Year In Review pt. Numero Dos

Hi there, it's me again, ready to bore you all with more of my ridiculous opinions about pop culture. I realize that I am probably the worst mirror to pop culture around, because I generally hate most new shit the youth are fawning after; I don't do the tight pants thing, the ironic 80's hair band shirt thing, and I still haven't seen Avatar. All of that being said, I feel pretty confident that I will present, with my next list, things you will disagree with wholeheartedly. Ladies and Gentlemen...

Some Overrated Shit Released in 2009:
Hype Bands

Looking back at 2009, I see a world where youth culture was seriously grabbing for straws. Look at any number of 'Indie' blog sites and I will guarantee you the top 5 or 10 albums in their list will be the same 5 or 10 in the Pitchfork list. Don't get me wrong, I read Pitchfork, it's a perfectly fine commercial entity. It's just that, when did Pitchfork become Fox News for Hipsters? I mean, did anyone actually listen to that XX record? It's fucking boring. For me, it all culminates in the newest output by Animal Collective, a bland, electronica, dance-party record that, since the day it was released, was hailed as 'the next level of pop music'. Not that it's a terrible album (it made the Top 66), it's just that the internet hype machine built the fucking thing up so much that people automatically assumed it was the best. All year long, I've heard and seen conversations take place where any new album is compared to MPP, not listened to and assessed based upon its own merits. Maybe I'm getting cynical, but I always thought forming your own opinions on things was cool. Meh.

Disney Pixar's 'UP'

'Up' is a movie about an Octogenarian, Carl, who has lost his wife, and is living alone in their house, which the city is forcing him to vacate. Carl, a former balloon salesman, gets a bright idea one day - he straps hundreds of balloons through his chimney and floats off to South America. Hi-jinks involving a dog and a boy scout all ensue, and it's a really nice movie about learning to move on from pain, and living your dreams even when you're an old fart. Also, my boy Michael Giacchino, who does the music for LOST, did the score, so big ups. The reason I say it's overrated goes a bit beyond the film itself however, and all the way up to the big dogs. Disney Pixar has pretty much had a lock on top animated films for the past decade or so, and it will be no surprise to me if 'Up' nabs an Oscar. It's just that they don't deserve it. Not this time. 'Up' tugs at the heart strings of older movie viewers, something rare for animated cinema, but the story itself falls apart by the end. 2009 also saw the release of 'Coraline', 'Ponyo', and 'The Fantastic Mr. Fox', each one a future classic, and each one better than (or at the very least as good as) 'Up'.

Micheal Jackson

Yeah, this dude. Honestly, I'm only mad because dude had to ruin my birthday by dying on it. I'm already anticipating waking up this June 25th and seeing 'RIP Micheal' plastered all over everything I come across (which is why I also anticipate drinking myself into a serious stupor). Don't get me wrong, the dude had a great voice, and performed on a lot of great songs other people wrote for him. It just bugs me that, prior to his death, he's some gross child-molesting plastic-surgery-obsessed freak. Yet as soon as he dies, he becomes a strong black man, and a role model, and everyone goes out and buys 'Thriller' on eBay for $200. First of all, anyone with any sense knows you can find 'Thriller' for .99 cents at any record store; and, secondly, when did dying make you a positive black figure? If death is a redeeming quality, maybe someone should let Joe Piscapo know.


Up Next: Some other lists or something, who cares?