Movies of the Year

Last year I decided to publish a list of all the movies that I've seen during the year. You can see last years list here. So this year I'm doing the same thing. Seems like I managed to see a couple of flicks this year also. The titles in bold are movies that I liked. The rest? Not really worth wasting time on if you ask me. So what movies did I like the most and which ones sucked more than 50 Cent? My favourites this year has to be Zombieland and Milk. The worst is without a doubt Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Notorious.

9
(500) Days of Summer
2012
Adventureland
Afro Samurai - Resurrection
A Huey P. Newton Story
Ali G Indahouse
Alvin and the Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
Amusement
Arn - Vid Rikets Slut
Away We Go
Bad Biology
Bart Got a Room
Big Stan
Blood the Last Vampire
Bolt
Bravestarr: The Legend
Bronson
Brüno
Burn After Reading
Cass
Changeling
City Island
Coraline
Crips and Bloods: Made in America
Deadgirl
Death at a Funeral
Defiance
Delirious
Der Baader Meinhof Komplex
Die Welle
Disney's A Christmas Carol
District 9
Door to Door
Dorian Gray
Doubt
Drag Me to Hell
Død Snø
Eden Lake
Fanboys
Fido
Flickan som lekte med elden
Food, Inc.
Frost/Nixon
Frozen River
Gake no ue no Ponyo
G.I. Joe - The Rise of Cobra
Gomorra
Goodbye Lenin
Gran Torino
Green Street Hooligans 2
Grizzly Man
Half Nelson
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Hell Ride
How to Be a Serial Killer
How to Lose Friends and Alienate People
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
I Love You Man
In Bruges
Inglourious Basterds
Interview
Jalla! Jalla!
JCVD
Looking for Eric
Midnight Chronicles
Milk
Miracle at St. Anna
Mulan
Män som hatar Kvinnor
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Necromantic
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Nothing but the Truth
Notorious
Observe and Report
Parlez-moi de la Pluie
Pineapple Express
Pride and Glory
P.S. I Love You
Public Enemies
Revolutionary Road
Righteous Kill
Rise of the Footsoldier
Rocknrolla
Seven Pounds
Shrink
Sin Nombre
Slumdog Millionaire
Sold Out - A Threevening with Kevin Smith
Star Trek
State of Play
Superstar
Surrogates
Synecdoche, New York
Taken
Ten Inch Hero
Terminator Salvation
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
The Boat that Rocked
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
The Code
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Damned United
The Day the Earth Stood Still
The Hangover
The Informers
The Invention of Lying
The Kite Runner
The Last House on the Left
The Open Road
The Prestige
The Spirit
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
The Tattooist
The Unborn
The Wrestler
They Walk
Thick as Thieves
Torsk på Tallinn
Trailer Park Boys - Countdown to Liquor Day
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Tropa de Elite
TV Junkie
Tyson
Underworld Rise of the Lycans
Valkyria
Visioneers
Watchmen
Wristcutters: A Love Story
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Yes Man
Zombieland

The Invention of Lying

Quite charming.

The Invention of Lying

City Island

Wicked movie!

City Island


























Dorian Gray on the other hand was so-so.

New Years Resolution

I usually don't make New Years resolutions. I don't think I ever really have. And I won't this year either. Not really. I have however decided that I will learn how to play the guitar during 2010. I don't have any goals of becoming a master of the instrument, but to learn to play it ok at least. We'll see how well it went a year from now. To be continued so to speak.

Tip of the Day

Of course I like to hype my friends. Who doesn't? But I would never do it unless I liked what they do. And I like my friend Kristians new blog park bench people. So check it out stupid!

Monty Python: Almost the Truth - The Lawyers Cut

What could be a better way to end 2009 with then almost 6 hours of Monty Python? Well, that's what I will end it with any way.

Monty Python: Almost the Truth - The Lawyers Cut

A Decade of Flying Lotus mixed by The Gaslamp Killer

Do you like The Gaslamp Killer? Do you enjoy the sounds of Flying Lotus? Well, then you should download A Decade of Flying Lotus mixed by The Gaslamp Killer. And of course, it's all for free. All you have to do is to go here.

Christmas Eve Movies

Sin Nombre



























Family Guy Presents: Something Something Something Dark Side


























Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel

The Man with the Beard

Christmas Eve. I'm at my brothers home in Säter and I'm enjoying being with the ones that I love. Just winding down and being happy for while. I hope I'm not the only one feeling like that today.
My Christmas treat this year is this live performance by David Sandström and Annika Norlins version of Fairytale of New York from the show Oh No… It's Christmas! at Nalen last year. Merry Christmas my friends.

