late addition

This is also worthy of inclusion in the 'best song' category.

Barts SM 2019

Best Song

Vagabon – Water Me Down

Hot Chip – Spell

Elbow – White Noise White heat

The Comet Is Coming – Summon The Fire

DJ Shadow - Rocket like Rocket Fuel

Ride – Future Love

Best Lyric That Makes Me Laugh Every Time I Hear It

Black Country, New Road – Sunglasses – “Leave Kanye out of this”

Richard Dawson – Two Halves – “Stop fannying around, keep it nice and simple, you're not Lionel Messi, just pass the bloody ball”

Best Musical Re-discovery

It wouldn’t be a very long album, but The Best of Weezer would be ace.

Best Middle-Aged Man/Men Doing Excellent – If Hardly Ground-breaking – Stuff

Iggy Pop – Love’s Missing

Best Book

Only 3/5s through but really enjoying The Secret History. Think I’ve known the twist for a hundred or so pages.

Also: Alone in Berlin – Hans Fallada

Best Gig/Event

Suede, Albert Hall – all men in midlife should aspire to be like Brett

Best TV Programme

Not new but really enjoyed Gameface and The End of the F***ing World. Otherwise: All European crime drama on BBC4 at 9pm on Saturday, Catastrophe, Stranger Things

Best Radio Programme (That I Haven’t Previously Nominated)

The World Service – when the news here is dominated by one too many cunts, it’s a nice refuge.

Best Sporting Moment

The World Cup final was the most excruciatingly exciting piece of sport I’ve ever witnessed.

Website

Vice – Rental opportunity of the Week – sample: https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/bvggmq/flat-to-rent-willesden-green-two-bed

Worst Purchase / Disappointment

Not going to a proper music festival this year. I intend to ensure that doesn’t happen this year

Best Child-Related Thing

Not best, necessarily, but secondary school and the attendant freedom/lack of control has been an interesting learning curve.

Best Lifestyle Change

Scaling up from last year – joining a Fell Running club

Sort

Aisling Bea

Person, People or Thing You’d Most Like to See Set Upon By a Pack of Wolves

VAR

The Winning Thing You’d Most Recommend Your Fellow Judges to Own/Have/Consume/Do

Aspire to be like Brett

Barts 2019: Darbyshire

Best Album

Vampire Weekend: Father of the Bride

Elbow: Giants of All Sizes

Metronomy: Metronomy Forever

These were all “ok”. Would have been also rans in an era when I was buying 20-30 albums a year.

Best Song 

Fat White Family: Feet

Best Musical Re-discovery 

Around the World in a Day. Discovered I didn’t have the CD so Ebayed it. The first thing that shocked me was how unfamiliar it was. The fact that I didn't have the CD makes me think the last time I had a copy was indeed a cassette copy which probably means I haven't listened to it in 25+ years. And that it wasn't one of my favourites at the time.

I still think it's one of the weaker ones from "The Run". The singles are great, obviously, but I find myself switching off at other times. It must have been a head-wobbler for an American teen who'd bought Purple Rain and was hoping for more of the same. Though you might say the same for Parade and that is a work of genius....

Middle-Aged Man/Men Doing Excellent – If Hardly Ground-breaking – Stuff 

See my album list, first albums first released by those bands 1999-2005. See also my gigs list.

Best Film 

Stan and Ollie

Lion

Best Book 

James Ellroy: Blood’s a Rover

Best Gig/Event 

Dead heat between Suede and Tears for Fears.

Best TV Programme

Chernobyl
The Marvelous (sic) Mrs Maisel

Mindhunter

Dead Pixels

Mum

World War 2 in Colour

This Way Up

Sex Education

After Life

Handmaid’s Tale

The Irish doppleganger on Alan Partridge which was otherwise meh.

Best Radio Programme 

A sore point

Best website 

Twitter 

Best Sporting Moment 

World Cup Final Super Over

Revelation 

n/a

Worst Purchase / Disappointment 

6 music’s daytime schedule.

