Yeah Right

Best of 2011

Album of the Year: 2011 was a great year for music. Bon Iver, Foo Fighters, Yuck, The Drums, The Strokes, Florence + the Machine, Dum Dum Girls, Mates of State and Lykke Li all put out solid albums. But three albums stood out from the pack this year. In third place, the Jay-z/Kanye collaboration The Throne was everything I expected it to be and more. I limited myself to just putting one of the WTT songs in my top ten list below, but I easily could have included a few more like "No Church in the Wild." First and second place was an extremely close race between the Civil Wars's Barton Hollow and Wild Flag's self-titled debut. As you'll see below, the same bands duked it out for Concert of the Year honors as well. I ended up giving Wild Flag the nod for best concert and the Civil Wars the nod for best album. The Wild Flag songs are a little better live, while the Civil Wars' tracks stand up recorded a bit better. But it was a very close race. So you should check out both albums if you haven't already.

Music Video of the Year: Gaga had a lot of videos this year, of which "Judas" was my favorite. I also appreciated Wild Flag's "Electric Band" and Laura Stevenson and the Cans' "Master of Art." But it was hard to top the celebrity-filled short film that the Beastie Boys put out for "Make Some Noise":

Best Cover: I really like the covers that Lissie busts out live, the best of which is clearly "Pursuit of Happiness" by Kid Cudi. But I have to give this one to Wild Flag's rendition of Patti Smith's "Ask the Angels" during their encore at the Black Cat in March. It nearly melted my face off.

Songs of the Year:

Wild Flag - "Future Crimes"

The Throne - "N****s in Paris"

Typhoon - "The Honest Truth"

Dum Dum Girls - "Wasted Away"

Yuck - "Operation"

The Strokes - "Machu Picchu"

Meredith Bragg - "Next Time"

Beastie Boys - "Lee Majors Come Again"

The Drums - "Book of Revelations"

The Civil Wars - "20 Years"

Commercially Successful Song that Deserved Every Bit of Praise It Got: Adele all the way.

Concert of the Year: Lots of great concerts in D.C. this year. The Civil Wars played an intimate show out at Jammin' Java before they blew up. The Go! Team, Yeasayer, and Lykke Li all rocked the 9:30 Club. The Drums were great at the Black Cat and Typhoon had a great show with Lady Lamb the Beekeeper at 6th and I. I was also pleased to finally see Soundgarden at the Patriot Center on my birthday this summer. But great as all those shows were, there can only be one winner, and that was clearly Wild Flag's first D.C. show at the Black Cat in March. They didn't even have an album out yet but the energy of the sold out crowd was through the roof and Carrie, Mary, Rebecca and Janet put on a blistering performance including the aforementioned best cover of the year. Their return show to the Black Cat in the fall was a bit of a letdown, mostly because it would be near impossible to top their performance in March.

Guilty Pleasure of the Year: I love me some "Gucci Gucci" by Kreayshawn.

Internet Meme of the Year: I greatly enjoyed Hipster Little Mermaid and Feminist Ryan Gosling. But I own two honey badger t-shirts, a stuffed animal honey badger, and named my pub trivia team 'Honey Badgers', so obviously this is my favorite meme that caught fire this year:

Sports Event of the Year: Let's just say that I'm enjoying Tebow Time. A lot.

Celebrity Moment of the Year: Hint: he has one speed and he does a drug called 'Charlie Sheen'.

Movie of the Year: I didn't see as many movies this year as I normally do. And I've been especially bad about making it out to the films that have gotten rave reviews. Of the stuff I did see, I enjoyed Crazy. Stupid. Love. Probably more than I should have. But as for movie parodies, I do have a clear favorite -- Wes Anderson's Scream:

Best TV of the Year: For my money, Parks and Rec remains the funniest show on TV. As for new shows, I got sucked into Game of Thrones. I can't wait til it returns in April. Winter is coming...

