12.08.2009

BEST ALBUMS OF 2009

10. DARK WAS THE NIGHT / WAR CHILD PRESENTS: HEROES (tie)



Yes, I'm cheating again. Technically, I'm not sure that you're supposed to include compilations on your "Albums of the Year" lists, but whatever. Both of these collections were stellar. Dark Was The Night included unreleased cuts from Spoon, Beirut, The National and just had a darker tone overall. War Child: Heroes was a nifty idea where legendary artists, (Bruce Springsteen, U2, David Bowie) asked new, rising, (The Hold Steady, Elbow, TV On The Radio) artists to cover their songs.

Both albums were much better than they should have been. A rare treat.

9. PHOENIX * WOLFGANG AMADEUS PHOENIX


They made a great first impression on SNL, a great album, but ultimately, it just faded away once the months piled on. Kind of like Vampire Weekend, the buzz and radio play might have harmed them. Still, I'll be interested in seeing where these guys go next!

8. DAVID GRAY * DRAW THE LINE


This is when the eye-rolling begins. I like David Gray. I don't give a fuck that you don't, or that when you think of his music, John Mayer also comes to mind. David Gray is fucking good, he writes impressive, emotionally powerful music. And while this album wasn't the powerhouse that Life In Slow Motion was, it was still a nice record. One I listened to a lot in my car at the end of a long day.

7. WHITE RABBITS * IT'S FRIGHTENING


These guys are incredible and I hope they get more buzz with their next album. I've searched some "Best of 2009" lists already, and they ain't on any of them...which is a damn shame. I saw them open for Spoon two years ago and they blew me away. Intense, raw, catchy. Even got Britt Daniel to produce this album for them. They're going places, so watch out.

6. JAY Z * THE BLUEPRINT III


I actually have my brother to thank for this one. He's always telling me how good Jay Z is and besides a "99 Problems" here or his collaborations with The Roots there, I've never picked up one of his albums before. While he tells me this isn't near the "classic" status as the first Blueprint, it's still easily one of the best albums of the year. A few songs are skipable, but the combo of the first five songs are as perfect as anything else released this year. Whoever says "albums are dead" needs to remind Jay Z. Cause he ain't interested in merely releasing singles and stuffing the rest with filler.

5. KAREN O & THE KIDS * WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE


Soundtracks are usually worse than compilations when it comes to being spotty and "5 shit songs for every 1 decent one." But god damn, this soundtrack is something special. Way more ambitious than it needed to be. You can't but wonder if Karen's past relationship with Spike Jonze came into play. They shared a vision of this not being some lame "kids" movie. The music had to be as interesting and challenging as the film itself. And it came out way more awesome than it needed to be.

4. PEARL JAM * BACKSPACER


Well, hello boys! Long time no see. Your last album, self titled, was nice and nifty, but lacked that certain "edge" your early work had. Looks like you found it again with this release. Songs like "Got Some" and "Supersonic" packed a punch unlike anything you've released in years. You found the passion again, you sound like a brand new garage band, out to rock the world with a sense of purpose and drive that no one can damper. This was my "surprise of the year." I wasn't expecting it to be this damn good, and I'm glad they proved me wrong.

3. HOCKEY * MIND CHAOS


These guys were making all sorts of hype and word-of-mouth on the festival circuit earlier in the year, and who knew if their debut would live up to all the hoopla? Good thing they seemed unfazed by the attention and set out to just focus on the music. Out of nowhere they became one of my favorite bands and I can't wait to see where they go from here on out!

2. BOB DYLAN * TOGETHER THROUGH LIFE


When he's not getting arrested for wandering the streets of New Jersey, or releasing a collection of Christmas tunes for a feed-the-homeless charity, he's still producing some of the best work of his entire career. Much like Clint Eastwood, he seems to just keep making interesting, important work by never letting up. He's been on his "Never Ending Tour" since around 1988. Together Through Life hearkens back to my personal favorite, "Time Out of Mind" in that he's reflective of the world around him, while still longing for true love and deep attractions. It would have been my favorite album of the year if it wasn't for...

1. ELVIS COSTELLO * SECRET, PROFANE & SUGARCANE


I've only gotten into Elvis Costello fairly recently, but I always assumed he was rock n' roll. Imagine my surprise when I read that one of his very first gigs was singing a duet with country music legend, (and my Dad's all time favorite artist) George Jones! This album takes Elvis back to his honky-tonk roots and he brings along legendary producer T-Bone Burnett just to make sure it leaves the rest of the music industry in the dust. They recorded the entire thing in three days and songs like "I Felt The Chill Before The Winter Came" and "Sulphur to Sugarcane" just drip good ol' country. Toby Keith and Taylor Swift could learn a thing or two...

12.07.2009

BEST GAMES OF 2009

Yes, it's that time of year again...the BEST OF lists begin!!!

10. MODERN WARFARE 2 / KILLZONE 2 (tie)




Yes, I'm already cheating, but both of these games are FPS, (First Person Shooters) both are a lot of fun to play with engaging stories. But sadly, they are short, quick adventures and get a lot of their added gameplay online. Where, an old fuck like me doesn't dwell much. (You can only get your ass handed to you so many times by a 12-year-old boy before you just realize you ain't THAT good.)