Best Child-Related Thing 

Burgeoning morning independence

Sort 

Rachel Brosnahan

Person, People or Thing You’d Most Like to See Set Upon By a Pack of Wolves 

Right wing politics

The Winning Thing You’d Most Recommend Your Fellow Judges to Own/Have/Consume/Do

Chernobyl/Mrs Maisel

Barts 2019: Kelly

Best Album
Bruce Springsteen: Western Stars 
The National: I Am Easy To Find 
Tindersticks: No Treasure But Hope 
Sharon Van Etten: Remind Me Tomorrow 
The Delines: The Imperial 
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: Ghosteen

Best Song 
Michael Kiwanuka: You Ain’t The Problem 
Lizzo: Juice 

Best Musical Re-discovery 
Otis Redding: Otis Blue 

Middle-Aged Man/Men Doing Excellent – If Hardly Ground-breaking – Stuff 
As usual, this pretty much defines my album shortlist: but Springsteen is probably the best match 

Best Film 
Capernaum 

Best Book 
George Orwell: 1984 

Best Gig/Event 
Lankum @ The Trades Club 

Best TV Programme
Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing  

Best Radio Programme 
Huey Morgan 

Best website 
National Rail 

Best Sporting Moment 
Those Champion’s League comebacks 

Revelation 
Good to see Elbow back with a couple of songs with a bit of bite. 

Worst Purchase / Disappointment 
The results of the election later this week 

Best Child-Related Thing 
Same as last year. Amateur dramatics getting both of them out of the house for 6 – 8 hours a week. 

Sort 
Bargain Hunt’s Natasha Raskin Sharp 

Person, People or Thing You’d Most Like to See Set Upon By a Pack of Wolves 
Where to start? 

The Winning Thing You’d Most Recommend Your Fellow Judges to Own/Have/Consume/Do
Read 1984 if you haven’t done so. Assuming you probably have: watch Capernaum.

Test (waltz) number 2

https://youtu.be/dLb33LZX4dc

Test

Blah

Kiwanuka

Blows off cobwebs... Hello: is anyone there? This is ace!

Mum - Big Talk Productions (UK)

Ever seen this? First series was in 2016 so not really a new thing....but series 3 is currently broadcasting.... and it's new for me.

Dead Pixels

Finished this last week, bit of a slow burner but was producing several LOLs per episode by the end.

At The Drive-In

I can't post the video in the usual way as I can't find it on YouTube so it'll have to be a link. This is insane stuff. I'd imagine there were a few casualties in their moshpit of the time.

https://dai.ly/x42l0l

double oh feckin bollix

I think it's been pretty hit and miss but this was the funniest teevee moment of the year so far:

https://twitter.com/andrewmanganVO/status/1107929672866848771https://twitter.com/andrewmanganVO/status/1107929672866848771

Bohemian Rhapsody: The Movie

Saw this last night. All over the place chronologically but enjoyable stuff and yer man playing Freddie is amazing.

Roy Morrisson

Discuss...

Best sporting moment

An aide memoire in case this is as good as it gets in 2019.

Fat White Family - Feet (Official Video) (Explicit)

Never heard a Fat White Family song I didn't like. The videos are more of an acquired taste....definitely NSFW with kids running about the place at half term.

BC Camplight - I'm Desperate

A belated 2018 entry

Bob Mortimer Desert Island Discs. 3/2/19

This is a good listen

STAN & OLLIE

Saw this yesterday and would highly recommend it. As well as the obligatory "behind the scenes" crisis storyline, there's loads of recreations of scenes which remind you how funny they were.

Kicking off 2019...

I find it impossible not to like this.

Barts 2018 - Watling

Best Album

John Field, Piano Concertos No. 2 & 4 - Benjamin Frith, David Haslam and Northen Sinfonia

Best Song
Alice Merton - No Roots

Best Musical Re-discovery
I haven’t rediscovered anything this year

Best Middle-Aged Man/Men Doing Excellent – If Hardly Ground-breaking - Stuff
I started to build a permanent Scalextric track up in the loft

Best Film
Avengers - Infinity War

Best Book
My Age of Anxiety - Scott Stossel

Best Gig/Event
I haven’t been to any gigs or events this year

Best TV Programme
The Informer

Best Radio Programme
Alexander Armstrong’s show on Classic FM 

Best Website
TheGuardian.com

Best Sporting Moment
Spurs finishing in the top four. Again. 

Revelation
Christine & The Queens

Worst Purchase / Disappointment
My purchases this year have been largely satisfactory. 

Best Child-Related Thing
Finding a massive tub of my old Lego in my Mum’s loft, then watching Megan and Peter use their imaginations playing with basic Lego bricks. 

Best Lifestyle Change
Working outside London was good, but brief. 

Sort
Elizabeth Olsen 

Person, People or Thing You’d Most Like to See Set Upon By a Pack of Wolves
Brexit 

The Winning Thing You’d Most Recommend Your Fellow Judges to Own/Have/Consume/Do
A car with an Ecoboost engine