2012 Pop Culture Moment that I'm Most Looking Forward to: The pending return of Garbage and the Stone Roses!

2011 Pop Culture Moment that Made Me Super Sad: Rilo Kiley broke up.

Allison's 2010 Picks

Album of the Year: 2010 was a fabulous year for music. In any other year Janelle Monae, Surfer Blood, and The Soft Pack could be winners. Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Broken Bells, Yeasayer, The Like, Best Coast, The Corin Tucker Band, She & Him, and Kanye West would all be close runners up. Unfortunately for all of those acts, this was the year that Sleigh Bells released Treats. It's not even a contest. This is a Treats landslide victory. I haven't been this excited about an album in 10+ years. It redefined what I mean by "loud" (and this is coming from a girl who spent a good chunk of high school going to hardcore punk concerts) while still maintaining excellent melodies.

Music Video of the Year: It's hard to beat "This Too Shall Pass" from OK Go. I also enjoyed the "Thieves" video from She & Him. But I have to give a shout out to the artsy "70 Million" by Hold Your Horses:

2010 Playlist:

Surfer Blood - "Floating Vibes"

The Corin Tucker Band - "Doubt"

Cee-lo - "Fuck You"

Best Coast - "Crazy for You"

Tim Kasher - "I'm Afraid I'm Gonna Die Here"

Janelle Monae - "Cold War"

Yeasayer - "Ambling Alp"

The Chapin Sisters - "Palm Tree"

The Soft Pack - "C'mon"

Wye Oak - "I Hope You Die"

Sleigh Bells - "Tell 'Em"

The Like - "Fair Game"

The Love Language - "Heart to Tell"

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings - "Mama Don't Like My Man"

Best Concert: This is a hard one. Soft Pack certainly wins for "best concert at a Potbelly." Amanda Blank put on the best show at the Rock 'n Roll Hotel. Janelle Monae put on the best performance at the 9:30 Club (with a close second place to Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros). But nothing can match the surreal awesomeness of getting to see Roger Waters perform The Wall. It was like a dream come true. So I've got to give the award to Mr. Waters.

Best Cover: The best live cover I witnessed (twice) was the Chapin Sister's cover of Britney Spear's "Toxic." Weezer included a fabulously unexpected cover of "Unbreak My Heart" on Death to False Metal. Motion City Soundtrack threw down a good Pavement cover with "Cut Your Hair." But my favorite cover came from Mates of State with "Laura" by Girls. I disliked the rest of the covers album it was included on, but that song is more than good enough for me to forgive them for the others.

Best of the Internet: Nothing comes close to the bed intruder song by the Auto-tune the News guys. I might be able to sing the whole song...:

Best Movie: This is a toss up between Inception and The Social Network. I enjoyed them both, but I rated Inception higher in my original YR review, so I'll let that be the tie-breaker.

Best TV Moment: I actually liked the LOST finale, so sue me. My favorite new show of 2010 was The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret on IFC. And the best overall show for me was Parks and Recreation. It really hit a stride in its second season.

Best Music-Meets-TV Moment: I loved the pop-art inspired performances that Kanye West busted out this year on a few shows, particularly SNL.

Worst TV Moment: How did Mondo lose Project Runway? How?!?

Best Sports Moment: The Broncos certainly aren't doing anything for me at the moment, so I have to turn to the other football. Luckily, my preferred team in that area, Chelsea Football Club, had the best season in team history winning the historic "double" in May (meaning that we were both FA Cup and Premier League champions). I also enjoyed the drama of the USA/Canada Olympic hockey showdown, so that can take home the runner-up award.

Best Celebrity Moment: Four words: Kanye West joins Twitter. Hilarious, egotistical, and otherwise rambling statements in 140 characters or less. Here are some highlights.

LarryK's 2010 Picks

I suppose every year is a mixed bag culturally, but for me 2010 shakes out this way:  good year for sports, pretty good for music, and bad - very bad - for movies.  But I'm still hopeful about the Christmas/late season releases, some of which look intriguing.

Best Album

My pick for best album is The ArchAndroid, Janelle Monae’s ultra-ambitious, full length debut.  This CD is all over the map, going from classical to hip-hop to psychedelia to cabaret jazz and back again.  It all works, though, with Monae’s lovely, expressive voice and sister-from-another-planet persona holding everything together.

