2010 Round-up!

This is sooo late! My bad, my bad! Despite being ten days into 2011 I still want to do my 2010 round-up because I'm self indulgent like that. 2010 was a year of a lot of epic fails peppered with some amazing moments (mostly live bands) so here are my ~personal highlights of the past year!

I saw a bunch of my favourite bands in 2010 including: Motion City Soundtrack, Alkaline Trio, Cobra Starship, Happy Mondays, Lightning Seeds, Brand New and Glassjaw. I also discovered a bunch of new bands to obsess over thanks to seeing them live including: Foxy Shazam, Free Energy and Against Me! But the highlight of the year must be Reading Festival becuse I got to see Blink-182 and most importantly Weezer! I've been a massive Weezer fan since I was little so it was sort of like a religious experience getting to finally see them.

This is the crowd for Blink at the end of the night, crazy huh?! We were somewhere near the front and I thought I was going to die trying to get out after they were finished! Well worth it though and we're going to see Blink again twice during July!

(haha not an official video but I thought it was quite funny!)

 

 The summer is always a good time for me because it's also my birthday! I spent it drinking tequila with my family during my Mexican themed birthday. My boyfriend got me the best present ever, which was tickets to a play called Prisoner Of Second Ave which may not seem a big deal if you didn't know that the play was actually starring JEFF GOLDBLUM! I don't think my obsession with Jeff is well documented on here, but he is my favourite actor of all time and I regularly wax poetic about him. The play was super funny and in a really intimate theater where we were four rows from the front. Jeff was brilliant and once again I think I had some sort of religious experience watching him! We didn't stick around to meet him afterwards, but my boyfriend did snap this picture which I will treasure forever..

Those were my biggies, other amazing stuff that happened: Ken Jeong spoke to me on Twitter, my niece was born, I discovered Misfits, I wore my first pair of  Dr Martens and I remained relatively sane! I have lots to look forward to in 2011 including a trip to Euro Disney, moving to London and perhaps, maybe finally being able to call myself employed!

Top Telly of Twenty Ten!

I feel like I haven't blogged in ages! I've been busy Christmas shopping, I got all the bits and bobs for the Blogger Secret Santa all ready to be sent off tomorrow! I also bought a massive Heffalump for my niece. I didn't like Winnie the Pooh when I was little, but I don't think Heffalumps were in it then?! Either way, I quite like Winnie the Pooh now because of the video game Kingdom Hearts.

I've been meaning to write this post all month (mostly because I was chuffed over my alliteration in the title!) but I ended up getting too emotionally involved in Corrie and decided to wait until the drama was over there. So yes, this is a post about all my favourite shows from this year! I watch a lot of telly, mostly American shows which I watch online. I was so invested in so many shows this year that I had to stop watching some (sorry Castle, Dexter and The Mentalist!) because it was taking over my life. Some shows came to an end (Dollhouse) which I can't say I'm too bothered about to be honest! But I don't just watch American shows, I watch a few English series, some classics have come out this year as well as old favourites returning. So let's try and recap some of my favourites from 2010...

English DramasIf there's something the English can do well it's a good drama. As a nation we tend to wallow in misery and lap up other people's shit lives. What stands out most for me this year is the calibre of dramas for teens and young adults. Firstly there's obviously Misfits. This has been my favourite show of the whole year, it gets me frothing at the mouth and spamming Facebook with updates that just consist of "OMG MISFITS". There is not one thing you can fault with it and I literally cannot understand people who hate it. I can only assume they have written it off before giving it a proper go. Not only is it hilarious and clever, but I also like how they portray interracial couples and body image. Despite it's dark undertones I believe it's ultimately positive for young viewers rather than say, Skins which glorifies strung out, waifish, impossibly fashionable teenagers. Series 2 started in November, with a Christmas special coming up. It's still going strong and I'm hoping they don't run out of ideas soon. I cannot even describe the amount of love I have for TV shows and films that include time travel, but that's not to say it doesn't make future plot harder to write!

Following on, a new series this year came from director Shane Meadows. Of course I mean This Is England '86, which blasted onto our screens during the end of summer. It's set three years after the film This Is England, where little Shaun was caught up in a white supremecist gang and Combo has just beaten Milky half to death. The new series has almost all the original cast back (but no Jack O'Connell- boo!) and focuses on Woody and Lol's rocky relationship. The costumes, music, home decor, setting, EVERYTHING about this is completely spot on. Almost all the dialogue is ad-libbed and at times it's such uncomfortable viewing you need to take a breather before carrying on watching. But you can see the love and affection the cast has for each other, for Shane and for the story being told. Hopefully this is going to get a second series, with Shane quoted as saying he would like to continue with it if the first series had a positive reaction.

