Of the Year: Games, TV, Albums
Favourite Games of the Year
4. Fable II, XBox 360
Equal parts frustrating and addictive. The fights are fun, but there is such a thing as taking an immersive world too far. Do I really want to play a game where I have to worry about my looks and my relationships and take on dull, monotonous jobs in order to pay the rent? Apparently I do.
3. Wii Fit, Wii
Naturally everyone who buys it gives up on it after about three months, but that's because people are crap, not because of the game, which surely represents a remarkable seachange in what we use gaming for. I was noticing real results from my Wii Fit use at the point where I moronically allowed myself to fall out of the habit of using it!
2. Mario Kart, Wii
I'm terrible at racing games, which I blame on the fact that the controls are always rubbish. Mario Kart works because turning the wheel left takes you left and turning the wheel right turns it right - clever, eh? And it's cute, original, and the wheel is wireless! It's a racing game I actually enjoy! But it needs more levels.
1. Little Big Planet, PS3
I've only played this once, but I fell in love with it that one time. Yes the sackboy characters are adorable, but the brilliant thing about the game is the user generated levels; it's a game that, in theory, never gets old. And that one time I played it was at a party, by the way, which is a sign of how things are changing; playing video games at a party is no longer rude; it now is the party, especially when a game is not just fun to play, but fun to watch. Playing this in multi-player mode had the whole room in stiches.
Favourite TV of the Year
5. Mad Men
In 2008 I saw the 2007 season, so I'm actually a year behind on this cold, stiff, dry martini of a show, but I look forward to catching up. The premise - a look at the lives of 1960s advertising execs - is hardly compelling, but using the shifting cultural sands of the era to hold up a mirror to modern mores makes this one of the smartest shows around.
4. Weeds
The fourth season of the show was about as radical a retooling as a show can have and still hold on to its cast, and as much as it stretches credibility for the drug-dealing suburban housewife to get in as deep as Nancy Botwin has, the new direction has kept the drama fresh.
3. Burn Notice
A suave spy gets burned in Miami and turns into a latter day Rockford. Saturday afternoon action TV lives again!
2. The Rachel Maddow Show
In a year when US politics was the most exciting drama on TV, Maddow was the go-to pundit for liberals looking for a voice of reason. Yes, she's snarky and sarcastic. She's also smart, sharp and funny and helps make the world a little less agonising.
1. Supernatural
Cute boys. Evil monsters. Increasingly smart scripts. The only show I can name that gets better every season, and the show I most look forward to watching every week. This is the sort of entertainment that TV was made for.
Favourite Albums of the Year
5. Let It Go, Will Young
With 2005's excellent Keep On, our Will demonstrated that Friday's Child was not a fluke. With Let It Go he officially has an oeuvre, a body of smooth, soulful, easy listening pop songs of ever increasing gayness. There are now enough Will Young songs for an entire dinner party!
4. I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too, Martha Wainwright
Folk princess Martha is turning into a bit of a siren temptress judging by the title and cover of this year's album, but she's still more Joni than Marlene with this collection of mature, weighty folk torch songs.
3. Alive and Screaming, Jake Walden
Walden is about as unknown as they come; I heard of him because Out magazine promoted him and two other artists as part of a gay music tour. Of the three, he's the one that stuck. Walden has a voice you really wouldn't expect from a skinny gay boy; a yearning emotional growl that delivers raw, heartfelt, romantic folk. He deserves to be much better known.
2. Acid Tongue, Jenny Lewis
I spent most of this year listening over and over to Lewis' excellent Rabbit Fur Coat, and was pleasantly surprised to discover a follow-up in the same American gothic vein. The nine minute Next Messiah is as good a short story as you'll hear, and anthemic rapture See Fernando is one of my favourite songs of the year.
1. Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes
I don't even remember how or why I ended up downloading this album, I just know that it found its way onto my iTunes shuffle, and every time one of the tracks came up I had to pause and let it wash over me. Gorgeous, glorious, soft and sweeping harmonies that give balladry a good name.
