plea for heartbreak to go away is sung to depressingly emotional heights by James Allen's trademark wail. Glorious when heard live (which I did at Splendour in The Grass, see the pattern here? heh heh)

9) Lippy Kids (Elbow)
Another song I heard live at Splendour in The Grass. It sounds simply glorious when heard live, and singing "BUILD A ROCKET BOYS!" out loud to the night sky just seemed so... ethereal. My favorite song off one of my favorite albums of the year.

10) L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. (Noah And The Whale)
Go on. I dare you to listen to this song and not get sucked into singing along to the chorus.One of the best feelgood songs of the year, and my biggest regret was that I passed up watchign them at Splendour to go watch the Jane's Addiction borefest instead.

Notable mentions:

• Arlandria (Foo Fighters)
• Birds (The Submarines)
• Calamity Song (The Decemberists) 
• City Girl (The Jezabels)
• Every Teardrop Is a Waterfal (Coldplay)
• Half Moon (Iron & Wine) 
• Helplessness Blues (Fleet Foxes)
• Heart Is A Beating Drum (The Kills)
• Holocene (Bon Iver)
• How Come You Never Go There
• How To Be A Werewolf (Mogwai)
• Hurts Like Heaven (Coldplay)
• Grace (The View)
• Grey Lynn Park (The Veils)
• Lonely Boy (The Black Keys)
• Lots Sometimes (Glasvegas) 
• Lotus Flower (Radiohead)
• Neat Little Rows (Elbow) 
• No Light No Light (Florence + The Machine)
• Post Break-Up Sex (The Vaccines)
• Princess Of China (Coldplat feat. Rihanna)
• Rolling In The Deep (Adele)
• She's Like A Comet (Jebediah)
• Skip The Charades (Cold War Kids)
• Still Life (The Horrors)
• Strangers (White Lies)
• The Beat Goes On (Beady Eye)
• The Birds (Elbow)
• This Will Be Our Year (Nerina Pallot)
• Those Distant Bells (Snow Patrol)
• Tragic Magic (The View)
• Vomit (Girls)
• Walk (Foo Fighters)
• Walking Far From Home (Iron & Wine)
• Wetsuit (The Vaccines)

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Best Gigs I attended:

1. Jimmy Eat World (Singapore)
2. Splendor In The Grass (Australia)
3. The National (Singapore)

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Biggest disappointment of the year:

• Codes And Keys by Death Cab For Cutie. I expected more from Ben Gibbard and co, but this album just didn't make much of an impression on me.
• MGMT's concert in KL - No beer, no atmosphere.
• Ukelele Songs (Eddie Vedder) - Seriously, Eddie, stop mucking about with that stupid ukelele and go back to Pearl Jam already.

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Favorite new discovery:

• The Vaccines - addictive lad rock and catchy tunes too.
• Australian indie rock. Attending Splendour In The Grass really opened my ears to some great Australian bands, like Jebediah, Cloud Control, The Jezebels, The Panics and The Grates and MAde me go out and explore more of their music.

Best Of 2010: The Eyeris Movie Awards!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Before we get to the pre-requisite "What I hope for in 2011" posts, here is another year-ending post that really should have been published last week...

No need for much explanation here, just read the title, godammit.

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Top Nine Favorite Movies of 2010

1. Toy Story 3 - Can Pixar do no wrong?
   
2. Inception - Can Chris Nolan do no wrong?
   
3. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World - Too bad it never came here. This movie was SWEEET.
   
4. Kick-Ass -Balls to the walls awesome shit.
   
5. How to Train Your Dragon - Best Dreamworks' Animation movie ever, IMHO.
   
6. Tangled - The Disney Princess is back. Deal with it.
   
7. Tron Legacy - It wasn't great, but hey, its TRON
   
8. The A-Team - Tank. Flying. 'Nuff said.
   
9. Machete - Damn over-the -top B-grade stuff but oh so entertaining. Plus points for showing us Jessica Alba's bare ass and Lindsay Lohan's bare boobs. (And no, it never came here either. sigh)
   

Honorable mentions:

• R.E.D.
• 初恋红豆冰 (Ice Kacang Puppy Love)
• The Sorcerer's Apprentice
• Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief

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Most Excruciating Movies I Had To Sit Through

• The Last Airbender - M. Night Shymalan Must Die For Crimes Against Awesome Cartoons.
  
