Goodbye Zeros - Top 20 soundtracks

After voting for the top 20 films of the decade, it is now time to vote for the best soundtracks of the zeros. The voting is organised by elafini. In my opinion, Clint Mansell was the best composer of the decade with three top class soundtracks, all in my top 20 list. Nick Cave & Warren Ellis and Philip Glass composed fantastic scores. The scores from Requiem for a Dream and Amelie are probably the most recognisable soundtracks of the zeros!

The results of the voting are here!


20. Philip Glass and Yo-Yo Ma - Naqoyqatsi (2002)
Beautiful minimalism by Philip Glass, with cello solos by the great cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Not as good as The Hours or Koyaanisqatsi but still brilliant!


19. Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - The Proposition (2005)
Excellent modern day western. Awesome music by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis (The Bad Seeds, Dirty Three), their first great soundtrack of the decade. Could be higher!


18. Air - The Virgin Suicides (2000)
Decent movie by Sofia Coppola, great soundtrack by Air! Electronica at its best!


17. Eddie Vedder - Into the Wild (2007)
A great surprise by Pearl Jam's frontman!


16. Johan Söderqvist - Let the right one in (2008)
Fantastic music! I didn't know Söderqvist before this film. More


15. Björk - Selmasongs/Dancer in the dark (2000)
Great music and one of the best duets of the decade ("I've seen it all").


14. Your Hand in Mine - Every Night Dream (2008)
Music for Mikio Naruse's silent film. More


13. World's End Girlfriend - Air Doll (2009)
A masterpiece by Katsuhiko Maeda. More


12. Alberto Iglesias - Hable con ella (2002)
Excellent collaboration by Almodovar and Alberto Iglesias (once again!)

11. Clint Mansell - Moon (2009)
Masterpiece No.3 by Clint Mansell. More


10. Philip Glass - The Hours (2002)
Probably the best Glass since Koyaanisqatsi.


9. Javier Navarrete - Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
Dark and beautiful, just like the film!


8. Terence Blanchard - 25th Hour (2002)
Excellent! From this film I discovered Terence Blanchard.


7. Shigeru Umebayashi/Various - In the mood for love (2000)
Brilliant film, beautiful music! I wish I could have 2046 in this list as well.


6. Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - The Assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford (2007)
This is their best soundtrack! Looking forward for more. The music for "The Road" (2009) is also great!


5. Gustavo Santaolalla - The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)
Road movie and music for the road! Awesome!


4. Clint Mansell - Requiem for a dream (2000)
Everyone knows this melody! Clint Mansell's greatest success!


3. Yann Tiersen - Amelie (2001)
Extemely popular! This is the film that made Yann Tiersen well-known all over the world!


2. Yeon-wook Jo - Oldboy (2003)
Top-class film and top-class music! "The Last Waltz" is one of the best tracks of the decade. More


1. Clint Mansell - The Fountain (2006)
Clint Mansell, Kronos Quartet and Mogwai. No need to say anything more! The best soundtrack of the decade!

Dopedrone - Contact Book


Dopedrone is a one man project started in 2000 by the Norwegian M.Anderson (also drummer of the shoegaze/post-rock band Yeti Island). He got his influences from shoegazer, stoner rock, 70’s progressive and psychedelic rock. Over the years his music has become more electronic, and can best be described as electronica/shoegazer/doom/noise. Contact Book was released in 2009 and it is available for free download. Spacious, heavy and beautiful. Recommended!

Artist: Dopedrone
Album: Contact Book
Year: 2009
Genre: shoegaze, post-rock, instrumental, electronica

Tracks:
1. Sunflare
2. Old Galaxy
3. Precession
4. Contact Book
5. Cydonia
6. Memory Loss
7. Down The Akashik Memory Lane
8. Star Aura
9. Entity

Paralucid Records@archive.org
Last.fm
MySpace

Download

Dead Man's Bones - Dead Man's Bones


Dead Man’s Bones is a collaboration between actors Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson, The Believer, The Notebook) and Zach Shields. This is their debut album, one of the greatest surprises of the year. You might have seen a video for their song "In the Room Where You Sleep" floating around the web recently. In the clip, Gosling and Shields lead a bunch of kids, all dressed in Halloween costumes, through a spare acoustic lament. It’s creepy and catchy, one of the best singles of the year. Overall, a great album about ghosts, monsters, graveyards, zombies or anything deathly. The participation of the Silverlake Conservatory Childrens Choir adds some extra creepiness! Awesome!

