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Top 10 Lists 2001

Album of the year

The Strokes - Is This It

Film of the year

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Top Music

1. The Strokes - Is This It
2. The Frames - Free the birds
3. Sparklehorse - It's a Wonderful Life
4. Radiohead - Kid A
5. Mercury Rev - All is dream
6. Ash - Free all angels
7. Troublemakers - Doubts and Convictions
8. Nick Cave - No More Shall We Part
9. Air - 10000 MHz Legend
10. Daft Punk - Discovery

Top Films

1. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
2. Requiem for a dream
3. Amelie
4. Traffic
5. Ghost World
6. The Man who wasn't there
7. The princess & the warrior
8. Shreik
9. The Piano Teacher
10. When Brendan Met Trudy

All time Contributors

Lists

Scott Balikian  Bret Betnar Garbhán Blake  Keith Buckley  Gerard Cagney  Sue Corcoran  Tom Corcoran  Tony Corrigan  Lucas Hilbert  Frank Hoefle  Brian Hudner  Brendan Jennings  Stacey Lester  Niall Lynch  Kevin McGrath  Dave McGuinness  Trevor Morrissey  Laurent Muzellec  Paul O'Connell  Martin O'Gorman  Christine O'Meara  Caroline O'Reilly  Barry Ryan 

Scott Balikian

Frito's Top 10s

Top Albums I've Listened to:

Roots Manuva - "Run Come Save Me" - just got it, but it's ace
Boston - "Boston" - I listened to this way too many times as we performed it in its entirety in August. See Best Concerts!
Mozart - "Coronation Mass and Requiem" - Just wicked.
Beta Band - "Hot Shots II" - the only thing I was able to listen to when in New York recently.
The Strokes - "Is This It" - a little overhyped, but fun
New Order - "Get Ready" - and I've never been a New Order fan!
PJ Harvey - "Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea" - brilliant.
The White Stripes - "White Blood Cells"
Zero 7 - "Simple Things"
Various - "Soul Heaven" - House comp my roommate, Stacey picked up in Canada. We listened to this disc all day over and over and over one Sunday. It was one of the most perfect days. We've since lost the disc, but have named our pad, The Soul Heaven.
Pink Floyd - "The Wall" - just picked this up on vinyl recently and was playing it enough that my roommate was getting annoyed.

I should also throw in The Stone Roses debut and Coldplay's debut, as I would put both of these in my top 10 of all time, but ask me about that next year; it might change.

Some Notable Songs I've dug:

Groove Armada - "Whatever, Whenever" from Vertigo - M.A.D. is brilliant!
PJ Harvey - "Big Exit" from Stories from...
U2 - "In a Little While" from All That Your Can't Leave Behind
Nick Drake - "Northern Lights" from Bryter Layter
The Beatles - "Something" from Abbey Road - go George
    Note: these last three are influenced by feelings of lost love. *sniff* ain't it grand?!
The Pogues - "If I Should Fall From Grace With God" from same named album
Jonny Polonsky - "Evil Scurvy Love" from Hi My Name is Jonny - ok, you can throw this in with the other heart break tunes.
Pulp - "A Little Soul [Lafayette Velvet Revisted Remix] from Kid Loco's Jesus Life for Children Under 12 inches
Velvet Underground - "Pale Blue Eyes" from The Velvet Underground
Gorillaz - "Clint Eastwood" from ... oh you know what album it's from!

Top Concerts I've seen or been in:

Dialectics of Rawk present an evening of B'Austin - August 15th at I-Spy in Seattle, Washington. We rawked, of course.
St Germain - Showbox - Seattle, Washington - maybe this was last year, but it was jamming.
Weezer Tribute night at Sit and Spin - Seattle, Washington - most bands sucked, but it was all worth it for Wonderful and Peter Parker.
Coldplay - Benaroya Hall (Symphony Hall) - Seattle, Washington - ok, the acoustics sucked, but the show kicked ass!

As you can see, I haven't really left Seattle this year which saddens me to no end. I did make it to New York for a bit, but failed to catch any shows.

Favourite Film of the Year:

Pootie Tang - about a superhero who speaks a type of slang that doesn't make sense, but everyone seems to understand ("Wha da tay." "Sign Yo Pitty on tha runny kine" etc) He slays his enemies with his Daddy's belt. Too damn funny.
The Way of the Gun - this comes in a close second or might be my more serious bill for the top spot.
High Fidelity - I would say this is the best film adaption of a novel I have ever seen - and they moved it from North London to Chicago. Jack Black was dead on.

Top Book(s):

High Fidelity - Nick Hornby - Tops the list without question
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay - Michael Chabon
Timbuktu - Paul Auster - shitty ending, though.
Rancid Aluminium - James Hawes - actually, this was just alright. I only include it cause I just finished it.

Top Things I've Done This Year:

Performed in my first band ever for my 30th birthday - see Top Concerts.
Ran the Seattle Half Marathon after starting to run only 4 months prior from a sedentary lifestyle.
Embarassed myself many times in conversations with my ex-girlfriend about my supposed love for her *ahem*
Wrapped 322 packages for Amazon.com in Kentucky recently. I'm not really proud of this, but thought I would mention it as it is probably the last time that ever happens!

Ya'll have a great year - all around.

