TV Reviews:

Off Centre: Dud

Skins: A show about kids—not realistic, in the slightest! **

I have, recently, been compiling a 50-track house-party playlist and, after many hours of arduous study, I have come up with this (I would ask ‘thoughts’ but I know nobody reads this?!):

1. Al Green: Jesus is Waiting
2. The Indestructible Beat of Soweto: Indoda Yejazi Elimnyama
3. Lil Wayne: Kush
4. The Roots: How I Got Over
5. Kanye West: Through the Wire
6. Drive-By Truckers: Outfit
7. Wussy: Conversation Lags
8. Al Green: Call Me (Come Back Home)
9. Kanye West: Two Words
10. Ghostface Killah: All That I Got is You
11. Rod Stewart: Every Picture Tells a Story
12. Michael Hurley/Unholy Modal Rounders/Jeffrey Fredericks & the Clamtones: Sweet Lucy
13. Elizabeth Cook: El Camino
14. Die Antwoord: Enter the Ninja
15. Kanye West: Hell of a Life
16. Nicki Minaj: Did it on’em
17. Madonna: Borderline
18. Sonic Youth: Sunday
19. Sly & the Family Stone: Dance to the Music
20. Fleetwood Mac: The Chain
21. LL Cool J: Mama Said Knock You Out
22. Ghostface Killah: The Champ
23. Sly & the Family Stone: Everyday People
24. Van Morrison: Everyone
25. The Clash: White Riot
26. Gogol Bordello: Mishto!
27. DJ Shadow: Mutual Slump
28. Culture: I’m Alone in the Wilderness
29. LL Cool J: Around the Way Girl
30. Lil Wayne: 3 Peat
31. M.I.A.: Paper Planes
32. DJ Shadow: Building Steam with a Grain of Salt
33. Latin Playboys: If
34. The Clash: Hate & War
35. Derek and the Dominos: Layla
36. X: The Once Over Twice
37. The Replacements: Favorite Thing
38. Drive-By Truckers: Marry Me
39. Wussy: Airborne
40. Paul Simon: Mother and Child Reunion
41. Television: See No Evil
42. Public Enemy: Bring the Noise
43. Sonic Youth: The Ineffable Me
44. X: I’m Coming Over
45. The Indestructible Beat of Soweto: Awungilobolele
46. Culture: Two Sevens Clash
47. Lucinda Williams: Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
48. Michael Jackson: Beat It
49. Eminem: Stan
50. James McMurtry: We Can’t Make it Here Anymore

There are two juxtapositions I, particularly, like—Nicki Minaj’s ‘Did it on’em’ leading into Madonna’s ‘Borderline’ and LL Cool J’s ‘Mama Said Knock You Out’ leading into Ghostface Killah’s ‘The Champ’—even, if I do say so myself!

Possibly, the greatest shuffle that’s ever happened to me..?!

1. Rolling Stones: ‘Rocks Off’
2. Michael Hurley (& gang): ‘Driving Wheel’
3. Randy Newman: ‘Uncle Bob’s Midnight Blues’ (it’s funny, these tracks use the words ‘go down’ to different themes! ;p)
4. The Roots: ‘Dear God 2.0’
5. Wussy: ‘Mayflies’
6. Al Green: ‘Here I am (Come and Take Me)’
7. DJ Shadow: ‘** Transmission 1’
8. The Indestructible Beat of Soweto: ‘Indoda Yejazi Elimnyama’
9. Lil Wayne: ‘A Milli’
10. Elizabeth Cook: ‘Mama’s Funeral’

As I carried on through, it went through a lot more good songs—including, Kanye West’s ‘Monster’—I should use shuffle more often!

TV Reviews:

Ben 10: My girlfriend’s son is hooked on this show—basically, a couple of young children and (for moral grounding) their grandpa are on a never-ending quest to kill every alien (which all seem to be evil) that, coincidently, happens to cross their path. The animation is good enough and is neither too hyperactive nor blasé. If you can get over the irritating constant action-over-semantics you may just appreciate this show for what it does well—holds kids attention! ***

Robert Christgau’s best-of-year list is, finally, out!

Greatest games of 2010 list:

1. Demon’s Souls
2. Super Mario Galaxy 2
3. Red Dead Redemption
4. Sid Meier’s Civilization V
5. Minecraft Alpha
6. Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty
7. Call of Duty: Black Ops
8. Battlefield Bad Company 2
9. Mass Effect 2
10. Halo: Reach

Best expansion packs:

1. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
2. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II—Chaos Rising
3. Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare

This year has been particularly crap for games (aside from, perhaps, the top five).

My perfect home cinema setup:

TV: Sony KDL-40EX503
Speakers: B&W 685 Theatre (+ B&W ASW610 subwoofer)
Amplifier: Onkyo TX-SR608
CD Player: Audiolab 8200CD
Blu-ray Player: Sony BDP-S570
HDMI Cables: QED Profile HDMI
Remote Control: Logitech Harmony One
Speaker Stands: Partington ANSA 60
Speaker Cables: Chord Company Carnival Silver
Mains Cable: Merlin Tarantula MK6
Conditioner: Lindy 6-way
Equipment Rack: Hi Fi Racks Podium
Subwoofer Isolator: Auralex SubDude(HD)
Cable TV: Virgin Media V+

The only thing I like about the second to last image are those shoes! The outfit—not so much…