Artist: Dead Man's Bones
Album: Dead Man's Bones
Year: 2009
Genre: indie, gospel, dark

Tracks:
1. Intro
2. Dead Hearts
3. In The Room Where You Sleep
4. Buried In Water
5. My Bodys A Zombie For You
6. Pa Pa Power
7. Young & Tragic
8. Paper Ships
9. Lose Your Soul
10. Werewolf Heart
11. Dead Mans Bones
12. Flowers Grow Out Of My Grave

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Check the comments to listen before you buy.

The Dead Sea - The Dead Sea


The Dead Sea are Tim Bruniges, Nick Kennedy and David Trumpmanis, based in Sydney, Australia. They make music and videos using guitars, drums, a voice, computers and phones. This is their debut album which combines elements from post-rock, shoegaze and ambient. Excellent!

Artist: The Dead Sea
Album: The Dead Sea
Year: 2009
Genre: post-rock, shoegaze, ambient

Tracks:
1. Slow Jet
2. Okono
3. The Devil Bends
4. III
5. Zabriskie Point
6. Nulla Desiderata
7. Little Lights
8. Departure Gates
9. Banquet
10. Bandicoots

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace (buy from here)

Check the comments to listen before you buy.

Blue Pilots Project - Reboot


Blue Pilots Project is the alias of Thomas Kosidis from Thessaloníki, Greece. He grew up listening to world music, from classical to psychedelic music. He went to a conservatoire for a short while but that all ended when he made his own studio which lies in the industrial part of the town and started exploring analog psychedelic sound. His debut album is called “Flight for everyone” and was released by Klik Records in 2007. Reboot is his second album, released earlier this year. Piano, guitars, percussion and later the use of computer create the unique sound of Blue Pilots Project which combines electronica with chillout music. Really good!

Artist: Blue Pilot Project
Album: Reboot
Year: 2009
Genre: chillout, electronica

Tracks:
1. Million Clouds
2. Reboot
3. Mamouth
4. Hallelujah
5. Gods Gift
6. Main Crisis
7. Senta
8. Vivere Il Momento
9. Air Fiction
10. Refloat

Website@Klik records
Last.fm

Buy from here.
Check the comments to listen first.

The Autumn Project - Fable


The Autumn Project is an American post-rock/instrumental band formed in 2000. Fable is their debut, released in 2003. They have released two more albums: “La Luna de Negra” in 2004 and "This we take with us" in 2009. The Autumn Project’s music is dynamic and full of melodic overtones, but steeped with a backbone of brutality and dissonance. Fable is 60 minutes of emotionally hypnotic soundscape layers. Mesmerizing!

Artist: The Autumn Project
Album: Fable
Year: 2003
Genre: post-rock, instrumental

Tracks:
1. A Forest for the Trees
2. The Buffalo vs. the Bottomless Cliff
3. The History of Easterly Migration Westward
4. Blanden
5. Of Memoriam
6. How Life Lost Her Race
7. The Dustbowl Rose Again
8. Right/Left Thinktank
9. A Light Left on to Greet You in the Morning
10. How to Iron the Devil’s Doak

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from here.
Check the comments to listen first.

Das weisse Band - The White Ribbon (2009)


The White Ribbon is a drama film written and directed by the Austrian Michael Haneke, one of the greatest directors of the past 20 years. The screenplay focuses on the children in a German village just before World War I. According to Haneke, the film is about "the origin of every type of terrorism, be it of political or religious nature". It’s Haneke's least violent and most mature film – a masterpiece from a director who is increasingly making a habit of them ("Funny Games", "Cache", "La Pianiste" etc.).