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Bret Betnar

in no particular order...

films (since i spent most of last year in nz, i'm still a little behind the times, but this is a list of the more interesting films):

crouching tiger, hidden dragon (2000)
oh brother, where art thou (2000)
cristo in paris (1991)
himalaya (2001?)
iron monkey (2001)
monty python:quest for the holy grail (saw it at boulder theatre!!)
virgin suicides (1999)
dog star man - stan brakhage (crazy film-old as dirt)
xiu-xiu, the sent down girl (year unknown)
Traffic (2000) - mr. soderberg is an old baton rouge boy - "sex, lies and videotape" is filmed there and in one scene they visit 'the bayou' outside of l.s.u. - a bar i used to hang in from time to time.
requiem for a dream (2000)

books (likewise)

a dry white season - andre brink
made in america - bill bryson
r. buckminster fuller: an appreciation - sideon
the great gatsby - f. scott fitzgerald (finally)
martin sloane - michael redhill (to be released in 2002-not bad)

live events
afraid i saw nothing of note this year other than one of my mates jamming out with a jazz band at trios and a few unknown live gigs in chicago.

music albums
i would have to agree with kid a, although i didn't hear it until this year - same with david grey really...shit, i don't know - what are some good new albums?

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Garbhán Blake

Bit of an unusual year this - started off with a lot of classics - John Cale, Television, Big Star - missed Roxy Music - almost felt disillusioned that there was no 'new music' that appealed to me. No need to worry though with releases from Spiritualized, Pernice Brothers and Air plus discovery of Mos Def, Troublemakers and of course The Strokes brought a fresher feel to my listenings.

1. Troublemakers - Doubts and Convictions
Dineen's summer favourite is worth searching for. Funky tunes with film samples a plenty.

2. Air - 10000 MHz Legend
Definitely a grower - sci-fi robotic lyrics can take a while but an excellent progression from Moon Safari.

3. Strokes - Is This It
New York's groovy fuckers belt out mighty fine 3-minute punk pop songs.

4. Smog - Dongs of Sevotion
A touch of the darker, bleaker side of life from Bill Callahan and co. 'Bloodflow' and 'Dress Sexy at my Funeral' are standout tracks.

5. Mos Def - Black on Both Sides
Curiosity buy after last year's list. Hip Hop gem.

6. Sparklehorse - It's a Wonderful Life
Tom Waits, Nina Person, John Parish and PJ Harvey appear on third and possibly best Sparklehorse offering.

7. Nick Cave - No More Shall We Part
A more mellow side of the Aussie genius.

8. Roxy Music - The Early Years
Bit of nostalgia here - their debut album is possibly one of the best ever - this offers more of the same from the Ferry/Eno era.

9. John Cale - Fear
One that I've been meaning to buy for ages. A classic that doesn't disappoint.

10. Spiritualized - Let it Come Down
New band, tunes that match the old ones.

Honourable Mentions:
Rufus Wainwright - Poses
Pernice Brothers - The World Won't End
Mark Lanegan - Field Songs
At the drive-In - Relationship of Command
Stephen Malkmus - Stephen Malkmus
Uncut - more sounds of the new west

Gigs

Strokes, Temple Bar Music Center.
Believe the hype. These guys rock.

Spiritualized - Ambassador
Incredible, as ever. New band gel seamlessly with brass section for amazing rock symphony.

Orchestral evening with Tindersticks, Olympia theatre
One band member goes from guitar, violin to conducting the orchestra. There's a familar vain running through their work, but who's complaining?

John Cale, Vicar St.
No drinking, no smoking show in Vicar St. Heart wrenching redition of Heartbreak Hotel and the obligatory Halleullia.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Olympia theatre
Most of the new album and plenty of the classics but, tragically no Kylie

Big Star, Red Box
'Right, where shall we start'. Anywhere you want Alex. Tunes that bands would kill for by the bagfull.

Television, Vicar Street
Guiding Light and of course Marquee Moon are gems in a classic rock show.

Jimi Tenor, Vicar Street
Funky pop songs from Finland's finest.

Drugstore, Whelan's
Always a good show, lineup may change but Isabel Monteiro's voice and crisma will always shine through.

Dave Couse, Whelan's
A reminder of some great A House tunes - crowd know every word of the old stuff, patiently wait through his solo stuff.

Stephen Malkmus, Ambassador
No doubts about who was the ispiration behind Pavement.

Stereolab, Ambassador
Last night of their tour and maybe the tiredness showed. Still enjoyable and a few standout tracks.

Most Unusual act
Jimi Tenor Support - A guy sitting at an iMac producing electronic tunes.

Plays

Eden
Excellent Eugene O'Brien play examining the events of a weekend from the different perspectives of a husband and wife. Their lives are familar to anybody from small town, Ireland. Directed by Conor McPherson. Recently came back to the Abbey - go see it!

Woyczek
Visually amazing, musically wonderful. In Danish, so there was some frantic reading of the script between scenes. Look out for the Tom Wait's soundtrack early next year.

Krapp's Last Stand
John Hurt was incredible in this short, single character piece by Beckett.

The Lonesome West
The third, and perhaps darkest of the Leenane trilogy from Martin McDonagh.

Port Authority
Latest in Conor McPherson's monologued tales recounting the interwoven lives of three generations of Dublin men. Intriguing and entertaining.

Eamon McEamon Tour of Dublin.
My Dublin by Eamon McEamon. Derek O'Connor's fringe comedy ranged from a bit of banter with a drunk outside the Central Bank, interpretive dance at Break for the Border to brief history of the drugs scene in Sides nightclub. Hilarious.

Dud MacBeth
Dance based musical interpretation in the Theatre festival. It came highly recommended, thankfully it wasn't too long.

Film

1. Requiem for a dream
Darren Aronofsky's follow up to PI tells the story of life in Coney Island plummeting into despair. By far the most memorable and disturbing film I've seen in ages.