• Sex And the City 2 - Excruciating for a guy, that is. LL seemed to like it just fine.
  
• Wolfman - More like Ewoks gone wild if you ask me...
• 蘇乞兒 (True Legend) - What a waste of a legend....
  

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Biggest Disappointments Of The Year

• The Expendables - For wasting the potential for a really kick-ass action movie, by having a crappy script.
  
• Clash Of the Titans - For screwing up a perfectly good story and sucking really bad. Oh, and for being the poster boy for crappy 3D.
  
• Iron Man 2 - For overloading on the clunky refrigerator battles.
• Legion - For wasting the kick-ass idea of 'Angels with Machineguns' on the stupidest, half-baked apocalypse story ever conceived.
  
• Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World - For not coming to Malaysia.
  

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Movies I Know I SHOULD have Watched But Never Got Around To Watching

• The Social Network
• Let Me In
• The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

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Asian Movies I Actually Remember Watching and Liking

• 初恋红豆冰 (Ice Kacang Puppy Love)
• 葉問2: 宗師傳奇 (Ip Man 2)
• 錦衣衛 (14 Blades)

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Full list of 2010's Movie Not Reviews

• Legion
• 錦衣衛 (14 Blades)
• Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief
• 蘇乞兒 (True Legend)
• Alice In Wonderland
• Wolfman
• Green Zone
• Nine
• Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance
• The Lovely Bones
• Clash of The Titans
• How To Train Your Dragon
• Kick-Ass
• 初恋红豆冰 (Ice Kacang Puppy Love)
• The Losers
• 葉問2: 宗師傳奇 (Ip Man 2)
• Iron Man 2
• Robin Hood
• Shrek Forever After
• Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time
• The A-Team
• The Karate Kid
• Toy Story 3
• 葉問前傳 (The Legend Is Born: Ip Man)
• Inception
• The Sorcerer's Apprentice
• Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
• Salt
• The Last Airbender
• The Expendables
• The Legend of the Guardians: The Owls Of Ga'Hoole
• The Other Guys
• Eat. Pray. Love.
• R.E.D.
• Takers
• Life As We Know It
• Megamind
• Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows, Part One
• Tangled (Rapunzel)
• The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of the Dawn Treader
• TRON: Legacy

Best of 2010: My Favorite Concerts!

Ok, so I didn't go to THAT many concerts this year. I'm still kicking myself for missing Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and unfortunately, The Killers canceled their Singapore date in February because of personal family matters.

Oh, and I couldn't care less about the Katy Perry, Akon, Flo Rida, Paramore and Ne-Yo concerts. Sorry, it's just not my kinda music.

I DID manage go to a few cracking concerts though, though unfortunately, most of them were in Singapore. Really put a dent in my wallet. Sigh. But anyway, here are my top five favorite concerts I went to this year:

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1) Green Day (Singapore)



Too much of a hipster to go watch Green Day? Well, your loss, cos you missed an AWESOME concert full of singalongs, WTF moments and a pure masterclass of showmanship from Billy Joe Armstrong.

They played old songs, new songs, and I knew almost all of them (I think this helped me enjoy the show even more). Plus it was worth it just to be able to hear and singalong to Jesus Of Suburbia live.

Heck, I don't think I've ever screamed so much or jumped so much in a concert EVER. In the end, it was just right, and I think everyone in that stadium really did have the time of their lives.

Best moment: The Jesus of Surburbia singalong + the acoustic encore
Worse moment: Douchebag 'fans' who spent most of their time watching the concert through their videocams and blocking the view for the rest of us.

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2) The Flaming Lips (Singapore)



This wasn't a concert, it was a full-blown PARTY. Wayne Coyne is a BRILLIANT performer, and even if you didn't know the songs, you would've have STILL been hugely entertained by the show.

Best Moment: HER NAME IS YOSHIMI!!!!!
Worse moment: Fat attention-whoring skank with VPL on stage. The sound system was also pretty lousy.