Soaps
I'll start with the soap that took over my life last week...Corrie! Ever since I can remember Coronation Street has been on in my house. I remember Curly and Des and Toyah and Spider. But it was the Corrie tram crash that had me glued to my tv, and when not to my tv, to twitter hashtags for an entire week. A glorious week of wailing and pain and joy. My stomach was doing sommersalts until Dev and Sinita were safe. I cried when little Simon was rescued and I, along with I think most of the nation, wondered how their live episode went by so flawlessly. There is no mistaking that Corrie's mix of drama and hilarity are unique in soaps and the fifty years it's been going means that it's the reigning master of all other soaps! That being said...

Eastenders also had me glued to the telly for a couple of months because of the one and only Crackhead Phil! Now, I'm being entirely serious when I say I think Steve McFadden was born to play a crack addict. Never before has a performance been so hammed up on 'Enders. Rumour has it that Steve McFadden was doused in five buckets of vegetable oil per scene of achieve his clammy, glistening shine upon his wrinkly brow. The storyline culminated in the spectacular burning now of the Queen Vic. If you ever want to make a good episode in a soap, trap your audience's favourite characters in a burning building. Sure fire drama and emotions!

Comedy
America have had some cracking comedies in their time. Arrested Development has yet to be knocked off the top spot for me but this year has seen the return of Community which is by far the cleverest and most touching comedy to come out for a long time! Community is about a group of study buddies who are all completely different but utterly devoted to each other, no matter how much they deny it. The first series started out very routine, but somewhere along the way it got more and more surreal until you have scenes of characters singing American Tail songs to mice and building pillow fort cities. I truly care for these characters, because they're vulnerable and need support. This series has been just as good as the first and I'm hoping they have a lot more to give. I love all the characters but my stand out ones are Troy and Abed, who steal the show with their bromance. Their little skits at the end are funny enough to be a show of their own! There are also some inspired cameos from the likes of Tony Hale and Anthony Michael Hall (the geek from the John Huges films!). I could go on and on linking to videos, it's all comedy gold. The first series is currently being shown on Viva here in the UK.

A series that Channel 4 promised a long time ago and finally delivered was The Increasingly Poor Decisions Of Todd Margaret starring Arrested Development alumini David Cross and Will Arnett. This series is so cringingly funny that at times I really want to close it before I've finished the episode! I think English people will take to this because of the basic formula of "pig-headed American doesn't know English culture". You can watch Todd Margaret on 4OD right now!

And finally an British comedy in the form of Grandma's House. The Simon Amstell written and starring comedy about life round his Grandma's house on Sundays. Lots of good likenesses to all our own families. It's terribly awkward but hilariously funny and well acted. Special mentions go to Grandma and Granddad for seeming so like my own, and Clive for being good enough to hate. I really hope this gets a second series! What's interesting about this is how Simon slags off Never Mind The Buzzcocks on the same channel that it was broadcast on. Very clever stuff. Also can I confess my obsession with little Simon Amstell? I used to wake up extra early on Sundays to watch him on Pop World!

Sport
Of course this year it was the World Cup! This year was the most hilarious World Cup because of obviously the majestic vuvuzela, which racked up at least a hundred internet hours of hilarity. Closely followed is John Terry's fish dive against Slovakia, which I found completely hilarious. Other highlights included Fernando Torres's fabulousness.

Politics
It was the election this year and I sort of got election fever. It seems like so long ago now that all the promises have been broken and Gordon Brown hasn't called anyone bigoted since. But one man stands out as a true legend amongst TV presenters and that is David Dimbleby. This is man bloody old and he was awake for at least fifty whole hours whilst giving election night coverage. There is even a Twitter account dedicated to his called 'Dimblebot'. He's to election night coverage what Terry Wogan was to Eurovision. A salute one of our national treasures.

A special mention also goes out to Jeremey Vine, bless him. His interactive green screens, including a staircase (my personal favourite) made my delirious sleepless election night even more hilarious than I could have possibly imagined political defeat could feel. Thank you Jezza!