Others (in no particular order):
Sexy Beast
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
The Piano Teacher
When Brendan met Trudy
Amelie

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Keith Buckley

Top Ten Albums 2001

1 Ash-Free all angels
2 The Frames-Free the birds
3 Ben Folds-rockin the suburbs
4 Weezer-Green album
5 Steve Malkmus
6 U2-All that you can't leave behind
7 The New Year Rejects….Watch out for 2002 (coming soon to mp3)
8 Radiohead-KidA
9 Muse-origin of Symmetry
10 Frank Sinatra…some bootleg compilation!!

Top Ten Gigs/live events

1 Billy Connoly-the point
2 Rendition of the song from the bodyguard (whitney Houstan) in a bar in Kyiv…by some local girl..Fuckin amazin. Should have top spot, but the Big yen is just tooooo funny!
3 Mundy-Dolans
4 The Frames-Dolans
5 Uefa Cup final…what a game and I'm a united freak!!
6 some daytime gig in Termits during the summer…it was like for one hour in that pokey dank shithole (that you gotta love) it was 1993
7 Muse-Witness…wasn’t there but heard a few songs over the mobile…technology eh!!
8 Juliet Turner-Dolans…jeez did I live in Dolans this year…
9 trad session in back-arse of nowhere (croi..me thinks) on Paddys Day.
10 I know its not a live event but Kylie minogues video rocks!!!
[Ed : Dolans's Warehouse is a great Limerick venue]

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Gerard Cagney

This year was hard to chose but i'll give it to fugazi because they are as good as pavement but don't have the crappy attitude. someone was riding my ass last year because they thought everything would sound like radiohead or something, so if you read the list and you don't like hiphop, don't listen to herbalizer or whatever. a lot of my list this year is eastcoast punk, not sure why, i'm probably sick of crap radiohead albums. but every year i buy records i never heard of after reading other people's lists and they are always really good. anyway i haven't heard the new frames album or leonard cohen and everyone is raving about the white stripes album (though i saw them in concert and thought they were messing). the best concert is kindof weird because it's hard to compare with everyone all over the world but yo la tengo were best this year (again). best film was amelie and i liked 'meet the parents' but they are probably the only films i saw apart from planet of the apes which was crap. do i sound negative? i had one of the best years of my life.

topten:

fugazi - the argument
the go-betweens - friends of rachel worth
mogwai - rock action
stereolab - spacedust
unwound - leaves turn inside you
the clientele - suburban light
dismemberment plan - emergency and i
saint etienne - interlude
the mooney suzuki - people get ready
mercury rev - all is dream

other good stuff:
manitoba - start breaking my heart
built to spill - ancient melodies of the future
elbow - asleep in the back
black eyed peas - behind the front
black rebel motorcycle club - brmc
martha wainwright - ep
tram - frequently asked questions
susumu yokota - grinning cat
superchunk - here's to shutting up
the strokes - is this it
...and you will know us by the trail of dead - madonna
squarepusher - my red hot car
nick cave & the bad seeds - no more shall we part
outkast - stankonia
kristen hersh - sunny border blue
pepe deluxe - super sound
gentle waves - swansong for you
rockateens - sweet bird of youth
hefner - the fidelity wars
oranger - the quietvibrationland
arab strap - the red thread
sunny day real estate - the rising tide
granddaddy - the sophtware slump
bjork - vespertine
the constantines
modest mouse - the moon & antartica
pierce turner - 3 minute world

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Sue Corcoran

Tom I am still waiting for last years mars bar!!

!

SUE'S TOP TEN FOR 2001

1. BEST ALBUM:
the frames/for the birds

2. SECOND BEST ALBUM:
the frames/live in dolans (there are only 3 copies!)

3. BEST BOOK:
princess - behind the veil/anoymous saudi royal
high fidelity/nick hornby

4. BEST MOVIE:
shreik
magnolia

5. BEST LOCATION VISITED:
dubai

6. BEST SPORTING ACTIVITY:
learning to sail a laser
completing a dive course

7. BEST BEST GIG:
mundy/dolans/march 20th me thinks?

8. BEST DAY:
march 02........

9. BEST PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT:
being part of the team to open Bahrians new duty free shop

10.
BEST MEMORY: sunset on the cornishe in Bahrain one June evening!

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Tom Corcoran

Albums

On April Fools days I was robbed as I moved to Amsterdam, all the music that was in my current rotation was taken, the rest was in Limerick :-( I was so sick I have hardly been in a record store since. So shapes my list this year :

1. The Frames - For the Birds
What a birthday present from my sister Serena! If you have the chance to see Glen Hansard live don't miss it, you will be converted!
2. DJ Hi Tek & Talib Kweli - Reflection Eternal (Train Of Thought)
One of the 3 albums I bought this year post robbery. Top drawer Hip-Hop.
3. Radiohead - Kid A
4. Nick Cave - Murder Ballads
One of the few albums in the apartment I was subletting in Amsterdam that I listened to.
5. Mogwai - Rock Action
6. Daft Punk - Discovery
7. PJ Harvey - Stories from the city, stories from the sea
I played this solid for the first 3 months of the year and haven't heard it since.
8. Kruder & Dorfmeister - G-Stoned
9. REM - Reveal
A friend burned this for me to expand my post april fools day miniscule amsterdam collection.
10. Ian Pooley - Since Then

Honourable mentions :
I know some of these would be in my top 10 if I still had them :
Cane 141 - Garden Tiger Moth
Low - Things We Lost In The Fire
Steve Malkimus - Eponymous
Cannibus - 2000BC
Thievery Corporation - The mirror conspiracy