As usual, Haneke explores the origins of human evil and whether individuals are responsible for evil acts or if they are born in a particular climate/society. In this movie, he is using his village as a microcosm to reflect Germany as a whole (similar with Lars Von Trier's Dogville).

The black and white photography is stunning. The direction is brilliant, as usual, and the acting is superb! A movie that can be heavy but thought-provoking and with a strong moral message! Highly recommended!

More info:
Official Website
IMDb
Rotten Tomatoes
Wikipedia

Trailer:

Flica - Telepathy Dreams


Flica is an electro-acoustic outfit produced by Euseng Seto from the evolving music scene of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Born in 1982, he started Flica in early 2007, solely crafting and producing music on his own. As a result, the subtle sounds that Flica creates are exceptionally melodic and uncomplicated, which perfectly mirroring his perceptions towards daily personal feelings on life and nature. Windvane & Window, his first solo album, was released in 2008. Telepathy Dreams is his most recent album, released earlier this year. Excellent!

Artist: Flica
Album: Telepathy Dreams
Year: 2009
Genre: ambient, electronica

Tracks:
1. Commes
2. Drun
3. Hie
4. In Dreams
5. Ind
6. Istatic
7. Midnight Waving
8. Seing
9. Stairs

Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from here or here (more links at his MySpace page).
Check the comments to listen first.

St. Germain - Tourist


St. Germain is the stage name of Ludovic Navarre, a French musician whose style merges jazzy house music with acid jazz. His first album Boulevard was released in 1995 and has sold over 300,000 copies worldwide. Tourist, released in 2000, is an intriguing collage of jazz for the DJ culture - a mixture of sampled rhythms and live musicians. Bob Marley, Toots and The Maytals, Miles Davis and Kool & The Gang are among Ludovic’s early influences. He composed his first work under the name of Sub System with friend Guy Rabiller. He has released EPs under a number of aliases, among them Deepside, LN’s, Modus Vivendi, Hexagone, Nuages and Soofle. Excellent album! Get it now!

Artist: St. Germain
Album: Tourist
Year: 2000
Genre: nu-jazz, chillout, jazz, electronica

Tracks:
1. Rose Rouge
2. Montego Bay Spleen
3. So Flute
4. Land Of...
5. Latin Note
6. Sure Thing
7. Pont Des Arts
8. La Goutte D'Or
9. What You Think About...

Website@Bluenote label
Last.fm
MySpace (unofficial fanpage)

Buy from here.
Check the comments to listen first.

James Blackshaw - The Glass Bead Game


James Blackshaw is a London-based guitarist and pianist, born in 1981. He primarily plays an acoustic 12 string guitar and has been compared to Bert Jansch, Robbie Basho, John Fahey, Jack Rose, and Leo Kottke. His music is dreamy instrumental that combines neo-classical with folk and post-rock music. He has released many albums in the last five years. This is his seventh and most recent one, released by Young God records. Absolutely brilliant! Highly recommended!

Artist: James Blackshaw
Album: The Glass Bead Game
Year: 2009
Genre: instrumental, neo-classical, folk, post-rock

Tracks:
1. Cross
2. Bled
3. Fix
4. Key
5. Arc

Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from Young God records.
Check the comments to listen first.

Képzelt Város - Mit Nekem


Képzelt Város is a Hungarian band from Budapest, formed in 2005 by four architects. Their music is mainly post-rock with some indie elements. This is their debut album, released earlier this year and is available for free download. Really good!

Artist: Képzelt Város
Album: Mit Nekem
Year: 2009
Genre: post-rock, indie

Tracks:
1. Sol
2. D2
3. Papirhajó
4. Zuhanó
5. Sergei6
6. White noise
7. Hercules
8. Futok

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Download

Tired Tape Machine - Somewhere Safe


Tired Tape Machine is Petter Lindhagen’s one man band from Sweden. Somewhere Safe is his debut, a beautiful ambient/neo-classical album, which Petter Lindhagen has single handedly written, produced and played all the instruments. It is self-released, digitally and – as the name might suggest– on cassette! Recommended!

