Mike : Great to see what you’ve picked. Don’t believe I’ve heard any of Them Crooked Vultures, no idea what style that is or anything. Will give it a listen myself. Grizzly Bear must be near to top of most of the poll’s for 2009, what a breakthrough year for them, smashing to see from a band who clearly love what they do and have ploughed their own way over quite a few years before getting this recognition.

Films. You’ve now totally put me off wasting my money on Avatar I too loved Moon, really refreshing and innovative on not a huge budget with a tiny cast! Who’d have thought that would spring forth from David Bowie’s son.

Here are 2009′s discoveries

Best Albums:

The Leisure Society – The Sleeper (2009)

Them Crooked Vultures – Them Crooked Vultures (2009)

Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest (2009)

Wilco – Wilco (2009)

The XX – XX (2009)

Beirut – March of The Zapotec and Realpeople Holland (2009
(Winner of the most pretentious album title of 2009!)

The Swell Season – Strict Joy (2009)

Andrew Bird – Noble Beast
(I know it was released in 08 but I only discovered it in 2009)

Shearwater – Rook
(I know it was released in 08 but I only discovered it in 2009)

Neil Halstead – Oh! Mighty Engine
(I know it was released in 08 but I only discovered it in 2009)

Best Singles:

I don’t do singles. They’re for kids.

Best Films:

Moon

Star Trek

Can you spot a theme here. Very cultured

Disappointing Film of 2009:

Avatar
(Big disappointment after all the hype and 10 years in the making. The plot could have be written by a competent 8 year old. Each cliche becomes more annoying than the last. The special effects are quite convincing and you do forget you’re looking at cgi after a while – but it’s simply not enough to save it. Mr James Cameron you should have burned the script and got a grip of this movie. Must do better – 5 out of 10)

However my favourite 2009 offerings were…

Notable Singles:
Air – Sing Sang Sung
Calvin Harris – Ready For The Weekend
Lily Allen – The Fear
Lily Allen – F**k You
Pet Shop Boys – Beautiful People (I’m cheating because it was only released in Germany but the best track of a great return to form
album)
Yeah Yeah Yeah – Zero

Notable Albums:
Florence and The Machine – Lungs
Pet Shop Boys – Yes
Sweet Billy Pilgrim – Twice Born Men

Best song title found on Spotify in 2009:
Sparks – I Can’t Believe That You Would Fall for All the Crap in This Song

And I only went to the cinema twice this year – can you believe it!? So…

Best film of 2009:
An Education (which was actually excellent)

Worst film of 2009
2012 (sucked like a Dyson)