Well, without further adue; here is a list of my favorite things that I think were amazingly awesome in 2008.
This year had a lot of great releases, but out of all the albums I checked out this year, no other album moved me (and still moves me) like “Robotique” by the Austin Texas band, Ghostland Observatory. Easily the best record to dance, jam, drive, talk over, walk, work, fuck, drink, or to get the party started. A close favorite with my friends, this album never gets old and is always perfect no matter what time it is. Ghostland did an amazing job with this album more than definitely raised the bar for them.
“If” by Mindless Self Indulgence
“Innerpartysystem” by Innerpartysystem
I was fortunate to see this band open up for Kill Hannah at the Scout Bar in San Antonio this past summer. While, their frontman came off as little cocky and kind of a prick both on stage and on their MySpace blog, their debut self-titled album is one of the best debuts I have heard in a while. Every song is solid gold, and while their name suggests parties and dancing; their music is actually really dark and takes a cue from some of NIN and theSTART’s more darker-themed tracks. Things go from heavy and soft to distorted and ambient. It’s a promising debut.
Crystal Castles & Hollywood Undead
Nine Inch Nails “Lights In The Sky” [Dallas, TX 8.18.08]
This year I saw Radiohead in concert. I saw Eisley. I saw Kill Hannah. But none compared to the beautiful monster that was the Nine Inch Nails 2008 tour. I had never seen a tour more than once, until this time around. I saw Trent Reznor and the boys destroy the stage twice in one year. (I saw them in Dallas and on San Antonio.) This show captured the intensity and aggression that makes Nine Inch Nails such a force to be reckoned with, but most importantly, it showed the beauty and sensuality that is often overlooked by the band. The visuals to the Ghost tracks are marvelous and groundbreaking. It was a show that no photos of videos could ever capture. It was something you had to attend to really understand.
Ghostland Observatory [Austin, TX 2.29.08]
Mindless Self Induglence [Austin, TX 5.16.08]
Untitled 8th Studio Album by Green Day
"American Idiot" was (for a lack of a better term) a timeless record. It was an album for the times we were and still are living in. Now, 4 and half years later, it's time for the follow up. With Butch Vig (Nirvana, Against Me!, AFI, Garbage ..etc.) as producer the band has come up with a new album that will feature 3 acts (Act 1 - “Heroes and Cons,” Act 2 – “Charlatans and Saints,” and Act 3 - "Horseshoes and Handgrenades"). With song titles such as "March of the Dogs", "21st Century Breakdown", and the piano-driven “Last Night On Earth” are more than enough to suggest the band is ready to take on the impossible. I for one, can not wait!
Untitled 4th Studio Album by theSTART & Untitled 6th Studio Album by Placebo
My favorite hero of all time.. This movie was more than just a movie to me. Aside from it’s escalation and sinister themes, the film was an existential look at myself. I related to this film in many ways. More so than I am willing to admit. Christopher Nolan’s movie showed you how far man’s darkest intentions can go (The Joker), a good man falling into evil (Harvey Dent), and how one man (no matter how difficult life got) will stick to his moral code and prevail above all (Batman). There is a lot to be said about each character in this movie. Even though I’ve seen it like 30 times now, it still makes me gasp for air. It still makes me route for the good guys. And it still rattles my emotions, and while it’s hard to really say, I don’t always agree with Batman himself. Why? Because the unfortunate truth about this movie is, it made me realize that there is a bit of me inside mental make-up of both The Joker and Harvey Two-Face. And that really scares me.
RUNNER-UPS:
“Wall-E” & “Iron Man”
The first Rock Band video game floored me. It had a great soundtrack and was so much fun to play with friends and family, it was undoubtedly my favorite game of last year. Now, Rock Band 2 only furthered the awesomeness. It was bigger and larger than Rock Band 1, and with the amazing DLC already available, it was a win-win situation. This game is as far as I will ever get to being in a rock band and feeling like a rock star. All the purists and haters could bitch and diss the fuck out of the game all they want but at the end of the night, they all wish they can shake their ass like me singing “White Wedding” by Billy Idol. This game brought fun back to video games. At least for me. Fuck World of Warcraft. : P
“Grand Theft Auto IV”
1 comment:
hey whenever you guys dont have a full band on RB2 and want to invite someone, call me up and ill get on it!
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