9. SPIDER: THE SECRET OF BRYCE MANOR



Probably the best game I've played yet on the iPhone! So easy to control, so much fun to create webs and capture bugs. Only reason it's so far down the list is because it was over WAY TOO SOON. It was this studio's first game and basically, a test-run to see if you could create something unique for the iPods. I imagine the next one will be much longer (and more expensive than the STEAL of $2.99!!)

8. FAT PRINCESS


I had a lot of fun with this title...before the wave of other games came out and distracted me from leveling up and feeding princesses cake. A multiplayer feast with 32 people battling it out in "capture the flag" type match. Plus, the quirky art style gets bonus points!

7. KATAMARI FOREVER


I'm a sucker for the Katamari. I had both games for the PS2, one for PSP and came close to buying an Xbox (total lie) to get my hands on Beautiful Katamari. Good thing I didn't, cause this collection takes all the best levels from those games and puts them on one disc with amazing 1080i visuals! I played this nonstop for three weeks and STILL didn't find everything out there, which means I might have to go back and finish it one of these days...

6. BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM


A GOOD video game based on a comic book?! Scratch that...a GOOD BATMAN GAME?! Folks, this has never, ever happened. Written by Paul Dini, this game takes place in one long evening...as the Joker traps Batman in Arkham Asylum and all hell breaks loose. A great fucking game, but once you beat it, there's little reason to go back and play it again.

5. PEGGLE


Another one for the iPhone. (Although it just came out for the PS3 as well) Best described as pure video game crack. This simple lil' game isn't anything special, but you CANNOT QUIT PLAYING IT. Ever. You will try one level, then another, then another, and once you get past the unicorn and onto the King Tut cat, you just have to admit you have a problem. It's like Plinko mixed with pure awesomeness. There's no other way to describe it. Just play it and deal with withdrawl when you're forced to go to work.

4. THE BEATLES: ROCK BAND


It would have been easy for Harmonix to just slap The Beatles's name on their Rock Band game, added some lame character models and a few of their songs and called it a day. But noooooooooo, they had to treat this project with the utmost care and respect. What they ended up creating is less "game" and more "interactive documentary." It's a thing of rare beauty, and yet, something that your 5 year old, and parents in their 50's can enjoy right alongside you. Watch the video review up above and feel sorry for yourself that you right off video games as "teenage junk."

3. FLOWER


Easily the most beautiful game on the list. Easy as hell to play too. You just control the pedal with the controller, shifting it left or right, back or forward...no buttons or combos or score or anything! The worlds start out dead and colorless, and as you float along using the wind to pollinate the ground, more and more life grows and illuminates the world. Once we finally got an HD TV this year, this game took on a life of its own. One of the first things to "burst" off the screen and implant itself into my brain.

2. RESIDENT EVIL 5


Not only is it fun killing zombies, but doing it online, with your boyfriend is even better! Much to Molly's amusement, Kevin and I spent many a nights in separate houses, killing zombies and swearing at one another. (We're on a team, and more times than I'm willing to discuss, I was responsible for killing us both.) Tons of levels, lots of replay value, and the fact that you can play the entire campaign online with a buddy, it was one of the best games of the entire year...

1. UNCHARTED 2: AMONG THIEVES


...But not THE best. This is THE best. Uncharted 2 was nonstop, action, adventure, mind-blowing set pieces, incredible high speed chases, fun while tough boss battles...the whole fucking package. You couldn't spend $60 better this year. It put the best Hollywood action movies to shame. Made you realize the power of how intelligent writing, powerful voice acting, and production values can make the perception of mere "video games" shatter into a million pieces.

12.01.2009

PRISONERS <3 HUCKABEE

I smelled something sour as soon as reports started coming in that four police officers were shot and killed inside a coffee shop outside Seattle. No one else was injured. No attempt at any sort of robbery. Some nutjob simply walked into a coffee shop, brutally murdered four police officers, and left.

Then, once they announced the name of the suspect they were pursuing, and Mike Huckabee's name was attached as being the one who let him out of jail the first time, it smelled even worse.

Turns out that Maurice Clemmons wasn't the first inmate Huckabee granted clemency to. Nor was he the last.

In 10 1/2 years, Governor Mike Huckabee granted 1,033 pardons and commutations.

It was so out of hand, FOX NEWS actually did a news story about it back in December of 2007!

"During his years as governor, Huckabee granted clemency an average of about once every four days. Huckabee's successor, Mike Beebe, has issued 40 so far this year, fewer than one a week. Bill Clinton, Frank White and Tucker granted 507 clemencies in the 17 1/2 years they served as governor."

See, this isn't the first time Huckabee has been associated with letting someone get out of prison, only to have that person commit an even worse crime. Wayne Dumond was sent to prison for raping a distant cousin of President Bill Clinton. Seriously. He supposedly "found God" while in prison and ended up raping and murdering a girl in Missouri. While Huckabee to this day says it wasn't HIS FAULT Dumond was released, parole board members said they felt pressured.

Joe Conason over at Salon.com has an incredible article linking all of Huckabee's mistakes and pardons and commutations together...and it all comes down to if they'd become "Born Again" or not.

In fact, there's even a case where Huckabee moved up an execution, (instead of just reducing it to a life sentence like both Mother Theresa and the Dalai Lama had wanted) and that criminal converted while in prison as well...to Buddhism.

Oops, wrong God, dumbass.