2000 and Gr8.

Excess, turkey deaths, champagne, annoying relatives, relatives you like, shit presents, good presents, presents that are funny for like 10 seconds until you realise you could have just got an iTunes voucher, alcohol, awesome movies like miracle on 34th street, terrible films with vince vaughan.

All the lovely things that spring to mind when I think of Christmas. Oh and Jesus' birthday, but the less said about that the better.

Anyway, I know everyone is doing the whole '2008 in lists' 'best of 2008' thang but I feel like being indulgent so I'm doing one too. Switch off if you wish.

I have chosen to call it:

"2008: A Brief Appraisal - Beating the crunch"

MUSICA

My 8 favourite (using two or so words to sum up the brilliance of each) albums of 2008 were:

These New Puritans - Beat Pyramid

*Phenomenology

Frightened Rabbit - Midnight Organ Flight

* Brilliantly Scottish

Foals - Antidotes

* Andy ROddick

Johnny Flynn - A Larum

*Dickensian Adventures

Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst

*Wilburys Revisited

Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

*Graceland but better

Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now...

*Tweexcore lives

Lykke Li - Youth Novels

*Sexually Provocative

TNP probably leads that field with Frightened Rabbit a close second. Two amazingly different albums.

And my mixtape of 2008...
[I've tried to make it all illegally downloadable but I'm rubbish at that garb so we'll see if it works]

DISCLAIMER: Not all these songs were released in 2008 so don't cry. Also I made this in like 5 mins so don't beat me up neither. I couldn't be bovved to order it properly so it will sound all out of place in places. But do listen loser heads.

1. Melodies & Desires - Lykke Li
2. Andy Warhol - David Bowie
3. The Modern Leper - Frightened Rabbit
4. Eyes Wide Terrified - Johnny Foreigner
5. Line In The Sand - Q & Not U
6. 99 Luft Balloons - Jay Zena
7. Palmitos Park - EL Guincho
8. Leggy Blonde - Flight of The Conchords
9. No Pussy Blues - Grinderman
10. Williamsburg Will Oldham Horror - Jeffrey Lewis
11. Evidently Chickentown - John Cooper Clarke
12. Black Balloon - The Kills
13. Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks - Los Campesinos!
14. Lamb & Lion - The Mae Shi
15. Numerology (AKA Numbers) - These New Puritans
16. Teen Creeps - No Age
17. Get Close - Plastic Little
18. William, It was Really Nothing - The Smiths
19.Dancing Choose - TV On The Radio
20. 2080 - Yeasayer
21. It Could Have Been A Brilliant Career - Belle & Sebastien
22. Let's Not SHit Ourselves (To Love and Be Loved) - Bright Eyes

God that was awful, standards are slipping.

I'm so tired after all that and it wasn't even rewarding. It's the worst written post of my short and unsuccesful career.

Anyway, we'll call this part one. Part 2 tomorrow, with better more interesting content like the credit crunch and Barack Obama and Spooks.

Lovex