Two other, very different CDs also stood out for me.  American Slang by Gaslight Anthem breaks out of the gloomy, Arcade Fire-ish murk of their last outing.  Not uniformly excellent, but when it’s good it’s very good.

Robinella’s Fly Away Bird sailed under the radar but shouldn’t have.  She’s a first-rate singer (I sometimes think of her as the Mary Lou Lord of Tennessee) who unfortunately is semi-reclusive and doesn’t record often.  Her latest has one foot in Americana and the other in cool jazz, and somehow she makes that unlikely combination work.      

Best Music Video

Tightrope by Janelle Monae.

2010 Songlist

1.  King of Spain – The Tallest Man on Earth

Galloping guitars, eclectic lyrics and a few Dylan references (reportedly “The King of Spain” is Dylan himself) make this pretty irresistible.

2.  Spirit of Jazz  - Gaslight Anthem

My current favorite on American Slang.  A great engine starter, and smart too.

3.  Wondaland - Janelle Monae

Pure ear candy.  Not exactly “typical” of the CD, but then again there is no typical.

4.  The Mama Papa – Plants & Animals

Good, silly fun – and I don’t have a clue what it’s about.

5.  Goodbye Sweet Dreams – Roky Erickson with Okkervil River

For something completely different…a dark song from someone who’s experienced some dark times.

6.   East Jefferson  - Ben Weaver

Ben Weaver’s Mirepoix and Smoke is reminiscent of Bon Iver’s debut album, since both were partly inspired by a breakup and written in a remote house in the middle of nowhere.  “East Jefferson” is my favorite from a CD that grows on you.

7.  The Hitchiker  - Neil Young

The twisted, autobiographical tale of Neil Young’s tortured relationship with fame – and drugs.  Some might hate this song, but I think it’s fascinating, because Young has written entire albums on drug abuse, so this song extends a theme in his music that goes back almost 40 years. 

8.  Put Out Your Fire – Somebody’s Darling

No type of pop song is probably more unloved than the power ballad (think Journey or REO).  Somebody’s Darling mixes in a little twang and shows how to do a power ballad without making it sound cheesy. 

9.  You Are Not Alone – Mavis Staples

I learned about this song from this very website.  I downloaded it, and now I can thank AK later.

10.  & 11: Something from both sides of Robinella’s latest CD.  These Dreams of Mine is probably my favorite of the country-ish tunes.  Fly Away Bird reflects the dominant, jazzier vibe.

12.  Billie Jean – Robbie Fulks

A bonus track, because the song itself obviously isn’t from 2010, but Robbie Fulks’ long-delayed MJ tribute album was finally released last year.  And who can deny this is a worthy interpretation of a very familiar tune?

Best Concert/Tour

I didn’t see nearly as much live music in 2010 as I wanted, but on one blissful afternoon/evening did happen to catch Corey Chisel, The Fruit Bats, Alejandro Escovedo, Jeff Tweedy and She & Him.  Only Escovedo was sub-par.  I’ve been a fan of Corey Chisel’s for a while, but had never seen him, and he was funny and entertaining.  Also the first time I saw She & Him; Zooey was as adorably awkward as I expected, but M. Ward really surprised by busting out a couple smoking guitar solos (not something you hear on She & Him CDs).  Their whole show was also much more grand and elaborate than I would have thought.

The real star, though, was Jeff Tweedy.  I’ve seen him several times now - alone, with Wilco, and even back in the day with Uncle Tupelo.  This was his best performance I’ve seen.  And as he pulled all kinds of choice nuggets from his 20+ year career (e.g. “New Madrid,” “Passenger Side”) I realized just how deep and distinct his song catalog is.  It’s hard to describe, but there really is a “Jeff Tweedy” song. 

Best Movie

“The Social Network”:  a great (although incomplete) story told well.  It even made Justin Timberlake look good. 

Guilty cinematic pleasure:  “Kick Ass.”  Much more stylish and quirky than it had to be.

Best Sports Moment

Two interconnected moments, that bookend a great season.  Roy Halladay of the Phillies threw a perfect game early in the Spring, then threw a second no-hitter in the Fall post-season (only the second post-season no-hitter in league history).   Hard to top that.