Josiah Wolf - Jetlag

I really really wish it was March 2010 now! Why? Because then I will be able to enjoy Jetlag, the debut album of Josiah Wolf (older brother of Yoni and member of WHY?). It will be beautiful!

Dirty Rats - Look Closely

Just a bit of quality the days before Christmas. Dirty Rats with amazing emcee Franco bring the goods in the shape of Look Closely.

#1 themselves - Crownsdown

So... Now it's time for number one. Drumroll please.... Album of the year 2009 goes to... themselves and their album CrownsDown. So why is that record better than any other this year? Well, to be honest, I can't really say. But it is. First off, I think that doseone is one of the most underrated emcees out there today. Many people don'tlike his whiny voice and his sometimes weird lyrics. Me however loves them! Combine that with the awesome productions from jel and you have one of the best teams in music today. Here we have two guys who've never produced a single bad song in my book, and not many artists have accomplished this. So what can I say about their recent offering. It simply blew my mind the first time I heard it, and every single time since then it does exactly that. Got to hand it to anticon. They've done it again.

#2 WHY? - Eskimo Snow

This was the album that I in advance was sure would be number one this year. As most people know, I totally adore WHY? and they have released awesome records in the past. Eskimo Snow is no different. It might not be as instant as last years Alopecia, but it's a record that grows on you. The singer Yoni Wolf is in my eyes the best songwriter there is today. Period. What can I really say about this album and this group that I haven't already said over the years? I will simply leave it at this: The album fuckin' rocks and you need to listen to it!

Yoni Wolf:

"I'd say my favorite musical moment of the year was watching Mount Eerie in San Francisco in October."

Dez & Nobs - Dwight Gooden

Finally some new stuff from my old heroes Dez & Nobs. Not old in the literal way though (since I'm afraid Dez would punch my teeth out or something). Here comes the first video from the upcoming album Rocky Dennis and I'm already salvating over it!

#3 Andrew Thompson - I'm Not Likely To Change

I'm not quite sure how I came across Andrew Thompson. It might have been while looking for records by Edan and finding out that they both share label, Lewis Recordings. Not that that really matters. All that matters is that when I first listened to I'm Not Likely to Change I simply got blown away. It's not that often nowadays that I come across records that can do that to me. But songs like In this Town and We're in Business made me fall in love with Andrews simple, sweet popsongs. I did however expect to get a bit tired of him over the year, but I was wrong. The album still puts a big smile on my lips and make me want to put on my dancing shoes every single time.

#4 Exile - Radio

I really love good lyricists. Amazing emcees that can blow me away with their technical skills as well as their brilliant subject matter. But sometimes...sometimes I just want them to keep quiet. I don't want to listen to their inflated egos that seem to think that the world revolves around them. And it's moments like this when I need albums like Radio and artists like Exile. Exile has over the years made himself a name both for producing tracks for artists such as Mobb Deep, Jurassic 5 and Snoop Dogg as well as being a part of the group Emanon and working with Blu.
This year he released Radio. An album consisting of hardhitting beats sprinkled with voices sampled from the radio and the result is amazing and extremly funky. He moves in the same circles as producers such as Cut Chemist and knows how to make music that both puts a smile on your face at the same time as it keeps your head nodding.

#5 Langhorne Slim - Be Set Free

If it wasn't for my man Scott Da Ros I would probably have missed out on Langhorne Slim. But luckily enough I took him up on his tip about Langhornes latest album Be Set Free, and I'm so glad that I did. This 29 year old folksinger from Langhorne, Pennsylvania has made a truly beautiful collection of songs that fits any mood like a glove. I frequently return to this album on my iPod during my daily trips on the tram to and from work. It's perfect in the morning when I want a laidback soundscape to slowly wake me up in the morning and in the evenings I hide inside the worlds that his stories create. And really, what more can one ask of an album?

"One of the best concert experiences this year was at Newport Folk Festival when I had the opportunity to join Pete Seeger and Joan Baez on stage. Definitely memorable!"