Reality TV
I have to end on something that dominated the end of the year in terms of my TV viewing. Of course, I mean X Factor. I was completely hooked this series for the first time in ages. My favourite to begin with was Nicolo, whos Twitter since has been an endless source of amusement. Nicolo is Italian and good looking and totally indifferent to everything. He swore on national telly and insulted the show on a regular basis. I loved him! Secondly I loved Aiden, probably a little too much than a 22 year old should love a 19 year old. It was a bit creepy, but so was he. I was heartbroken when he was voted off! Some great songs got sung, my personal favourite being this one, but of course really what we all tuned in for was Katie Waissel, Wagner and Cher. They were so abhorrent that they had the nation in an uproar. There is no shame in liking the X Factor, only snobs will tell you that it's not worth it. If anything, it gives you a sense of belonging in the community.

Also, a special mention to the human dance machine that is Matt Baker on Strictly! Man rides a FUCKING UNICYCLE like it aint no thang. I love him I love him.

Phew. I think that's about everything I can say for now. This post got pretty mammoth! I feel drained, I'm going to go sit down with a cuppa and watch some telly.

Top 10 Films Of 2010 (Part II)!

Oops! My "tomorrow" turned into a whole weekend of procrastinating and I never even left my bed let alone got any blogging done! Part II is a little late but it's better than never. Counting down from five to one, here are my favourite films of 2010...

5. Shutter Island
Leonardo DiCaprio plays migrane plagued detective in this Martin Scorcese film noir. Set in a mental asylum for the criminally insane, on a secluded island, during a storm. Atmospheric only slightly describes this gorgeous film!

I'm so glad it's now acceptable to say that Leo is a fantastic actor (possibly the greatest of his generation)! Like, before he started teaming up with Scorcese, everyone knew he was good but it was sort of embarrassing to admit because he was in Titanic and Romeo + Juliet (amazing films btw) and they were "chick flicks" and everything. Of course, I always knew Leo was amazing as evidenced by my obsession with him when I was twelve years old. I had a giant poster of his face above my pillow! Anyway, he's able to showcase his talents along with a great supporting cast as he unearths the mysteries of the creepy old mental hospital. Some parts are shit-your-pants-scary, it's hard not to become completely engrossed in this film.

4. Cemetary Junction
This Ricky Gervais and Steve Merchant film moves away from comedy in favour of drama, telling the story of a group of teenagers from Reading in the 1970s.

Ricky Gervais is no stranger to drama. Some of the most memorable and touching parts of The Office and Extras were the parts that made you cry. Dawn and Tim finally getting together. Ricky's speech whilst in Celebrity Big Brother on Extras. This film does a lot of that, laying it on thick with the nostalgia and emotion. And it totally works. I found myself emotionally invested in the characters (who are mostly far too good looking to have come from Reading (I joke, I joke!)) who have to deal with sexism and having no money and the thought of having to work in a factory for the rest of your life because your parents don't have the money to send you to university. With the increase of tuition fees in the UK, some of these problems are what kids these days are also worrying about. The set pieces, hair styles, clothes, everything is right with this film. Please watch it if you get the chance!

3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part I)
The seventh installment of the films sees Dumbledore dead, Voldemort alive and the whole wizarding world thrown into chaos. No one is safe, but who will make it out alive?

If you haven't seen this yet I would urge you to do so immediately! To reiterate a cliche, these films have got darker and better with each one. I love ALL the Harry Potter films, I love the books (a little too much) and everything and anything else to do with Harry Potter (except the fan fiction), so I may be a little biased but this film left my mouth hanging open for the entire two and a half hours. It's like it suddenly hit me that every great actor from British film for the past 50 years was assembled for these films, and I felt so proud to be British and have such an amazing showcase of talent being seen around the world. The trio's acting gets a special mention for being really good, as does the special effects which really are magical. I can't believe there's a six month wait 'til the next one! At the same time, I'm sort of dreading it because that will be the end then, wont it? No more Harry Potter. Nothing. Best not to think about it!

2. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
Not to be mixed up with the Harvey Keitel film of the same name, this Werner Herzog directed film deals with a good cop gone bad, his battle with addiction and the tangled web he weaves.

Like in A Clockwork Orange, Bad Lieutenant has you rooting for the bad guy from the start. Nicholas Cage is actually amazing in this film. It's not often you can say that sentence (even if he is one of my favourite actors) but this film really warrants it. Nic seems completely at home playing a borderline psychotic cop who's having a bad time.