Worst Celebrity Moment

Part of me wants to give this to Snooki, who went from zero to Lohan in record time.  However, nothing compares to the series of drunken, taped tirades that Mel Gibson left for his ex-girlfriend.  What a nasty piece of work.

Best Television Moment

One night on the road, I was flicking through the TV channels looking for something tolerable, and came upon this episode of Anthony Bourdain eating and drinking near the China-Russia border.   He was in Harbin China, but evidently there is a large Russian community there, and whenever there are Russians there will be vodka.  Much vodka was consumed at one dinner and, the next morning, Anthony had an ice fishing date with a Chinese bar owner and his girlfriend.  Needless to say, he was nursing a brutal hangover and the incredibly cold temperatures (just over the border was Siberia) took the discomfort to a whole other level.  His narration of this absurd event was perfect (“I’ve been praying all morning for God to kill me…an icy death sounds good right now”), and eventually the Chinese bar owner admitted that even though he loves to ice fish, he never actually catches anything.  That was unacceptable for TV, so they brought out a (dead) ‘stunt fish,’ put it on the end of the line, dropped it in the water, and filmed the fish being pulled from the frozen lake.  Everyone applauded and pretended it was some great victory, just so they could go home and get out of the cold.  Probably the funniest thing I saw all year.  

Tomorrow:  Allison's picks!  Will there be Weezer?  Gaga?  Check in to see!

BATMAN's Picks of 2010

Album of the Year:  Superchunk's grand comeback, Majesty Shredding, might just be their best record ever.  It's not what you expect after a nine-year hiatus from your favorite band.   I posted a more detailed rave here.  

Movie of the Year:   I tend to agree with PJTV's Poliwood that this was perhaps The Worst Year for Movies Ever (and my Friday night viewing of Black Swan did nothing to change that opinion).  But I did enjoy Social Network a lot, so it may win my fave of the year honors by default. 

Music Video of the Year:  While the video I watched the hell out of was certainly the OK Go stuff that Allison posted and that my 3 year-old adores, I'll repost this one by Firekites that I was smitten by at midyear.   (Though following on my Superchunk love expressed above, you should really also check out Digging for Something which is pretty funny.)

Best Sports Moment:   I'm torn.  It's gotta have been THIS near-Cinderella story or THIS near-Cinderella story or maybe just the slow destruction of Brett Favre's legacy that began here.  

Best TV:   Who woulda thought I'd be content to sit around and watch people picking through and trying to unload garbage via American Pickers and Pawn Stars?  Am I the only one weird enough to enjoy those?

Best New Web Trend:  I'm a fan of Next Media's animated new stories that are produced in Taiwan but find their way around the Web.  Usually they're irreverant and funny, but this one is actually rather touching - it's about Liu Xiaobo who was not present to receive his Nobel Peace Prize this past Friday because he remains in a Chinese jail cell.   (Methinks we're on the brink of "interesting times" again in China...)

Best Thing About Pop Culture in 2010:   As much as the sane Batman fears the Palin bandwagon will continue to role for two more years and right into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (when there are much better standard-bearers for the Repubs) -- it was pretty damn funny to see the outrage as Palin-supporters kept voting Bristol all the way to the DWTS finale.

Second Worst Thing About Pop Culture in 2010:  Housewives.  Housewives.  Housewives.

Worst Thing About Pop Culture in 2010:  RIP Alex Chilton.

My 2010 Playlist:

• "I Don't Wanna Hear It" - J Roddy Walston & the Business
• "I Can Change" - LCD Soundsystem
• "Down in the Valley" - The Head and the Heart
• "My Gap Feels Weird" - Superchunk
• "Baby Lee" - Teenage Fanclub
• "Glitter" - No Age
• "Fuck You" - Cee-Lo Green
• "The Ghost Who Walks" - Karen Elson
• "Burning Stars" - Mimicking Birds
• "The Poet" - Ryan Bingham
• "I Hate the 80s" - Vaselines
• "You & Me" - Elizabeth & the Catapult
• "Palaces Of Montezuma" - Grinderman
• "Don't Do It" - Sharon Van Etten
• "Good Intentions Paving Co." - Joanna Newsom
• "Friendly Fire" - Drew Grow & the Pastors' Wives
• "Laredo" - Band of Horses
• "Lead in our Lungs" - Adam Stephens

Get Excited

Next week the Yeah Right staff will be sharing our "Best of 2010" picks. The fun starts on Monday December 13th. You can check out last year's picks here to get a sense of what is coming your way.