4. Fable II, XBox 360
Equal parts frustrating and addictive. The fights are fun, but there is such a thing as taking an immersive world too far. Do I really want to play a game where I have to worry about my looks and my relationships and take on dull, monotonous jobs in order to pay the rent? Apparently I do.
3. Wii Fit, Wii
Naturally everyone who buys it gives up on it after about three months, but that's because people are crap, not because of the game, which surely represents a remarkable seachange in what we use gaming for. I was noticing real results from my Wii Fit use at the point where I moronically allowed myself to fall out of the habit of using it!
2. Mario Kart, Wii
I'm terrible at racing games, which I blame on the fact that the controls are always rubbish. Mario Kart works because turning the wheel left takes you left and turning the wheel right turns it right - clever, eh? And it's cute, original, and the wheel is wireless! It's a racing game I actually enjoy! But it needs more levels.
1. Little Big Planet, PS3
I've only played this once, but I fell in love with it that one time. Yes the sackboy characters are adorable, but the brilliant thing about the game is the user generated levels; it's a game that, in theory, never gets old. And that one time I played it was at a party, by the way, which is a sign of how things are changing; playing video games at a party is no longer rude; it now is the party, especially when a game is not just fun to play, but fun to watch. Playing this in multi-player mode had the whole room in stiches.
Favourite TV of the Year
5. Mad Men
In 2008 I saw the 2007 season, so I'm actually a year behind on this cold, stiff, dry martini of a show, but I look forward to catching up. The premise - a look at the lives of 1960s advertising execs - is hardly compelling, but using the shifting cultural sands of the era to hold up a mirror to modern mores makes this one of the smartest shows around.
4. Weeds
The fourth season of the show was about as radical a retooling as a show can have and still hold on to its cast, and as much as it stretches credibility for the drug-dealing suburban housewife to get in as deep as Nancy Botwin has, the new direction has kept the drama fresh.
3. Burn Notice
A suave spy gets burned in Miami and turns into a latter day Rockford. Saturday afternoon action TV lives again!
2. The Rachel Maddow Show
In a year when US politics was the most exciting drama on TV, Maddow was the go-to pundit for liberals looking for a voice of reason. Yes, she's snarky and sarcastic. She's also smart, sharp and funny and helps make the world a little less agonising.
1. Supernatural
Cute boys. Evil monsters. Increasingly smart scripts. The only show I can name that gets better every season, and the show I most look forward to watching every week. This is the sort of entertainment that TV was made for.
Favourite Albums of the Year
5. Let It Go, Will Young
With 2005's excellent Keep On, our Will demonstrated that Friday's Child was not a fluke. With Let It Go he officially has an oeuvre, a body of smooth, soulful, easy listening pop songs of ever increasing gayness. There are now enough Will Young songs for an entire dinner party!
4. I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too, Martha Wainwright
Folk princess Martha is turning into a bit of a siren temptress judging by the title and cover of this year's album, but she's still more Joni than Marlene with this collection of mature, weighty folk torch songs.
3. Alive and Screaming, Jake Walden
Walden is about as unknown as they come; I heard of him because Out magazine promoted him and two other artists as part of a gay music tour. Of the three, he's the one that stuck. Walden has a voice you really wouldn't expect from a skinny gay boy; a yearning emotional growl that delivers raw, heartfelt, romantic folk. He deserves to be much better known.
2. Acid Tongue, Jenny Lewis
I spent most of this year listening over and over to Lewis' excellent Rabbit Fur Coat, and was pleasantly surprised to discover a follow-up in the same American gothic vein. The nine minute Next Messiah is as good a short story as you'll hear, and anthemic rapture See Fernando is one of my favourite songs of the year.
1. Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes
I don't even remember how or why I ended up downloading this album, I just know that it found its way onto my iTunes shuffle, and every time one of the tracks came up I had to pause and let it wash over me. Gorgeous, glorious, soft and sweeping harmonies that give balladry a good name.