Barbs’ photo, natch.
Part IV: Best Tracks of 2008:
Annie Clifford: Rueben deGroot, “Cassiopeia.”
Michael Davidge: “Lights Out” by Santogold. Of all of the tracks I heard from 2008, this is the one with a bullet.
Katrina Enros: I’m giving it to Kanye.
Lindsay Heggie: Human Highway, “The Sound“
As I am fond of saying, everything Jim Guthrie touches turns to gold.
Lucas Huang:
Runners up:
1. Titan, “The Glory of the Fleet”
2. Ghost Bees, “Vampires of the West Coast”
3. Sigur R—s, “Gobbledigook”
4. Eric Chenaux, “Am I Lovely?“
Winner: Snowblink, “Rut & Nuzzle”
A delicate and deceptively simple song, carried by the quirky nuances of Daniela’s voice and a quiet orchestra of bells and whistles.
Wendy Huot: OK, let’s try to be evidence-based about this. I created a ’smart playlist’ in iTunes, listing the ‘most often played’ songs that were added since Jan 1, 2008. The highest ranked song that was released 2008 was, um, uh…ahhhh….”Boston” by Vampire Weekend. My most listened-to song of 2008 was “Glittering Prize” by Simple Minds.
Laura Kelly: Beck, “Gamma Ray“
Jared MacKay: The best song of 2008 was that Gertrudes song about leaving your laundry on the line too long. Sadly, I know of no recording of it, and have only seen in performed once. Maybe if I talk it up here they’ll
play it again?
Darren Springer: Note: I’m creatively sapped, so the following tracks will be accompanied by different user comments on Dane Cook videos on YouTube.)
1. Fucked Up, “Magic Word”
you cut out the part: “if its lame, you can blow me”
2. Shannon McArdle, “Poison My Cup”
dont eat cereal while wathing this :)
3. Vivian Girls, “Tell the World”
OMG!!! When he is making the sound effects for the previews i just about peed myself!!
4. Jay Reatard, “Screaming Hand”
Isn’t that like Hinduism or sumtinh?
5. M83, “Graveyard Girl”
Whats up with the umlat over the e in atheist?
Lisa Visser: Bon Iver, “Skinny Love“
Nich Worby: The Bruce Peninsula 7″. I forget what that was called, but it was great.
Part V: The Best Publication of 2008.
ONLINE:
Wendy Huot: Best blog that isn’t Apple Crisp: FourFour.
Lucas Huang:
1. andrewismusic.com. This past year my brother, internet-famous for his Songs To Wear Pants To site, posted one song every day. I think it was just a way for him to offload his piles and piles of glitchy laptop electronica which wouldn’t have a home otherwise.
2. ghostfacekilobyte.com. Robot cover songs. Equal parts cute and sad and hilarious, it is the work of Ghostface Kilobyte, a lonely little robot who has attained self-awareness but is locked inside the lab where he was created, with no way of getting out. So he does the only thing anyone could in that situation: do that song by Mariah Carey.
PRINT::
Michael Davidge: theanyspacewhatever is a catalogue for the exhibition of the same title featuring the work of the artists Angela Bulloch, Maurizio Cattelan, Liam Gillick, Dominque Gonzalez-Foerster, Douglas Gordon, Carsten Holler, Pierre Huyghe, Jorge Pardo, Phillipe Parreno, and Rirkrit Tiravanija. The title is taken from a concept coined by Gilles Deleuze to describe the pure heterogeneity of the cinema. But the exhibition isn’t in “theanyspacewhatever,” it’s in the Guggenheim. Two questions are raised: “Does the exhibition of works by these artists in the Guggenheim mean the interment of Relational Aesthetics?” and “Wither the avant-garde?” (Note: I deliberately left the h off of whither. Ha ha.) The catalogue is less about the show than a monograph on each of the artists and a consideration of their achievements to date. Some have said that it is too soon for a show like this, and some have said it’s about time the Guggenheim had one like it. Many have said that the work is shallow and self-congratulatory. I believe that the question “Whither the avant-garde?” is perennially pertinent, and for me, this catalogue is a must-read.
Wendy Huot: Rick Perlstein, Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America
Jared MacKay: I actually fell in love with Spacing magazine from Toronto this year. It explores urban geography and planning issues in a way that’s interesting, engaging and useful. If you read no other planning periodical this year (and really, are you going to?) read Spacing.
Lisa Visser: Hot Turkey Sandwich No. 1
Nich Worby: I went to this great comic launch the other night. It was their first release but it was great. It’s called GangLion. I’m not sure if they have a website. Also Lisa [Visser]’s comics are great.
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