And Now For Something Completely Different...

OK, so what would you get if you got out your movie-blender, threw in a lump of Kill Bill, a cup of Indiana Jones (but with pre-WWII-era Imperial Japanese troops instead of Nazis), a huge dollop of classic spaghetti westerns and added a dash of Austin Powers?  You'd get something like The Good, The Bad, The Weird, a late 2008 Korean film that just hit Netflix within the last couple of weeks.  Even for those that don't much cotton to foreign films, this is a slick, fun, (and sometimes goofy) action/treasure hunt flick that should appeal to just about anyone --  and which eclipses almost everything Hollywood has churned out in the time since its release.  An easy four stars.

For those who want to sample more of the surprisingly strong films that Korean studios have been putting out over the last decade or so, I'd also recommend 2003's Memories of Murder.  Be aware, though, that despite the fact it also stars the exceptional Kang-Ho Song, its story about the search for a rural Korean serial killer is much darker and more disturbing than The Good, The Bad, The Weird.

Roll 1d20 To See If You Bathe.

At the acknowledged risk of pushing my already-high YR nation geek-rating through the roof, I will tell you that I'm having difficulty figuring out how to keep my order from these guys to a reasonable level.

I mean, do I go with Tetra-soap for tub-time play...  

 

Cylon soap with 'glow in the dark eye'...   
  

Dharma soap to wash away memories of the series finale...  

or perhaps the "Dishonored Dwarf Shaving Kit" to get my inner Gimli on?   

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe I'll just roll some cucumber-melon scented  dice-soap and consult my online purchase charts.  

 

 
  

2009 Is Almost Over...

which is a shame, as it was a great year for pop culture (particularly music, imo).  As a recap, here are the Yeah Right staffer picks for the best moments of the year:

Batman's 2009 picks
Allison's 2009 picks
Larry's 2009 picks
Isangeles' 2009 picks
Whitney's 2009 picks

Let's hope 2010 gives us many more moments to appropriately rank at this time come next year.

Whitney's 2009 Picks

Personal worst thing about 2009: 

Getting hit by an SUV (twas true - no worries I am relatively fine - but that sucked)

Personal best thing about 2009:

Finishing my masters degree!

Album of the Year:

It's Blitz - the Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Honorable Mention: the self-title debut of Them Crooked Vultures

Music Video of the Year: 

Sorry Beyonce, but it's Lady Gaga's Bad Romance - batshit crazy genius.

2009 Playlist:

Papparazzi by Lady Gaga

Use Somebody by Kings of Leon 

People Got a Lotta Nerve by Neko Case

Lucid Dreams by Franz Ferdinand 

I Gotta Feeling by Black Eyed Peas

'Relator,'  by Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson

Alligator by Tegan and Sara

Zero by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs

In These Arms by The Swell Season

Talking Hotel Arbat Blues by Handsome Furs (thanks to Batman for burning me the cd as a get-better-you-got-hit-by-a-car gift)

Best Concert:

Ok, so maybe I'm pathetically busy and wouldn't go to a concert if not for Allison so is it any surprise we concur: Lykke Li at 6th and I Synagogue.  LOVE that venue and Lykke Li ROCKED.

Best Movie: 

Zombieland -  I don't know about you, but I like me some good ole' fashion entertainment and escapism when I go to the movies.  And Zombieland delivered.  It was the most enjoyable movie I've seen in a while.  It delivered in terms of laughs and jumps and wholehearted entertainment.  Allison's review is here.

Best TV Moment: 

Jim and Pam of the Office finally get married!  The hilarity climaxed when the Office cast spoof my vote for best viral video of the year. 

Best Celebrity Moment: 

Obvi the Kenye West debacle "No disrespect Taylor but Beyonce had the best video of all time!" 

