2009 review

The first year of "A Room To Breath In" is almost completed. I'd like to thank everyone for visiting. Today's post is a review of 2009.

Music

In my opinion, 2009 was not the greatest year for music. However, there were a few excellent releases, mostly from independent or previously unknown artists. It wasn't hard to find 30 or more albums that I liked, but here I post only my favourite 21. I couldn't really sort them, so I have just divided them into two groups: top10 and 11-21, with no particular order. You can find all 2009 releases posted in this blog by clicking here. I recommend every album I post. Enjoy!

Group A (top 10):

2econd Class Citizen - A World Without
Arms & Sleepers - Matador
World's End Girlfriend - Air Doll
Clint Mansell - Moon OST
Soap&Skin - Lovetune for Vacuum
Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport
Piano Magic - Ovations
Message to Bears - Departures
French Teen Idol - El Siete Es La Luz
Mono - Hymn to the Immortal Wind

Group B (11-21):

Dead Man's Bones - Dead Man's Bones
James Blackshaw - The Glass Bead Game
Parov Stelar - Coco
Black Heart Procession - Six (link coming soon)
Uniquetunes - 8
Crippled Black Phoenix - 200 Tons of Bad Luck
Flica - Telepathy Dreams
Arctic Plateau - On A Sad Sunny Day
The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble - Here Be Dragons
ZXYZXY - Hansuru
Luigi Rubino - A Theme for the Moon


Films

Not many good films in 2009, but these three movies were simply brilliant. The first two are directed by usual suspects (Coen brothers and Michael Haneke), plus an amazing sci-fi debut by Duncan Jones with Clint Mansell's music.

1. A Serious Man (Coen Brothers)
2. The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke)
3. Moon (Duncan Jones)


Radio

I don't really listen to the radio, because I prefer the music I download. However, this year I really enjoyed elafini's City Lights at PopLie.eu. Beautiful film music, different from the typical radio shows; unfortunately only in Greek. (CityLights@PopLie)


In Pictures

I always follow the amazing "The Big Picture", which posts photographs from news stories. Their 2009 review was excellent as usual: part1, part2 and part3