Posted in Music at Wed 23 Dec 2009 by Stavros
Right, I feel as if I’ve been bullied in to this and it goes against what I wrote a mere two posts down. But we have no principles here, and one man’s fluffer is another’s saviour. Or something. Anyway. I’ve compiled a list of my ten albums of the decade, over a bottle of white wine and a couple of benson and hedges. Think of this as the online beermat, stained with the inky evidence of sudden thought. You’re not having it in order though, no bloody way. I’ve wasted literally an hour on it already. So in chronological order, from the strangely still futuristic sounding to me YEAR TWO THOUSAND to the very fucking moment I post publish at the bottom of my screen.
Modest Mouse - The Moon And Antarctica [2000]
Sigur Rós - Ágætis Byrjun [2000] spotify
The Avalanches - Since I Left You [2000] spotify
Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It In People [2002] spotify
The Arcade Fire - Funeral [2004]
The Decemberists - Picaresque [2005] spotify
LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver [2007] spotify
The Knife - Silent Shout [2007] spotify
TV On The Radio - Dear Science, [2008] spotify
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion [2009] spotify
Closing in were LCD Soundsystem’s debut, Daft Punk’s Discovery, The Shin’s Chutes Too Narrow, either of the last two Hot Chip albums, Fleet Foxes, Explosions In The Sky’s The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place, Interpol’s Turn On The Bright Lights, BRMC, Doves, Panda Bear, Mogwai, and to be frank a whole load of other shit I’ll probably think of tomorrow.
The annual run down is still in progress, much like my metaphorical fluffer I promise the main event will come in time.
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Posted in Films, TV at Thu 3 Dec 2009 by Stavros
I know how you like lists. Like I do. That’s why we’re friends isn’t it? Isn’t it? Whatever. Just humour me then.
10. errmmm…
9. I must have seen some films this year…
8. still thinking… Oh yeah,
7. Superbad (2007). Average US teen comedy from bloke behind Freaks & Geeks. Nowhere near as good.
6. Carry On Doctor (1967). I think I’d seen it before. It’s the one with Frankie Howerd in it. It was on C4 when I was ill.
5. Y Tu Mamá También (2001). Watched again after being lent DVD by Austin after drunken conversation the night before.
4. In Which We Serve (1942). Watched again one Saturday afternoon in the summer waiting for the rain to stop at Edgbaston.
3. The Best of Youth (2003). Four part Italian family epic on BBC4 while waiting for second series of Spiral to air.
2. La Reine Margot (1994). Watched again, see #4.
1. The Ladykillers (1955). Watched again with Merk as he hadn’t seen it. Watched through the xbox 360, you know for that authentic 50s vibe.
There you have it, conclusive proof that I am now a movie luddite, a filmic has-been, a cinematic cynic. I’d still recommend any of the top five if you’ve never seen them. Or maybe you prefer this shamelessly populist list of the decade’s films here.
In theory there’s still time for the perennial Christmas favourites to find there way in my annual affections, I’ve been hearing good things about The Great Escape (1963), Zulu (1964) and It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)! Remember the finger’s always on the pulse here at blogofstavros baby.
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Posted in Philosophy, Bored musings at Tue 1 Dec 2009 by Stavros
I’ve unceremoniously deleted the blog I started writing. I was going to compile a top ten albums of the last ten years, charts that are all the rage here at the fag end of the first decade. But I thought that ten years is too long a time. What I liked in the innocent bug-feared days of 2000 is not necessarily what I like now. So what would my ranking prove? Nowt. Even for a quantitive junkie like me, that’s just a list too far.
Also what put me off is the maudlin nature of these decade lists. Years are fine, they don’t hang around long enough to get attached to, but the passing of a decade is like the passing of an old family pet. You don’t realise just how long you’ve had it until it’s on its way out with a bit of a limp and a lot of gas.
The reasons for this includes the fact that I started this decade skint, single, in rented accommodation and not being able to drive. I won’t finish this point lest it turns into some emo’s livejournal.
Also, I have an aversion to nostalgia. I hide when the old photos make an appearance at family gatherings. I’m well aware that for some it’s a comfortable place to be, memories warming them like a worn old blanket. For me though, it’s the stench of a neglected milk bottle as the fridge door is opened. Just now though it’s a fridge door with a broken hinge, opening at inopportune moments embarrassing the dinner guests. It’s not that I have bad memories, far from it really. But, like the beer bottles in the salad crisper, they should have their place.
The odd symptom with this bout of time flu is that these uninvited images of the past aren’t really of people or incidents or half-remembered conversations. They are of rooms. I’ll be working away in the office staring at Excel’s blank canvas like the grid lined Gauguin my company want me to be, when my mind will suddenly fill with the kitchen from my first student flat, or an out room at my Grandparent’s old house, or the faded dignity of the sweeping staircase of a holiday club house.
What can it mean? Is my consciousness building its perfect house, like Dr Frankenstein presenting Grand Designs? Like a ship needs its bottle, perhaps the past need my mental building project. If it’s anything like TV it will go over budget and the builders will go on strike. Ghosts are supposed to haunt a room, yet the rooms are haunting me.
So, contrary to what I want to believe, I’m as shackled to my yesterdays as anyone. But most immediately I must stop daydreaming and get on with some proper work, this pie-chart won’t bake itself.
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