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3) Slash (Sunway Surf Beach)



Too think I almost didn't go for this one. It's SLASH fer gawds sake. And it was worth it just for that Sweet Child O' Mine singalong, and to see the man rip into the riff for that song. THAT'S the real deal, man!

Best moment: The Sweet Child Of Mine and Paradise City singalongs. Who needs Axl, eh?
Worse moment: Crowd control was AWFUL. The areas were overcrowded to the MAX, and I actually spent most of the time helping keep the steel barriers from falling over and hurting someone.

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4) Florence & The Machine + The XX (Singapore)



I LOVE Florence and The Machine. Her songs have those LOUD, POUNDING drumbeats that just gets me pumped up every time I hear them. Listening to songs like Drumming, Hurricane Crush and Howl live was just awesome. Also helps that Florence Welch is also a livewire on stage - she can't seem to keep still at all!

In contrast, The XX were a little er... boring. Sure, their music is awesome live, but after the initial thrill, you realise that they are just standing there recreating all the songs in their ONE album word for word, note for note. Still, they're a young and new band - they can only get better. I hope.

Best moment: Not exactly a concert moment, but I got to interview her before the show! She's so cute and quirky!
Worse moment: Not exactly a 'worse moment' either, but The XX performance was a little monotonous. Close your eyes and you might as well be listening to the album.

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5) Placebo (KL Live)



This wasn't as great as I thought it would be, but it was still pretty damn fun to be at. The initial triple whammy of For What It's Worth, Ashtray Hearts and Battle For The Sun was great, and it was fun when they played older hits like Every You Every Me and Special K because the crowd really came alive during those songs.

Oh, and I also interviewed both Brian and Stefan before the concert. Which was just AWESOME.

Best Moment: Jumping up and down during the CINECERO CENICERO chorus of Ashtray Hearts.
Worse Moment: The mid-section of the concert, where they mostly played their newer stuff, and the crowd wasn't too responsive.

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Honorable Mentions:

• Kings of Convenience (Bentley Music Audiotorium)
  
• Video Games Live (KL Convention Center)

Best of 2010: My Favorite Music!

Here we are again at the end of another year! And it's time for the year end lists again...

Let's start off with music, shall we? Here's my personal list of favorite music this year. And might I stress, these are MY personal favorites, so of course it's gonna be a bit bias (and have a few dodgy choices as well...) ... heh heh...

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Favorite Albums of 2010

1. High Violet (The National)
2. Write About Love (Belle And Sebastian)
3. The Suburbs (Arcade Fire)
4. The Place We Ran From (Tired Pony)
5. Invented (Jimmy Eat World)
6. Covers (Mates Of State)
7. Plastic Beach (Gorillaz)
8. Come Around Sundown (Kings of Leon)
   
9. American Slang (The Gaslight Anthem)

Honorary Mentions:

• Congratulations (MGMT)
• Forgiveness Rock Record (Broken Social Scene)
• Go (Jónsi)
• Halycon Digest (Deerhunter)
  
• Head First (Goldfrapp)
• Heaven Is Whenever (The Hold Steady)
• If I Had A Hi-Fi (Nada Surf)
• One Life Stand (Hot Chip)
• Postcards From A Young Man (Manic Street Preachers)
• Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World OST (various artistes)
  
• Shadows (Teenage Fanclub)
• Slash (Slash)
• The Age of ADZ (Sufjan Stevens)
  
• The Sea (Corinne Bailey Rae)
• This Is Happening (LCD Soundsystem)
• TRON Legacy OST (Daft Punk)

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Favorite Songs of 2010

1. Afraid Of Everyone (The National)
2. The Heart Is Hard To Find (Jimmy Eat World)
3. Vandelylle Crybaby Geeks (The National)
4. Write About Love (Belle & Sebastian)
5. Ready To Start (Arcade Fire)
6. On Melancholy Hill (Gorillaz)
7. Runaway (The National)
8. TRON: End Titles (Daft Punk)
9. Bloodbuzz Ohio (The National)
10. Mixtape (Jimmy Eat World)
11. I Am A Landslide (Tired Pony)
12. Pyro (Kings Of Leon)
13. Slush (Hot Chip)
14. Black Sheep (Metric)
15. Na Na Na (My Chemical Romance)
16. Son Et Lumiere (Mates of State)
17. Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John (Belle & Sebastian)
18. Alive (Goldfrapp)
19. Rococo (Arcade Fire)
20. Flash Delirium (MGMT)
21. World Sick (Broken Social Scene)
22. Sing (My Chemical Romance)
23. American Slang (Gaslight Anthem)
24. Month Of May (Arcade Fire)
25. Cut (Jimmy Eat World)