David Holmes - Lets get Killed
Sparklehorse - It's a wonderful life (not listened to enough to make top 10)
Thinktoy Aphex Twin Drukqs Mix
http://www.thinktoy.com/audio/drukqs_mix.ram
http://www.thinktoy.com/audio/thinktoy_aphex_twin_drukqs_mix.mp3

Gigs

1. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Olympia Theatre, Dublin, 28 April
2. Gill Scott Heron - Savoy Theatre, Cork, 8 July
3. Low / Kings of Convenience - Olympia Theatre, Dublin, 21 March
4. Bonny Prince Billy - Shelter, Dublin, 20 Jan
5. Dreadzone - Lowlands, Netherlands, 24 August
6. Frank Black - Paradiso, Amsterdam 22 August
6. Sigur Ros - Paradiso, Amsterdam, 1 April
An allright gig but memorable as it was the night of the day I moved to Amsterdam and got robbed.

Other Live Events (in no particular order)

* Lowlands - Netherlands, 24-26 August. Superb multi-day festival in Netherlands... Dreadzone / Frank Black / Pulp / Ash....
* Eden, Conor McPherson, Witten by Eugene O'Brien - Peacock, 8 February
* Port Authority, Written & Directed by Conor McPherson - Gate Theatre Dublin, 27 April
* Jimmy White V Alan McManus - Irish Masters Snooker, CityWest Hotel, 27 March
I got Jimmy to sign my ticket afterwards and told him that he would "win the big one yet"!
* Marcel Marceau - Pantomimes of styple & Pantomimes of Bip, Olympia Dublin, 16 Feb
* John McEnroe V Bjorn Borg, Point Depot, Dublin, 22 Feb
* Bash, Written & Directed by Neil Labute - Gate Theatre, Dublin 30 March
* World Bowl IX - Amsterdam Arena, June 30
NFL Europe final, I think Berlin beat Barcelona, great match though
* Robodock IV - Amsterdam, 22 September
Squatter festival not to miss if you are in the area

Films

1. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wo hu cang long), Ang Lee
There are not many years when you know you have seen the two best films of the year and January isn't even over. What can't Ang Lee turn his hand too...next up is The Hulk.
2. Requiem for a dream, Darron Aronofsky. Written by Hubert Selby Jnr from his book.
Saw this in Dublin and again in Amsterdam. A really exciting talent from the maker of Pi. He has come up with the story for the Batman prequel which he is directing.
3. State & Main, Written & Directed by David Mamet.
His dialogue is always interesting but this is the best one he has directed.
4. Ghost World - Terry Zwigoff.
His previous film was the stunning documentary about the comic book writer/artist Robert Crumb and now years on is this colabaration with comic book artist Daniel Clowes. The best film I have ever seen on a plane.
5. Der Krieger und die Kaiserin / The princess & the warrior, Written & Directed by Tom Tykwer.
Franka Potente returns with him from Lola Rennt / Run Lola Run (saw this again this year with Dutch subtitles!)
When is Heaven - Krzysztof Kieslowski script - out?
6. The Man who wasn't there - Written & Directed by the Coen Brothers
7. You can count on me, Written & Directed by Kenneth Lonergan
8. Amelie, Jean-Pierre Jeunet
9. Traffic / Erin Brockovich - Steven Soderbergh is an inspiration
10. Faithless, Liv Ullmann (1997), written by Ingmar Bergmann
10. The Pledge, Sean Penn
His first in 6 years, not a classic but Jack Nickolson is in great form

Honourable mentions :
Dancer in the Dark, Written & Directed by Lars von Trier. Seen at Lowlands.
Kanadiana, Written & Directed by Jon Einarsson Gustafsson
Girlfight, Written & Directed by Karyn Kusama
Monto Carlo, Norbert ter Hall (Netherlands)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Terry Gilliam (1998). The Hunter S. Thompson book brought to the screen, it was a treat to see this on the big screen again.
When Brendan met Trudy, Kieron J. Walsh
About Adam, Gerry Stembridge

Turkeys of the year :
Vertical Limit - went to see this dross because some mates were involved with the filming in New Zealand
Jurassic Park 3 - stuck in Anchorage on standby, this was a brutal time waster

Disappointment of the year
Planet of the Apes - Burton's reimagination lacked imagination, give me the original any time

Books

Best Fiction

1. Juno and Juliet, Julian Gough
He has said that the wanted to be a Musican in his 20's (Toasted Heretic), Writer in his 30's, Filmmaker in his 40's...not a bad philosophy!
2. The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkin
Somehow I missed the boat until now and have just started Lord of the Rings

Best Non-fiction

Rebel Code (Linux and the open source revolution), Glyn Moody

Misc

Thrill of the year
Taking off and landing a Cesna Cardinal in Alaska

City of the year
Amsterdam

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Tony Corrigan

Top 10 CDs

1. David Sylvian – Secrets of the Beehive
2. David Sylvian / Robert Fripp – Live
3. Robbie Williams – Swing when you’re winning
4. John Cale – Paris S’Eveille
5. Henryk Gorecki – Symphony No.3
6. REM - Reveal
7. St Germain – Tourist
8. Bjork – Vespertine
9. Vanessa Mae – Subject To Change
10. Fun Lovin’ Criminals – 100% Columbian

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Lucas Hilbert

This year I kept my new CD release purchases to a minimum and filled out my collection with a lot of used titles I missed when they first came out. I generally did the same thing with movies and saw more rented titles than new ones in the theatre, so I guess it was a retro year -- the first sign that I'm getting old! This year I kept my new CD release purchases to a minimum and filled out my collection with a lot of used titles I missed when they first came out. I generally did the same thing with movies and saw more rented titles than new ones in the theatre, so I guess it was a retro year -- the first sign that I'm getting old!

