Another year over and what have we done...

Playlist
New Order - Singles
Various - Albums Acquired in 2009

Last day of the year...

Up at an implausible 4am, as I couldn't sleep due to ongoing cold symptoms...

So, took a pile of DVDs downstairs and watched the Dr Who series from the early 80s, "The Five Doctors", followed by Emerson Lake and Palmer's "Birth of a Band - The Isle of Wight Festival 1970"...

Then scanned through ELP's collection "Beyond the Beginning" and watched the last six or seven songs from Pet Shop Boys' live in Mexico DVD, "Cubism"...

By the time Anne appeared, I was onto "The New Order Story"...

This reminded me of just how good New Order were and what an influence they were on me and many others in the early 80s, following on from the demise of Joy Division...

Indeed, Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys appears in the DVD saying what a huge effect New Order had on PSB...

In hindsight this is simple to see...

The gritting lorry finally arrived around 2 weeks after the first snows...



Spent some time in the afternoon rejigging one of the 30GB jukeboxes to hold (almost) every CD acquired in 2009 and, with this on Shuffleplay, I returned to bed to try and get some much needed sleep...

Up again around 7pm and prepping for the arrival of chums Lynn and Ross to see in the New Year at Crispycat Towers...

Anne had prepared a superb lamb rogan josh and two sets of pakoras which were enjoyed with the accompaniment of Bobby's Cheeky Chili Chutney, Meg's ex-mum Julia's plum chutney and Anne's mum's pear chutney and mango chutney - chutney frenzy...

Lynn and Ross arrived around 8, bearing much fizzy wine, beer and games and we ate, drank, chatted and played through the night, finally giving into fatigue around 2:30 - not bad for a bunch of old codgers...

The humming game was particularly entertaining - believe me, it's very difficult, even though you have the song off to a tee inside your head, to hum it in such a way as your collagues can guess what it is...

Here's Lynn humming to me...



Here's what Anne thought of Ross's humming...



The dice game "Greed" made a welcome return after almost 10 years (judging by the last scorecard in the box anyway, which features old friends who divorced early in the decade)...

So that's it then, au revoir 2009 - I won't take time to recap the highs and lows of the year but I did manage to take at least one picture each day - so here's a collage for each month...

January...


February...


March...


April...


May...


June...


July...


August...


September...


October...


November...


December...


And I've whittled the 2009 acquired CDs down to a "best" 100, although this is, of course, subject to change as time goes on - but here it is for now...

Top 100 Albums 2009



2009 Releases
Alice Peacock - Love Remains
Bidiniband - The Land is Wild
David Sylvian – Manafon
Depeche Mode - Sounds of the Universe
DJ Hell - Teufelswerk
Dream Theater - Black Clouds and Silver Linings
Editors – In This Light and On This Evening
Eels – Hombre Lobo
Great Lake Swimmers – Lost Channels
Guilt Machine – On This Perfect Day
IQ – Frequency
Jason Lytle - Yours Truly, The Commuter
Morrissey - Years of Refusal
Muse - The Resistance
Paul Linklater – Smooth Sailing and How
Pet Shop Boys - Yes
Porcupine Tree - The Incident
The Olympic Symphonium – More in Sorrow than Anger
Transatlantic – The Whirlwind
Wetton Downes – Icon III

Recent Releases
Big Elf – Cheat the Gallows
Bon Iver – For Emma Forever Ago
Bright Eyes – Cassagada
City and Colour – Bring Me Your Love
Dar Williams – Promised Land
Deus – Vantage Point
Grand Theft Bus – Made Upwards
Great Lake Swimmers – Body and Mind
It Bites – The Tall Ships
Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke
Laura Pausini – Primavera in Anticipo
Marillion – Happiness is the Road
Mercury Rev – Snowflake Midnight
Michael Rother - Remember the Great Adventure
Neal Morse – Cover to Cover
Nels Andrews – Off Track Betting
Nick Buzz – Circo
Planet X – Quantum
Rex the Dog – The Rex the Dog Show
Royal Wood – A Good Enough Day
Secret Machines - Secret Machines
Sherwood – A Different Light
Sweet Billy Pilgrim – Twice Born Men
The Cure – 4:13 Dream
The Flower Kings – The Sum of No Evil
The Uglysuit – The Uglysuit
Tom McRae – King of Cards
Travis and Fripp -Thread
William Fitzsimmons – Goodnight
Wintersleep – Welcome to the Night Sky

Reissues
Be Bop Deluxe – Drastic Plastic
Jimi Hendrix – Electric Ladyland
King Crimson – In the Court of the Crimson King
King Crimson – Lizard
King Crimson - Red
Led Zeppelin – Presence
Michael Rother – Katzenmusik
Robert Fripp – Exposure
Simple Minds – Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call
The Psychedelic Furs – Same

Collections
Black Sabbath – The Dio Years
Depeche Mode – The Singles 1981-1998
Eels – Meet the Eels
Gentle Giant – Out of the Woods
Paul McCartney – Wingspan
Pet Shop Boys – Pop Art
Soft Cell – Heat: The Remixes
Tangerine Dream – Ultime Thule
UK – In The Dead of Night
Yes – The Ultimate Yes

Live
David Gilmour – Live in Gdansk
Deep Purple – BBC In Concert 1970 & 1972
Hawkwind – The Space Ritual
King Crimson – Level Five
King Crimson – Warsaw 2000

Various
From the Velvets to the Voidoids
Stax 50th Anniversary
This is Reggae Music 1960-1975
Trojan Club Reggae Box Set
Trojan Roots Reggae Box Set

Jazz
Art Pepper – Smack Up
Donald Byrd – Free Form
Mike Taylor Quartet – Pendulum
Miles Davis – Decoy
Music Music Music – Everybody Digs Music Music Music
Music Music Music – What’s a Good Boss Anyway
Return to Forever – The Anthology
Sonny Clark – Leapin’ and Lopin’
Weather Report – Forecast Tomorrow
Weather Report – Night Passage

Classical
Catherine Bott – Virtuoso Italian Vocal Music
Cherubini – String Quartets
Craig Armstrong – Film Works 1995-2005
Huelgas Ensemble – La Quinta Essentia
Jean-Yves Thibaudet – Aria
Mendelssohn – Lieder Ohne Worte
Mozart/Schoenberg – Piano Concertos
Scarlatti – Keyboard Sonatas
Tartini – Violin Sonatas
Various Composers – 100 Best 20th Century Classics

OK that's it - see you in 2010...



Highlight of the day : Anne's uncontrollable laughter at Ross's humming attempts...