It's a travesty that this film wasn't on a nationwide release. I had to watch it at an independant cinema when this should have taken over the cinemas this summer. It came out at a perfect time, when the sticky heat of New Orleans was mirrored by the heatwave in the UK. It only helped to immerse you. Not only is this film totally badass, but it's also REALLY funny. Like, belly laughing funny.

1. Four Lions
Chris Morris tackles the controversial subject of inept terrorists and their plan to blow up London in this deeply funny and surprisingly emotional film about friendship, marriage and er, bombing stuff.

If you didn't see this at the cinema you missed out. Clearly anything with Brasseye creator's Chris Morris and Screen Burn's Charlie Brooker attatched was going to be worth a viewing, even if it was just for the moral outrage. But Four Lions was more than something to get uppity about, it actually revealed the more human side to a culture so shrouded in rumours and misconceptions. A man reading his son a bedtime story, comforting his wife, having a water fight. Rather than demonise Islamic terrorists this film made you sympathetic towards them, which is what I think most people found deeply uncomfortable about this film.

Of course, it's also funny. It's funny in a way you've never seen funny before. It's probably one of the most important films to have come out since teror-phobia gripped the Western world. If one film can stand up and tell everyone to please chill the fuck out, it deserves all the respect it has gotten. That's why it's my number one film of 2010!

Honorable mentions go to: Despicable Me (amazing but not as much as Toy Story), Inception (couldn't put two Leo films so chose my favourite), Machete (isn't showing in a cinema near me but I know it'll be amazing), Kick-Ass, and Scott Pilgrim vs The World!

Top 10 Films of 2010 (Part I)!

LISTS, EVERYWHERE LISTS! I'm kind of in my blogging element at the moment. I used to have another blog where I used to endlessly list everything, but it failed spectacularly! Allow me to carry on Decembers listing madness with my top films of 2010! It's been a pretty strong year for film, though a lot of films I loved that I thought came out this year were actually from 2009 (Zombieland, Moon, Adventureland). I am terrible at remembering stuff like that! Film is my biggest interest, this list could easily have been a top 20, but I managed to narrow it down as far as I could! I've decided to do this post in two segments because it's started to get pretty epic in the words department!

10 Get Him To The Greek
Russell Brand and Jonah Hill are reunited after working together on Forgetting Sarah Marshall, teaming up with Sean Combs (aka P.Diddy or whatever he's calling himself these days) for a cross country buddy movie.

I have a confession. I totally wasn't into Forgetting Sarah Marshall. In fact, I hated it. It had some of my worst actors in it (Kirsten Bell and Jason Segal) and seeing Segal's penis kind of put me off the rest of the film. So I was pretty reluctant to give Get Him To The Greek a chance, but after reading loads of Facebook statuses about it being surprisingly good, I went along and watched it at the cinema. I wasn't disappointed! This is a great film, it's funny and has a simple plot, which means the film can afford to stray into surreal territory. I have a soft spot for buddy films, and this was more in line with Pineapple Express than Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Sean Combs gave a really, really great performance. The "Jeffrey" scene in this film is probably in my top scenes of all time (there I go with the list making again)!

9. Nowhere Boy
Aaron Johnson in his breakthrough role as the young John Lennon and his childhood. Johnson has gone on to star in the epic Kick-Ass and is set to become a dad very soon with his Nowhere Boy director. All at the age of twenty, blimey.

I'm a massive John Lennon fan, and I've never really been satisfied by any other film portrayal of my hero. I have a feeling that directors want to get away from The Beatles as what defines Lennon, as also seen in 'Lennon Naked' which tried to tell an untold story of him. Where Lennon Naked failed was Christopher Eccleston basically shitting all over Lennon's name, making it look like he was a terrible, cruel man with no time for his son. It may be truth- who would know? And Nowhere Boy also shows John with his fair share of demons, but it also shows him laughing and playing and having fun. Something that can get lost in the hype of a megastar with so many skeletons in his closet. The acting is fantastic, as is the soundtrack. There's even touching apperances from little George and Paul, before the money and the fame and the bitterness started.

8. Jackass 3D
The Jackass boys reunite for their ten year anniversary, looking a bit more wrinkly and complaining about the pain a little more than usual. This time the escapades are in 3D, making it the only film which has successfully utillised the new 3D technology. Forget Avatar, THIS is the film to watch in 3D!