Top 10 Music CDs:

1. Cat Power - "Moon Pix"
2. Black Heart Procession - "Three"
3. 16 Horsepower - "Secret South"
4. PJ Harvey - " Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea"
5. Boards of Canada - "Music Has the Right to Children"
6. Black Eyed Peas - "Bridging the Gap"
7. Maximum Coherence - "Things the Pillow Told Me"
8. Richard Ashcroft - " Alone With Everybody"
9. Neutral Milk Hotel - self-titled
10. Pure Abstrakt Compilation

Top 10 Films:

1. Waking Life
2. Amelie
3. Henry Fool
4. Cast Away
5. Almost Famous
6. The Gift
7. Traffic
8. Matewan
9. The Red Violin
10. Saving Private Ryan

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Frank Hoefle

Movie: I'll have to say 'American Psycho', which you may find apt. Unfortunately, there were many movies this year I didn't get to see, like From Hell and Training Day and others I can't think of.

Album: Moby's 'Play' got the most play this year, being practically a permanent resident of the cd changer all the way across the US and back, so it has to get the nod for CD just for frequency.

Live Show: the parades at Mardi Gras

Best Book: Ernest Hemingway, 'To Have and Have Not', followed closely by Hunter S. Thompson, 'The Rum Diary', and Ken Kesey, 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'

Best Video Game: square category, I know, but my friend got an XBox and Gotham Racing is just amazing.

The rest of this stuff really has no bearing on your list, since it's not proper 'entertainment', but here it is anyway:

Coolest thing I did this year:
Fly an Ultralight

Best Thing I Didn't See This Year:
The goddamn snowed-in Grand Canyon...complete whiteout.

Best City I Visited This Year:
Vancouver, B.C.

Best Hostel:
Grand Canyon International, Flagstaff AZ

Best Bike Trail:
The one down by the reservoir in my very own hometown is the most fun and technical I've ridden, though very short. Wawayanda in northern NJ is the best 'real' place to ride this year.

Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays / Have a great New Year's!

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Brian Hudner

Albums:

Low - Things we lost in the fire
The Strokes - Is this it
Mercury Rev - All is Dream
Ash - Free All Angels
Cosmic Rough Riders - Enjoy the Melodic Sunshine
Ryan Adams - Gold
Elbow - Asleep at the back
Eels - Souljacker
The Kingbury Manx - Let You Down
The Clean - Getaway

Gigs:

Television
Ash
Yo la Tengo
Kings of Convenience
Magnetic Fields
Low
Joe Pernice
Elbow
David Kitt

Movies:

Amores Perros
The Piano Teacher
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Ghostworld

Books:

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - Dave Eggers
The True History of the Kelly Gang - Peter Carey

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Brendan Jennings

1. Cane141 - Garden Tiger Moth
superb album, and they're from Galway

2. The Strokes - Is this it
despite all the hype

3. The Jimmy Cake - Brains
the irish Godspeed... and nearly as good

4. The Clean - Getaway
seminal NZ band (apparently), great album

5. The Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs
finally got around to buying it, takes a long time to listen to it all though

6. Martin Finke - Let it Ring
great songs, kind of a louder version of Red House Painters.

7. El Diablo - 23rd Psalm Cafe
includes a great cover of Love Hurts

8. Mercury Rev - All is Dream
worth the money for the first song alone

9. The Kingsbury Manx - Let You Down
mellow...

10. Susumu Yokota - Sakura
the token electronic album

Also: Sparklehorse, Apples in Stereo, Future Pilot AKA, The White Stripes, Kings of Convenience, Redneck Manifesto, npb, David Kitt, Low

And films:
Requiem for a Dream (great music too)
Ghostworld
Traffic
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Amelie
Amores Perros
Moulin Rouge

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Stacey Lester

My top ten for the year 2001:

1. Weezer - The Green Album Modern Power Pop for Modern Power People!
2. David Lynch's Muholland Drive. The most enjoyable DL movie yet-without a G rating, that is.
3. Scott Walker, introduced to me via a mix tape then expanded on by buying "Boy Child 67-70" and his first 4 solo albums.
4. "Alias" on ABC. I never get tired of seeing girls kick ass!
5. Frito. A hell of a good guy and a great roommate (and no, I'm not kissing ass!)
6. My friends. They get me through, they give me love...my true family!
7. B'Austin at I-Spy 8/15. Got to see a project through and I was happy to see it delighted and thrilled a lot of people!
8. Clive Barker's "Imajica". Reread this year. Due to previous impatience I missed a great story. I didn't miss a thing this time!
9. Anna and Carey...Thanks, ladies! You rule.
10. London and Zurich. I got to visit old friends, see things I'd only read about and bond with my goddaughter!

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Niall Lynch

1. The Strokes - is this is?
It has to be the strokes freshest sound of the year, so simple it had all other bands thinking why didn't we do that. 'Hard to Explain' has to be the best single of the year, what a bass line, and great lyrics like, 'Watching TV forget what I'm told, well I'm too young and they are too old'. I wish I was still a teenager.

2. Sparklehorse - It's a wonderful life
Crazy lyrics abound throughout this album, lots of different sounds too. Love the two songs with PJ Harvey, particularly Piano Fire, when the album really gets going.

3. Lift to Experience - Texas Jerusalem Crossroads
This is truly a religious experience, it's like Jeff Buckley is singing from beyond the grave. From the album cover you'd think these guys would eat your children, instead they just sing songs about Texas being the promised land.