Artist: Tired Tape Machine
Album: Somewhere Safe
Year: 2009
Genre: ambient, neo-classical, instrumental, post-rock

Tracks:
1. Somewhere Safe
2. On a Train
3. This Winter
4. Like Glass
5. Life is a Joke
6. From a Great Distance
7. The Tired Tape Machine Waltz
8. Ghosts in the Machine

Last.fm
MySpace

Check the comments to listen before you buy.

Dirty Granny Tales - Inversed World

Dirty Granny Tales is an acoustic/experimental group from Greece, combining puppet theatre acts with music. The compositions are dark, full of gothic lyrics and atmospheric melodies with black metal influences, reminding strongly The Tiger Lillies. This is how they describe themselves:
“What happens when music brings puppets to life? It’s when the Dirty Granny tells her stories…

This is not the sweet Grandma that will narrate a fairy tale for the children in front of the fireplace. She is not the one to knit a woollen scarf while the kitten cuddles on her feet.

This old woman is dirty, releasing a rotting smell. You can’t define the gaze on her face, because it’s absent, you can’t stand the timbre of her voice because it’s piercing your brain with the strength of a thousand needles. Her guise is freezing cold, makes you wonder if she belongs to your World. What kind of stories would such a creature chronicle? Not the kind that work as a lullaby…

The more repulsive her aura, the more you become bewitched. What is that she is knitting with her nails? Would you dare to try it on?”

Every should give this one a try!

Artist: Dirty Granny Tales
Album: Inversed World
Year: 2008
Genre: dark-folk, experimental, acoustic, black-metal

Tracks:
1. Inversed World
2. King Of Ants
3. Twins
4. My Uncle Bub
5. Hands
6. Didi’s Show
7. Stress Creature
8. What Is That Think?
9. The Entrance Of Curiosity
10. Strings From The Sky

Last.fm
MySpace

Get an idea of their live performances:

dirty granny trailer

Dirty Granny Tales | MySpace Music Videos


Buy from lotus.gr
Check the comments to listen first.

A Serious Man (2009)



A Serious Man is the new brilliant film by the Coen brothers. It's the story of an ordinary man's search for clarity in a universe where Jefferson Airplane is on the radio and F-Troop is on TV.  A Serious Man is a film to take seriously as art, but at the same time the Coen brothers make this a hilariously weird and awkward movie. One of their strangest and most thought-provoking films, this is a black comedy, a meditation on Jewishness, and a modern rethinking of the Book of Job in a world where "Hashem" (God) isn't just incomprehensible but largely imperceptible. Not being Jewish, I definitely missed some of the double-entendre and humour in the tradition.

A Serous Man is a proof of comedy's and tragedy’s close relationship; laugh-out-loud funny but also deeply serious! The direction is fantastic and elegant as usual. The characters and acting are all stunning. At the end, this is a film in which a Yoda-Rabbi quotes Jefferson Airplane! :)

Overall, combining dark humour with profoundly personal themes, the Coen brothers deliver one of their best films! A must-see for everyone!

More Info:
Official Website
IMDb
Wikipedia
Rotten Tomatoes

Trailer:

Défilé des Âmes – Lust ‘n’ Stone

Défilé des Âmes is a Greek band from Athens. Their music is a fusion of dark folk, avant-garde, neo-classical and metal. Really unique sound! "Lust ‘n’ Stone" is their debut album, released in May 2008 on Ahnstern. Very good; check it out!

Artist: Défilé des Âmes
Album: Lust ‘n’ Stone
Year: 2008
Genre: folk, dark, neo-classical, neo-folk

Tracks:
1. Doors to Undefeated Violence
2. Carnal Desire
3. Mushrooms
4. My Middle Name
5. Welcome
6. Eosforou Fos
7. Liar...!
8. Eilem A Est Morte
9. Under the Spell
10. The Wind Fairy (Is Dead)
11. August

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from here.
Check the comment to listen first.