#6 Eyedea & Abilities - By the Throat

If there is one emcee that makes me happy just by the pure sound of his voice, it's Eyedea. Ever since his days as a successful battle emcee in the late 90s he's been my favourite emcee. The only negative thing is that I don't always like his music. The albums that he's been part of over the years range from excellent (First Born) to mediocre (Carbon Carousel). Luckily enough his latest album together with turntablist supreme Abilities is awesome. I know a lot of people don't like it because they think that E&A has moved away to much from straight up hiphop. Well, that's what I love about them. Here's two guys who are not afraid to push the envelope on this artform and together they make new and exciting music.

Noah23 - Dr. Pepper

Far from a good song, but I just have to post it here anyway. I mean, a song by Noah23 that goes by the name of Dr. Pepper is a must. Anyone who knows me knows that Dr. Pepper is my main drug in life. So here it is. If you don't understand the references to Guns N' Roses and Chinese Democracy then you can read a bit about it here.

#7 Cage - Depart from Me

If there was one album this year that I was looking forward to with very mixed emotions it was this one. Cage album Depart from Me would either be terrible and such a disappointment or a truly good album that I would enjoy a lot. If he had made an album in the same style that he became famous I would have really disliked it. Luckliy enough he went the other way and did a really artistic and beautiful album that shows his true talent. There are very few songs on the album that don't really hold up to the test of time and I think that this is an album that I will return to many years from now.


On the question on what Cage himself thinks are the best albums of the year, he answers:

"Man on the Moon by KiD CuDi is my favorite rap record of the year, and the new Converge record Axe to Fall is my favorite rock album of the year for sure."

#8 Myka 9 - 1969

Myka 9. The name itself will forever hold a spot in my own Emcees Hall of Fame. As a founding member of Freestyle Fellowship as well as being a key figure at the Good Life Cafe in the early 90s and as being one of the original members of Project Blowed he has forever paid his dues and deserve only the best in life. Early this year he released his fifth soloalbum, 1969. I must admit that I didn't have any real expectations when I heard of the release. I kinda lost track of Myka the last couple of years and should be ashamed because of it. The album also sat the standard for the label Fake Four Inc. this year. More about that in an upcoming post. So what about the album itself? Well, it's filled with tight productions that are sprinkled with Mykas dark flawless flow. The man is an emcee genius and this album is just another one that proves it.

So what did Myka himself think was the highlight of the year?

"Coming to Europe will be the highlight of 09!
I must also mention the Soundset Festival (20,000 fans) in Minnesota and all The Burning Man type functions!"

#9 AC4 - AC4

Anyone who knows me knows of my slight obsession when it comes to the old straight edge hardcore band Refused and then especially the singer Dennis Lyxzén and the drummer David Sandström. Since the groups demise in the late 90's they have both made brilliant albums in various constellations such as The (International) Noise Conspiracy, Text, David Sandström Overdrive and Invasionen just to name a few. Now they have started an old school hardcore band together with Karl Backman and Jens Nordén and are calling themselves AC4 (AC stands for the code of the region in Sweden where they are from and the 4 is for the number of members). The self titled album is raw, basic and just straight up brilliant. 15 songs in just 21 minutes. I love it!

This One Goes Out To You Hannes

What a perfect way to begin my vacation in Umeå. I finally got around to watch the movie Bravestarr: The Legend. Verdict? I totally loved it! Too bad though that my personal favourite Cactus Head was one of the bad guys. If you haven't seen this movie or the television show, I strongly recommend it! You never get too old for quality.

R.I.P. Flight of the Conchords

So, that was that. The superb show Flight of the Conchords has come to an end after 2 seasons. A bit sad, but perhaps it was for the best. Read the official note here.

#10 MC Paul Barman - Thought Balloon Mushroom Cloud

This year was almost coming to an end and I was quite sure how this top ten list would turn out. Didn't really expect an album to pop up at the last minute and force itself on to the list. But I was wrong. Along came MC Paul Barman. Here's a guy who always been left in the dark and never really got the attention that he deserved. His album Paullelujah! was a masterpiece when it came. And who could really think that he would be able to do another one 7 years later. But he sure did. Thought Balloon Mushroom Cloud is just as lovely, tight and quirky as one could hope. Paul is a truly underrated emcee and with the help of amongst others Masta Ace, Del The Funky Homosapien, Memory Man, Prince Paul and Doom he's truly made an album worthy of being on my top ten list this year.