4. Mark Eitzel - The Invisible Man
Mark has gone electronic for this album and it works really well, lots of drum machine antics, but the epic stories remain. 'To the Sea' is a brilliant song about Jeff Buckley.

5. The Avalanches - Since I Left you
Summer sounds with brilliant sampling even made Madonna and Boney M sound cool.

6. DJ Hi Tek- Hi-Teknology
Last year he was there with Talib Kweli, this year he shows he can do it on his own. More excellent Hip Hop sounds coming out of the Rawkus Records stable, guest appearances from Common, Mos Def and Talib Kweli.

7. TinderSticks - can our love / Trouble Every Day
They pick up from where they left off with Simple Pleasures, no weak songs at all on this one. Also released a soundtrack for the Claire Denis movie, put the two albums back to back for the complete tindersticks experience!

8. Mercury Rev - All is a Dream
Even better than Deserters Songs, epic swirling sounds with the Dave Friedman treatment (who was also involved with the Sparklehorse album)

9. Goldfrapp - Felt Mountain
Couldn't stop listening to this one earlier in the year, hypnotic voice of Alison goldfrapp teamed up with some great beats.

10. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - no more shall we part
My favourite since Henry's Dream, has the Dirty three trademark violin sounds firmly present.

Honourable mentions:
· Hope Sandoval and the warm intentions - Bavarian Fruit Bread
· Jim White - No Such Place
· Spain - I believe
· Hood - Cold House
· Stina Nordenstam - This is Stina ...
· Vincent Gallo - When
· The Arsonists - Date of Birth
· Alexkid - Bienvenida
· Troublemakers - Doubts and convictions
· Ash - Free all Angels
· Giant Sand - Chore of Enchantment

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Kevin McGrath

Music :

1 - Coldplay : Parachutes
2 - Air : 10000Hz Legend
3 - Air : Premier Symptomes
4 - Nick Drake : Bryter Layter
5 - Sodastream : Looks like a Russian
6 - Yo La Tengo : And then nothing turned itself inside out
7 - Daft Punk : Homework
8 - Belle & Sebastian : Tigermilk
9 - Orbital : Middle of nowhere
10 - Smashing Pumpkins :Gish

honourable mention : Ron Sexsmith : whereabouts

Gigs :

its possible that I didn't go to a single gig this year, which would be the first time since 1984 or so!

Films :

Only went to the movies 2 or 3 times.....some action film with John Travolta and Halle Berry was damn good.
Saw "Gladiator" and thought it was pretty good. Was this the year of "the Matrix" ...has to go down as a classic...not without its flaws, but would probably make my personal top 10 films if all time list.

Worst films :

some awful shite with Hugh Grant...Bridget Jones Diary. Was "Jurrassic Park 3" worse? At least Hugh Grant wasn't in it.

Sporting events :

Limerick v Tipp in Munster final : great game, Limerick shoulda won it.
Limerick v Wexford : great game, Limerick shoulda won it. A cruel finish for Limerick. Poxy Fitzhenry lashes home the last minute free.
Aussie v New Zealand in the final match of the Tri-Nations : compelling viewing
Lions v Australia 1ast game : even more compelling (I'd put Ireland beating England here, but I missed that!)
Ireland 1 Holland 0 : The moment McAteer scored had me running circuits around the house.....hadnt been that psyched up watching Ireland possibly since Ray Houghtons goal vs Italy in 1994.
And one more.....Paulo Di Canio scoring againt the monkey Barthez in Jauary to beat ManU at Old Trafford in January.

(bad sports moments.....Tipp narrowly beating Clare, Tipp narrowly beating Limerick, Tipp narrowly beating Galway)

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Dave McGuinness

BEST OF 2001

Best Albums of 2001

1. Nick Cave - No More Shall We Part ( a man at the peak of his powers )
2. Bob Dylan - Love & Theft ( don't write him off just yet, a superb album )
3. New Order - Get Ready ( showing the new kids how it's done )
4. Daft Punk - Discovery ( i dare u to listen to this and not be happy )
5. Sparklehorse - It's A Wonderful Life ( their best? could be )
6. Johnny Cash - Solitary Man, American Recordings III ( brilliant combination of old and new )
7. Mercury Rev - All Is Dream ( the difficult follow-up to deserters- they pulled it off )
8. David Holmes - Bow To The Exit Sign ( can't even describe this, it's an epic )
9. REM - Reveal ( still goin' strong )
10. Ash - Free All Angels ( great rock album )

Honourable Mentions

Radiohead - Amnesiac
Air - 10,000Hz Legend
Bassment Jaxx - Rooty
Dr. Dre - Chronic 2001
Faithless - Outrospective
Roger Sanchez - First Contact

Most Disappointing
Pulp - We Love Life
Talvin Singh - OK

Best of the Rest

1. Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle ( a highly entertaining listen )
2. Kruder & Dorfmeister - The K&D Sessions
3. Kid Loco - A Grand Love Story
4. Faithless - Reverence
5. Nick Drake - Bryter Layter
6. Belle & Sebastian - Tigermilk
7. Bonnie Prince Billy - Ease Down The Road
8. David Holmes - Let's Get Killed
9. Faithless - Reverance
10. The Go-Betweens - 16 Lover's Lane

Honourable Mentions

Café Del Mar - Volumen Siete
Café Del Mar - Volumen Seis
Faithless - Sunday 8PM
Joy Division - Substance
Paul Oakenfold - Tranceport

Best Songs

Daft Punk - One More Time
Roger Sanshez - Another Chance
Radiohead - Pyramid Song
Bassment Jaxx - Jus 1 Kiss
Eminem - Stan
Johnny Cash - I See A Darkness ( with Will Oldham/Bonnie Prince Billy )

