You must be tired of reading about mortality by now. I’ll admit I want to write about something else.
I thought about stealing thunder from Musicwhore.org and posting my Favorite Edition list for 2010, but my listening habits this year reflect the typical habits of an aging music fan. In short, I find catalog more interesting than new releases, and that sort of punditry belongs on that blog.
So I think I’ll expand the scope of the year-end favorite list to include other media not covered by Musicwhore.org — TV, books and perhaps movies.
Thing is, I can’t say I’ve read too many books this year, and while I watch a lot of TV, I don’t think I’m actually watching anything particularly new. Movies are a total wash — I only ever visit the Alamo Drafthouse because I’m in the mood for pizza, not because I actually want to see a movie.
But I’ll give it the old college try because my other option is talk more about death and dad.
Favorite Edition Music 2010
Yes, let me steal that aforementioned thunder, but I won’t expound on this list too deeply, except maybe to explain some of the more unfamiliar names.
- Tokyo Jihen, Sports Tokyo Jihen is led by my favorite Japanese rock songwriter, Shiina Ringo. This album is by far the band’s best, balancing stellar songwriting with white-hot performances.
- Renée Fleming, Dark Hope An indie rock cover album by an opera singer sounds like a disaster on paper, but Fleming fits her voice to the material, not the other way around.
- Cocco, Emerald Another favorite Japanese rock singer, Cocco’s newest album in three years is her most diverse, even if it the ambitions seems a bit far-reaching.
- LOVE PSYCHEDELICO, ABBOT KINNEY LOVE PSYCHEDELICO is a Japanese rock band enamored of classic rock, but on this album, they really step up the songwriter, much more than previous albums.
- Soundtrack, Friday Night Lights: Original Television Soundtrack, Vol. 2 A great mix tape of rustic rock leaning heavily toward the alt-country.
- Royal Wood, The Waiting Canadian crooner Royal Wood hands the production reigns to people other than himself on this album, and the results are remarkable.
- Res, Black.Girls.Rock! Res is still not afraid to give her R&B some rock punch.
- Jónsi, Go The presence of drum beats alone distinguishes this album from Jónsi’s regular gig as the front man for Sigur Rós.
- ACO, devil’s hands Long shedding her roots as Japanese pop idol, ACO records a bona fide rock album.
- LCD Soundsystem, This Is Happening I think this album is on this list because of the "Drunk Girls" video.
Favorite Edition Books 2010
A number of these titles were published in late 2009 or 2010 as paperbacks, so they technically don’t belong on a year-end list. If I restricted the scope of this list too narrowly, it wouldn’t exist.
- Steve Knopper, Appetite for Self-Destruction A fascinating look at how the major labels shot themselves in the foot with the rise and fall of the compact disc. Far more engaging than Greg Kot’s Ripped.
- Rob Thurman, Chimera A spin on the brother relationship explored by the Cal Leandros books but without the vampires, werewolves, mummies and Auphe.
- Michael Lopp, Being Geek Still draws heavily on Lopp’s blog, Rands in Repose, but still some of the best writing on software engineering and management.
- Rob Thurman, Roadkill Another book in the Cal Leandros series. Thurman, I think, is the only new writer I’ve taken to.
Favorite Edition TV 2010
I don’t adopt many new shows, but in terms of viewing habits, I usual tune into these fine shows:
- White Collar I sat through this one awful show on ABC because I thought Matt Bomer is dreamy, so I’m glad White Collar capitalizes on his criminally excessive beauty to great effect. And Tim Dekay is easy on the eye himself.
- Hawaii Five-O I gave the pilot a chance just to see how much they would mangle the depiction of Hawaii, but I’ve been pretty impressed so far, and the interplay between McGarrett and Dano make them the most believable married same-sex straight couple on television. I just can’t get over the fact there’s only one Grace Park on the screen at any one time.
- BLEACH The current Captain Amagai arc, being filler, is predictably painful to watch but not as bad as the useless Bount arc. But the Arrancar arc restored my faith in BLEACH this year.
- Castle I’m finding Seamus Dever hotter than Nathan Fillion.
- NCIS Something about JAG rubbed me the wrong way, but this spin-off jettisons the over-earnestness of its source show for something slightly lighter. I don’t watch new episodes, though — USA airs enough marathons to keep me occupied. Brian Deitzen is nerdy hot, but for some reason, I’m finding Sean Murray’s Tim McGee appealing in his own way.
Favorite Edition Movies 2010
My favorite movie of 2009 was BLEACH the Movie 2: The DiamondDust Rebellion, so I think I ought to pass on expounding on this category.
I did watch Inception.