Best of 2009 - Last.fm : #10 - #4 [Update]- with the top 3 now!

Wow finally we're there... Every click sees me being super excited and then sometimes disappointed or even more excited / happy depending on the title I see at the top of the page loading .

#10 - Kanye West
How come??!!

This album...

Just painful...

Kanye is getting artistic, but it's not like it's something nobody has done before. Just some autotune, that can't even conceal his "beautiful" voice and some 808 drums beats. Well congrats for selling that much and having so much scrobbles on last.fm .

#9 - Yeahs Yeahs Yeahs
I should have introduced them properly, but it turned out that after hearing and loving Heads will Roll as the soundtrack of the Hills promo - could any songs fits this any better ? - I decided to try the whole album. All the songs are not at the same level of Heads will Roll but after some listen, I'm starting to get into it.

#8 - Green Day
Well Green Day is a veteran punk act, and they're still doing it well. I am the one who grew out of this phase.

#6 - Beyonce
This is a surprise, but a nice surprise.

I had decided I'll showcase the top 5, then the top 3 at least, otherwise it would be a little too boring lol till I saw who made the list... I think I can all stuff it there, I don't want to waste a post for those artists . I'll do my own top 10 instead :p .

#5 - Franz Ferdinand
This is so funny, and I know some people won't like it, but I kinda thought about Britney Spears and Fall Out Boy at the same time. I had no idea Franz Ferdinand was still active. I haven't listened to any of their new songs.

#4 - The Prodigy
See the previous comment

I'm stopping here because, actually, I wanted to do a honest review, and I have to say that I never really listened to the next two artists... Even if I was somewhat disappointed by the top three, I feel I should still do a small review about it. Coming up!

[UPDATE]

Actually, I was so disappointed with the top 3, I didn't even feel like writing a whole post about them and looking for youtube videos to introduce them. Every one knows about Lady Gaga and her raw raw raw raw raw raw na na na na na ....
Anyway on to the top 3.

#3 - Lily Allen
I don't care.

#2 -  The Killers
I don't care either.

#1 - Lady Gaga
So disappointed.

Best of 2009 - Last.fm : #7 - Animal Collective

Finally!!!
Someone I'm really excited about!
I kinda forgot about them and this album, because it was released in early January. It is still fresh though and I enjoy listening to it from times to times.
I didn't feature a promo pic of the artist but chose to display the cover of their second album Merriweather Post Pavilion as it really fit their music.
It is just completly out there..
Even if the fans said that this album was more accessible/more poppy that the others - and I agree - it is still completly different from what we listen to the radio.

Just beware.

Those videos are not my favorites songs, but they're still good and real.





Verdict : To experience.

Best of 2009 - Last.fm : #20 - #11

To be honest, I had kinda peeked at the ranking before, because I was so late and I was wondering if some new interesting artist were coming soon...
What a disappointment!!! I'm not even excited to see who's gonna be at the top, I think the job is almost done lol...

Anyway at

#20 - La Roux
I think I got introduced to her because she popped up once in my recommended artists list, and then I realized that even my sister had already listen to her!!
I had to try some of her songs...
I didn't fell in love with her voice. I gave her a second chance now, being in the ranking and all, but I still don't like it. The music is similar to Little Boots, or Little Boots is similar to her music - it's electro after all - but it's not doing anything for me.

#19 - Placebo
Still around.

#18 - Kelly Clarkson
-chuckles- Well I'm happy for her, as I remember I wanted to vote Justin Guarini at the finale of the first season of American Idol.

#17 - Paramore
urgh.

#16 - Phoenix
Pfuu some redemption at last. And they're from France!! You learn something everyday...

#15 - Black Eyed Peas
I have to say that I had my share of their singles this summer. You just couldn't escape I got a feeling.

#14 - Muse
This album was a big disappointment to me. But I guess a lot of people listened to it, trying to see if they could get into it and then just moved onto something else.

#13 - Taylor Swift
Omg, I was almost afraid I had to write a whole post about her because basically, she's a new artist to me, as I never really listen to her songs... Entirely.

#12 - Fall Out Boy
I didn't know they were still making music.

#11 - Britney Spears
I didn't realize she was still relevant. She's still selling!!! OMG!

Best of 2009 - Last.fm : #23 - A Day To Remember

Well I have to say I was wondering if I should skip this artist or not, as punk music is really not my forte...





Indeed I didn't like it... At all.

Verdict : Two Thumbs down.

Best of 2009 - Last.fm : #30 - #21

#30 - U2
I didn't even know they released an album this year :S

#29 - Gun's and Roses
I know some people were waiting for Chinese Democracy . Dr. Pepper even made a bet regarding the release date . I'll pass.