Best Movies

1. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
2. Quills
3. Gloomy Sunday
4. The Contender
5. Promises (documentary)
6. Best In Show
7. The Endurance (documentary)
8. Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?
9. Shrek
10. Traffic

Honourable Mentions

Dancer In The Dark
Hannibal
Tigerland
Memento
The Fast Runner
The Princess & The Warrior
Chocolat
Himalaya

Favourite Books

The Moor's Last Sigh - Salman Rushdie
Trainspotting - Irvine Welsh
Congo Journey - Redmond O'Hanlon
Harry Potter & The Philosopher's Stone - J.K. Rowling
The Climb - Anatouli Bhoukreev
Touching The Void - Joe Simpson
The Shipping News - E. Annie Proulx
Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien ( 3rd time, and still fantastic )

Best Gigs

Roy Davis Jr. @ Studio 9, Wellington - the best dance music I've ever heard, this guy cranked it for 5 hours
St. Germain @ Town Hall, Wellington - superb
John Williams and Friends, Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington

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Trevor Morrissey

CDs of 2001

1.Amnesiac...purely because its radiohead
2.Aslan....bloody great comeback from these dudes
3.Frames...for the birds

Best LP released in my lifetime is still, by a long shot, OK COMPUTER followed closely by the Joshua Tree....Of Course!!!!

Movies:

1. Chocolat
2...were there more???

Gig:

1. Frames....Jean Monet....UL...June/July????thanks to an email from you (Tom) and you were actually in Holland at the time.

Books:

1. Young harry...of course!!!

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Laurent Muzellec

Top Ten Music Album

1/ Jim O'Rourke: Insignificance
2/ Mos Def: Black on Both Side
3/ Flaming Lips: The Soft Bulletin
4/ Bobby Womack: Across 110th Street.(OMPSoundrack)
5/ Sparklehorse: It's a wonderful life
6/ Gainsbourg (réédition de 2 albums à thème: Histoire de Melody Nelson/ L'Homme à la tete de chou)
7/ Deltron 3030
8/ Levi's Compilation: Twisted Music to fit
9/ Noir Desir: Des Visages des Figures
10/ Bjork: Vespertine

The last Album of Jim O'Rourke (not that I knew the one before) is first by far. I am sorry for Bobby Womack but I like this album. Vespertine is good album no matter what you think.

Top Ten Movies:

1/ No Man's Land (Danis Tanovic,Bosnia-Fr, 2001)
2/ Mullholland drive (David Lynch, USA, 2001)
3/ Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (Jean Pierre Jeunet, France, 2001)
4/ L'emploi du Temps (Laurent Cantet, France 2001)
5/ Traffic (Steven Soderbergh, USA, 2001)
6/ The Last Supper (Vojko Anzeljoc, Slovenia, 2001). You had to live in Braunschweig to see that one!!
7/ The Man who was not there. (Coen bro. USA, 2001).
8/ Little Senegal (Rachid Boucharem, France, 2000)
9/ The Room of the son(?- la chambre du fils?) (Nani Moretti , Italy, 2001)
10/ In the Mood For Love (Wong KarKwai, Chin, 2000)
+ Not seen yet but I am sure I would like it: Ghost of Mars (the last John Carpenter).

No Man's Land is to be seen. Anybdody who thinks Amélie is a masterpiece is a moron, anybody who thinks it's total crape, is too.

Ten Top Book: my girlfriend passed me a book that she thought I was intellectually fit to read. it's called High Fidelity. and it was good. So that's my top one. Newspapers were very good this year.

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Paul O'Connell

They go pretty much in this order.

Oh Brother Where art Thou Theme Track
Afro Rock Volume 1
Radiohead 'I Might Be Wrong'
The Avalanches 'Since I left you'
Daft Punk 'Discovery'
Dub Syndicate 'Live April 1991'
BadMarsh & Shri 'Signs'

the gig of the year would have to be St. Germain at the Opera House during Cork Jazz festival.

Best Books
The Surgeon of Crowthorne
Stranger in the Forest by Eric Hanson

As regards films, gonna have to wait for recommendations from you guys as I haven't been to the cinema in quite a while, pesky kid :-))))))

Cheers for now and here's to a wicked 2002.

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Martin O'Gorman

Martin's Top Ten 2001

Albums

1 Talib Kweli and Dj HiTek - Reflection Eternal…Train of Thought
2 Ltj Bukem - Journey Inwards
3 St. Germain - Tourist
4 Death In Vegas - The Contino Sessions
5 Ltj Bukem - Earth vol.1
6 Avalanches - Since I left you
7 Apollo 440 - Electro Glide in Blue
8 Miles Davis - Sketches of Spain
9 The Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 85-92
10 Kruder and Dorfmeister - Dj Kicks

Honourable mentions

Wagon Christ (aka Luke Vibert) - Tally Ho!
Death in Vegas - Dead Elvis
Logical Progression - Live in America
Black Star - Black Star
Aim - Cool Water Music
Thievery Corporation - Mirror Conspiracy
Mr Scruff - Keep it Unreal
Monza Sounds - Lap One
Sasha - Global Underground 009

Best Dinner Music
Carole King Tapestry

Best Gigs (in no order)

St Germain , Cork Opera House, Jazz Festival
Avalanches, Lowlands
Mercury Rev, Students Union, Newcastle
Pulp, Lowlands
Tricky, Lowlands

Best Club Night
Reverb @ Scotland Yard , Newcastle

Best night in a club
Billy Nasty @ Reverb Dec '01

Best music weekend
Lowlands Festival , Holland

Best Films

Before Night Falls
The Princess and the Warrior
The Man Who Wasn't There
The Piano Teacher
Requiem For a Dream
Dancer in the Dark
2001:A Space Oddessy
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Brother
Amelie
Lord of the Rings

Best Book
Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon

Best Winter Climb
Tower Ridge, North West face of Ben Nevis, perfect snow and ice conditions

Best Hiking
Tatra Mountains , Slovakia/Poland

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Christine O'Meara

It'll have to be a quick top ten, as I'm about to get booted out of the internet cafe.