So what did MC Paul Barman himself think was the musical highlight of the year? He was good enough to share this with us, and this is what he had to say:

This year I finally discovered John McLaughlin.
In the late sixties, McLaughlin was working as Miles Davis's guitarist until Miles told him he needed his own band. So he formed The Mahavishnu Orchestra with monster drummer Billy Cobham and made one of my all time favorite records The Inner Mounting Flame.
Every Sunday I listen to Garam Masala, an Indian music show on WKCR and I heard his more traditional Indian work, the type of work he apparently prefers over his famous electric guitar. I adore both styles and am amazed by his breadth of work.
I began researching Hinduism and the lives of Vishnu in order to illustrate the cover of Thought Balloon Mushroom Cloud. I am hoping this will lead to a greater understanding of McLaughlin's music.

Compilation of the Year - Fake Four Inc A Record Label Sampler vol 1

I usually don't think about compliation albums. They are simply there but never anything out of the ordinary really. But I thought I should mention Fake Four Inc A Record Label Sampler vol 1 for 2 reasons. Firstly because of the pure content of it. Every single song is amazing in it's own right. But also because the label Fake Four Inc. is without a doubt the label of the year. And for everyone that knows me and knows of my obsession with anticon that means a lot. Not that anticon has been bad this year, on the contrary. But as a whole, Fake Four Inc. sweeps the floor with its mix of artists. Ceschi, Awol One, Factor, Myka 9, Gregory Pepper & His Problems, sole & the Skyrider Band and Cars & Trains are just a few of the amazing acts on the label. I will not go into the album too much actually. The album is a free download and if you don't go here and download it, well, then you're simply stupid.


I asked MiC K!NG who are also one of the artists on the label what label he thought was the best this year and also to share with us the musical highlight of the year for him personally.

"Being that Ceschi is one of my best friends and I know how talented he is and how hard he works at the label, I'm gonna have to say Fake Four Inc. is easily my favorite label for 2009. They've been doing a great job and offer a very diverse array of music. I hope to see it flourish into being the next indie powerhouse.

As far as my favorite music moment, it's kinda hard for me to say. I've never been a media darling so I get most of my enjoyment out of my shows. I had a lot of amazing shows this year in both the US and Europe including some festivals that people said I was the best act! The standout might be this point when Dos-Noun and I were in Strasbourg, France playing at this venue called Molodoi. It was a weird situation where we'd been added to the show last minute and it was more like a talent showcase with dance troops and other genres of music. People were generally just milling around and it seemed as though no one was going to pay attention to our sets. Basically I was able to captivate the attention of everyone there and in the middle of one of my songs I just had this immense feeling that "wow, this rap shit is gonna work out after all." I may never be a media darling, but as long as I can fully convert a crowd of people that never heard of me I'm cool with that."

Please check out Gregory Peppers answers to the questions here.

Gregory Peppers Most Memorable Moments of 2009

Was Kanye Right? (I Think He May Have Been)

by Gregory Pepper

So remember how Kanye West bum rushed the stage whilst Taylor Swift was receiving the award for "best female vocal" at the 2009 VMAs? It seemed to be in pretty poor taste, even for an admittedly artistically vacuous event such as the MTV video awards. Obama already totally called him on it but for posterity's sake, let's just take a moment to examine the hard evidence: like, have you ever heard a Taylor Swift song? The tune she won the award for, You Belong to Me is too brutal to describe. In fact, it seems to embody- in one fell swoop- all that is wrong with popular music, with it's faux "girl next door" posturing and all that trite middle-american imagery.

Now take a look at Single Ladies by Beyonce. Say what you will about that weird metalic glove, but guy, that shit is on point. The chorus has this dark, brooding undertone, perfectly complementing the infectious beat, while miss Knowles and her two friends are violently thrusting their pelvises like there's no tomorrow. Dude, you can't deny that it is unequivocally better than Taylor Swift. Kanye may be relying too heavily on the auto-tune as of late, but he did have that cool rotoscope video plus that other one with Will Oldham and Zach Galifianakis. I'm just saying, man...

Favourite label of the year? I'd have to go with Flemish Eye Records just because that's Chad VanGaalen's label, and he is the man.

Prelude to Countdown

We all just love Best of the year-lists don't we? Well, beginning tomorrow I will do a daily countdown of the top ten albums of 2009. And with some of the albums there will be a little treat. Wanna know what albums that made my year? Curious about the treats? Well, start reading my blog daily starting tomorrow. Easy eh? I will however start it all of today with looking at my favourite compilation album and the label of the year. Check upcoming post.

Recycling Christmas

2 years ago I put together a small mix of alternative Christmas songs for my readers to download. I listened to it a while back and thought to myself that the stuff was actually kind of good. And being lazy as I am I decided to recycle that mix and put it up for downloading this year too. So without further ado, I give you Hyvää Joulua; beats, breaks & big smiles vol. 3.