Daniel Land & The Modern Painters - Love Songs For The Chemical Generation


Daniel Land & The Modern Painters is a British band from Manchester. This is their debut album released earlier last month on Saint Cecilia Records. Two years in the making, the album features twelve tracks and features contributions from Ulrich Schnauss and Mark Peters (Engineers). Clearly influenced by Slowdive and, generally, shoegaze; really good debut!

Artist: Daniel Land & The Modern Painters
Album: Love Songs For The Chemical Generation
Year: 2009
Genre: shoegaze, indie

Tracks:
1. Within The Boundaries
2. Codeine
3. Benjamin's Room
4. Glitterball
5. Locust
6. Run Silent, Run Deep
7. Love Lies Bleeding
8. Off Your Face Again
9. Smiling In Slow Motion
10. The Magic In My Head
11. Good Speed, Good Fun
12. Lighting Out For The Territories

Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from here.
Check the comments to listen first.

Rodrigo Leão - Cinema


Rodrigo Leão is a Portuguese musician and composer from Lisbon. He became known for his musical compositions and participation in Portuguese bands such as Madredeus and Sétima Legião. He co-founded the band Sétima Legião in 1982 and Madredeus in 1985. As his solo career began to take shape, he chose to suspend his participation with the respective bands in 1993 and 1994. His solo work explores a combination of modern-classic compositions with more traditional song format and instrumentation. Several artists have participated in both his records and tours, such as Lula Pena or Adriana Calcanhotto in Alma Mater and Beth Gibbons and Ryuichi Sakamoto in the album I post today. Cinema is his most successful album, released in 2004. Really great!

Artist: Rodrigo Leão
Album: Cinema
Year: 2004
Genre: folk, neo-classical, downtempo, world

Tracks:
1. Cinema
2. Rosa
3. Lonely Carousel (feat. Beth Gibbons)
4. A Comédia de Deus
5. Jeux D’amour
6. Memórias
7. A Cidade Queimada
8. Deep Blue
9. Uma História Simples
10. Happiness
11. O Último Adeus
12. La Fête
13. A Estrada
14. L’Inspecteur
15. António

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Check the comments to listen before you buy.

Goodbye Zeros - Top 100 films (results)


These are the results of the voting for the top movies of the decade, organised by seagazing (many thanks to inverted_a for his ideas/efforts). 121 bloggers voted their top 20 movies. My list is here.

The most successful directors were Clint Eastwood and Quentin Tarantino (4 movies in the top 100) and Darren Aronofsky, Michael Haneke and Alejandro González Iñárritu (with 3 movies in the list). I wouldn't say that Tarantino was that good in this decade but I totally agree with the other four choices.

A great list overall, most of the films are good.
Find those films you haven't watched and start watching now! :)