Books

Science books took precedence this year. I have only read 7 non-study books. Five favourites. They are:

1. Juno and Juliet, Julian Gough. I wasn't at all biased by the fact that it was about twins!! Great read. Some favourite quotes.

"Well it's a monstrous world of charlatans, snobery & bullshit, but at the heart of it all is some lovel booze " Mr Hennessey talking about wine.
"The compliments were not a speculative investment"
"Must, can't, must, can't, must, can't... My internal debate wasn't very complex. Reason & instinct ended up making faces at each other."

2. The Weather in Japan, Michael Longley. Northern Irish man. Book of great short poems.

A Bunch of Asparagus

It was against the law for Jews to buy asparagus.
Only Aryan piss was allowed that whiff of compost.
I bring you a bunch held together with elastic bands.
Let us prepare melted butter, shavings of parmesan,
And make a meal out of mouthwatering fasces

3. Eclipse, John Banville

4. For Whom The Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemmingway
Great look at the Spanish Civil War from the point of view of people caught
up in fighting. Low on action, but great read, great thoughts.

5. The Hobbit, J R R Tolkien.

Films

One criteria for choosing - would watch them again and again and again...Would watch them all in one lazy weekend.

1. About Adam, Gerry Stembridge
2. Code Inconnu, Michael Haneke
3. The Princess & The Warrior, Tom Tykwer
4. The Man Who Wasn't There, Coen brothers
5. When Brendan Met Trudy, Kieron J. Walsh
6. Intimacy, Patrice Chéreau
7. Bridget Jones Diary, Sharon Maguire - sorry lads....
8. Faithless, Liv Ullmann
9. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Ang Lee
10. Shrek... permanent child in residence internally!!

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Caroline O'Reilly

GIGS
====
1. Polly Jean & Giant Sand - Paradiso Amsterdam, Feb 2001
2. The Avalanches - Paradiso Amsterdam, Nov 2001
3. Tindersticks & David Kitt - Utrecht, Oct 2001
4. Nick Cave & Goldfrapp - Tilberg
5. Mercury Rev - Melkweg Amsterdam Oct 2001
6. Giant Sand - Melkweg Amsterdam Oct 2001
7. Lift To Experience - Melkweg Amsterdam Nov 2001
8. Kings of Convenience - Melkweg Amsterdam Apr 2001
9. Sparklehorse - Paradiso Amsterdam Aug 2001
10.Black Eyed Peas - Melkweg Amsterdam Mar 2001

Honourable mentions
Fly Pan Am (Mar, Paradiso), Stephen Malkmus (Apr, Melkweg), Bonnie Prince Billy (Apr, Paradiso), Calexico (Feb, Paradiso), Add N to (X) (Jan, Paradiso), Low (Nov, Paradiso)

TOP TEN ALBUMS
==============
1. The Strokes - is this it?
2. The TroubleMakers - doubts and convictions
3. The Avalanches - since i left you
4. Vincent Gallo - when
5. Lift to Experience - the texas jerusalem crossroads
6. Hi-tek - hi-technology
7. Mark Eitzel - the invisible man
8. Kings of Convenience - quiet is the new loud
9. Groove Armada - goodbye country (hello nightclub)
10.Sparklehorse - its a wonderful life

Honourable mentions
The soundtrack for 'In the mood for love'
Rae and Christian - sleepwalking
This is Stina Nordenstam
Mercury Rev - all is dream
Ladytron - 604
david kitt - the big romance

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Barry Ryan

MY ALBUMS OF THE YEAR:

1. mogwai - rock action
2. serge gainsbourg - histoire de melody nelson*1
3. the beta band - the three e. p. 's*2
4. the jimmy cake - brains
5. turin brakes - the optimist LP
6. da capo - luthas box
7. daniel figgis - skipper
8. radiohead - amnesiac
9. neil young - long may you run*3
10. david kitt - the big romance

*1: original release - 1971
*2: original release - 1998
*3: original release - 1976

MY GIGS OF THE YEAR:

1. The jimmy cake - Whelans 03/8
2. Turin brakes - Olympia 07/10
3. Bob Dylan - Kilkenny 15/07
4. Neil young - Point 12/06
5. Da capo - Whelans 01/12
6. Bonny Billy (Will Oldham) - Vicar St 21/01
7. U2 - Slane 25/08
8. Ann Sophie Mutter - National Concert Hall 02/02

MY BOOKS OF THE YEAR: (though I didn't read that much this year except for laborious study purposes)

1. Trakl, Georg - Poems and Prose
2. Michaels, Anne - Fugitive Pieces
3. Magris - Danube
4. Nietzsche, F. - Ecce Homo
5. O'Brien, Flann - The Dalkey Archive

MY MOVIES OF THE YEAR ? emmm.. can't remember much)

1. Lord of the Rings (just saw it yesterday 19/12 definitely no. 1)
2. High Fidelity
3. Bowfinger
4. Dude Where's my Car ( just for the ".and then" scene with the Chinese takeway, I hadn't laughed that much in quite a while)

I really can't remember any other movies this year.

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