'09 The Year In Review
by MOLLY LAMBERT
What the fuck happened this year? Seriously. I sat down to write this list and already I can't remember a single thing that came out in 2009. The internet has obliterated my short-term. Except for Single Ladies. Was that 2009? Man forget 2009. That shit is over. Fuck the 2000s. FUCK 'EM!
I gotta be honest with you, I barely consumed any culture this year that cost money, because like so many people I haven't had any to spend. If it was free, I was there. If it was new, I was waiting for it to come out on DVD or in paperback.
CULTURE
favorite film: Adventureland. Greg Mottola's love letter to eighties college radio is the closest thing yet to the film version of an autobiographical graphic novel. Great performances and the best soundtrack ever. A eulogy for the pre-internet days when prized information and secret lore came via your local gatekeepers of cool.
best thing I read: the internet
the magazine I still buy occasionally: Esquire
best non-blog essay I read on a blog: Zadie Smith on essays
closest thing to an ongoing scan of my brain: my delicious account
best TV drama: Mad Men
best TV sitcom: 30 Rock
best mini-series: Eastbound & Down
most useful websites (tie): hulu/surf the channel/wikipedia
biggest timekiller: yahoo answers
best indie subcultures: indie video games, free parties, scuba cats
worst indie subcultures: bike dorks, vegans, fashion fascists
things you'd think I'd wouldn't like that I do: It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Taylor Swift, James Cameron
things you might think I'd like that I don't: Dexter, Dirty Projectors, Phoenix
most disturbing trend: the increasing acceptance in America of gingerism. This is how World War II ended up happening.
best ONTD post headline of the year: Jolie Likes To Lick Pitt's Asshole!!!!
runner-up ONTD post: Alec Baldwin: "I Can't Resist My Mom's Baking!"
best color: blue-green
DEATH
good for the form bad for my bank account: the death of print media
quickest change of stance on an issue: Jay-Z following up "Death Of Autotune" with "Run This Town" ft. (queen of autotune) Rihanna
death becomes him: naturally Philip Roth assumes the novel will die out when he does.
three strong counter-arguments to Brian Eno's "Death Of Uncool" position: Owl City, Millionaires, Brian Eno producing that Coldplay album
counter-counter-argument: I kind of like that Millionaires song. It's the Jersey Shore of songs.
I don't even know anymore: My Morning Jacket on American Dad
SCIENCE
scariest science event (tie): giant jellyfish topple fishing boat, predatory coral eats jellyfish
best science event: census of marine life
best science corner: live from the Chilean Andes
BEST OF THIS RECORDING CONTRIBUTORS
Will Hubbard's Astral Weeks
Yvonne Georgina Puig's Texas drought
Danish Aziz's San Francisco
Meredith Hight's Second Sex
Andrew Zornoza's reading list
Durga Chew Bose's Vivre Sa Vie
Almie Rose's dating rules
Eleanor Morrow's Funny People
Georgia Hardstark's first kisses
Molly Young's tanning adventure
Meredith Chamberlain's love story
Owen Roberts' cookie history
TR All Stars' Woody Allen Week
ALEX CARNEVALE'S '09 MASTERBLOGS
The 100 Greatest Writers Of All Time (w. Will Hubbard)
stranded in the wilderness
Lady Detectives of the 2009 period
his review of Whit Stillman's "Metropolitan"
YouTubes and kill lists
Times Square and capitalism
the end of the old death
the magical lands of Hawai'i
he aims to clone Kristen Stewart
evoution and Predator X
Brett Ratner's The Family Man
MUSIC
some albums I liked this year, in no order
Cass McCombs - Catacombs
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
Freddie Gibbs - MIDWESTGANGSTABOXFRAMECADILLACMUZIK
Lil Wayne - No Ceilings
Bob Dylan - Together Through Life
Micachu and The Shapes - Jewellry
Röyksopp - Junior
Gucci Mane - The State vs. Radric Davis
The Dodos - Time To Die
Robert Pollard - The Crawling Distance
Andrew W.K. - '55 Cadillac
Little Dragon - Machine Dreams
Polvo - In Prism
Molly Lambert is the managing editor of This Recording. She tumbls here and twitters here.