Half arsed talk of 2008.
I should be working but first I wanted to put up my top ten albums of 2008. I probably only bought fifteen 2008 albums anyway, so it's not very comprehensive. I did buy plenty of albums from previous years, my favourites being Dragons "Here Are The Roses", iLiKETRAiNS "Elegies To Lessons Learnt", And One "Bodypop" and Mogwai "Mr Beast". Here are the 2008 albums though:
TOP TEN ALBUMS 2008
1. Mogwai - “The Hawk Is Howling”
2. Rome - “Masse Mensch Material”
3. Klangstabil - “Math And Emotion”
4. Lustmord - “[Other]”
5. Foals - “Antidotes”
6. Death In June - “The Rule Of Thirds”
7. Empusae - “The Hatred Of Trees”
8. The [Law-Rah] Collective - “Inspiration”
9. Autoclav1.1 - “Love No Longer Lives Here”
10. Nordvargr - “Pyrrhula”
Also must mention Front 242 "Moments" and Absolute Body Control "Wind[Re]Wind" because live albums and collections of old stuff don't count.
Bands enjoyed live:
Normal gigs: Dragons, Editors, Einstürzende Neubauten, Björk, Interpol, Mogwai, Anathema, The Human League, iLiKETRAiNS, P.A.L.
Festivals:
Dark Live Fest, Prague (Deutsch Nepal, Raison d'Etre, Empusae, Rome),
Wave Gotik Treffen, Leipzig (Dragons, Naevus, Andrew King, In The Nursery, Inade, Anenzephalia, Spetsnaz, Absolute Body Control), Summer Darkness, Utrecht (Sieben, Spiritual Front, Sol Invictus, Monokrom, Catholic Boys In Heavy Leather, Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio, Mesh, Well:Erdball),
InFest, Bradford (100blumen, 5F-X, And One, Marsheaux, Front 242),
Maschinenfest, Krefeld (Roger Rotor, Ah Cama-Sotz, Rasputeen, Orphx, Militia, Klangstabil, Sonar, The [Law-Rah] Collective, Vromb)
Drop Dead, Lisbon (Cinema Strange, Schwefelgelb, Din Glorious, Sixteens, Charles de Goal, UK Decay, Lene Lovich, Capitao Fantasma).
That's quite a lot of bands now I look at it that way.
Things which happened:
I got a flat in Manchester, I got a car, I became vegetarian, Emma moved in with me, I nearly got fired from work and had a big stress, I got toenail surgery, I got diagnosed with sleep apnoea, I got a scary breathing machine, work somehow got better but still quite stressy, I got my first scientific paper published at last, um, not sure, turned 30 and had an amazing birthday party.
Overall: 2008 was quite busy and intense, mostly up, not so much downs as just a bit of stress. 2009 holds great unknowns!