1. Oldboy (Chan-wook Park, 2003)
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)
3. Mulholland Dr. (David Lynch, 2001)
4. Requiem for a Dream (Darren Aronofsky, 2000)
5. Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001)
6. Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly, 2001)
7. Cidade de Deus - City of God (Fernando Meirelles, 2002)
8. Fa yeung nin wa - In the Mood for Love (Kar Wai Wong, 2000)
9. Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003)
10. Dogville (Lars von Trier, 2003)
11. Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000)
12. 2046 (Kar Wai Wong, 2004)
13. The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001)
14. The Fountain (Darren Aronofsky, 2006)
15. El laberinto del fauno - Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro, 2006)
-     Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (Quentin Tarantino, 2003)
17. Das Leben der Anderen - The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006)
18. High Fidelity (Stephen Frears, 2000)
19. Amores Perros (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2000)
20. Låt den rätte komma in - Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008)
21. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
22. Das weisse Band - The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke, 2009)
-     Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman, 2008)
24. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Peter Jackson, 2003)
25. Million Dollar Baby (Clint Eastwood, 2004)
26. V for Vendetta (James McTeigue, 2005)
27. No Country for Old Men (Ethan & Joel Coen, 2007)
28. Gran Torino (Clint Eastwood, 2008)
29. Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi - Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001)
30. Vozvrashcheniye - The Return (Andrei Zvyagintsev, 2003)
-     Sin City (Frank Miller & Robert Rodriguez, 2005)
32. Caché - Hidden (Michael Haneke, 2005)
33. Match Point (Woody Allen, 2005)
34. Big Fish (Tim Burton, 2003)
35. Inland Empire (David Lynch, 2006)
36. Hedwig and the Angry Inch (John Cameron Mitchell, 2001)
37. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)
38. Hable con ella - Talk to Her (Pedro Almodóvar, 2002)
39. Dancer in the Dark (Lars von Trier, 2000)
40. Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón, 2006)
41. 25th Hour (Spike Lee, 2002)
42. The Hours (Stephen Daldry, 2002)
-     WALL·E (Andrew Stanton, 2008)
44. Mystic River (Clint Eastwood, 2003)
45. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik, 2007)
46. Jeux d'enfants - Love Me If You Dare (Yann Samuell, 2003)
47. Gegen die Wand - Head-on (Fatih Akin, 2004)
48. Letters from Iwo Jima (Clint Eastwood, 2006)
49. Good Bye Lenin! (Wolfgang Becker, 2003)
50. 21 Grams (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2003)
51. Bin-jip (Ki-duk Kim, 2004)
52. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009)
53. Zodiac (David Fincher, 2007)
54. The Pianist (Roman Polanski, 2002)
55. La pianiste - The Piano Teacher (Michael Haneke, 2001)
-     Dolls (Takeshi Kitano, 2002)
57. Sånger från andra våningen - Songs from the Second Floor (Roy Andersson, 2000)
58. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Peter Jackson, 2001)
59. Russkiy kovcheg - Russian Ark (Aleksandr Sokurov, 2002)
60. Bom yeoreum gaeul gyeoul geurigo bom - Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ...and Spring (Ki-duk Kim, 2003)
61. Babel (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2006)
-     Little Miss Sunshine (Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris, 2006)
63. 4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile - 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days (Cristian Mungiu, 2007)
64. Ghost World (Terry Zwigoff, 2001)
-     Les invasions barbares - The Barbarian Invasions (Denys Arcand, 2003)
66. The Brown Bunny (Vincent Gallo, 2003)
-     Snatch (Guy Ritchie, 2000)
68. Vals Im Bashir - Waltz with Bashir (Ari Folman, 2008)
69. Irréversible (Gaspar Noé, 2002)
-     Moulin Rouge! (Baz Luhrmann, 2001)
71. Κυνόδοντας - Dogtooth (Giorgos Lanthimos, 2009)
72. Elephant (Gus Van Sant, 2003)
73. Shortbus (John Cameron Mitchell, 2006)
74. Corpse Bride (Tim Burton & Mike Johnson, 2005)
75. Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005)
-     Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (Quentin Tarantino, 2004)
77. Closer (Mike Nichols, 2004)
78. Ratatouille (Brad Bird, 2007)
-     Αγέλαστος Πέτρα - Mourning Rock (Filippos Koutsaftis, 2001)
80. All the Real Girls (David Gordon Green, 2003)
-    The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky, 2008)
-    Waking Life (Richard Linklater, 2001)
83. 24 Hour Party People (Michael Winterbottom, 2002)
-     Into the Wild (Sean Penn, 2007)
-     Mies vailla menneisyyttä - The man without past (Aki Kaurismäki, 2002)
86. The Departed (Martin Scorsese, 2006)
87. Y tu mamá también (Alfonso Cuarón, 2001)
88. Me and You and Everyone We Know (Miranda July, 2005)
89. Before Sunset (Richard Linklater, 2004)
-     Mar adentro - The Sea Inside (Alejandro Amenábar, 2004)
91. Persepolis (Vincent Paronnaud & Marjane Satrapi)
92. In Bruges (Martin McDonagh, 2008)
-     Love Actually (Richard Curtis, 2003)
-     The Constant Gardener (Fernando Meirelles, 2005)
95. Once (John Carney, 2006)
96. Death Proof (Quentin Tarantino, 2007)
-     Nochnoy dozor - Night Watch (Timur Bekmambetov, 2004)
-     Red Road (Andrea Arnold, 2006)
-     Volver (Pedro Almodóvar, 2006)
100. Finding Nemo (Andrew Stanton, 2003)
-      Le scaphandre et le papillon - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Julian Schnabel, 2007)
-      Reconstruction (Christoffer Boe, 2003)

