We like a list. Here's one about the year in music from your friends at Lifelounge.
KATIE OLSEN
Favourite live show: Lykke Li at the Prince. She was magic. There was a tear.
And
Bloc Party's not-so-secret show at the Northern in Byron Bay.
Favourite festival: Um. We got to dance in the pit during The Rapture at
Parklife. But there was a middle-aged pole-dancing pixie at
Splendour, so...
Favourite albums: So predictable.
Merriweather Post Pavilion –
Animal Collective,
It's a Blitz! –
Yeah Yeah Yeahs,
Face Control –
Handsome Furs,
The Phenomenal Handclap Band –
The Phenomenal Handclap Band,
xx –
The xx,
The Ecstatic –
Mos Def and
Blakroc –
Blakroc.
Least favourite album:
Tongue n Cheek – Dizzee Rascal. I miss the old Dizzee.
Favourite music videos: 'When I Grow Up' – Fever Ray and
'If I Know You' – The Presets. Special mention to Lady Gaga's 'Paparazzi' for the ridiculous gold bodysuit (a la Whitney Housten's in 'Queen of the Night') and dancing on crutches. Bitch is loco.
Favourite singles: 'Big Bills' – Flosstradamus and Caroline Polachek,
'Take It In' – Hot Chip,
'Who’d Have Known' – Lily Allen,
'Heavy Cross' – The Gossip,
'Paranoid' – Kanye West,
'Lisztomania' – Phoenix and
'Daylight' – Matt and Kim, and
'Daniel' – Bat For Lashes.
Most overrated artist:
Gaga.
Most underrated artist: Hudson Mohawke, Bullion, Janelle Monae.
What/who you’re looking forward to next year: More from
Chauffeur (AKA Mark Ronson, Sam Sparro and Theophilus London). And not just because of how I feel about Mr Ronson, but because they’re actually amazing so far.
MARISA AVELING
Favourite live show: Erykah Badu at Governor's Island, New York.
Favourite festival: CMJ Music Festival and Film Festival.
Favourite albums: Butter –
Hudson Mohawke,
Veckatimest – Grizzly Bear,
Nuclear Evolution: The Age Of Love – Sa-Ra Creative Partners,
Electric Wire Hustle – Electric Wire Hustle and
Umsindo –
Georgia Anne Muldrow.
Least favourite album: Um.
Favourite music videos: Um.
Favourite singles: 'Roses' –
Georgia Anne Muldrow, 'What Did He Say' – Nite Jewel and 'Manifest Station (Osunlade’s Way Back When Interpolation)' –
Hawthorne Headhunters.
Most overrated artist: The 'Ga (AKA Lady Gaga).
Most underrated artist: Joker. More people should be jumping on this young blood than just dubstep heads.
What/who you’re looking forward to next year: Erykah Badu's new joints (finally), Bilal's new joints (finally), D'Angelo new joints (maybe). 2010 will hopefully be the year that R&B becomes more than just a guilty pleasure and proves it doesn't always have to have the words 'super club' following it.
MIKOLAI NAPIERALSKI
Favourite live show: Pharoahe Monch at the Prince.
Old Organized Konfusion classics, my favourite track from
Internal Affairs, ‘Queens’, and a great atmosphere. Even the sound was pretty good. Wu Tang at Festival Hall gets the silver – interesting mix of crystal-methed-up suburban kids and Shaolin hip hop.
Favourite festival: I hate festivals. All of them. Even the good ones.
Favourite albums: Love vs Money – The Dream (made me rediscover my love of R&B),
Slow Dance – Jeremy Jay (the sound of smoking cigarettes and drinking scotch at a dive bar as the sun comes up),
Blueprint 3 –
Jay-Z (just a massive blockbuster) and
Summertime EP –
The Drums (the happiest, poppiest, release of the year).
Least favourite album: God, so many albums sucked so hard. Can’t really remember because they all ended up getting traded in for heroin money. No, wait, Kate Ceberano’s
Merry Christmas (which I had to review for a publication that shall remain nameless) was particularly hateful.
Favourite music videos: 'Glasshouse' – Eli Escobar, 'Stay Up' – Kanye West and 88 Keys and
'Death of Autotune' – Jay-Z.
Favourite singles: 'Best I Ever Had' – Drake,
'Soles of Fire' – Chauffeur, 'Gallop' – Jeremy Jay,
'Pennies' – Cool Kids, 'Aukland CBD Part Two' – Lawrence Arabia and
'Death of Autotune' – Jay-Z.
ARIEL KATZ
Favourite live show: TV on the Radio in Central Park because it was, a) TVOTR, and b) in Central Park. Lykke Li because she’s a 20th Century FOX and Friendly Fires for Ed Macfarlane’s dancing alone.
Favourite festival: None? But I’m crossing my fingers for Laneway’s relocation to Footscray.
Favourite albums: xx – The xx,
Merriweather Post Pavilion –
Animal Collective (it’s basically compulsory to have this somewhere on ones 'best of' list, right?)
Music for Men – The Gossip.
Least favourite album: Hard to say.
Favourite videos: 'WTF?’ – OK Go and 'Community Service Annoucement’ – Jonathon Boulet.
Favourite singles: ‘VCR’ –
The xx, ‘Down to the Cemetery’ – Kid Sam,
'Lust For Life' – Girls, ‘Lisztomania' –
Phoenix, 'Daylight' –
Matt & Kim.
Most overrated artist: I don’t like you
Phenomenal Handclap Band, you annoy me. [Ed's note: I swear it's only '15 to 20' you find annoying. Because it
is annoying after a while.]
Most underrated artist: Chew Lips, maybe? The Drums?
What/who you're looking forward to next year: Seeing The xx, Micachu and the Shapes, Florence and the Machine and
Pashy Pit in real life. Also, new
Snowman and Beach House.