Merry Christmas EQs!
Geri and I have been in the house all day getting up to all sorts of naughtiness (in the kitchen) which has been interesting seeing as our oven blew out a few days ago. So in the very non-traditional Christmas spirit, we have grilled some massive steaks instead of doing the whole turkey or ham thing – besides that stuff is tre overrated anyways. I would kill for a good pumpkin pie though…they just don't do that properly over here in England. I also whipped up some of my famous groovy gravy and extra lumpy mashed potatoes too and now we are just being boring and watching crap TV. But I'm having the best day ever. Geri was overjoyed by his new electric razor and I was beyond thrilled with my New Kids On The Block concert tickets (he knows me so well I hear you laughing). The rest of the day – well I'm getting caught up on a huge pile of CDs and enjoying being obsessed over the "Twilight" books by Stefenie Meyer.
So with that, here's our Best Of EQ shizz this year. Despite what anyone else moans about, I thought 2008 was a rather fucking great year in electro-pop music and I'm sure when you look at the list below, you'll probably end up agreeing with me…
Best Albums of 2008
- "Flashback" by Darin: Every song is pure pop pleasure from the stunner Swede. "Road Trip" and "See You At A Club" are my personal favourites!
- "The Fame" by Lady Gaga : Watch out – there is a new princess of pop in town and her name is Lady Gaga. "Paparazzi" is brilliant and "Poker Face" and "Love Game" are pop perfection.
- "808s And Heartbreaks" By Kanye West: Surprisingly, I loved this album. It's stunningly amazing, but he whines a bit too much about the problems that his money brings…but still VERY good.
- "The Block" by New Kids On The Block : And everyone thought their album was going to be rubbish and it turned out being one of the best pop albums of the year. My favorite track is "Big Girl Now" with the above mentioned Lady Gaga. Hut!
- "Queen Of France" by As In RebekkaMaria : A tiny voice packing a huge punch. She should have had a number one by now…it's criminal that she isn't a huge superstar yet.
- "1" by Juvelen: Electro-pop never sounded so angsty and fun before. Juvelen is a hot talent to watch out for and he's great live if you ever get the chance to see him!
- "Electricity" by Parralox: The duo from down under cranked out a powerful and mesmerizing keyboard album and I can't wait until their first video release for "Sharper Than A Knife" in early 09.
- "Sam Sparro" by Sam Sparro: A little soul with your electro? Sure – thanks Mr. Sparro. King of the quirky now "it" music guys if you ask me. Calvin who?
- "Circus" by Britney Spears: Truly a surprise, even to me. But a ton of great tracks with "Unusual You" and the title track being my absolute favourites. Oh god, I became a Britney Spears fan! gasp!
- "Hide Nothing" by Matt Alber : A gay man releases a poignant and touching album that doesn't involve bulging pecs and monotonous thumping beats…imagine that!
Best Singles of 2008
- "More Man Than Man" by Antigone
- "How Many Words" by Blake Lewis
- "Just Dance" by Lady Gaga
- "Dust Off And Dance" by Hydra Productions ft. Tiffany
- "Dream On" – Christian Falk ft. Robyn
- "3 Little Words" by Frankmusik
- "Black And Gold" by Sam Sparro
- "Perfect Girl" by The Ultrasonics
- "Don't Mess" by Juvelen
- "Breathing Your Love" by Darin ft. Kat Deluna
Best MySpace Music Discoveries
- Disa (Iceland)
- Doe Deere (New York City)
- The Good Natured (UK)
- Killian Wells (USA)
- Anjela (New York City)
Best Music Videos of 2008
- "Just Dance" by Lady Gaga : She's humping a whale!
- "Don't Mess" byJuvelen : That crazy dance!
- "Cobrastyle" by Robyn : She ate a smurf!
- "Predator" by Petros : Who knew Harvard could make such good pop and look so hawt at the same time?
- "Lazerboy" by Sergey Lazarev ft. Timati: It's not even in English, but still so good!
- "Frontload" by Freezepop: Incredibly simple concept, but it reels you in like a fish!
- "Neverland" by Darren Hayes: Shadow puppets, glitter and evil innocence…
- "Dream On" by Christian Falk ft. Robyn: The one with the twist…
- "Perfect Criminal" by Vlad Topalov: Sexy dancing, sexy song in a horror movie setting….
- "Vinegar" by Anna Abreu: I just liked the mylar balloons…it's very Warhol.
Most Anticipated Projects for 2009
- Imogen Heap's new album – I'm salivating just thinking about it.
- Frankmusik's new album – Because I only have "Vacant Heart" and "3 Little Words" and I want more!
- "Proletarian" by Thom Skinner – Seriously, pay attention people…
- Sometime's "Supercalifraglisticexpaldocious" album – It's out now, but deserves a proper release…
- Pandering & The Golddiggers – Fabulosity not yet unleashed to the world.
- Sam Taylor – The voice, the looks, the whole package…
- Dangerous Muse – The album that we've been waiting way too long for…
- Nathan Walters "Escape" album – it's out now, but I haven't reviewed it just yet…
- Discotheque – The new Alcazar and a stomping live act.
- The Gadsdens - I've seen them live 3 times and every time you end up leaving with the feeling of "hey, those guys are the next huge thing…"