A Tiny Fraction of All History

Pick of 2008

Time to sum up what's meant a lot to you this year.  For me, it's been mostly good.

 

Albums:

Best album this year, by a fittingly old style country mile, was the magical Fleet Foxes self-titled debut.  It wasn't just the harmonies, or the seasonally evocative lyrics, but most of all the quality of the songwriting that made this so good.  It'll be hard for them to follow, that's for sure.  Elbow made an excellent fist of it too with 'The Seldom Seen Kid', and it was heartening to see them finally get some reward for their talent after all these years.  Some thought this their best, but I'd say everything they've done has been as good as this.  Sigur Ros released another fine collection too, whose title I'm not going to attempt.  Poppier than previous albums, with even a little English thrown in, but still skating far away from the mainstream, whatever anyone might tell you.  Bon Iver was another of the finds of the year:  'For Emma: Forever Ago' may have had a nonsensical title and the music press fixated upon its icy origins for some reason, but the songs transcended that - they're crafted, delicate things that reward replaying.  Calexico came back too with the solid 'Carried to Dust': again it's easy to take for granted songs of the quality of Two Silver Trees or Slowness, but they deserve a wider audience. 

 

Live Music:

I was lucky enough to attend quite a few gigs this year, and the pick of them was Radiohead's Glasgow Green mudbath.  Overpricing, soaking and too much waiting about were involved but they were all worth it: this band could well be the best in the world, and they proved it with selections from most of their career.  The highlight for me was singing Paranoid Android's 'rain down on me' section as another storm broke overhead.  That and the incendiary 2+2=5.  And the muscular There There…as well as…oh, you get the idea.  Elbow put on a great show too in Glasgow: the singalongs were fine, of course, but nothing could touch the emotional assault of Newborn.  I had tears in my eyes, I freely admit.  Sigur Ros were great too, with those ethereal melodies and strange structures working better live than you could hope for really, and Jonsi proving he possesses one of the greatest voices in music. The gig was spoiled somewhat for me by having to leave before the final encore, the mighty Popsong.  Damn those dodgy transport links in this country! 

 

Movies

Not such a good year for filmgoing.  For those of us who don't like superhero movies, pickings were scarce I'm afraid.  The Diving Bell and the Butterfly was my movie of the year by some distance (I know it may have come out in 2007, but I saw it in 2008).  It's rare in any walk of art that the viewer can feel really inside another person's consciousness, but this managed.  Not that was a nice place to be, and the horror of being trapped inside a completely malfunctioning body might be too much for some, even for an hour and a half (though it's told in vivid flashback too, which helps).  But as an experience, we should all try it just the once.  U2 appear in that movie, but U23D at an I-Max was a real immersive experience in its own way, although rather dependent upon one's tolerance of the band.  Not many would want to be that close to Bono for almost two hours.  But if you are among the converted, it's unmissable.  Most other things I saw were flawed - The Orphanage came with great hype, and worked on some levels but had plot holes you couldn't miss if you gave them any thought at all; Burn After Reading had the intrigue and clever plots of the usual Cohen Brothers movies, and boasted a great cast, but didn't quite click as those guys can.  I think it's main problem was a lack of likeable characters - normally they make sure the audience have someone to root for, but it was hard to see who in this one.  I'm hoping for better films in 2009. 

 

TV

Mixed too.  I had high hopes for BBC's Scotland's History series, but it was horrible, with reliance on dodgy reconstructions, an obsession with royalty and (worst of all) bad history.  The Battle of Dunnichen on Speyside?  Sod off, Oliver.  And take your scarf with you.  The follow up to the excellent Life on Mars, Ashes to Ashes, was a minger too.  I should have lapped it up, it being 'my' era they were recreating, but it was poorly written and quickly became a parody of all the worst aspects of the first series: it felt just like the rushed cash-in it surely was.  A shame for the fine actors floundering in it.  (Nice soundtrack though!).  The 2nd series of The IT Crowd has been patchy too.  I was hoping they would build on the promise of last series, but it hasn't quite happened this time, despite some very funny moments scattered .

Better altogether was ITV's best programme this decade (damning with faint praise I know), Harry Hill's TV Burp.  Yes, it's silly, and it deals mostly with programmes I don't know: but something that surreal in Saturday's teatime schedule is to be cherished.  Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe is the other highlight for me.  (Funny: two shows about TV!  But which is better?  There's only one way to find out…)  His foul mouthed acerbic tone is right up my street, and he has marvellous insight with it when he wants…didn't like his zombie series much, mind you.  Perhaps the best thing about TV this year was the BBC's online service which has, above all, meant that we never need to see Scotsport's Monday programme again. Result!  Other than that, BBC (and BBC4 in particular) has done some fine work on its documentaries.  If they could concentrate on that sort of thing and leave the populist stuff to ITV, it's help, but you can't have everything…