Monoman

February 15, 2007

Best of '06 part 3

I've read quite a few books this year for business and pleasure. But this list just deals with my favourite fiction of 2006:

1. The Wolf of Helocene by Mark Taylor. Arrogant? Moi? Well, I wrote it so IMHO it's quite good.

2. The Religion by Tim Willocks. Quite simply jaw-on-the-floor stunning. War as poetry.

3. The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Relentlessly bleak and heart-wrenching, but impossible to put down.

4. The Terror by Dan Simmons. Shouldn't be in the list as it's just come out, but it's so good...

5. Voice of the Fire by Alan Moore. Read it last year and re-read it again this year. Probably one of the best-written novels in the universe.

6. Eisenhorn (Eisenhorn Omnibus) by Dan Abnett. Okay, it's pulp - but *really* good pulp.

7. Relics by Pip-Vaughn Hughes. Pretty decent literary period thriller.

8. Quicksilver: The Baroque Cycle (Baroque Cycle 1) by Neal Stephenson. Quite a slog to finish, but an amazing achievement (by the author, not me) nonetheless.

9. The Prestige by Christopher Priest. Watch the film then read this - it's better.

10. Burning Your Boats by Angela Carter. The definitive collection by the mistress of the subverted fairy-tale.

Posted by monoman at 05:43 PM

Best of '06 part 2

2006 saw the release of some awesome music. In order this time, my top albums (based on heaviness of rotation) were:

1. Sahg: Sahg Vol.1. Didn't appear on anyone's EOY lists, but rammed with memorable, well-produced and accessible Sabs-style doom.

2. Negura Bunget: Om. Epic, soaring and symphonic. Transcendental metal.

3. Enslaved: Ruun. I wasn't too keen on Isa but Ruun is a return to form.

4. Solitude Aeturnus: Alone. Some of the best doom I've heard - stirring and heavy.

5. Celtic Frost: Monotheist. Most pundits' album of the year. Breathtaking achievement.

6. Daylight Dies: Dismantling Devotion. Excellent introspective death/doom.

7. Keep of Kalessin: Armada. Expansive, creative and technically proficient.

8. I: Between Two Worlds. Abbath goes NWOBHM, but it works.

9. Comets on Fire: Avatar. One of the best live bands I've seen. Brilliant avant-jazz-blues-rock.

10. Sunn O))) & Boris: Altar. Wildly varied but inspirational album from the ensemble.

Posted by monoman at 05:13 PM

Best of '06

It's a bit late in the day to be compiling 2006 best-of lists, but I've been meaning to do it for ages, so now that I have a free moment I will. In no particular order, the best things about 2006 for me were:

1. Living with Bron
2. Getting a cat
3. Getting a car
4. Leaving Orange
5. Going on vacation to San Francisco
6. Going to two weddings in Hampshire and Devon
7. Actually going to the doctor and dentist - well worth the stress
8. Live music (but not enough) - Motorhead, Julian Cope, Opeth etc.
9. Getting Sleevenotez off the ground
10. Setting up a business - Zythe.com
11. Getting a new job the same week the last one expired
12. LARPing
13. Taking up W40K again with the lads
14. Finally sorting out some new garden gates
15. Finally geting some new replacement windows
16. Hooking up with my old Bury St Edmunds school mates
17. Finishing, designing and printing my novel (twice!)
18. Discovering the Yorkshire Wolds
19. Discovering the green lanes of Suffolk
20. Nights out in York

Posted by monoman at 04:28 PM