My Playlist of the year (M.S.)

Top 5 albums 2008:
5. Neil Halstead - Oh! Mighty Engine
- Great melancholic folk/pop songs by the former Slowdive and current Mojave 3 frontman. Everything in this album is in its right place. -


4. Matt Elliott - Howling Songs
- The fourth album by Matt Elliott, and again, as always, a beautiful one. Somehow easier to listen than "Drinking Songs" or "Failing Songs" but surely not less desperate. -


3. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
- Keywords: broken heart romance, Sehnsucht, loneliness in the woods during the winter. And the result of the mix is this album, little drops of sad love frozen in melancholic guitar/voice-based folk songs. Outstanding. -


2. Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing
- Debut album by the post-post-rock duo from Bristol, England. Apocalyptic sounds from a (not so) bright tomorrow. Recorded by John Cummings of Mogwai and mastered by Bob Weston of Shellac, this album is a true masterpiece and one of the best post-(post)-rock records of the decade. -


1. Have a Nice Life - Deathconsciousness
- It took five years for the duo from Connecticut to finish this album, and the result is, as they like to define it, "the most depressing record in the history of music". Maybe not number one, but it certainly enters the top ten. A double album which takes the best from low-fi home recording and from the classics of dark, such as Joy Division, the Cure, Sisters of Mercy...this record is a brilliant summary of the post-punk era, refreshed, reinforced and completed with ambient/electronic/doom/dark-folk elements from the nearest past, present and maybe future. It will be tough for the american duo to do something better than this, but much tougher will it be for those who listened to this album to forget it.


Top 10 On-The-Go:
10. Tuxedomoon - Half-Mute
9. Calla - Self-titled
8. Arab Strap - Mad for Sadness
7. The Devastations - Yes, U
6. The Twilight Sad - 14 Autumns and 15 Winters
5. The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge
4. Echo & the Bunnymen - Heaven up here
3. Joy Division - Closer
2. Einstürzende Neubauten - Fünf Auf Der Nach Oben Offenen Richterskala
1. Mojave 3 - Excuses for Travellers

gigs 2008:
28&29/06 Manchester, Apollo Theater - My Bloody Valentine
- A one-lifetime chance which really changed my way of approaching music. Hard to say anything else. -

??/05 Milano, Magnolia - Fuck Buttons
- Better than the album. A dance night for savages. -

16/07 Torino, Spaziale Festival - The Notwist
- Great band which played a great concert. The songs from "Neon Golden" were much more satisfying than the ones from their new record, "The Devil You+Me". -

????? Genova, Play Festival - Port-Royal, B.Fleischmann / Offlaga Discopax
- Sadly one of the only good festivals in Genova was half-empty. Port-Royal amazing as always, even if with the visual part it would have been better. B.Fleischmann played an outstanding show, with a great song from the new album "Angst is not a Weltanschauung". And same opinion about Offlaga Discopax, with a string trio supporting them. -

05/11 Milano, Zoe Club - A Place To Bury Strangers
Great post-punk/noise from America. They played not as loud as I thought they would, but they made it through very well. -

??/10 Reggio Emilia, Maffia - Massimo Volume
- Another great band from the past, another concert which is hard to describe. Unforgettable. -

??/10 Torino, Hiroshima Mon Amour - Liars
- Besides the short duration of the show (less then 1 hour), they kick asses. Not very precise, not the same thing as the records, but the live power did help indeed. -

??/10 Bologna, Covo - A Silver Mt. Zion
- When they played in Genova a couple of years ago they did not convince me very much. After this more recent show, I completely changed my mind. Awesome.

movies 2008:
Ex-drummer
- They said it could have been the new Trainspotting. I found it better. -
Cargo 200
- Is this what's left of the Soviet Union? -
REC.
- Finally a horror movie which is scary and anguishing FOR REAL. Thank God for sending us Jaume Balaguerò. -
The Dark Knight
- Great noir atmosphere by Christopher Nolan, great acting by Christian Bale and (Oscar-worthy?) Heath Ledger.