My favourite film of the year, I absolutely loved it. Completely captivating with its rollercoaster ride through unrequited love, suicidal goldfish and elaborate courtship rituals.
Well, it's where I lived for a long time and I made an ill-fated attempt to move back here in 2001. Hopefully I'll have better fortune next time. I always say Slow Thrills is half based in Belfast because I still spend a lot of time here. Gillian spends most of her time here, so....
A three-piece band based in North London. Their only album to date is 'Suburban Light' which came out in 2000, and I only heard it last summer. It's easily the record I've listened to most this year. A sort of hybrid of post-Galaxie 500 guitar music and West Coast psychedelia, somehow it's hugely evocative of London. Although a lot of people regard them as 'sounding very English', ironically most of their records do better in the USA (where they're on Merge) and Spain. Strange world, brilliant band.
The largest Roman artefact in Africa in case you didn't know! We went to Tunisia in January, and this was the highlight of the week. Go on your own when the crowds aren't around. (It was recently used in the Johnnie Walker ads with Harvey Keitel by the way.)
"Northern Ireland's Music Scene" says the tagline on this website, and that's exactly what it is. Fastfude is a largely discussion-based site and it's VERY popular. One of the busiest sites of it's kind on the net, there's nothing to rival it in London at least. It also gives bands the chance to upload biographies and links to their own sites, as well as gigs and classifieds. Not forgetting the sometimes brilliant but often frustrating message board!
A highly regarded Japanese writer that I only discovered this year. 'The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle' is often thought to be his best novel and I just finished it a couple of weeks. It's a really haunting book, it stayed with me from the start. It starts simply as a tale of a married couple who lose their cat, and goes through all sorts of bizarre characters and parallel realities. It reminds me in equal parts, of Twin Peaks and a computer game like Tomb Raider. There's too much to go into here, so just read it!
K
is for Khartoum
I
had the pleasure to visit Sudan in May, and I stayed both in Khartoum
and Wad Medani. I was there with work and with Arab colleagues so I never
got to experience the situation in the south of the country and the civil
war. Most of the pics I took were either work-related or were around the
point where the Blue and White Nile converge, but it was a cloudy day
so they aren't worth putting up really. I have never been anywhere as
hot, and rarely have I been as stressed! The highlights were being mobbed
for my autograph (ahem!) and attending the intense celebrations in Wad
Medani for the prophet Mohammed's birthday.
L
is for London
Where
I live and work at the moment. Like anywhere else it has its ups and downs.
Obviously there are too many people, but then that's what gives you such
choice and variety of things to do every day, so it's a trade-off I guess.
The pubs still close too early though.
This new Coen Brothers movie reminded me of that Bob Dylan song that goes "People dont live or die/ People just float". I think all the complaints about boredom, slow pace, and lack of vitality are completely off the mark. The Coens obviously were making a point about spiritually drained people who let themselves float through life until they make fatal decisions.
Yeah well, I only read it this year! A remarkably thoughtful book really, and one which must surely make everyone who reads think long and hard about what you're doing, who you work for, and how you live your life in general.
The Onion - a satirical website which claims to be "America's Finest News Source" - made me laugh all year, but even more impressive was the way they dealt with September 11 and everything after. God bless 'em.
Like I've said many times on this site, Patti's performance at Hackney Ocean in July was one of the best gigs I've ever seen. (btw, this pic is from an Italian show a few days earlier and it's copyright Gennaro Caserta)
Who would've thought that this elderly indie label would end being the most essential label of the year? For a start it was their 20th anniversary which was celebrated with a lot of special shows in London and an excellent compilation album which reminded everyone just how important they'd been over the years. Add to that their new signings - The Strokes are the most obvious, but don't forget their other releases like Hope Sandoval and Jacob Golden - and the fact that they help run London's best (and free!)showcase for new live music - ROTA sessions at Notting Hill Arts Club, and there was no real contest here.
Put simply, this is was the best thing on television this year. In fact I physically missed it when it stopped, and I've watched the videos regularly since. The characters are really vivid and the whole thing is brilliantly written and performed.
Naturally you want to hate them (the "are they brother/sister or ex-husband and wife" debate was fun though!) and I did pretty well by ignoring the first wave of the hype. It wasn't until quite late in the year that they got to me. 'White Blood Cells' sort of snuck up on me and then someone whose opinion I trust said "The next CD you buy has to be 'De Stijl' (the Stripes second album). 'De Stijl' is the one to convert people with and leaves 'White Blood Cells' standing. The thing I like most about them is that there only two of them making such a racket, and the fact that a quarter of their songs sound like they were made up on the spot!