...of the year

[pluk]

As we hurtle to the end of '22 and out into '23, what things have you enjoyed this year? Feel free to add your own categories and ignore mine...

Best single
Hypnotozed - Sophie Ellis Bextor x WuhOh

From: https://youtu.be/5uf1ldXzZUU

Undisputed sound of the summer for me, pop dance, but with its mixed up timing making it stand right out. Just seemed to be gaining proper traction and on the Radio 1 and 2 playlist when old Queenie went and died and music stopped existing for a bit. Shame, it should have been a big hit.

Best album
Everything Everything - Raw Data Feel
Absolute perfection, from start to finish there's not a single duff track. It's criminal some of these tracks aren't standalone hits. You'll never hear a more beautiful song about suicidal darkness than Jennifer.

From: https://youtu.be/VEIhJM-atiI


Best live music
Metronomy - Alexandra Palace
Incredible atmosphere, Metronomy smashed their way through their latest album and back catalogue. Right up the front, first time moshing to a Hammond organ for me!


From: https://twitter.com/EatYourOwnEars/status/1523236370445045761?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1523236370445045761%7Ctwgr%5E795efe24c5ab1518a45881e6eb24b740f45728d5%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.alexandrapalace.com%2Fblog%2Fmetronomy-live-at-ally-pally-pictures-setlist-and-reactions%2F

Not my footage.

(It was probably actually Everything Everything at the tiny Chinnerys venue, but there's only so much a person can wang on about one band)

Best live comedy
Stewart Lee - Tornado/Snowflake. Continuing to take stand up into some sort of performance art. So clever, but bot at the expense of being relentlessly funny.

Best TV
Can't call this one, Taskmaster or Gone Fishing.
As long as its been going, there's nothing about Taskmaster that's gone stale or lost its edge. Gone Fishing is so beautiful to watch, and I could basically watch Bob Mortimer do anything and be entertained.

Best film
Everything Everywhere All At Once. Incredible mind, space and time bending brilliance. Mention also to Elvis.

Best Podcast
RHLSTP Frequently makes me laugh uncontrollably, and great to hear Richard Herring back on form after having cancer.

Best Beer
Toss a Coin to your Witcher, Speyside barrel aged edition - Low Key Brewing. Special stuff. Raspberry and tonka really well balanced, gives out to the warmth of the speyside. Not gloopy but not thin.

Proud Dad Moment
Taking my three year old on Flight of the Pterosaur at Paultons. Her first truly big girl ride, and she loved it.

 

[John_P]

Best Song - Sweetest Pie by Megan Thee Stallion & Dua Lipa

Best Album - Midnight's - Taylor Swift. Honourable mentions to Carly Rae Jepsens album, and the Minions 2: Rise Of Gru album.

Best Gig - Creeper at the o2 Ritz in Manchester. Weirdly it was both the first (April 2020) and last (December 2021) gigs I had postponed due to Covid. Was just a tremendous night seeing them at their operatic best.
Also thoroughly enjoyed seeing My Chemical Romance twice in a week at Milton Keynes then in Warrington. and the returning Gaslight Anthem at the Manchester Apollo.

Best TV - The Bear, out of nowhere and runs the gamut of emotions through the show.
Good mentions for Andor showing how Star Wars can still wow us 45 years on. Ghosts (UK version) for again being bloody brilliant. And Mortimer and Whitehouse Gone Fishing for just being lovely. And away...

Best Film - Everything Everywhere All At Once. A tour de force of a movie, so good I went to see it twice the week it came out.
Also, Top Gun: Maverick which was high concept blockbusters done right.
Nope, and Glass Onion as well.

Podcast - Kermode and Mayos Take. Was worried when they announced the BBC based flagship wittertainment would be coming to an end, but they've improved the concept entirely.
Office Ladies, heading into the endgame with this now as their nearly upto the end of season 7 (of 9) but its such a nice listen.

Best beer - always enjoy a Camden Pale Ale

Best non theme park trip - Houston Space Centre, just an amazing place to go. 2nd place probably seeing The Alamo which was the same day. (in between 2 little amusement parks)

Trip To The Theatre - The Book Of Mormon

 

[Poisson]

Best gig: Rammstein. Going to take something to topple this lot. Sound brilliant and the show is epic.