#28 - Nickelback
Okay... If things continue like that, I can't wait for the number one.

#27 - The All American Rejects
Really?

#24 - Röyskoop
Röyskoop makes electro music. They're not bad but not especially good either. Some catchy tunes, but like all electro bands out there..

#22 - Artic Monkeys
I've never really liked them...

#21 - Grizzly Bear 
I already wrote a small review of the Yellow House album here. I have listened to Veckatimest but I still haven't grown into it. I find there is something missing , that doesn't create the atmostphere of Yellow House. Maybe with time, I'll like it..

Best of 2009 - Last.fm : #25 - Passion Pit

Ok, I guess I spoke too fast when I said I needed to feature at least one artist between 30 and 21.

Passion Pit - what a weird name no? Reminds me of Panda Pear - Person Pitch, I don't know why - anyway Passion Pit is a band who dabbles in electro, pop, well a little of everything I should say.





It is really too bad that I find the singer's voice so annoying.... I wonder if I'll get around it - I used to find Thom Yorke's voice annoying when I first got introduced to Radiohead...

Verdict : Interesting but will need to overcome the singer's voice.

Best of 2009 - Last.fm : #26 - Bat For Lashes

Ok I know this artist and I really love her music, but I needed to feature at least one artist between 30 and 20. She released her sophomore album this year,  and I can see the evolution from the first album : excellent atmosphere, more upbeats stuff and her voice is shining.
This is probably my favorite song of the album, but everytime I listen to it, I change my mind.



Also here's the official video for Pearl's Dream , Daniel & Sleep Alone

Best of 2009 - Last.fm : #40 - #31

#38 - Kasabian
Well the first time I encountered Kasabian was when I went to see Mew at a concert around 4 years ago. Actually Mew was the opening act of Kasabian but they were the band I wanted to see so I skipped the rest. My sister who stayed told me that she really like their act, it was a real show and she even started to listen to them but I didn't bite. And I'm still not biting. It's pretty generic rock , reminds me a little of Oasis.

#36-The Fray
I'm not found of the Fray. It's a little like Coldplay, rock music with piano melodies, a little emoish, and I find it even less enjoyable than Coldplay's music... So... Yeah.

#35 - Metric
Metric is on my to-check list but I never took the time to really listen to their discography. They're worth a try though.

#33 - Eminem
I don't think he needs to be introduced...

#31 - Depeche Mode
Same thing here, though I'm somewhat interested into seeing how their sound evolved since this song

Best of 2009 - Last.fm : #32 - Fever Ray

Fever Ray is the half of the Knife, a band I've heard of but never tried. I know that they are on the electro-ambiant side but otherwise than that I have no idea what their sound is like.

I started with If I had a heart.

Wow the ambiance is very heavy and the sound is almost tribal. Very weird, different from what I'm used to listen to. After a few listens though, I'm starting to get into it.


When I grow up is in the same area, but with more lyrical contents. I guess I'm a fan of "minimalistic" music because I really  didn't get into this song.

Verdict : Difficult to get into, but still nice

Best of 2009 - Last.fm : #34 - The xx

Funny, really I should stop judging a book by its cover. When I saw The xx, I thought they would play some kind of punk rock , very noisy but actually it's pretty much on the acoustic side. They barely have a battery and the guitars are very soft. Anyways, you guys should check it out.



Verdict : To try

Best of 2009 - Last.fm : #37 - Regina Spektor

Ok this one I like ! The raspy voice combined to the piano melodies make me want to dig a little further into her discography





Verdict: To try.

Last.fm - Best of 2009 : #39 - Florence + The Machine

Here's an artist I've never heard of, so I was kinda eager to try it out, and my curiosity was sparked by the looks on the promo pictures... I was wondering about the + The Machine, as we only see one girl in all the photos.

†
Kiss with a fit is a funny bubbly pop-rock song. I like the style and her voice but I find the music is pretty generic.


Dog Days are Over is more on the soft side. This is my type of songs but still no sparkle.

I had a last song Rabbit Heart but it seems it is now featured on youtube so we can't embed it... Anyway...

Verdict : Like the sound of the voice but the music is pretty generic.

Last.fm - Best of 2009 : #40 - Little Boots

So here I begin my short reviews of what last.fm consider being the best of 2009. At number #40 we have Little Boots, from UK, doing some electro-disco music based on her profile.

I started with Stuck on Repeat.



It starts well, very well, very 80's, I know some people will love it.
Then she starts singing.

Okayyyy...