Right click and save here: DOWNLOAD

Army of the Pharaohs @ Pustervik

Tonight might turn out to be a wicked evening. First a trip to Macforum for an in-store by Army of the Pharaohs, then dinner together with two totally amazing friends, Emelie and Freddan, and then it's time for AOTPs show at Pustervik. Their first and only gig in Sweden so far. Am really looking forward to seeing Reef the Lost Cauze, Esoteric, Apathy, Celph Titled and Outerspace live and direct.

Anti-Pop Consortium: "Get Lite (Tobacco Remix)"

Tobacco from Black Moth Super Rainbow is bringing us a remix of Anti-Pop Consortiums song Get Lite. And I actually like it better than the original

DOWNLOAD

Cool Aide - Flavor Ade

Cool Aide - Flavor Ade


MiC K!NG or iCON the Mic King as he is formally known as has been around in my life longer than I've actually heard his music. As a devotee to Scribble Jam videos, I remember seeing him cheering in the background during the infamous rematch between Mac Lethal and Dos Noun back in 2002. It took me a couple of years to realize that I've heard that guy on albums such as Happy Fuck You Songs and Fake Flowers. But it wasn't until I got my hands on Mike & The Fat Man that he made together with Chum that I really started to give him any real attention. But over these last couple of years I more and more began to like him and now he's truly grown into a fullfledged emcee. Here we have a battle emcee that actually could make the transition into making good albums and his latest album together with Chum under the name Cool Aide is a very good example of this. Flavor Ade is filled with songs that are both hard and on point at the same time as they show that they got a refreshing sense of humour which overall is lacking in hip hop nowadays. The only song that make me question the album is Neo Jack Swing but hey, most album has a track that you don't like. And when you have songs such as I Am So Cool and Word Perfect you can't really complain. Flavor Ade is a great addition to Fake Four Inc.'s rooster and considering that they're the best label this year Cool Aide should be really proud of their album. Pick up Flavor Ade and support some of hiphop's friendliest artists.

Review: 3 of 5

Beard makes better music

How can one not love a blog dedicated to the thesis that people with beards make better music? I know I love my friend Elviras page and I think you should check it out too by going here.

2012

In my last post I was talking about a crappy music video. Maybe I should stick to the theme and mention a crappy movie I just saw?

2012

The King of Crappy Videos: R.A. The Rugged Man

Here's a perfect example of a good song that gets destroyed beyond belief thanks to a really crappy video. But at the same time, isn't that kinda what we expect from R.A. The Rugged Man? A truly talented emcee with really poor taste. On this song from Legendary Classics vol. 1 we also get to hear (and sadly enough see) Hell Razah, JoJo Pellegrino, Remedy & Blaq Poet.

The Understudies - All Here

A fan of The Understudies? Then you have the chance now to download their single All Here for free by going here. It's more of that warm Christmas spirit that is going around here today.

Bomarr - Wild Xmas with Bomarr vol. 4

Bomarr from Restiform Bodies keeps up his Christmas tradition by giving us his fourth installment in his series Wild Xmas with Bomarr. You can download that mix, together with his older ones here. I also think that you should check out his regular blog at http://bomarrblog.blogspot.com/.

Away We Go

Movie of the day.

Away We Go

MC Paul Barman - Thought Ballon Mushroom Cloud

One guy that I've been missing the last couple of years is MC Paul Barman. His early EP It's Very Stimulating from 2000 and his follow up Paullelujah! from 2002 has been played a lot over the years and I've been hoping to hear something new from him. And now he's back! Everyone's favourite geek rapper is back and the album is slammin'! Check out Thought Ballon Mushroom Cloud. One of the best this year!

Broken Language

So! Now it's time for a new era at the beats, breaks & big smiles 2.0 headquarters. As I mentioned in an earlier post I asked if y'all thought I should switch to English. The poll is not finished yet, but at the moment over 50% would like to see this blog in English. So this I how I'm going to do it. For the entire month of December I'll give the Swedish language a rest and see what you all think about this. Nothing will however change when it comes to content. My English might not be the best, but my taste is still flawless.

As a first treat for the month of December comes the track Doin It Wrong. It's from Dres of Black Sheep. It might not be as good as the classic stuff, but it sure is nice to hear his voice again. The track is from the new EP The Black Pool Of Genius: The Prelude.



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