Best non theme park place visited: LEGO House, Billund.

Best new country visited: Spain. As much as I loved Denmark, Spain was so good I went back later in the year and my knackered joints appreciated the warmth

Best new cred: F.L.Y. , Phantasialand

Best new flat ride: Exciter, Tivoli Warp 10

Most surprising new cred: Stunt Fall, Parque Warner Madrid

Best trip: Had the privilege of a few this year, but it's probably the AT/DMP trip with a bunch of friends new and old

Best meet: Fireworks. Somehow topped last years for stupidity and brilliance

Best steel coaster ridden: Nemesis. The farewell event was amazing too.

Best wooden coaster ridden: Wicker Man. Not done many woodies this year and the ones I've done have been...questionable mostly.

Lets throw some worsts in

Worst new cred: Stampida Red, PortAventura. Needs attacking with fire, dynamite and nuclear weapons

Worst new park: Ferrari Land. Horrid place, worse than some of the weird and wonderful dumps I've been to. Felt so...off and cheap and nasty, just blatantly designed for the minimum budget, maximum cash extraction and doesn't even attempt to hide it.

Worst moment: Severe mental breakdown and crippling back pain ruining a holiday for several people in September. Somehow cured by going to Thorpe Park to smash the back into working followed by having a little cry at Towers.

Disappointing new cred: Sik, Flamingo Land. Was hyped to be good, was not.

Worst steel coaster ridden: MP-Xpress, Movie Park Germany. Severe headbashing express.

Worst wooden coaster ridden: Bandit, Movie Park Germany. Spine/lower body destroying machine.

 

[Matt.GC]

Best Movie release of the year - The Batman. Was very apprehensive about it, I didn't like the look of it beforehand. I'm also sick and tired of all the DC and Marvel CGI bombast fests that have been pumped out over the last decade since Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy ended. The constant reboots and new universe things just look like excuses to carry on milking IP's. But this movie was excellent in it's own right.

 

[Danza91]

Will throw a few in here:

Best Album - There were some great albums last year (mentions to The Weeknd, Placebo, Ghost and Avril Lavigne (pure nostalgia)), but I'm giving it to Zeit by Rammstein as I find myself going back to it over and over. Biggest disappointment was The Car by Arctic Monkeys.

Best Film - Top Gun: Maverick, a near-flawless sequel. Massive disappointments came from Everything Everywhere... and Elvis, the latter's editing...blimey.

Best Gig - Rammstein @ Coventry. Seeing My Chemical Romance in MK was also fantastic.

Best TV - My TV viewing has decreased in recent years, but Stranger Things S4 was superb, as was House of the Dragon S1. I've just started on The Bear which is really good so far. I felt let down by Russian Doll S2, just didn't do it for me.

I don't often visit theme parks these days, however I did get to Florida for the first time since 2006 and a lot has changed so:

Best Coaster - Velocicoaster, intense, so fast but so smooth. Hagrid's front row in the dark was special too. Guardians of the Galaxy just great fun. (Will add: Never got to ride Iron Gwazi, we fell ill for a couple of days and as a result missed Busch Gardens. All the more reason to save to go back soon...)

Best Ride - This is tough, I loved Flight of Passage and Rise of the Resistance, both are breathtaking, however there's still something about Tower of Terror which makes that ride so much fun every single time, I absolutely love it.

 

[Connor98]

Bit late to the party

Best song: Harry Style - As it was
Hardly listen to much new music so it has to be this for me.

Best live show - Coldplay @ Wembley
Simply stunning performance and stage production out this world

Best new cred - Shambhala
Actually was my first B&M hyper, hope they are all that good but I’m not getting my expectations that high

Best movie - All quiet on the western front
A great adaptation of the original in what I consider a poor year on the whole for new movies.

Best TV- Finale season of Better call Saul
An absolute masterclass in writing in the final season. Definitely matched breaking Bad except maybe for the ending.

Best non theme park trip- Fuerteventura. a second home to me so great to get back again for a few trips this year