Well first, I am not found of her voice, I'm not saying she's a bad singer, but I feel it is a let down after what the introduction built.
It is still a good song and I'm sure I'll enjoy it for a while.

Then I tried Meddle.


I don't like this song as much. It's very poppy and too much lyrics content for me, especially that I just stated I'm not found of the voice... It's not that bad, after a few listen but this experience made me look for a third song, just to have a wider overview of the artist's sound.

So here comes Remedy


Again the same thing, too much pop and lyrical content. Actually after trying those songs and seeing some pictures of the artist, she kinda reminds me of Lady Gaga. What do you guys think?

Verdict: It's not bad but it's not exceptional as well. Still above average

Best of 2009 - Last.fm

So Last.fm came up with its best of 2009 as well as a special MJ.
I heavily rely on last.fm to discover new music and , as I am in a somewhat dry spot lately, I intend to try some of the artists on this list - the one I never heard about - and comment on them.
To come.

J Dilla - Donuts

Style : Hip Hop beats
Read about the name a few times, he's supposed to be a really good hip-hop producer/beat makers out there so I decided to give it a try. It's only beats, even if the album is not completely instrumental, the "songs" are around 1:30-2mn . This is really something different and worth a try.

J-Dilla - Donuts (2006)

1. Donuts (Outro)
2. Workinonit
3. Waves
4. Light My Fire
5. The New
6. Stop
7. People
One of my favorite songs of the album is People, I guess because it has been sampled in My People by Erykah Badu.
8. The Diff'rence
9. Mash
10. Time: The Donut of the Heart
11. Glazed
12. Airworks
13. Lightworks
14. Stepson of the Clapper
15. The Twister (Huh, What)
16. One Eleven
17. Two Can Win
18. Don't Cry
19. Anti-American Graffiti
20. Geek Down
21. Thunder
22. Gobstopper
23. One for Ghost
24. Dilla Says Go
25. Walkinonit
26. The Factory
27. U-Love
28. Hi.
29. Bye.
30. Last Donut of the Night
31. Donuts (Intro)

R.I.P. J Dilla.

Wanted & Angelina Jolie

So we started watching Wanted despite the warnings from my father and sister...
After the intro, I caught my sister looking at me and she started snickering , like a I-told-you-so snickering.
Then after 45 mn, my brother , who was the one who insisted on watching the movie, excused himself and left.
I don't understand why Angelina Jolie is still an actress and getting scripts. She looked so frail in the movie I was wondering how she was even able to fire a weapon or fight with guys.
I also would like to voice my disappointment in Hollywood for resorting to rappers to fill the black actors void.
That is too bad.

Acoustics songs

I went to see an acoustic show where my friend Cat sang two songs : This love from Maroon Five and  Use somebody from Kings of Leon. It was really nice and made me thinks of songs that would sound really nice acoustic.









Somebody did Hit me baby one more time, reminded me of a cover I heard a long time ago. Which one do you prefer? This one or the original?


What would you guys sing? French is welcome, we're looking for some nice french songs. One of my favorite song of the show was this one

Funny - Speaking english kills

Ally Bank Truck Commercial

The boy's face at the end, priceless!

Bits of wisdom

I'm an avid user of google reader and I like to pick up some new feeds from my friends or just from the recommendations. Lately I've been enjoying Bits of Wisdom which reminds me quite daily how wonderful my life is - compared to some others. Here's their latest.

Today is my birthday and I'm enjoy this day and thank God for those 27 past years.

Wow Law & Order SVU is back on track.

In this episode Benson and Stabler learn a young boy is being molested by his stepfather, which leads to a disturbing case of adult-child relationships. The video only features a short part of the trial, where the child molester explains "himself".  The next witness is one of his victims, who is basically praising him for what he did to her.
It also marks the return of Alexandra Cabot as the A.D.A, and I'm really excited about that!!! I learned to love Novack and also Paxton - too bad they made her exit this way - but seriously Cabot is the best!!!


Anyway back on the subject, it reminded me of a rather painful conversation I had with a "friend" about how a relation can be abusive behind closed doors and also about the whole age ain't nothing but a number issue.
Please pay attention to your friends and relatives.

The apocalypse is coming to a theater near you

I just caught up with the trailer of The Road and I realized that there were a lot of new apocalypse-related movies being released soon. I don't know, I guess it must be the new trend but well I don't mind it because after the summer blockbusters, I was waiting for some new action-related flicks.... Unfortunately the one I'm the most looking forward , the Book of Eli,  is only coming next January ....








To be honest, I don't really see the purpose of 2012 and I don't really trust the background idea for The Road - it's going to be too much about the father-son relationship,  so I'm all for The Book of Eli!!!