I've been watching Jackass since I was twelve years old, as I'm sure most people my age have been too. So what if it's immature? Or pointless? Or dangerous? I want to pay £7 to sit in a cinema dry heaving whilst watching grown men poop on each other, dammit! Certain parts of this film really did make me feel sick, they pushed the boat out on the gross factor for this film, so you have been warned!

This film is just really really silly with a great soundtrack and no other intention other than to be fun. They got some super super slo-mo cameras which are stunning and show you the insane things skin does when it's punched. As I said, the 3D is excellent and really works for this type of film. It reminded me of when I was little and you would duck in the Imax when something flew towards your face. Fantastic!

7. Toy Story 3
Pixar's latest installment and the film that made grown men cry, Toy Story through is an emotional rollercoaster through growing up and letting go. Andy is going off to college and the toys have to deal with being left behind. Poignant and emotional. I'm pretty sure everyone has already seen this so you all know what I mean!

I never really enjoyed Toy Story 2 when I was little. It wasn't until a couple of months ago that I really enjoyed watching it on a second viewing. However, right from the start Toy Story 3 had me hooked! I love Pixar, I love what they do with animation (they don't have to stick in "hilarious" dance numbers or songs like Dreamworks) and I love the company as a whole. The way they think about children's films is completely different to anyone else on the market. They don't make films specifically for children, they make films for everyone that are safe for kids to watch. I really have a hard time at the moment swallowing kids films except for Pixar ones. I hate "down with the kids" dance scenes, for example, the Mad Hatter's dance at the end of Alice in Wonderland. Blergh! That RUINED the entire film for me! I can go into a Pixar film safe in the knowledge that I wont have to see anything like that. Somewhat disappointedly, the next couple of Pixar films being released are sequels too. No matter how much I love Monsters Inc, I'd much rather see what new, exciting things are coming out of Pixar!

6. Youth In Revolt
Michael Cera plays a geeky kid and his alter ego, the rebellious Francois Dillinger, to win the affections of his summer crush. With a great supporting cast from Justin Long, Steve Buscemi, Zach Galifianakis, Fred Willard and Ray Liotta, this film is obviously hilarious!

A lot of people dog on Michael Cera for playing the same role over and over again (which he doesn't, btw). In this film he plays two character opposits and I think he still got slated for it! Anyone who watched this was able to see that this film was great, but critics are scared of anything out of their comfort zone. They're too snobby to appreciate something a little far fetched and cheesey. When Cera is running through the woods in slow motion, or ends up half naked in an old man's pick up truck they don't laugh, they just roll their eyes. Well I can tell you that this film is hilarious and just cool enough to give it indie status, all the references to Frank Sinatra and Parisian babes help. There is also another hilarious drug scene with some magic mushrooms. Well worth a watch!

That's it for part one! Stay tuned for part two coming tomorrow...

Top 6 Albums Of 2010!

Man, I get so excited for the end of the year because it caters to my need to list EVERYTHING in my favourite order. I love 'Top Films of 2010' lists and the more obscure '10 Video Game Disappointments of 2010", I love how BBC3 have 'Most Annoying People of 2010' programs...It's a total addiction! With this in mind, here is my first in a regular installment for December, my 'Tops of 2010' lists! This one is albums. I chose six because I couldn't narrow it down to five! Obviously I listen to mostly one style of music above others, so this isn't a very balanced list, but I hope you enjoy it anyway!

6. I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody's Business - Dust'n Off The Ol' Guitar

Ace Enders has had a great year this year, he released the great The World We Know, showing that he is only improving as a musician and lyricist, but it's his reworkings of old classic songs from his career that really caught my eye.

What I like about this album is the amount of input fans had in it. They asked Ace for it, they requested the songs and within months it was up and ready. How many guys do you know that would do that for their fans?

Of course, not to mention the songs on here are really, really good. This wasn't just some cop-out record to make money. You can tell Ace really tried to make every song special and new. It totally works as an acoustic album, it's calming and showcases Ace's great voice better than any other record. Hearing the songs in a new way (especially the classic Want To Hear You Sad) breathes a new life into them and brings back the magic of when you first them. My favourite off the record is now Baby Blue, but there isn't a weak song on the album. You can buy the record here. I always recommend buying a physical copy, but that's just my general geekiness for album sleeves and CD art shining through!

