Best Gigs Of 2008

Neil Young at Hammersmith Apollo (5, 6, 8, 9, 14 March)

Back in the UK for the first time since 2003, after Neil Young’s aneurysm I really thought I would never see him live again so I must admit I flipped out when he announced these fairly small (for him) shows at the legendary Hammersmith Apollo and I attended five out of the six shows he played there.

My Favourite Albums Of 2008

I thought I may as well start off with a list of my favourite albums from 2008, because it probably best sets the scene for what will be on this blog. In order to compile my astonishingly brilliant list I am using this foolproof equation to calculate the perfect top 10: my most played albums on last.fm + the albums I think I like best + whatever ones are the coolest. It's an incredibly mathematical, painstaking process that obviously has taken me weeks to perfect, which is why I'm only posting it now. So at long last, here it is:

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays!

The Flaming Lips' Christmas On Mars screening

Christmas On Mars

Barbican, 14 December 2008

A few years ago, before I got briefly obsessed with The Flaming Lips, I saw singer Wayne Coyne traveling up the escalator at Baker Street tube station. I was going down and he was going up and when I saw that shock of gray hair and the unkempt suit, I turned in shock and watched him rising to the top as I descended. He saw my reaction, gave me a grin and waved at me. I immediately called my friend who I had just left outside but sadly he missed the momentous occasion of Coyne, a bona fide rock star, leaving our then local station.