Hope it won't disappoint.

What a perfect gift !!!

When I first saw this ad, I thought of several people. You know who you are.

Angels & Demons - 4/5

I wasn't sure about this one cause I didn't really enjoy Da Vinci's Code. Maybe it was because I wanted to see X-Men III or listening to Audrey Tautou's accent, I don't know, I just didn't feel it.

This one was a nice surprise though : the suspense and action didn't let me down, it felt like running through a big maze and trying to find the exit but don't worry, everything made sense at the end.
You know there is a bad guy in the near entourage but the top-notch direction and scenario made them all look really suspicious. I was switching my choice through the whole movie.

I want to talk again about the direction. Ron Howard did a great job, the shots used paired with the music really helped the overall ambiance of the movie.

Lady Gaga @ MTV

I never thought I would feature Lady Gaga in the look of the day but seriously, I really like what she's wearing there, especially the necklace-belt accessory .

Trick or Treat - Squash Squash Squash! Part.3 : The pudding

Hmmmmmm! I love pudding and especially pumpkin pudding! I have a recipe for this one, cause it's serious business lol!

Ingredients (for 4-6):

• 125g of butter
• 165g of brown sugar
• 250g of flour
• 2 eggs (slightly beaten)
• 60 ml of cream
• 250g of squash puree
• baking powder
• 1 tablespoon of nutmeg

First you have to melt the sugar and butter. Wait for it to cool down and add it to the mix of the dry ingredients (flour, nutmeg, baking powder and some additional spices if you want). Mix it with a wooden spoon, don't use an electrical hand mixer. Add the eggs , the cream and the puree and mix a little again.

You can cook the pudding however you want but you have to use the bain-marie technique as well as to cover the cake pan (tin foil is ok) to have a moist pudding at the end.  I cooked it in the oven @ 400F for about 1h15.

The cake is small but very heavy.

Trick or Treat - Squash Squash Squash ! Part.2 : The lasagna

I have an alternative to the "real" lasagna that I do with squash and chicken.

• Instead of using the tomato sauce and the ground beef, I replace those with a puree of squash and some shredded chicken. It's really good.
• I know that some people use ricotta but I use a white sauce instead. I like the texture better. I have to say though I added some extra ricotta to the puree of squash but I also used the white sauce with the chicken.
• I usually have two layers, one with the "vegetable" and the other one with the meat.
• Finally I only add the cheese at the end (so it doesn't burn) and just grill the lasagna for the last 3 minutes.

Trick or Treat - Squash Squash Squash! Part.1 : The Soup

The soup is really simple. It's just a puree of squash and I add some water to it.

• I prefer to add some broth, and to be honest I quite fancy miso, I love to use it as a broth for my soups.
• I like to spray some pepper on the plate and to swirl some cream for presentation. But the soup is also good with cottage cheese.

Coco Avant Chanel - 4/5

So yesterday I went to see Coco Avant Chanel. I featured it before in my blog mostly because Audrey Tautou is such a fresh face and a good ambassador for my country (Amelie)  and I know a lot of my readers are big fans of Benoit Poelvoorde after his role in Podium. I wasn't sure what to expect to be honest.
I was quite blown away. The acting was genuine but most of all it was the story that stole the spotlight.
It was definitely interesting as a woman to see the struggle of our sex back in the days and to see how Coco was an avant gardiste in her time. Her views on fashion, love and her attitude were so out there!

I found a new role model.

Dating a friend/relative ex

I was wondering  what you guys thought about this because I had a talk with a friend of mine and he told me

How weird would it be if you were going to  like a "family" reunion and your sister was there with her boyfriend, who turned out to be your ex.

 He was saying it was just drama waiting to happen.

Let's say he looks at you funny? Or he just brushes you, touches you?

I don't agree. I mean if you are really into someone would you let this opportunity go by just because he happened to date your friend or your sister before? I would not mind as well if my sister would go out with one of my exes. If he is my exes it means it didn't work out between us and if it works out well with my sister it means again that it wasn't meant to be with us. We're so different!
I don't know if I would go for one of my friends ex because of this, I mean if it didn't work out between them, why would it work out between us?

Anyway let me know.

Horatio Caine, CSI Miami, priceless!

I'm so happy I found this vid!!!! Sunglasses moments!

MTV Video Awards 2009 outfit

Well , I wanted to work on the Emmy's but I'm having problems with my image providers, so I decided to work on something I've been slacking off for a while, an outfit for the MTV Video Awards . I wanted something fun and sparkly but not too bling bling so I opted for putting the emphasis on the shoes. What do you guys think?

