What impressed me and what didn't (2010)

1. How To Destroy Angels EP by How To Destroy Angels
For fans who thought it was over, psyche! In ways, I prefer this new project to Nine Inch Nails (oh, yes I did). The dark, dreamy background is perfect for Mariqueen Maandig's voice. (I posted about the lead single, "The Space In Between".)

All six tracks can be downloaded from their site.
2. Kanye West's Saturday Night Live performance. He reinforced his artistry with a well-developed contrast in the colours, the choreography, and the concept.


3. Teen Dream by Beach House
Sounds weird, but it was actually the following concert photograph that made me check these guys out. I believe they were supporting Vampire Weekend at the time. The resulting contribution was some necessary dream pop to my library; a genre I've previously had .

photo by kendallstark on Flickr
HM Arcade Fire's interactive music video for "We Used To Wait". The creative use of Google Earth and extensive replaying warmed me to the song, which to be honest, I wouldn't have listened to previously.

1. "Like a G6" by Far East Movement Feat. Cataracs and Dev
Although I did previously mention this track (not once, but twice), I expected it to last longer. Instead, "Like a G6" popped and fizzled; most people got sick of it as a dance tune. It certainly generated enough searches for "what is a g6".

The song reference when "what" is typed into the search bar.
2. While we have the image above, Google Instant. I'm sure it'll be improved over time, but thus far, Instant Search has benefited me minimally. I'm not bothered enough to turn it off, but the reloading is a hassle when I'm doing a search engine run (frequent, in my case).

The Facebook changes were nothing compared to this, however I'm not an avid Facebook user to begin with.

3. "The Social Network" was reportedly one of the best movies of the year. When it was being previewed, my friends and family wanted to see it but I said no: No, it did not look like an engaging film; no, it did not look like it would meet people's expectations. I only recently watched it for Justin Timberlake, who I'll admit I'm a big fan of. (Don't ask how that came about.)

Andrew Garfield; whom I can't wait to see in "Never Let Me Go".
Well, I watched it, and I still didn't like it. The cast was alright, but the humour was dry and the onscreen Zuckerberg was a trainwreck. I thought the characters lacked substance.

HM Recovery. I'm never impressed with Eminem, but in his defence, the musical choices him and his team made on Recovery are surprisingly better than they've been in the past. Unfairly in this list, I'd call it a fairly good overrated album.