Best Fashion Trend: 

The return of high-waisted, feminine dresses (yay for the influence of Mad Men amongst other things)

Worst Fashion Trend: 

The return of harem pants.  Think M.C. Hammer.  This year, the high fashionistas were all over this trend which means we will have to suffer through baggy asses on the street in 2010. 

***excuse my midfinals-paper-writing-holiday brevity***

Allison's 2009 Picks

Album of the Year:  So many great albums to choose from this year, including gems from The Drums, Fanfarlo, Lissy Trullie, Passion Pit, Kid Cudi, and Amanda Blank.  If The Drums album was longer, it might have got the prize.  But it isn't, and I'm going with the solid selection of Face Control by the Handsome Furs.

Music Video of the Year:  As much as I want to pick the crazy train that is Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" (hairless cat!) I have to go with "Skeleton Boy" by Friendly Fires: 

2009 Playlist:
Kid Cudi feat. MGMT and Ratatat - "Pursuit of Happiness"
Passion Pit - "Sleepyhead"
Amanda Blank - "DJ"
The Drums - "Let's Go Surfing"
Lissy Trullie - "Boy Boy"
Lily Allen - "Not Fair"
Wale ft. Lady Gaga - "Chillin'"
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - "40 Day Dream"
Lady Gaga - "Poker Face"
Handsome Furs - "All We Want, Baby, Is Everything"

Cover of the Year: Lily Allen doing Britney's "Womanizer" was pretty sweet.  Honorable mention goes to Weezer's mash-up of "Kids" and "Poker Face" and "Alone" and "Defying Gravity" from Glee.

Best Concert:  I'll tell you what didn't win -- the logistical nightmare that was Virgin FreeFest.  Other than that, the decision was hard:  The Virgins and Lissy Trullie rocked the Rock 'n Roll Hotel.  The Handsome Furs were a more violent version of Mates of State at the Black Cat.  And Jimmy Eat World played all of Clarity and then some at the 9:30 Club.  But looking back on the year, my favorite concert was Lykke Li at 6th and I Synagogue.  It's a unique venue and Lykke Li was as delightfully odd as you would hope she would be.

Best Movie: By far the most fun I had at the movies this year was The Hangover.  Since that's a comedy and it's hard to compare comedies with dramas, I'll give the best drama award to District 9.  So often alien movies follow the same plot, but District 9 was delightfully unique.  The movie was also incredibly smart and didn't hit you on the head with the serious political tones that underlined the movie.

I'll also give a shout out to two movies that came out in 2008 but I didn't see until 2009: Gran Torino and Slumdog Millionaire.  Good stuff all around.

Best TV Moment: I haven't seen it yet (I don't get HBO and I watch Curb on DVD) but I have it on good authority that the "non-reunion" Seinfeld reunion on Curb Your Enthusiasm this season was just as awesome as you would hope it would be.  But I suppose I should give this award to a show that I've actually seen so I will split the award between an existing show (Lost) and a new show (Glee).  Starting with Glee, it would be so easy to make the show cheesy, with the show tunes and all.  But whoever these writers are, they are fantastic.  It's the perfect mix of dark comedy, music, and romance.  Season five of Lost was my favorite since season one.  I loved the Sawyer/Juliet/Kate love triangle (I was on Team Juliet, for reference -- Kate annoys me) and the cliff hanger ending has me all geared up for the final season.

Best Sports Moment: If Tom Watson would have won the British Open, he would totally get this award.  But alas it was too painful to watch him fall apart in the playoff.  So the award goes to Fed: I was so happy to see Roger Federer finally win the French Open this year, then go on to beat Pete Sampras' record for all time Grand Slam victories at Wimbledon.  Pete was my favorite athlete back in the day, but Roger's all-around game is superior to Pete's (who was never very good on clay).  As for the best sporting event that I was at this year, that was probably the NCAA Frozen Four final between Boston and Miami.  Boston scored two goals super late to force the game into overtime.  The last second goal at the USA/Costa Rica World Cup qualifier at RFK Stadium wasn't too shabby either.

Best Celebrity Moment: Does it get any better than Christopher Walken performing "Poker Face"?  I don't think so.