Two Thousand & Great

Without lists, it's very likely that I would never remember (or do) anything at all. It would be difficult to argue with the stubborn fact that I would spend my days doing little but playing tetris in the sun on my newly rediscovered gameboy, browsing charity stores and listening to very loud music. Below are my lists for the best dressed - not strictly in terms of style - of the year. Please feel free to leave your own (presumably mini) lists in the comments, perhaps you'll enlighten me to some new music, that I will no doubt enjoy blaring from the speakers in lieu of doing anything productive. Just the thought is getting me excited.

Top 10 Albums

Adam Green - Sixes & Sevens
The Kills - Midnight Boom
Kitty, Daisy & Lewis - Kitty, Daisy & Lewis (pictured below)
The Felice Brothers - The Felice Brothers
Late of the Pier - Fantasy Black Channel
Metronomy - Nights Out
Dr Dog - Fate
Teeth & Tongue - Monobasic
Cassette Kids - We Are
Ratatat - LP3

Top 5 Singles

I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You - Black Kids
Young Love - Mystery Jets
That's Not My Name - Ting Tings
Paris is Burning - Ladyhawke
At Last - The Do

Top 5 Gigs

Adam Green (pictured below)
SoKo
Kimya Dawson
Grafton Primary
Cassette Kids

Top 3 Movies

Juno
Young At Heart
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Top 10 Online Destinations

Two Thousand
The Selby (pictured below)
Flickr
Facebook
Face Hunter
Kingdom of Style
Bobbysix
Flavorpill
Style Bytes
Ringo Have a Banana

Top 5 Eats

Govinda's
Shakespeare Hotel
Hot Wok Master
Elephant Jump
Bourke Street Bakery

Top 10 Material Acquisitions

Black and Brown Saddle Bag
Black Lace Up Shoes
Teddy Bear Belt
Pastel Striped Dress
Navy High Waisted Pants
Red and Brown Patterned Scarf
Black Patterned Cropped Top
Cropped White Jumper
Checkered Jodphurs
Long Green Skirt
Camel Wool Vest


Top 5 Outfits From Other Bloggers

Highlights of the Year

Finding such a wonderful, inspiring and central place to live, the plethora of amazing charity shop finds and, most importantly, meeting the man I love.

Dancing with tears in my eyes

You know you're in trouble when the only way you can hope for your fans to appreciate your music is by encouraging them to do drugs. So was the case with The E.L.F. And Darren Cross did it with such admirable subtlety too, "Take your drugs at 3.30 and then come see me at 4.30!" he shouted at Oxford Arts on Wednesday night, shortly after informing the crowd he was to play at Parklife. Amazingly, they (being the few kids front of stage) seemed to listen. I think I may have even heard a slight cheer. Who were these kids? Those that danced, danced front of stage, for all to see. They seeped an inexplicable air of self-satisfaction in 'Van She" t shirts and the only mildly worse slogan t shirt, "So, do you wanna...?". No, thank you, I'd really rather not. Evidently, Cross knows how to pull a crowd. His set ended in a carnage of "Hey Mickey" amongst a jumble of other tunes we never especially liked in the first place.

It seems my tolerance for old, flannel-wearing men behind a laptops making strange hand gestures is significantly lowered when I'm ill.

Local band Grafton Primary however, was none of the above. Joshua Garden (on vocals) robot slash Tai Chi danced onto stage. He was chanting, charming, androgynous, and brilliantly 80s electro-noir in a neck scarf and arm-flashing shirt bearing a print of a half naked woman. The trio, pictured below, had a pretty sweet stage presence.

And if (when you undoubtedly see them) they don't have you wide eyed by the end of the first song, just wait till Josh's brother Benjamin Garden (also on synths) pulls out the oh-so-fantastic keytar. Yum. Grinding, heavy, monotone, rhythmic, and intensely layered, their sounds are simply vibrant live.

By the time Does It Offend You, Yeah? (below) arrived on stage, the conjunctivitis was vying for attention (oh I had not forgotten about you conjuncty), alas, I found one eye wearily closing. A crowd-surfing Har Mar Superstar was even more confusing than it should have been.

And that was the note the night ended on, weary but well entertained. Check out Grafton Primary on their myspace while I cross my fingers that conjuncty forgets about me. Maybe if I cross them long enough, he'll leave me be and instead pay a visit to Cross.