5. Alkaline Trio - This Addiction

Alkaline Trio have been consistently bringing out amazing records for years and years whilst also managing to visit the UK to play shows what seems like yearly! A very impressive feat that shows how hard working these guys are. This Addiction is their seventh studio album and mirrors more of the old style that Trio were making in the early days.

Some people will say that Trio lost their touch, and that their previous album (Agony and Irony) strayed too far from a formula that works for them. This is bullshit, Agony and Irony had a bunch of great songs on (example), but This Addiction blows it out of the water- that's how good it is!
The (what I assume) Misfit's tribute song Dine Dine My Darling is probably the highlight of the album by being a quick, funny play on words song that is Trio's trademark. The rest of the album follows suit and is just a brilliant rock album! You can buy it here. (Note: I always link to the artist or record company website because in my head I think more money will go to the artist, most if not all of these albums are probably on Amazon or Play.)

4. Foxy Shazam - Self Titled

Okay, I've written about Foxy on here before so hopefully people are familiar with their distinctive style of madness! This is the band's third studio album, with added trumpet player and all the old favourite members. To be honest, it's worth buying this album for the artwork alone! It makes me smile so much!

It's hard to explain Foxy to people who have never listened to them. I would say go watch a live video and then come back, to get a sense of the theatrics and chaos that is supreme both on and off this album.

From the start where Eric invites his "dogs" to help him sing a song, to the touching tributes to his family on Connect and Oh Lord the one thing this album is saturated in is emotion. It's infectious, it makes you want to dance and swing your arms and pull muscles. The album does strange things to whoever listens to it and will leaveyour mind blown. Buy the album here!

3. Free Energy - Stuck On Nothing

Another band to feature heavily on this blog, this album ruled my summer! And when I talk about this album I wont bang on about how James Murphy from LCD Soundsystem produced the album because frankly it doesn't matter. All that matters is that Free Energy are somehow fresh, just by sounding old. Doesn't make much sense, does it? But you only have to see the great year the band have had to agree that their psychedellic twinged pop has captured the hearts of a lot of music fans.

The band are currently completing a tour with Foxy Shazam and are set to support Weezer on the upcoming Pinkerton anniversary tour. They've supported Motion City Soundtrack and played at Reading Festival. This is a band you should be taking seriously.

The lyrics are about love and partying and being with your friends and enjoying life, the songs are in managable 3 minute slices though it's not hard to get completely lost in the album and realise you've listened to it five times in a row. The songs run into each other effortlessly, almost like it's a concept album dedicated to a much better time. Evan's vocals are like syrup! Pick up Stuck On Nothing here.

2. Hellogoodbye - Would It Kill You?

What can I say about Hellogoodbye that I haven't already said in my previous reviews?

I was going mental waiting for this album to come out, it was torture. I knew it was going to be fantastic, but it was never quite in reach. It was worth the wait by being my second favourite album of this year. It doesn't just appeal to me, everyone I've shown a few songs to has loved it. It's come just at the right time, when other kind of "kooky" bands have had major success, like Vampire Weekend and MGMT. I'm not comparing this record to them, but the desire to do something that makes the band happy is similar.

The gamble to completely change their sound has paid off, as this record is completely mature and lovely and full of hidden notes and instruments. I cannot recommend this album enough, it does funny things to my insides. Buy it here!

1. Motion City Soundtrack - My Dinosaur Life

The Mark Hoppus produced album takes my top spot! My Dinosaur Life came out all the way back in Janurary and has been my favourite album all year. In this year I have seen MCS three times, sang along to the songs and fallen a little bit in love with Justin Pierre. I've first pumped and followed their blogs, twitters and tumblrs. I've pretty much lived and breathed this band in 2010.

This is their fourth offering, staying true to the formula that'sgiven people so much pleasure over the years. That's something I really like about MCS, they haven't changed at all. The sound may have become more refined, but they never strayed far from what works for them. I love the synths and Justin's vocals, I love the pop culture references just as much as I did when I heard their debut album. This is one band that could never be accused of selling out.

Every single track on this album could be a hit, and they've made some killer videos to go along with it. My favourite is Disappear, which reminds me of Where The Wild Things Are. The lyrics are so honest, for example on Delirium which deals with Justin's problems with anxiety. Without this album, I would have been lost this year! It's literally made up about a quarter of my music plays (thanks Last.fm!). You can buy My Dinosaur Life here!

What were your favourite albums of 2010?