Nyctalgia - Time Changed Everything


Nyctalgia is Silvio, an amateur musician from Basel, Switzerland and this is his first mini album, released in August 2009. His music is a mixture of of ambient and post-rock with neo-classical influences. Excellent! Very promising debut!

Artist: Nyctalgia
Album: Time Changed Everything
Year: 2009
Genre: ambient, post-rock, instrumental, piano

Tracks:
1. Nyctalgia
2. Time changed everything
3. Remains of a blue rose
4. Mira
5. Falling into nothingness

Last.fm
MySpace

Download
Please support this artist. Buy the album: send an e-mail to nyctalgia@hotmail.de

Caravan Palace - Caravan Palace


Caravan Palace is a French electro-swing band based in Paris. It all started in 2005 after three of the band members were hired by a film production company to provide the soundtrack to silent pornographic movies. They are now six members in the group playing instruments like violin, trombone and clarinet. The band's influences include Django Reinhardt, Vitalic, Lionel Hampton and Daft Punk. An amazing fusion of swing, electronica, jazz, punk and gypsy music. Caravan Palace is to swing what the Gotan Project is to tango. This is their debut studio album released on the Wagram label in October 2008. Highly recommended!

Artist: Caravan Palace
Album: Caravan Palace
Year: 2008
Genre: electro-swing, jazz, nu-jazz, electronica

Tracks:
1. Dragons
2. Star scat
3. Ended with the night
4. Jolie coquine
5. Chill out
6. Suzy
7. Je m'amuse
8. La valse
9. Brotherswing
10. L'envol
11. Oooh
12. Bambous
13. Lazy place
14. We can dance
15. La Caravane

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Follow the links from here to buy.
Check the comments to listen first.

Goodbye Zeros - Top 20 films

More than 100 - mainly Greek- bloggers take part in a voting for their favourite films of the decade (organised by seagazing). Today's post is my top-20 list, the first of a series of posts about the first decade of the 21st century and, also, for the year 2009.

In my opinion the zeros was a great decade for cinema! It is interesting to note that six out of the twenty movies in the list are the director's debut films. Looking for more in the future! Unfortunately, many fantastic films were left out of this list (Mulholland Dr., Paradise Now, Caché, Memento, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Hero, No Country for Old Men, In the Mood for Love etc.)

*** The results are here ***

20. House of Sand and Fog - Vadim Perelman (2003)
Some dreams can't be shared. A gripping, honest and powerful drama! Great debut by the Ukrainian director!
IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes

19. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ...and Spring - Ki-duk Kim (2003)
This is more than a simple movie. A poetic piece of art by the amazing Korean minimalist. 3 Iron (2004) could easily be in this list!
IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes

18. Persepolis - Vincent Paronnaud/Marjane Satrapi (2007)
I agree that Pixar makes very nice animations. However, the best, most thought-provoking animations of the zeros were Persepolis and Waltz with Bashir (2008). Persepolis is a brilliant animated movie based on the Marjane Strapi's black and white comic.
IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes

17. Das Leben der Ander (The Lives of Others) - Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (2006)
Sonata for a good man! A stunning debut from Germany!
IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes

