Me: buys another CD unplanned
Me: oh damn I'm running out of storage space I'd better consolidate the CDs
Me: okay first one to go is that Scandal CD I got free from JPU Records, I never listen to that
Me: better give it a quick spin to make sure I don't want it
Me:...
Me: damn it it's a banger, I'm keeping it
Just been to see Backrooms and on walking out into the cinema lobby I got unnerved by the electric lights and a wet floor sign. Then on the way home I was getting unnerved by streetlights and windows. What a fantastically creepy movie.
Turns out, if you watch a bunch of Band-Maid live videos just before you go to sleep because you're excited about seeing Band-Maid live in a couple of weeks, you'll have a dream where Band-Maid turn up at your house to hang out.
I'm noting this for future reference.
Yes, it's the one time of year I use this blog. My usual disclaimer applies twice as hard, as there are loads of albums this year I haven't properly listened to and might well have ended up on here if I had. OH WELL
I reserve the right to change my mind about these in perpetuity. (Some of my previous years are nuts. Bonobo's Migration as the third-best album of 2017?! That was the best album of the decade!)
10. Band-Maid - Epic Narratives
8. Nilüfer Yanya - My Method Actor
7. The Linda Lindas - No Obligation
6. Beabadoobee - This is How Tomorrow Moves
4. Charly Bliss - Forever
3. Alkaline Trio - Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs
2. Public Service Broadcasting - The Last Flight
1. Hot Water Music - Vows
("Menace" is also my song of the year, neatly.)
Bonus video! Best anime opening of the year why not. The vocalist's diction and breath control on the really fast parts completely baffle me.
So Sincere Engineer's new album's out later this week, Blink-182 have just announced a new album for next month to stand alongside new albums from Metric, the Menzingers and a reformed Gaslight Anthem, and I've just discovered that Public Service Broadcasting's new album came out like two weeks ago.
Albums!
This week's episode of Futurama has, I feel, a strong shout at being the best one ever.
They're just showing off at this point, aren't they? "Oh, cancelled again, is it? We'll just come back in ten years and somehow be even better."
I didn't go to see Eternals in the cinema because a) it didn't get great reviews and b) it didn't look especially good from the trailer. I just watched it on Disney+ and loved it! What the hell, past me? That would've been great to see on a big screen.
The last two episodes in a row of Attack on Titan have caused me to involuntarily yelp "what the fuck" at certain points.
What a show that is.
I think this year so far has been the best I've ever had for cinema trips. Since 2022 started, I've ventured to the pictures five times (The Matrix Resurrections, Licorice Pizza, Nightmare Alley, The Tragedy of Macbeth and Belle) and the quality has ranged exclusively from "very good" to "absolutely excellent". For the record, Macbeth is the current leader of the pack, but Nightmare Alley isn't far behind.
Next two trips are Spielberg's West Side Story and The Green Knight, so hopefully they'll keep the side up. Reviews certainly seem to suggest that's the case.
It's also nice to see that Belle has broken Mamoru Hosoda's pattern of "excellent film followed by one that's just decent". (Sorry, Summer Wars and The Boy and the Beast, but ya just don't got it, kids.) Also also, Belle's soundtrack is so good I bought it on iTunes the second I got home (and am listening to it right now). Can't remember the last time I did that. Baby Driver maybe?
It should be noted that like three days into 2022 I went to see The Matrix Resurrections and loved it, so that should be in here somewhere, probably around position 5 or 6. However, I'd already written half of this, so shrug emoji.
A nice mix this year, I feel. Blatant cheating by Julia Stone by putting out both a solo album and one with her brother but they were both excellent so hey. Since my usual "embed YouTube vids" didn't seem to work properly when viewing this blog on a phone last year I've made a playlist instead.
10. Iron Maiden - Senjutsu
9. Foo Fighters - Medicine at Midnight
8. Sleigh Bells - Texis
7. Mogwai - As the Love Continues
6. Julia Stone - Sixty Summers
5. Bleachers - Take the Sadness out of Saturday Night
4. Angus & Julia Stone - Life is Strange
3. Nao - And Then Life Was Beautiful
2. We Are The Union - Ordinary Life
1. Chvrches - Screen Violence
I spent a good forty minutes on this so I'm not going to let it sink below the waves forever on your social medias. It will live in perpetuity here, shrouded in glory and the knowledge that the text is a bit too small.
(yes I know the plural of media is media)
Usually number 1 would be disqualified from the list due to being a collection of re-recorded (and sometimes re-arranged) old pieces rather than a new studio album. But it was head and shoulders above everything else and 2020's been enough of a headache without worrying about rules I made up myself.