Update (09/23/09)
 I created just the opposite outfit, a sparkly dress paired with high thight boots

Burberry Prorsum Spring 2010

Well I've been reading all over the net about how the Burberry's collection was one of the best of the fashion weeks so far and after seeing Emma Watson's dress, I was curious to see what all the fuss was about.
I then had a quick look at the collection and I really like it. Burberry are mostly known for their trench and this collection was no different, with a lot of structured trenches but Christopher Bailey send some  really nicely draped and knotted clothes as well. See for yourself.

  

  

  

Emma Watson @ Burberry Spring 2010

Ha! Do you guys remember "messy hair" Hermione from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone? Look at her now, all grown-up, super elegant and sexy!

Though she seems a little pale here, is there too much spotlight on her or are the other ones (Gwyneth Paltrow especially) abusing of the spray tan?

Emmy Awards 2009

It's been a while since I reviewed an award show. I wanted to do the VMA's but none of the red carpet celebrities impressed me. This event was no exception, but the dresses were really pretty and I found  that those two (Chloe Sevigny and Mila Kunis) standed out, mostly for the originality of the piece.

  

  

From left to right :  Julie Dreyfus, Marcia Gay Harden, Sandra Oh,

Dana Delany, Jennifer Carpenter, Debra Messing

Twilight New Moon soundtrack

I was reading @PITNB about the new  twilight soundtrack and remembered hearing about Thom Yorke being on it. I had a quick look at the list of artists featured and I can say, wow, good job ! Look for yourself:

1. Death Cab For Cutie – Meet Me On The Equinox 
2. Band Of Skulls – Friends 
3. Thom Yorke- Hearing Damage 
4. Lykke Li – Possibility 
5. The Killers - A White Demon Love Song 
6. Anya Marina – Satellite Heart 
7. Muse - I Belong To You (New Moon Remix) 
8. Bon Iver and St. Vincent – Rosyln 
9. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Done All Wrong 
10. Hurricane Bells – Monsters 
11. Sea Wolf – The Violet Hour 
12. Ok Go- Shooting The Moon 
13. Grizzly Bear - Slow Life 
14. Editors – No Sound But The Wind 
15. Alexandre Desplat – New Moon (The Meadow)

Thom Yorke, Grizzly Bear, Bon Iver, Muse (though I'm not so sure after the last album),  Death Cab for a Cutie, Ok Go, I'm definitely interested into seeing how this whole thing sounds. Only 10$ on amazon on top of that.

My take on the southern burger

Well I was watching the food network challenge for once and I saw all those excellent recipes for an original all american burger. One that really interested me was made by someone from South Carolina and consisted roughly of the regular burger topped with another "burger", made of cream cheese, regular cheese and pimientos - pimientos are almost like regular red peppers.
It looked really simple so I gave it a try, especially that we have a grill machine at home.

Ingredients

• ground beef
• egg
• cream cheese
• cheese
• red pepper
• burger bun

First you mix the egg with the beef, to make a burger, I think it's not really necessary but I never tried without so I'm not sure. I'd rather use it just so the burger doesn't fall all down at the end.
Of course you have to add salt/pepper and some spice and test it all at the end. It should be really tasty otherwise it won't taste anything once cooked.

While you grill your burger and toast the bun, mix the cream cheese with the regular cheese and the red pepper and do another burger with it. Try it thin first , if you like it you'll go all in the next time! On the tv they cooked it on top of the burger but they did have a real bbq grill. Otherwise you can put it on top of the toast.

At the end put everything together and your burger is done!

Thoughts
I really like the softness of the cream cheese added to this burger, it add some moisture to everything. I would add more spices to balance the softness though. So I usually spray some cayenne pepper on the burger once it's done.

Shopping time baby!!!

I got those nice jeans @ Delia's and the shoes for a total of 35$. Now I'm hesitant about the animal print and the sunglasses are 350$, but I don't know, I really want them, they're too FIERCE!

So should Beyonce have won ?

IMO,yes .
Funny thing , according to the website, she wasn't even nominated haha!
And Kanye , who usually beats on paparazzi in daily life, acting all butt hurt and storming the stage... WTf?!!!

Showdown : Taylor vs. Beyonce

Troy Polamalu's Head & Shoulders commercial

My favorite commercial atm. I had a good laugh.
And I might start using Head & Shoulders too , I mean,  look at his hair!

FIERCE !!! Rihanna at the Fashion's Night out

I also liked Sarah Jessica Parker takes on the t-shirt

Chapeau to the girls of Jennifer's Body

Wearing Valentino Couture (Amanda Seyfried) to the premiere of Jennifer's Body in Toronto.
Congrats.