16. The Wind That Shakes the Barley - Ken Loach (2006)
Ken Loach is the most honest director around. I love his films. This one shows how a political movie should be made. A must-see for people in my country, Cyprus (Greek-Cypriots and Turkish-Cypriots).
IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes

15. Cidade de Deus (City of God) - Fernando Meirelles/Kátia Lund(2002)
Breathtaking and terrifying! The masterpiece that introduced Fernando Meirelles to the rest of the world.
IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes

14. There will be blood - Paul Thomas Anderson (2007)
An epic movie about the underhanded "heroes" of capitalism. Daniel Day Lewis gives the best performance of the zeros, in my opinion (together with Bruno Ganz in The Downfall)
IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes

13. Hable con ella (Talk to Her) - Pedro Almodóvar (2002)
Pedro Almodovar's best movie.
IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes

12. Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain - Jean-Pierre Jeunet (2001)
Together with Little Miss Sunshine (2006), the best "feel-good" films of the decade! Outstanding music by Yann Tiersen!
IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes

11. Dead Man's Shoes - Shane Meadows (2004)
An amazing film about a man struggling to balance his desire for revenge and redemption. Stunning performance by Paddy Considine and direction by Shane Meadows (also great: This is England).
A Room to Breath In, IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes

10. Gegen die Wand (Head-on) - Fatih Akin (2004)
A raw, provocative drama about star-crossed love and the lives of immigrants caught between the traditional and modern. Fatih Akin is one of the most talented directors!
A Room to Breath In, IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes

9. Les invasions barbares (The Barbarian Invasions) - Denys Arcand (2003)
The occasion is death, but the movie is a joyous celebration of life!
A Room to Breath In, IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes

8. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada - Tommy Lee Jones (2005)
Nobody is beyond redemption! Using Guillermo Arriaga's brilliant script, Tommy Lee Jones directed his first film, the best modern-day western of the decade. A tale of friendship, justice and redemption!
A Room to Breath In, IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes

7. Gran Torino - Clint Eastwood (2008)
A masterful piece of storytelling and a film which will rightly be regarded as a classic. Eastwood is on staggering form as an actor and equally inspiring as a director. Mystic River (2003) and A Million Dollar Baby (2004) could easily be in this list!
IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes

6. Vozvrashcheniye (The Return) - Andrei Zvyagintsev (2003)
One of the greatest surprises of the decade. A brilliant debut: breathtaking, emotional and disturbing. A quiet and disquieting masterpiece which gets under your skin and stays there long after you watch it!
A Room to Breath In, IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes

5. Låt den rätte komma in (Let the Right One In) - Tomas Alfredson (2008)
One of the most layered, atmospheric and textured movies of the decade. A dark poem! Beautiful to gaze at, achingly romantic, emotionally involving, unexpectedly terrifying.
A Room to Breath In, IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes

4. Amores Perros - Alejandro González Iñárritu (2000)
Alejandro González Iñárritu's debut was the first part of the best trilogy of the zeros (together with the great 21 Grams and Babel). A film that shows a deep understanding of people, stunningly made, raw and authentic!
IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes

3. El laberinto del fauno (Pan's Labyrinth) - Guillermo del Toro (2006)
"Pan's Labyrinth is Alice in Wonderland for grown-ups", the greatest dark fairy tale I've seen in my life! A pure masterpiece!
IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes

2. Requiem for a Dream - Darren Aronofsky (2000)
If you can't move your legs after the end of a film, that means you liked it! A shocking and one the most powerful films I have ever seen. Clint Mansell's score and Darren Aronofsky's brilliant direction haunted me for years! It could as well be at number one with Aronofsky's The Fountain (2006) and The Wrestler (2008) also capable to make this list!
IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes

1. Oldboy - Chan-wook Park (2003)
"Be it a rock or a grain of sand, in water they sink as the same". This phrase was at the title of this blog for a while. Together with no.2, the best films of the decade and, definitely, in my top movies of all time! A dark and thrillingly horrible tale of revenge; a flawless movie with amazing direction, acting and music!
A Room to Breath In, IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes
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