Honorable Mentions:

• 17 Pink Sugar Elephants (Mates of State)
• All To All (Broken Social Scene)
• Animal Arithmetic (Jónsi)
• Arcadia (Ash)
• Boy Lilikoi (Jónsi)
• Brothers (Hot Chip)
  
• Coda: A Burn Scar in the Shape of the Sooner State (Los Campesinos!)
• Congratulations (MGMT)
• Drunk Girls (LCD Soundsystem)
• Electrocution (Nada Surf)
• Garbage Truck (Sex Bob-Omb)
• Get on the Road (Tired Pony)
  
• Go Do (Jónsi)
• I Didn't See It Coming (Belle & Sebastian)
  
• Just A Face In The Crowd (Car Crash Hearts)
• Long Way Home (Mates of State)
• M.A.D. (Hadouken!)
• Piano Fights (65daysofstatic)
• Postcards From A Young Man (Manic Street Preachers)
• Rocket (Goldfrapp)
  
• Sleep the Clock Around (Mates of State)
• Stylo (Gorillaz)
• The Spirit Of Jazz (The Gaslight Anthem)
• Was It Something I Said (Brandon Flowers)
• Welcome Wagon (Fang Island)

Eyeris' 2009 Movie Lists: Pixar Soaring Up, And Joe Rising Down

TOP TEN FAVORITE MOVIES OF 2009

1. Up (Gorgeous, sweet, funny and best opening sequence minutes ever)
2. (500) Days of Summer (The only rom-com I've actually really LIKED)
   
3. Inglourious Basterds (Tarantino. The Jew Hunter. Diane Kruger. Nuff said)
   
4. Princess And The Frog (The return of Disney and classic 2D animation)
   
5. Star Trek (A new Star Trek movie that puts the new Star Wars movies to shame)
   
6. Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr. rocks!)
   
7. Coraline (Never came here, but great watch nonetheless)
   
8. Watchmen (A bit too faithful and stylo at times, but still awesome)
   
9. District 9 (probably the biggest surprise of the year)
   
10. Public Enemies (Depp. Bale. Mann. Tommy Guns. 'nuff said)
    

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THE "I LIKED IT, SO THERE!" LIST

1. Transformers: Revenge Of the Fallen (I liked it, SO THERE!)
   
2. This Is It (You didn't like it? Then BEAT IT!)
   
3. Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince (Better than the book. Which is good.)
   
4. Monsters vs. Aliens (I quite liked the concept, SO THERE!)
   
5. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (Cheesy. More of a light snack than a heavy meal)

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THE "OK BUT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER" LIST

1. 9 (Nice concept and execution, but not much of a story)
2. Avatar (Gorgeous, true, but really just Dances With Wolves with pretty colours and blue people)
3. 2012 (Nice effects, but 40 minutes too long)
4. Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs (Wasn't TOO bad, but wasn't too good either)

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OVER-HYPED DISAPPOINTMENTS

1. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Damn wishy-washy. A bloody waste of good characters)
   
2. Terminator Salvation (terminate that salivating director!)
   
3. Angels and Demons (Better hair, but nothing much else)
   
4. Fast & Furious (More splutter than vroom)
   
5. A Christmas Carol (Bah, HUMBUG)
   

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OH GOD KILL ME NOW

1. New Moon (Most fun I had laughing AT a movie this year)
   
2. Dragonball Evolution (Go read the comic. Less aggravating)
   
3. Storm Warriors (Spent more time posing than fighting. Should be called Storm Posers instead.)
   
4. G.I.Joe: The Rise of Cobra (one dumb, loud actionmovie based on toys is good enough for me)
   

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Wanted to Watch

1. The Fantastic Mr. Fox
2. The Hurt Locker
3. Zombieland
4. Coraline in 3D
5. Where The Wild Things Are