Day: December 29, 2004

Here we are….12 hours later, and ready for the next part of my year-end collection of things nifty and neat-o.

Books
I read far less than I wanted to this year–I never got around to it as often as I’d intended. I would love to put Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell on this list, but, shamefully, I have not yet read it. I had gotten a few chapters in when my schedule went kerflooey. It’s at the top of the list of things to read in 2005. The other problem is that a lot of what I read this year wasn’t released in 2004. I read reprints of pulp stories from the 1930s (like The Spider, for example), and various books for research (like The Reckoning: The Murder of Christopher Marlowe), all of which had been published earlier than 2004.

Now–on to a couple of books that I actually did read from this year:

Iron Council, by China Miéville: It’s a no-brainer: when China releases a new book, it appears on my years-best list. Not just because I know the guy, but because his work is flat-out the most imaginative fiction I’ve read in years, defying genre limitations. Simultaneously existing within the realms of fantasy, horror, SF and more, Iron Council is the third novel in his Bas-lag series, but like the others can be read as a stand-alone. It’s a very political work (Socialist, specifically–China once ran for MP as a Socialist candidate), and tells the tale of The Perpetual Train: a Collective living on a train that is always on the move–pulling their tracks up behind them, and laying them down in front. The creatures and landscapes described in this book are brilliant–I would cheapen the experience by trying to sum up. Read this book (and the other two: Perdido Street Station and The Scar) NOW.

The DC Comics Encyclopedia: When I was a little sprout, I devoured The Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe and Who’s Who in the DC Universe, encyclopedic collections detailing every character those comic-book universes. Now, DC has done it again, in hardcover–this book collects over 1,000 characters from the DC universe, with great artwork, write-ups on history, and more.

There ya go. Films/TV and Games are still forthcoming.

Best of 2004, Part 2: Books

Here we are….12 hours later, and ready for the next part of my year-end collection of things nifty and neat-o.

Books

I read far less than I wanted to this year–I never got around to it as often as I’d intended. I would love to put Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell on this list, but, shamefully, I have not yet read it. I had gotten a few chapters in when my schedule went kerflooey. It’s at the top of the list of things to read in 2005. The other problem is that a lot of what I read this year wasn’t released in 2004. I read reprints of pulp stories from the 1930s (like The Spider, for example), and various books for research (like The Reckoning: The Murder of Christopher Marlowe), all of which had been published earlier than 2004.

Now–on to a couple of books that I actually did read from this year:

Iron Council, by China Miéville: It’s a no-brainer: when China releases a new book, it appears on my years-best list. Not just because I know the guy, but because his work is flat-out the most imaginative fiction I’ve read in years, defying genre limitations. Simultaneously existing within the realms of fantasy, horror, SF and more, Iron Council is the third novel in his Bas-lag series, but like the others can be read as a stand-alone. It’s a very political work (Socialist, specifically–China once ran for MP as a Socialist candidate), and tells the tale of The Perpetual Train: a Collective living on a train that is always on the move–pulling their tracks up behind them, and laying them down in front. The creatures and landscapes described in this book are brilliant–I would cheapen the experience by trying to sum up. Read this book (and the other two: Perdido Street Station and The Scar) NOW.

The DC Comics Encyclopedia: When I was a little sprout, I devoured The Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe and Who’s Who in the DC Universe, encyclopedic collections detailing every character those comic-book universes. Now, DC has done it again, in hardcover–this book collects over 1,000 characters from the DC universe, with great artwork, write-ups on history, and more.

There ya go. Films/TV and Games are still forthcoming.

Sitting awake past 2:00 a.m.–so naturally, it’s the perfect time to start my year-end review of things that R0xx0r3d my B0xx0rz over the past 12 months.

Best Music
This was a hard one to come up with, since I spent a huge amount of my listening time in 2004 on scads of obscure New Wave releases from roughly 1978-1987 or so. I’ve currently amassed about 13 hours of the stuff, sitting on my harddrive.

That said, here are what I considered to be my faves from music actually produced in this century:

Zero 7 — When It Falls: The follow-up album to 2001’s platinum-selling Simple Things, and every bit as amazing. Mixing jazz, electronic, orchestral, old-school R&B and more into a style that can only be described as CHILL.

Crystal Method — Legion of Boom: The third album from these guys. Big Beat semi-industrial electronica…GREAT driving music. Lots of guest musicians on this one as well, ranging from human beatbox phenom Rahzel to “I was too good, so I quit Limp Bizkit” guitarist Wes Borland, to actress Milla Jovovich, who provides some drifty eastern-sounding vocals on a track called “I Know It’s You”

Kill Bill: Volume 2 Soundtrack: Hell, I’d have put Volume 1 on this list if it had actually been released in 2004. Both albums are filled with what can only be described as an eclectic mix: Morricone spaghetti-western scores, Latin rhythms, Japanese ballads and odd little pop tunes (like Malcolm McLaren’s sample-based reworking of “She’s Not There”). Tarantino always expands my horizons with his musical selections, and this film continued that tradition.

Well, that’s it for music. Over the next few days, I’ll cover books, games and film/TV as well. Stay tuned.